The difference between “rich” and “well off” is so skewed in our minds today. It leads to people hitting really good life milestones and then being made to feel guilty for making it because “oh you must be RICH (/disparaging).” And it’s terrible because it isolates us even more. We don’t feel comfortable sharing cool achievements with people for fear our desire to share our joy with friends will be met with cutting suggestions about bragging and privilege. And that can lead to sending the message that you aren’t a safe person to share good news with, further isolating you from seeing joy in others’ lives.
Here’s how I differentiate these terms, in case it helps:
- Being rich means you have such an excess of money that you can be frivolous with it. You can buy almost anything that catches your eye without worrying over how much you have left in the bank for essential needs. For example, buying a yacht outright.
- Being well off means you have a steady source of income and, through good money management and saving, are able to afford certain things that might be out of reach of someone who is not well off. For example, buying a house with a mortgage, or a new car. You may have enough extra money to buy yourself treats, but you aren’t going to be jetting to a gala anytime soon.
I’m not advocating for hating everyone who qualifies as rich, btw; some rich people are kind and generous and have good economic sense. But please, let’s stop biting at people who are blessed to be well off enough to reach milestones that we all want to (and hope to someday) reach. It’s discouraging, alienating, and unloving. Let’s allow each other and ourselves to feel the joy of sharing good news and life updates! :)
A/N: Bit of a longer chapter now that we got things going! Who doesn’t love a little beach party scene?
Outer Banks Taglist: @garbinge (Let me know if you want to be added!)
The next day, John B finally decided to text her. For the entire day before he had wanted to, but he decided that waiting almost twenty-four hours was the best way to go. Truthfully, the possibility of the number being fake was present in his mind and while he mostly believed that it was real, he knew that it also might not be. The longer that he held off on texting her, the longer he got to live in a world where the number was definitely real.
“It’s John B. Sad to report that my friends did not pay up. Can’t give you your cut” his thumb hovered over the send button for what felt like an eternity before he finally sucked it up and sent it. He immediately locked his phone and put it face down on the small table in the living room of the chateau.
Instead of sitting there an anxiously waiting to hear his phone vibrate against the surface of the table, he got up and started getting ready for the day. He forced himself to think about other things as he showered and got dressed, pulling together something resembling a breakfast from what little was left for food in his kitchen. He was grabbing his keys so he could head over to the Cameron’s for work, and scooped up his phone in the process. He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t apprehensive at all as he looked down at the screen to see if Tabitha had texted him back.
Much to his delight, there was a notification waiting for him, “They at least give you an IOU?”
He smiled to himself as he typed his response, “Nope. Guess we gotta meet up to plot a heist to get it”
He shoved his phone into his pocket before heading out the door and getting to the van. It took all of his self-restraint to not check his phone while he was driving, because he felt it go off in his pocket. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he kept on plugging away to get to Tannyhill.
Once he put the van in park, he checked his phone, “A heist to end my summer? Doesn’t sound like the worst plan. Just tell me when and where”
He thought about his response for a moment, thinking of what the best option would be to spend some time with her, “Plans tomorrow night?” As much as he would’ve been content to sit and stare at his phone screen all day waiting for a response, he did have a job to do.
He stayed busy for most of the day. There never seemed to be a shortage of things to do around the docks of the Cameron residence, and he supposed that that was how it always stayed looking so pristine. He stayed to himself for the most part when he was working, occasionally talking to the other people who worked for the Cameron’s, but very rarely did he ever talk to the members of the family themselves. Every now and then he’d meet with Ward about anything that was changing or a cause for concern, but for the most part he existed in his own bubble on their property. He didn’t mind Ward, or even Sarah all that much in their few brief interactions, but he made a point to avoid Rafe whenever he could, making sure that he was ducking out of sight whenever he heard the other young man’s voice. Rafe always seemed to be looking to start issues, and John B couldn’t afford to get fired.
He was walking back to the van at the end of his shift when he checked his phone, “Apparently going with my cousin and his friends to some place called the boneyard? Sounds sketchy but he said it’s a party. You?”
His fingers all but flew across his keyboard as he sent back his reply, “Guess I’ll see you there then. My friends and I are going to the same place”
Her response was instant, “Too short notice for a heist?”
John B chuckled as he replied, “Probably”
He was a few steps away from the van when he heard Ward’s voice calling out behind him, “John B!”
Even though John B knew that he hadn’t done anything wrong, a jolt of fear still went through him at the sound of the man calling out his name. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders and turned around to face him, “Yea?”
Ward hooked his thumbs on his beltloops as he finished closing the distance between himself and John B, “How’s the My Druthers looking? Planning on taking her out tomorrow.”
John B nodded, “Good. She’s, uh, she’s looking good, sir.”
“Good,” Ward clapped him good-naturedly on the shoulder, “Thanks for all your work, John B. I appreciate it.”
Despite the fact that the man was always respectful towards him, John B still always felt so small in his presence, “Of course.”
Ward nodded, politely dismissing him for the day, “Have a good night.”
“You too, sir,” John B waited for him to turn around before quickly making it the rest of the way towards the van and hauling himself into the driver’s seat.
The following afternoon, everyone was over at the chateau as they got ready to head to the boneyard that night for the party. Their version of pregaming was drawn out and slow, truthfully just more of a reason for all of them to hang out than anything else. There was a scattering of beer cans in the back yard and on the porch as they all sat around chatting. Everyone was lamenting about the week, and that took a good chunk of time, but eventually they made it to the most pressing topic of the evening: John B and Tabitha.
“So you texted her?” Pope asked as he toyed with the almost-empty beer can in his hands.
“I did,” John B swung idly in the hammock opposite of JJ.
JJ chuckled, “And it was actually her number?”
John B rolled his eyes and nodded, “It was. So now you owe me double.”
“She going tonight?” Kiara had remained mostly quiet about the entire situation despite the fact that JJ had been living for any opportunity to give him grief about it.
John B shrugged, glancing down at his phone to see if he had any awaiting notifications, “She said she was. Said she’s going with her cousin.”
Pope piped up, “Who’s her cousin?”
“Don’t know, didn’t ask.”
JJ shook his head, “You should. Gotta know what crazy Kooks we’re going to be dealing with in an attempt to get you laid.”
“JJ—” Kiara started but she didn’t get the change to finish as John B came to his own defense.
“You guys don’t have to deal with anyone. This doesn’t need to be like a, like a group event.”
“Yea right,” Kiara rolled her eyes, “Like we’re just going to let you go face a whole group of Kooks on your own. You’ll get yourself jumped, John B.”
“I’m not going to do anything to make them—”
“You’ll be talking to one of their cousins,” Pope pointed out, “that’s reason enough for them.”
“You guys are being dramatic,” John B waved them off.
“Sure,” JJ and Pope responded in unison.
John B knew that if he let them, they would drag this conversation up until the point when they set foot on the beach for the party. That wasn’t exactly his idea of a good time, though. So, he tried to veer to any other topic of discussion instead. Luckily diversions were easy if he brought up something else that JJ or Kiara could go off on a tangent about.
While they moved onto the next thing, John B couldn’t help but to think about the fact that maybe JJ had a bit of a point, maybe he should ask Tabitha who her cousin was. But part of him knew that at this point, it didn’t matter. They were all still going to the party, and it wasn’t like he was going to ignore her just because she was related to a Kook that he didn’t like. Truthfully, that was all of them so there really wasn’t a point in asking.
The four of them stepped onto the beach and the party was already in full-swing. There were a few small fires scattered along the beach, loud music blaring, and more kegs than there should’ve been at a party where 95% of the people attending weren’t old enough to be drinking alcohol. It was perfect. Despite the loud noise of conversations and the various Bluetooth speakers, you could still hear the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore if you listened hard enough.
“Let’s go get your girl, John B,” JJ laughed as he clapped his friend on the back, making their way deeper into the fray so they could get drinks, and also hopefully spot Tabitha in the midst of the chaos.
After they each got something to drink, they made their way closer to one of the fires. John B was contemplating texting Tabitha since he had yet to see her, but he knew that no one was going to be checking their phones in the midst of all the fun and chaos.
John B lingered close to JJ, watching on in amusement as he chatted up a few tourist girls that neither of them had seen around before. Pope and Kiara stood back slightly, talking with a different group of people but still looking over and cracking small smiles at JJ’s antics. Every time he looked to John B for backup or confirmation on whatever ridiculous story he was telling, John B always nodded and agreed with enthusiasm that only his friends knew was fake.
He was just about to get roped into another story, another fake story, when an excited voice rang out above all the others, “John B?!”
He whipped around, a smile immediately taking over his face when he saw her, “Tabitha! Hey!” he quickly walked over, totally oblivious to the fact that not only his friends had their eyes glued to him, but Tabitha’s friends as well. John B wasn’t even paying attention to who she was with as he walked over to her.
“Was starting to think you weren’t gonna show up!” she smiled as she took a sip from the red solo cup in her hand.
“Like I’d ever miss out on a party,” he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
“Yo, Tab,” Topper’s voice interrupted whatever their conversation was about to turn into, “you wanna—” he stopped short when he saw that she was talking to John B, annoyance instantly taking over his face, “Oh. John B.”
John B couldn’t contain the sigh that came out of him, “Hey, Topper.”
Topper didn’t look at John B as he returned his attention to Tabitha, “C’mon, we should, we should get going.”
There was a confused smile on her face as she shook her head, “What? No, why? I, I told you I was meeting someone here,” she gestured to John B.
“He’s who you’re meeting?” Topper asked, eyes wide.
“He’s your cousin?” John B sounded disappointed than surprised.
She looked back and forth between the two of them, knowing that she was definitely missing something but not quite sure what, “Y-yes…to both of those questions,” she turned and looked at Topper, “I told you I met him the other day.”
Topper just shook his head, kicking himself for not being pushier about who she had met while she was out and about. The two of them were close, but not “I need to know every detail about everything you do” close. Never in a million years did he think that Tabitha would’ve gone to town and picked up a Pogue. He didn’t want to make a scene in front of his cousin, someone who had no idea about all the old shit between the Kooks and the Pogues, but he also didn’t want to back down in front of John B and all his friends either.
“He’s not worth your time, Tabitha, trust me,” Topper looked at John B and JJ, “None of them are.”
JJ stepped forward, “If you don’t shut the fu—”
John B threw his arm out to stop him, cutting him off in the process, “We’re not doing that here tonight, JJ.”
“You sure?” JJ wasn’t pushing past John B but he was close, “’Cause it seems like Topper and his Kook friends just might want to.”
There was a smirk on Topper’s face as he shrugged, holding his hands out in seeming innocence, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Maybank. We’re all good here. Are you?”
JJ didn’t have to turn and look at John B to know what the expression on his best friend’s face was. Maybe if he had been a few more beers in he would’ve been more persistent. He stepped back, shrugging with a fake nonchalance that wasn’t fooling anyone present, “We’re all good.”
The air was still flooded with tension but it didn’t seem like things were going to escalate any further than they already had. Topped turned his attention back to his cousin, “Come on, we really should go.”
Tabitha made no move to hide the confusion on her face, “I mean, you can go if you want? I wanna stay.”
“Tab—”
“Top, I’ve got like, less than two weeks left here before my summer is over and I gotta go home. I’m not bailing on a party because you’ve got some shit going on.”
He knew that there were a lot of people in the world that he could win an argument against, but his cousin had never been one of them. Ever since they were little kids she had a type of persistence that he just couldn’t match.
He sighed, shaking his head, “Alright. Fine. Find me when you wanna go home.”
“I’m sure he won’t be far,” JJ chimed in.
It was evident on Topper’s face that he wanted to say something, but he knew that he wouldn’t be doing himself any favors. He could already hear the conversation that he was going to have with Tabitha on the way back to the house. He felt Sarah give his hand a light squeeze and he let himself be led off, away from where he could cause more trouble.
“You guys, uh, sure know how to throw a party,” Tabitha looked back and forth between John B and JJ.
John B sighed, shaking his head, “Sorry about that. I’d say it’s not usually like that, but,” he glanced at JJ, who was already picking conversation back up with the girls he’d been talking to before, “it kinda is.”
“Should I even ask?”
“Not sure if I could even explain it,” he let out a nervous chuckle, a feeling of dread pooling in his stomach that this cost him whatever chance he might’ve had to begin with. Clearing his throat, he took a sip of his drink and tried to shift topics, “You said you’re only here for another couple weeks?”
The smile slowly started returning to her face, “Yea. I, uh, I come down here every summer with my parents. We usually only stay for a week, but this year my parents told me that even if they head back after a week for work, I can stay until summer vacation is over. So, I did.”
John B wanted to ask how he had managed to miss her the entire summer until now, but he knew the answer to that. There was no reason for Tabitha to end up on his side of the island. The only reason he’d crossed paths with her that one day was because he ventured out of his own usual territory, going closer to Figure Eight than he usually did in his spare time.
“Got any plans for the next two weeks, then?”
She shrugged, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, “I dunno, I met a guy who mentioned something about a heist. But, I don’t think he really means it.”
“You don’t think he means it, huh? Well,” he swirled the beer around in his cup with a laugh, “Two weeks isn’t a lot of time. Heists are a pretty big deal.”
“Psh, child’s play,” Tabitha laughed.
Despite the number of people that were around them, if you had asked John B, it might as well have been just him and Tabitha standing on the beach together. They stood and talked about nothing that was all that important, a nice shift from what had happened when they first met up. John B found himself joking and laughing with her like he’d known her for years. She was sarcastic, but still sweet underneath it all. Her witty commentary rolled off her tongue with such ease and all John B could do was stand back and listen and laugh.
Tabitha watched him as he laughed, and smiled, and she knew it was probably just the alcohol and the excitement of meeting a cute boy while she was on vacation, but she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t feel the butterflies in her stomach. Every time he’d shake his head with a grin, or run his fingers through his hair as he laughed, she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.
“Even if two weeks isn’t long enough to plan a heist,” he said as the two of them sat down a little way away from the thick of the party, “we should still plan something.”
She laughed quietly as she used the toe of her sneaker to toy with the sand, “What kind of plan, John B?”
“I’m sure we could come up with something,” he bumped her knee with his own.
She let out a hum of approval before finishing off what was left in her cup, “I’m sure we could, yeah.”
Tabitha was listening to John B tell her about the adventures that they could have when they were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They both looked back over their shoulders and saw Topper standing there, Sarah leaning against his side clearly a little more drunk than maybe she should’ve been.
“Hey, Tab, we gotta…we gotta get back,” he said, trying not to make eye contact with John B.
She checked the time on her phone and her eyes grew wide, “Shit. Yea, okay,” she stood up, brushing the sand from her shorts and legs, “Didn’t realize how late it was.
Topper looked back and forth between her and John B, “I’m gonna get Sarah to the car.”
Tabitha nodded, “I’ll catch up.”
It was the first time that John B had ever seen Topper look at all insecure or like he was trying to be careful. All of their interactions were reckless, and he wondered what it was about Tabitha that curbed that behavior in him.
“Guess you gotta go?” John B asked.
She nodded, “Yea. But I’m free tomorrow if you are,” there was an eager look on her face, “So…text me?”
Like he would ever say no to her, he nodded, “I will.”
She stepped in and hugged him, her cheek pressing against his chest for a fleeting moment before she stepped back again, “Can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned, John B.” She flashed him a smile before taking off across the sand to catch up with her cousin and Sarah, leaving John B there unable to do much of anything except watch her.
The car ride back to Topper’s place was filled with a tense silence. Sarah was sleeping peacefully, sprawled across the back seat, while Tabitha rode shotgun.
“So,” she finally broke the cone of silence, “you wanna tell me what happened on the beach?”
Topper shook his head, “You gotta be careful around them, Tabitha. The Pogues aren’t…they aren’t like us.”
“Like us? Who’s us?” she scoffed, her voice still quiet despite how annoyed she was, “Fucking, fucking Rafe and Kelce and those guys?” she rolled her eyes, “You’re not like them, Top.”
“I’m more like them than I’m like the Pogues,” his grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly.
Her brows furrowed in confusion, “What does that even—” she stopped herself short, holding her hands up, “Not the point, doesn’t matter. All I know, is that whoever that was back there on the beach, is not the Topper that I know. I don’t, I don’t know who that was.”
“Don’t be like that, Tabitha,” he shook his head at her, “Don’t pretend you don’t know why we gotta act that way.”
“I expect it around your parents, but not around friends,” she looked out the window, watching as the large, fancy houses passed by, “You’re better than that.”
“That’s just how it needs to be around here. Sorry if you don’t like it, but you’re not here all the time. If you spent more time here, you’d understand why you need to be careful around them.”
“Well,” she didn’t look over at him, knowing that what she was about to say wasn’t going to go over well, “I’m going to see John B tomorrow, so I guess maybe I’ll see what you’re talking about then.”
He glanced over at her for a moment before returning his attention to the road, “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not,” she shook her head, “I’m sorry that you don’t like him, but I think I do.”
“You don’t even know him!” Sarah groaned quietly in the back seat and Topper made a point to lower his voice, “You don’t know anything about him, Tab.”
“What better way to learn, then, hm?” there was a defiant glint in her eyes that let Topper know that she was thriving off the argument.
He decided to let it drop. It was late, and she was tipsy, and there was no point in trying to talk sense into her about any of it. He reached forward and turned the radio up slightly, letting Tabitha know that he was done with the discussion.
She chuckled as she looked back out her window again, “I know it’s because you care about me, Top. But I think…I think you’re wrong about this one.”
Warnings: language, and I think that’s pretty much it lol
Word Count: 1.8k
A/N: Little intro chapter! There is no limit to the number of WIPs I will accumulate and I am adding OBX to that roster haha. I love John B, and I think that y’all are gonna grow to love Tabitha as much as I do. So, enjoy, and stay tuned for updates! xo
Outer Banks Taglist: @garbinge (Let me know if you want to be added!)
“I’m gonna talk to her,” John B said with a definitive nod.
“Don’t,” Pope and Kiara both responded in unison, shaking their heads.
“Why not?” his eyebrows shot up as he looked around at his friends, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“She could slap you,” JJ offered up before taking a sip of his drink, then nodding as he thought of other outcomes, “Or call her crazy Kook friends to come jump you. Or her crazy Kook boyfriend.”
John B shook his head, “She doesn’t have a crazy Kook boyfriend.”
All three of them turned and looked at him, not completely surprised at the certainty with which he said it, he was always certain of everything until he was wrong. JJ laughed and shook his head, “Alright, John B, how do you know that?”
He shrugged as he stood up from the table that they were sitting at, “Just got a feeling.”
They knew that there was no stopping him now, so the three of them decided to sit back and watch how the situation unfold. They were all murmuring bets to each other, tossing the few singles that they had between them onto the surface of the table. It was like a car wreck that they couldn’t look away from.
John B wasn’t exactly in his Sunday best, even by his own standards. The four of them had spent all day out on the water going back and forth between fishing and swimming. His face and neck still had faint streaks of dirt on them, his damp, messy hair mostly stuffed beneath the baseball cap on his head. The entire look was tied together with an old worn-out t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that were hanging on by only a few threads. It was an outfit that he’d worn a million times with his friends when they ran into town for sodas and snacks, and it worked just fine for that, but it wasn’t what he usually wore to try and get a girl’s number.
She was packing a few things into the small backpack that was in her hands. John B couldn’t help but to stare as he approached her, watching the way that her wavy brown hair blew across her face in the breeze. The tie to her bikini top showed beneath the wide neck of her cropped t-shirt. She had on a pair of stylishly frayed denim shorts but John B was willing to bet what little money he had on the fact that she had on the matching bottoms to the bikini on underneath. Her sneakers were white, but starting to get a little dingy from wear and tear on the beach, and riding the penny board that was currently resting back against her leg so it didn’t roll away.
The walk over to her felt like it was taking longer than it should, but maybe that was just because he was spending so much time looking at her rather than trying to get over to her, or thinking of what to say when he finally got there.
“Um,” he cleared his throat awkwardly as he fought the urge to shove his hands into his pockets, “hey.”
She looked up from her bag, meeting his gaze. She didn’t seem annoyed, just confused. Letting her hands, and by extension her bag, lower slightly, she cocked her head to the side, “Hey?”
“Crap, sorry, um, I’m John B,” he held out his hand for her to shake, suddenly forgetting everything he knew about talking to girls.
She laughed quietly, shaking his hand, “Very official. Nice to meet you, John B. I’m Tabitha A.”
He chuckled, feeling his face heat up at her response despite the fact that she was being perfectly nice about it. He knew that he was supposed to follow up with something else, but truthfully, he didn’t think that he was even going to get this far. Usually, the girls that were on vacation in the Outer Banks, especially ones as pretty as her, didn’t really give him the time of day. Especially when he was looking the way that he did. Suddenly he realized that talking to girls at parties was so much easier because there was alcohol involved, and also a place to easily hide if it all went horribly wrong.
She saw that he was trying to come up with something to say, but couldn’t. So she offered him an out, “Something I can do for you, John B?” she asked as she zipped up her backpack.
Every word she spoke only made him more nervous about asking for her number, but it was going to be now or never. Clearing his throat in an attempt to give himself just another extra moment to prepare, he said, “I was just, I was wondering if I could have your number?”
She raised her eyebrows, her smile growing wider, “My phone number?”
“Figured asking for your social security number right off the bat might be a bit much,” he chuckled nervously.
“Way to lay the foundation,” she laughed, “But sure,” she held her hand out for his phone, “I’ll give you my number.”
“Really?” he couldn’t hide the shock on his face as he patted his pockets in search of his phone.
“Really,” she looked up at him for a moment as she typed her number in, “and make sure you let your friends over there know that they owe you whatever money they’re betting against you.”
He turned and looked over his shoulder as she finished typing her name and number in, only to see Pope, JJ, and Kiara quickly trying to look away and failing. He wondered if they had been watching that obviously the whole time.
He took his phone back, a nervous laugh bubbling in his chest as he tucked the phone away in his shorts pocket, “When’s a good time to meet up with you to give you your cut of the money?”
She laughed as she resituated her backpack onto her shoulders, “There’s never a bad time for that,” she let her board drop flat back onto the ground and stepped onto it, flashing him a smile, “See you around, John B.”
He gave a small wave as she took off towards the road, “See ya, Tabitha.”
Walking back over, he shook his head at his friends who were all sitting there a little dumbfounded at how it had all played out. They hadn’t seen her looking upset, or trying to push him away. Those were two huge wins as far as they were concerned, because the Kook girls didn’t have the best track record of letting guys down easy, especially guys like John B.
“She didn’t really give you her number, did she?” Pope asked incredulously.
“She did,” John B sat down, taking his hat off so he could run his hands back through his hair as he mulled over the entire interaction.
“Double or nothing says the number’s fake,” JJ said with a laugh.
Kiara laughed, shaking her head, “It’s not fake. She wouldn’t take the time to come up with a fake number for him. Kooks like their rejection more out-right than that.”
John B was only half listening to the rest of them cracking jokes about it as he took his phone back out and went to his contacts. He scrolled through the list, and sure enough, Tabitha A was listed amongst the rest of the names. He tapped on it, staring at the numbers as though he was trying to make sure she really put them in there.
“You’re not really gonna text her though, right?” JJ asked.
“Why wouldn’t I?” John B asked, confused.
“Thought we swore off Kooks, even Tourons.”
John B fought the urge to reply with something along the lines of: you swore them off, not me. But he knew that picking at that scabbed-over wound wasn’t going to get any of them anywhere. Instead, he shook his head, “I don’t remember that at all.”
“You don’t know anything about her, though,” Pope offered up.
“What better way to find out?” John B contemplated texting her right then and there, but decided against it. He’d fumbled over himself enough already, he didn’t want to add looking desperate to that as well. He looked down at her name in his contacts for another few seconds before locking the screen and setting his phone to the side, letting himself get sucked back into the discussion at hand that currently consisted of JJ listing off all the ways that things were going to go wrong for John B and the new tourist girl.
Tabitha rolled back up to the house, leaving her board propped up against the siding next to the door. She walked inside and was met with a quiet house with the exception of the television playing in the living room. She wondered where everyone was as she shrugged her backpack off, tossing her drink into the freezer to cool it off again before she drank it. Pulling the other snacks out, she ripped the bag open as she wandered deeper into her cousin’s house.
“Where’d you run off to?” Topper emerged from his room down the hall.
She shrugged as she sat down on the couch, “Went to get some snacks. Where is everyone?”
“Country club.”
“You didn’t go?” she cocked an eyebrow.
He shook his head, “Was gonna see if you wanted to do something, but then you were gone,” he chuckled.
Tabitha smiled, “My bad.”
“All good,” he tucked his hands into his pockets, “There’s a party this weekend at the boneyard. Everyone’s going, if you wanna go with Sarah and I, you can.”
Her eyes lit up at the prospect of it, “Yea, that sounds great,” she saw the way he was awkwardly standing in the middle of the living room, “You heading out now or…?”
He shook his head, “Was gonna stay here with you if that’s cool.”
She laughed, nodding, “Of course it’s cool. Besides, it’s your house,” she held out the bag of chips towards him, “Frito?”
He chuckled, sitting down next to her before taking a few chips out of the bag, “Why not?”
The two of them put on a mindless reality TV show, putting their own commentary to it. The sounds of their laughter filled the large, otherwise empty house. Topper looked over at his cousin, chuckling to himself as she tossed chips up into the air and caught them in her mouth, and he couldn’t help but to wish that things were always this easy, this stress-free. He felt like a totally different person around her and he hated that in a couple weeks she was going to be gone again.
He watched as she checked her phone quickly for the umpteenth time that evening, “Waiting on someone?” he asked with a smirk.
She laughed, shaking her head, “Sort of? Not really. I, I don’t know. Met a cute guy in town today.”
When she didn’t offer up the name, he didn’t pry, “Mystery guy? So intriguing.”
She laughed, taking one of the decorative pillows and smacking him with it, “Shut up.”
Topper laughed as he snatched the pillow away from her, “Hope he knows what he’s getting himself into.”
