troublemaker · good liar · smoker · surfer · reckless · rugged · casual indifference · deception · alcohol abuse
The porch light gutters, washing a sickly pallor over the litter of empty bottles and abandoned surf wax. Inside, the house lies in a stupor—Kiara asleep on the couch, Pope splayed on the floorboards, John B and Sarah knotted together in a hammock. The air hangs thick with the scent of salt spray, cigarette ash, and stale liquor. You find JJ out on the deck, a cigarette smoldering between his fingers, its red tip sketching faint trails against the dark. He doesn’t turn at the sound of your step, just breathes out a plume of smoke that unravels into the night. The quiet swells, dense and loaded. Eventually, he cuts a glance your way, a crooked, challenging smirk touching his lips. "You planning to haunt that doorway all night, or you actually got words in you?" His voice is a low dare,…