hannah's pov

"hey douchbag you can't just throw your trash here," i scowled, "its called littering."

with my board under my arm i was approaching the water. that's when i saw a teenage boy throw a can onto the sand and so i decided to call him out. i was never shy about voicing my own opinions, especially when they involved the well-being of our planet.

"its called i don't fucking care," the boy said raising a middle finger in the air.

"cunt," i mumbled under my breath before reaching down to pick up the can myself. i laid my board down and turned around to throw the can in the trash bins.

once i had tossed it in i looked up to see a familiar tan girl, surfboard in hand, coming my way.

"hey that was pretty cool of you," kiara said as she approached me.

"are all teenage boys here ignorant littering assholes?" i smiled at her.

"mmmm most of them," she chuckled. "you going surfing?"

"yeah was just about to," i replied.

"mind if i joined you?" she questioned.

"not at all," i offered her a small smile before walking back to grab my board and following her into the water.

"i can't believe you're going surfing so soon after my accident," she said.

"i mean, gotta get back out sometime, mine as well not let it hold me back," i responded.

she nodded before letting her board drop into the water, me following her actions. as we paddled out deeper into the ocean i heard kiara's voice from next to me.

"so i heard about you and jj's night," she said, giggling.

"oh god," i groaned, "i'm so embarrassed but it was literally last resort, i didn't have any other option." 

"you are the last girl i expected him to let stay the night," she chuckled.

"we didn't-" i was quick to say but suddenly got cut off.

"oh no i know nothing like that happened," she smiled. "i think he likes you though," she said quietly.

"likes me?" i questioned in surprise with a scoff, "i'm pretty sure he hates my guts."

"that's just how he is," she sighed, "doesn't know how to properly show his emotions."

"even so i think you've got it wrong, there is no way he likes me," i said softly. she hummed in response and then turned around her board to catch a wave. i straddled my board as i watched her shred, letting my mind wander to what she had just said. there was no way jj liked me... right?

before i had any more time to ponder the question, a wave approached in the distance i began to paddle towards land, catching it right at its peak.

"damn girl you got moves," ki whistled and i giggled.

"so do you," i praised her as i hopped off my board once the wave had simmered.

we stayed in the ocean to watch the sunset, catching waves every now and then but mostly just lying on our boards and soaking in the sun. kiara only interrupted the peaceful silence once.

"you know..." she began, "he's a good guy."

"huh?" i questioned, confused on her abrupt statement.

"jj," she clarified, "he's a good guy."

i just hummed in response, slightly perplexed on why she had brought that up out of the blue.

we watched the sunset from our place a top our boards in the ocean and got out of the water before it began to get too dark.

"hey um, weird question," kiara started to say, "do you know if your aunt is going to be home tonight?"

"doubtful," i replied, "why do you ask?"

"listen, you can totally object if you think i'm weird or like hate me for that night at jj's... but would you want to have a sleepover?"

i smiled at her, she almost looked nervous as she asked me her question. i knew i had a big stupid grin on my face when i responded, "i would love to."

she breathed out, "okay cool you can strap your board onto the top of my van and i can drive us back to your place if that's okay."

i did as she said, placing my board onto the van and hopped in.

"aunt nadine!" i called once we entered my house and got no response, thankfully.

we dove into conversation almost immediately after sitting at the island in the kitchen. i got us some chips to eat as she talked about how she met the pogues and how she dealt with being a somewhat kook in all this mess. i shared stories from my hometown, about parties i attended and ones i threw.

somewhere in that time i got us out beers to start drinking and even made us margaritas, which i explained to her that i was famous for back in nassau.

"here try it," i said pushing the beverage towards her.

she took a sip before widening her eyes, "holy shit you weren't joking, you really know how to make a mean cocktail."

i thanked her before diving back into the conversation. we laughed at the stories she shared of summers she spent in the cut, and she explained to me that her dad owned the wreck, which was why she was a kook in the first place. i shared my own tales of a few boyfriends i had back home, most of them making us burst out into laughter.

"you know," she sighed, "jj would probably kill me if he knew i was here."

"well that would make him a hypocrite," i countered, "considering he spent the night with me just yesterday."

"you're right," she chuckled, "how did that go by the way? he explained how you ended up there and stuff but didn't really go into detail of the night."

"well lucky for him i brought a blunt which he happily excepted," i began.

"of course," ki laughed, rolling her eyes.

"and so we just smoked together and then played truth or truth," i explained.

"truth or truth?"

"yeah, like we each asked each other questions and the other would have to respond," i told her. "it kinda ended badly cause i couldn't answer his question, so then he called bullshit on me and stormed off."

she nodded her head, "what was his question? if you don't mind me asking."

"he asked me why i moved here," i said quietly, "and look i'm not one to keep secrets but i'm kinda just not comfortable with talking about it yet."

"i totally understand that," kiara said and offered me a small smile. "do you mind if i ask you a question though?"

"shoot."

"so you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, and please blame my bluntness on the alcohol but," she continued, "your parents aren't dead are they?"

"oh no, god no," i replied. she sighed in relief before i continued. "my mom left us when i was really little, so i was just living with my dad before i came here. but they are definitely both still alive and well."

"good, good," she said, sipping on her margarita.

a few more cocktails later and we were both comfortably tipsy and lounging outside on the patio listening to the crickets chirp.

"i really did think you were dating jj," i giggled.

"no," she shook her head, laughing as well, "god no."

"or at least pope," i continued.

"okay so i may or may not have kissed pope last summer," she sheepishly added.

"no way!"

"yeah, yeah," she blushed, "but ya know, we talked it out, decided we were better off as friends."

i giggled to myself and kiara joined me until we were both laughing our asses off for no reason. i guess just blame it on the alcohol.

"uh kiara," i called softly. she hummed in response, waiting for me to continue. "what happened here last summer?"

kiara sighed before sitting up straighter in her chair, "listen, i can't tell you the whole of it but ill try to explain it as best i can."

she began to explain to me how the four friends, jj, pope, john b, and her, had been on some treasure hunt. she told me she couldn't specify any details about it but that it was important, had to do with john b's missing, and now classified as dead, father.

she went onto explain that john b got involved with a girl named sarah, and how her father had tried to kill john b. she briefly described a few other events, mostly highlighting how her and the two boys had helped john b escape when things took a turn for the worst.

"and john b and sarah have been missing ever since?" i questioned once she was finished informing me on as much as she could. i was still trying to wrap my mind around the story but she had to leave out so many parts that it was hard to make sense of any of it.

"yup," she mumbled.

"im really sorry"

"yeah, i mean i still have faith. i guess i've just been trying to stay as positive as possible," she explained. "jj took it the worst out of all of us."

i frowned thinking back to how his face fell at only the mention of john b's name.

"thank you for telling me," i whispered. and we sat and listened to the crickets again, soaking in the late night summer feeling.

"you know," she said, "you're not bad for a kook."

i smiled at her words, perhaps a new friendship had just blossomed.