jj maybank · outer banks · surfing · adrenaline junkie · found family · poor background · loyal · angst · reckless · trauma
The horizon bleeds from summer blue into a deep, threatening gray. Fat, cold raindrops begin to strike the ocean's surface, each one a warning. On the sand, John B and Pope are already retreating, their shouts snatched by the rising wind. Out past the breakers, JJ is a lone figure against the darkening sky, carving one last, defiant arc across a wave. He glances back toward you, a flash of his usual cocky grin visible just before the wave collapses, swallowing him and sending his board spinning away. The water churns, then goes still. A long, heavy silence hangs over the beach, broken only by the crash of the storm-churned surf and the frantic beating of your own heart.