chapter three / hurricane shaped hearts

Mother nature is always speaking to us, in a language only understood by ears open to her tongue. In the crashing of waves, billowing of palms in the wind and the gushing of a waterfall cascading overhead as if it were cleansing you of any impurities.

And she spoke the night Hurricane Agatha hit the Outerbanks.

"Hey Lysh!" Sarah Cameron hollered from the opposite end of the sprawling greens in Tanneyhill as droplets sprinkled across quickly evolved into torrential rain. "Scooter's gonna help me on the Druthers! I'll be back just make sure to seal the hatches!"

Ilyshah's voice climbed higher over the rapid doses of water rushing down from the heavens. "Don't worry, I got this!" she formed an 'ok' symbol with her hand. "I'll meet you back inside!"

The day became a tiki tour around the island, helping anyone possible batter down the hatches. Working their way around instruction manuals for generators, hauling sandbags over shoulders and giving out water. A community spirit Ilyshah hadn't witnessed since being back home.

  It had all been topped off by clinking their crystal encased champagne flutes overflowing with the Veuve Cliquot Rosé Sarah pinched from the cellar, giggling incessantly on her bedroom floor. The second that bitter fruit tinged liquid pierced their tongue, they were poking them out in distaste, tastebuds not yet matured to the ideals of premature alcoholism.

Golden locks fell over her shoulders effortlessly, rose tinted lips pulling up into a smile radiant as the sun itself. And if Ilyshah were honest, she would have been wholly intimidated by a girl like Sarah Cameron if it weren't for Lani bringing them together. Only then could she discern the depths of her genuine heart, and the kindness that spilled out from her, making Ilyshah feel like maybe, just maybe she could belong here.

    Pale blue walls decorated with framed artwork of butterflies gleamed under the flickering light of close to ten lit candles sprawled out, an uno deck between them. The warm vanilla sugar and rosewater & ivy from Sarah's scented candles fought for potency in the air—they capsuled the sunshine left between them as the storm raged on beyond the window.

"This room looks like we're about to straight up sacrifice someone," Ilyshah murmured dreamily as her gaze danced across the room, only giving a snort when faced with Sarah's scrunched up grin teetering on the edge of a full fledged cackle.

Sarah mimicked a darth vader like voice, cupping her mouth. "We're invoking the spirit of the knights of the rhododendron."

"The fuck is a rhododendra?" She breathlessly sniggered, now wiping away tears as Sarah lifted her arms in confusion, escalating to rolling around on the ground together.

Four games of uno with Sarah and Wheezie Cameron later, the reigning champion of all four being Wheezie—the two girls tucked themselves into bed. Darkness shrouded the room from freshly blown out candles as the force of nature roared on outside. Sheets of rain blanketing the surroundings until the view from Sarah's bay window faded into non existence.

Gale force winds swept across town forming a wall of white noise that could easily send them drifting into a state of pure bliss, only the harsh snap of branches tumbling onto the roof above kept them awake. Every time Ilyshah jolted with each crackling rupture of thunder, Sarah's loose grip around her waist contracted and her rapid breathing slowed down.

"Don't tell Lani but, I think you're becoming more of my best friend than her," Sarah mumbled sleepily, knowing a conversation would help calm Ilyshah's nerves.

Ilyshah turned around to face her, the moonlight illuminating half of her face and both their tongues tainted by champagne. "What d'you mean?" She murmured, sinking into the pillow as she played with a strand of her goldilocks.

"She just — always ditches me for Kelce now, and before Kelce it was Chase, before that it was Kit. I dunno — it's like as soon as she starts dating someone she drops off the face of the earth."

"You don't do that with Topper?"

"I try not to," She gave a sigh, fingers playing with the loose threads of her pillowcase. "Because then if we break up, I'd have nobody."

"You'd have me."

Woven strands of ochre dipped light flooded the room, shadows forming mosaics crowning Ilyshah's face as she peeled her eyes open. With outstretched arms in an empty bed, she got ahold of her phone from the nightsand. At this time, she would be facetiming her parents and brothers back home twelve hours behind. No service, shit.

     Ilyshah scanned the room in a daze until the sleep wore off. After rubbing her eyes with a yawn, she puttered around the room and tugged on the same pair of denim shorts she wore yesterday, then slipped on the spare tangerine cropped tank lettered with Good Vibes, High Tides stuffed in her tote before tracking off to find Sarah.

She'd become awfully familiar with Tanneyhill by now, though it was hard not to get lost around those lemon drowned halls and spiral staircases. Each corner of the estate ingrained in history, entrancing and daunting her all at once.

Rose Cameron bumped into her on the staircase, a glass of amaretto clutched to her chest. "Morning sweetie, did you sleep well?"

"A little," Ilyshah gave a warm smile. "Thanks for having me over."

"Oh no, anytime gorgeous," Rose patted her back softly. "Sarah's just out back, you hungry? Maria's making some eggs in the kitchen if you want any."

"It's okay. I should probably go check on Uncle Kahu and Claire soon anyway. See how bad it got over there."

"Of course. Tell Claire and Kahu if they need anything, we're here to help okay?" Rose kindly suggested, saying her goodbyes before ascending up the stairs.

Outside and into the whirring of power tools drilling until they rang into overdrive, Ilyshah wandered about the property hoping to spot Sarah, only to find her younger sister Wheezie lifting her phone in the air by the pool.

"No service for you either, eh?"

Wheezie let out a groan, raising her phone higher into the air. "I can't post those photos we took last night."

"Thank god 'cause I looked a mess," she huffed as she ran her fingers delicately through her hair, "seen your sister?"

"Where else?" She gestured her hand towards a patch near the water where Sarah was wildly chasing around in circles.

As Sarah Cameron finally noticed Ilyshah's presence cutting through the chaos in her red bikini top contrasted with her denim shorts, she beamed at her. "I was wondering when you'd get up! Here, I saved you a racket!"

"Eh? For what?" She nervously chuckled, furrowing her brows as Sarah passed her a spare tennis racket.

"The mice Lyshie!" Sarah exclaimed, launching herself up high to dispel the flock of birds flying overhead. "Birds are attacking them! Someone's gotta help them!"

"Sarah!" A stern voice called out from the poolside, revealing Ward Cameron in a primly pressed striped button up to match his pearlescent smile as a dishevelled woman with bags prominent under her bloodshot eyes accompanied him, wrapping her cardigan tighter around the waist.

"I'm busy!"

"What are you doing?"

"The burrows filled with water from the surge!" She cried, sprinting off into the treeline. "The birds are having a field day!"

Ilyshah shrugged innocently at Ward's bewildered expression towards her trying to piece together the mystery that was his own daughter, all three of them now following her into a new patch of land.

"The birds have to eat too, Sarah."

"No, it's mouse genocide out here!" She shouted, swinging the racket fiercely. "No!"

Ward impatiently responded. "The cycle of life is what it is, sweetheart. Now, come on."

"I can't be a part of it," she argued, panting slightly as she came back to earth. "First they came for the mice, daddy—"

"—yeah well I have an actual human being—you might help."

Sarah rushed over as concern overrode her previous passion for the helpless mice, shaking the lady's hand. "I'm Sarah. I'm so sorry—this is my friend Ilyshah," gesturing by her side as Ilyshah too shook her hand.

"This is Lana Grubbs, she's Scooter's wife... now, you two were storm prepping with him, right?"

"Yeah. He helped me latch the cabin on the Druthers while Lysh was securing the hatch on the boathouse."

"And did he go out after that?"

"From here?" Sarah asked, frowning slightly. "No. Are you crazy? There was a hurricane."

Lana Grubbs interjected, panic laced into her tone. "Well, did he say where he was going? Get a phone call or mention anything?"

"He didn't say anything to me. I'm so sorry, is he okay?"

Ward revealed a pearly signature Cameron smile, steering Lana Grubbs away from the two girls as they apologised and glanced at the each other in concern. "He's absolutely okay girls — he's just hunkered down somewhere."

    Ilyshah rubbed her elbow, turning back to observe the fallen state of Lana Grubbs. "Sare, I really should get going—undool will flip his lid if I stay out all day."

   Sarah dropped the racket, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "No of course, I'll drive you. God, I hope Scooter's okay."

"Kia ora whanau!" Ilyshah bellowed from the courtyard at her cousin Lani and uncle Kahu, vaulting over loose branches strewn across the yard that they were wading through.

(Hello family!)

Uncle Kahu clapped his hands together. "Look who finally showed up! Tēna koe!"

(Hello)

Now, Uncle Kahu Tūrei was quite a legend around the island. Love at first sight with Aunt Claire when she holidayed in New Zealand at eighteen years old, going so far for love that he left everything and shipped off to America. He still wanted to work his way up from the bottom despite Claire being a Kook princess, and he did. From a proud fisherman to a now retired NFL player living off the tens of millions in seasons salaries with the Carolina Panthers. Four consecutive winner of the MVP award. Scares the absolute living daylights out of any boy Lani brings over, until they realise he's as harmless as they come ( unless you hurt any of his girls of course! ).

"Sorry undool," she leaned into his bear hug, smiling lazily. "I helped the Cameron's with storm prep and it was too late to come back."

He patted her back as they parted from the hug. "No matter, you're here now. Probably be cleaning up this all summer anyway — now I was gonna call JJ," Ilyshah's head snapped towards Kahu at the mention of his name. "But agh, he's probably out fishing for some kaimoana on a day like this. Wouldn't wanna pester him."

"So you're enslaving us instead?" Lani interrupted, rolling her eyes as she frustratingly peeled off the garden gloves. "Can I at least go see Kelce now? Had me up since the crack of dawn."

Kahu kissed his teeth with an amused pout, shaking his head. "Not with that attitude, girl. Get your ass over to that pool and start fishing out the leaves then I'll think about it," drawing out a dramatic groan from Lani then murmured to Ilyshah. "That Kelce is good to her, eh?"

"He'd better hope so," Ilyshah answered, crossing her arms as she surveyed their yard. "Undool, could I make those hampers I was talking about yesterday and take them down to The Cut? I heard they've got no power or generators."

Kahu hummed as he threw more branches to the side. "I dunno niece, I don't like you girls going to The Cut by yourselves like that."

"Ka pai ahau — ngati porou's wāhine toa, eh?"

(I'll be fine — our tribes warrior woman, eh?)

There it was. Uncle Kahu's sweet spot, whenever Ilyshah spoke te reo in full sentences making him feel back at home, she had him wrapped around her little finger.

"Ah," He breathed, ruffling her hair as she screwed up her face. "Go on then, but be home before sundown and don't give any of them Pogues my pineapple lumps—those are precious!"

"Thank you undool!" She exclaimed, heading towards the kitchen where the pantry teemed with goods perfect for a hamper.

Turns out the leftover linen totes from Aunt Claire's events had a purpose after all, packing ten hampers within their hold as majority dangled from the handle bars of her minty shaded beach cruiser with only a few fitting in the front basket. As she peddled along the mud-tracked roads and pathways of Figure Eight with her sights firmly set for The Cut, she found herself often veering around uprooted tree trunks as Hurricane Agatha showcased her work like no other; splintered wood jutting out from front decks, half-ripped American flags taken clean off their poles and exposed electrical wires lined the streets as if hell itself had been unleashed on the Outerbanks.

And yet she was the calm before and after that storm. Her serene smile touched the hearts of the clean up crews she passed, and the fruit vendors who she stopped off to visit with her wallet, adding juicy mandarins and fresh banana bunches to her hampers.

It didn't take long before she reached the bridge that marked the borderline between Figure Eight and The Cut. At the centre of it, Welcome To The Outerbanks — Paradise On Earth. Ilyshah didn't look back, not once. Not even when she saw Poguezone tagged in blood red across a No Fishing sign.

Opulent estates and lush landscapes gradually dimmed into paint chipped terraces and tin shackled roofs. She hadn't visited The Cut often, not without her family or Spencer at least but whenever she did—it ignited a fire in her heart with just how much this side reminded her of New Zealand with its own Americanised homespun quality.

Her first few stops were to homes she could tell where families resided from when she recruited kids with Spencer for their surf school, tipped off by toppled rusted swing sets and kids playing hop scotch on the rainbow chalked road. The hampers reached moms of newborns down by the baby blues, and little kids she knew from Splash that were eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Smiles from ear to ear left in her wake, and the saccharine taste of hope.

The second last stop on her journey led her to the outskirts of the island until she faced a cream slicked boarded home, with unfinished scaffoling and a plethora of fishing gear lying around the shop. Cicadas buzzed in her ears, and the crowing of a rooster sounded in the back. Ilyshah sucked in a deep breath between her teeth before rapping on the metal of the screen door thrice.

The figure of a tall man appeared, slightly built and scruffy with a white singlet hanging underneath an unbuttoned blue shirt. He leaned against the door frame, arms folded across his chest with a smirk. A noticeable stench of stale alcohol ladling off his breath wafted through the air.

"What do we have here?"

Ilyshah plastered on a polite smile under a veneer of nerves. "Just helping out with some food, and other things."

"Ain't you just a virtuous little Kook," He posed sarcastically as she passed over the cloth bag. "Mommy and daddy put you up to this?"

"No sir, I—"

A familiar voice approaching down the hallway interjected. "Dad! Who is it?"

"Some girl scout with the Kookiest accent I've ever heard."

JJ Maybank furrowed his eyebrows as he approached the front door, eyes blowing wide upon seeing her. "Lysh—"

"You know this one?" Luke huffed in amusement, digging deep into the bag as her lips parted, "must be your new flavour of the month — did you happen to pack any scotch in here sweetheart?"

"Didn't have time to raid my uncles grog cabinet, so..."

Luke chortled heartily, wagging a finger at her. "I like this one. Sense of humour."

"Dad, how 'bout you go back inside," JJ patted his shoulder, hands lightly trembling. "I uh, I got this."

Luke cocked his eyebrows as he examined the two teenagers, Ilyshah distracted herself with the hem of her tank. "Yeah, sure. I'll leave you and girl scout to it then," taking his hamper with a grin and retreating back to the fringes of the house, leaving them in a comfortable silence that JJ broke first.

"You're a long ways away from your side of the island princess," He teased, chin tilted upwards.

"Forgive me for intruding," She squinted from the sun rays peeking onto the deck. "Your old man's... quite the charmer."

"Yeah I'm sorry about that," He apologised, tipping his face downward and scratching his nose. "He can be a—"

    She met his down-poured face, raising it back to alignment with a comforting smile. "Don't worry about it," she murmured, lulling her head to the side as she took down the steps towards her bike, JJ following behind with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his cargo shorts.

"How's your place holding up after ol' Aggie?" JJ asked, kicking gravel as he went.

"Better than most from what I've seen, it's why I came out here — we had heaps of food and I didn't want it all going to waste, y'know."

"That's awfully kind of you," He replied as she swung a leg across the seat of her bicycle. "Got any plans for the rest of the day?"

Ilyshah gave a breezy sigh, shrugging as her sweaty palms gripped the handlebars. "Wherever the day takes me, I guess... What about you?"

The echo of a horn answered her question almost immediately as John B pulled up in an old, battered kombi van. Backwards cap on, left arm rested on the window ledge, eyeing JJ and Ilyshah with a shit eating grin.

    "Well I never," John B tauntingly commented, lifting his hand in a wave. "Hey Ilyshah!"

"I should've known," Ilyshah murmured, shaking her head in amusement before waving back. "Hi John B," finally lifting out her last hamper from the basket and handing it over to JJ. "Give this to him, will you?"

"We will eat every last crumb my fair lady," JJ said in an obviously put on Brummie accent, eliciting a chuckle from Ilyshah as he took a bow and jumped into the twinkie. The van revved, turning in the opposite direction with both boys waving goodbye.

John B tapped his palm rhythmically on the steering wheel. "So, she's making house visits to you now. That's adorable," he leaned a hand out to caress JJ's face teasingly, earning a harsh slap to his forearm.

"Dude, I swear," JJ rummaged through the linen tote bag, lifting out the various items Ilyshah graciously packed. Fresh fruit, canned soups and vegetables, condiments, pasta, juice boxes, bags of sour patch kids and snack bars. He let out a low guttural moan blended with a chuckle as he showed John B a packet of beef jerky.

John B stuck out the tip of his tongue between his teeth. "She's got a whole woman of the people thing going on."

"I know, it's so hot," JJ breathed, ripping open the packet of beef jerky with his teeth and tucking into it, mentioning in between chews, "and you can just tell she's so into me, I mean it has to be a sign."

"Whatever you say, man."

"No — I'm getting warmer, I can feel it."

Whale Rider ━━ JJ Maybank
Chapter Three, Hurricane Shaped Hearts
Outerbanks Pre Season One CONT.