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Jacob and I were definitely the closest, since we were the oldest and our smart-ass personalities were somewhat the same. Both of us acted like we owned the damn beach and our little town. And in our minds, we did.
Lucas was a few months younger than us, but you’d never know it by looking at him. If you told that boy no he would do it just to spite you. Stubborn, hardheaded, and a temper that would make anyone think twice about ever crossing him. That didn’t stop us from fucking with him though since we were all a bit like that, growing up together made it easy to fall into similar patterns, our personalities rubbed off on each other whether we liked it or not.
Alex was adamant she would be one of the boys from the second she popped out of her mama’s belly. She came out screaming and kicking, a force to be reckoned with. Hell would freeze over before she would act like the girl she was. It was only a year or two ago that she actually started wearing dresses and make-up. Before that she dressed exactly like us, begging her mama to buy her cargo shorts and loose-fitting shirts to blend in with us boys. And like Lucas, we picked on her every chance we got. She hated being called a girl, or being treated like one. Though she was tough. Tough as nails, we made her that way, and you better believe that we were overprotective as hell of her.
Despite her tomboy tendencies, I meant it when I said Alex was a lady through and through. She never cussed, she didn’t hang out at parties with us, and was polite to everyone, even if we didn’t like them or talked shit about them. She never cared to get involved in gossip or school drama like most girls did, keeping to herself or hanging out with us. Except she wasn’t very bright when it came to her choice in guys.
We all realized it before it even happened.
Case and point… Lucas and Alex aka Bo and Half-Pint.
Those two had always shared this special bond between them that didn’t include the rest of us. They were separate, but still a vital part of us. We ignored it for years, blew it off, thinking it was the best thing to do at the time. We all hoped it would magically go away on its own or some shit like that. Until one day we couldn’t overlook it anymore. When shit went down it was like a goddamn avalanche occurred, and it impacted all of our lives in ways we never thought possible.
Austin was the youngest among us boys, a year younger than Lucas to be exact. He was trouble with a capital T, in every sense of the word. He was the good ol’ boys wild card. The older he got the worse he became, and there was nothing any of us could ever do about it. It wasn’t from lack of trying on our parts either. He was out of fucking control.
Jacob headed toward the beach, saying he was meeting up with someone, probably some new pussy he was trying to get a piece of. I walked over to Half-Pint.
“Hey,” she greeted, looking up at me. I pulled a chair over and swung it around to sit on it backwards.
“Whatcha workin’ on?”
“Algebra,” she sighed.
“Ah shit. Your worst subject.”
She peered at me, wide-eyed and confused. “I think I’m going cross-eyed trying to figure out these formulas.”
I nodded at her. “Scoot over, sweet girl.”
She smiled, pushing back her chair to give me some room to sit beside her. I grabbed her algebra book, skimming over the chapters she was working on. Numbers and statistics were always my best subjects in school. It was easy for me to remember formulas and rules. Numbers stayed consistent. I grabbed her binder to help explain an easy way for her to remember the patterns.
“See, here’s your problem, Half-Pint. Your Order of Operations is off. You need to do the parentheses before your exponents or else it’s going to mess you all up.”
“Ugh, I always forget that. It’s so hard to keep them in order and remember which goes first.”
I grabbed her pencil from her. “Remember it like this: Parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. You remember that phrase, you’ll always remember the rule, guaranteed.”
She nodded, looking at what I just wrote. Whispering, “Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally.” She glanced over at me. “Good to know. Got it!”
“Knew you would, you’re smart, darlin’.”
“Okay, what about these?”
I sat there for the next hour, explaining numbers, shootin’ the shit, and simply laughing. I helped her with everything she needed. It didn’t take long for Alex to catch on to what I was explaining. I told you she was bright. That girl could take on anything, and she did, in more ways than one. When I got up to head out to where the boys were, I never expected to look up and lock eyes with my destiny and quite possibly the girl who would undo me.
Aubrey.
2
Aubrey
My mom wasn’t aware of the fact that I walked home from school everyday. She didn’t need to worry about me anymore than I knew she already did. I was supposed to get on the school bus, but the noise and rowdy kids were too much for me to handle.
I hated it.
Walking was my peace, a chance for me to clear my mind from the chaos all around while listening to my favorite playlists. I loved to get lost in the songs, letting them take me somewhere else, anywhere but here. Back in California we had a steady routine that no longer existed. My mom dropped me off at school and my dad would pick me up everyday. Sometimes afterwards we would go for ice cream or a cup of coffee, as I got older. I miss that time with him. I miss our conversations, and most of all I miss laughing at his lame jokes. He was a great father. It was obvious to me even from a young age.
My mom up and moved us clear across the country when she decided we needed new scenery and a fresh start. I couldn’t blame her, not after what my dad did. That’s how I ended up in Oak Island, North Carolina.
