Chapter Text
If JJ had to describe Eva Atwood in one word, he would say pink.
The new girl that moved with her family in the Figure Eight, was seen from miles away thanks to her bright neon pink hair.
And if her hair was a statement, the girl was a walking contradiction.
Unlike many Kooks he had worked before, she actually looked at him when he spoke. She was looking at him like he was a human being.
Despite having all the money a human could want, Eva was keeping mostly to herself. She was rarely seen with the other Kooks, preferring to spend most of her time painting some wall inside the house. Yet, her Instagram was filled with her attending all kinds of parties and going on different trips all over the world.
JJ nearly choked on his water, when she approached him one day to ask for his help. She even excused herself for stopping him.
It was the first real conversation they had. He helped her move the metallic ladder from one room to another, as she was too short to do it alone.
"Strong essences are held in small bottles." He joked before he could actually think about what he was saying. For most of the Kooks it was enough to get him fired, yet the girl just rolled her eyes as the corner of her mouth turned upwards, forming a smirk.
It was right after that, when he really started to see differences between her and the others.
While she was always smiling, the politeness that she wore around the Kooks was not there when she was around him.
The second time she asked for his help, her lower lip was bearing the marks of her teeth, probably from when she deliberated how to ask him.
"I made a small mistake. I want to know if you see it." She grabbed him by the wrist and led him to the room where he previously put the ladder.
On the wall, the head of a wolf was painted.
"This circle. It's not perfect." she pointed out, still holding his wrist. Her small hand was cold against his and he could not help but wonder if she realized who she was holding so close to her. It was not a secret on the island how JJ treated the girls that were getting too close with him.
As he told her that he was not seeing the imperfect circle, she just turned and hugged him, despite him being all clammy from standing in the sun for hours.
"Sorry. I got excited."
When she took a step back, she was biting her lip again, her skin turning a shade to match her crazy hair.
As he looked down on her, JJ felt like he saw her for the first time. Green eyes were watching him from below dark lashes , he felt how his heart made a flip. He lifted his hand and whipped the little stain of paint on her face.
Her rosy skin flushed even more, at his touch. He wanted to tease her, to see where her limit was.
"I didn't know that you can get to this shade by staying inside." He smirked as he let his hand fall. Eva didn't take a step back, like he expected.
She only started to laugh, covering her face with the back of her hand.
"Now, now, I haven't heard this sound in a while. Are you coming back to the living?" At the sound of the new voice, both of them turned to the door. Her father was standing in the doorway, holding the jacket from his suit in one hand.
"I am not that bad. " she crossed her arms in front of her chest "So, what do you say?"
She took half turned from them, letting her father see the whole wall.
"I say that it looks great. Your brother will love it." Mr. Atwood stepped inside the room.
"JJ, what is your secret? She usually guards what she paints. I can bet that she would prefer to get shot than for people to see what she draws."
In the span of two weeks, he met Mr. Atwood only twice. Both times, the man was smiling, and just like his daughter, he had no problem with shaking his hand. The man was also paying nearly double the money half the Kooks offered to a high school student from the wrong side of the Cut.
"Boy, you can take the rest of the day off. You have done a great job and you deserve it." Her father patted him on the back. "And here, for helping my daughter. I don't know what she has asked you to do, but if it is linked to her art ... It was probably a nightmare."
"No nightmare, sir. It was a pleasure." His eyes moved from father to daughter and he could swear that Eva's eyes widened a bit at his words.
Later that evening as the Pogues were all around a fire on the beach, the blonde only half listened to his friends. He neither could not understand the feeling in his chest, as Mr. Atwood praised his work nor why his heart skipped a beat when Eva hugged him.
"JJ, you haven't said anything. Tell us, how was your job? The guy let you leave early." It was Kiara that broke the ice.
"How is Eva Atwood?' John B nudged his friend. The rumors about the girl that didn't stick with any crowd were growing day by day.
"I heard that she is too important even for the Kooks." Kiara continued as she typed something in her phone.
"They are so chill, I can't complain about anything. Her father tipped me today for helping her. And she actually asked and thanked me. "JJ dragged a smoke out of the cigarette that he had lit at some point.
One of their fewer rules that the Pogues had was no secret between them, and he was the one breaking it.
"She hugged me, dude." He jumped from his spot, his hands in the air.
"JJ, do you have a soft spot for the rich girl that is mostly a rumor?" JJ hated the rich. What Pope was asking was not possible.
"What?"
"Don't what us, JJ. Are you actually falling in love with the girl?" Kiara pressed for an answer, the turtles forgotten at the sound of gossip.
"My heart belongs to the sea." There was nothing that could get him to fall in love with her. He knew practically nothing about her, only rumors and the few things that were posted on her social media.
Right?
So why was he feeling so strange when he saw her the very next day, on the dock that was near her house. The Pogues were on their old boat, wasting time and having fun, when a mop of pink caught their attention.
"Should we introduce ourselves?" John B asked, as Kiara whistled.
"The photos don't do her justice. She looks so much better in reality."JJ felt like he was lit on fire, when John B turned the boat.
"Guys, I love you so much, but I will be really mad if I am fired because of you." His pleas were ignored, as John B stopped the boat only when it was near the dock. He let Pope at the steering wheel.
Eva turned in their direction, after John B called for her.
"She won't come and I will get fired."He watched as John B shook hands with Eva, that was just smiling. He wanted to hide when John B pointed in their directions.
"We will play nice." JJ saw how Eva took a step back, shaking her head.
"See, she said no." He tried one more time to plead, when Pope gave him the news.
"They are coming. Whatever John B said made her come"
JJ only turned around. He could not be a witness to this. He refused to be a witness.
"She accepted to surrender. So, we have a new companion. So, guys, this is Eva." The boat rocked slightly as both Eva and John B stepped in.
"What were you saying, JJ?" Kiara snickered a little as Pope made fun of JJ. There were only a few occasions where something could break the calm of JJ's persona.
"Nothing important." JJ sucked in a breath and turned to face the new girl on board. "Hey, Eva, where is your dog?" She was always accompanied by her canine friend, and JJ could not remember a moment where she was seen without him around her.
"Arson is not a fan of boats. I sent him back inside the house."
"You named your dog arson?" Pope chipped in half amused
"Arson, Harassment and Murder. It was dad's idea to name his children pets after crimes."
It was a good start, Eva was smiling, answering questions about her life. For the few hours that they had been in the open sea, not even once did she try to shut them out. She was fitting in just right with his friends. Eva demoted at least half the rumors that circulated about her.
It took all them by surprise when she only laughed when John B tripped and spilled half of his beer on her. Part of JJ expected a scene, like the Kook girls always did. All the stories held the same line : rich girl finds a poor boy. When the said boy does something that doesn't line up with the idea of fun the girl had, she just goes off.
"I have two older brothers. There is nothing that you can do to actually surprise me in any way."
She just smirked, as JJ felt how a milestone was lifted from his life. He was not sure if his friends tried to provoke Eva or it was just an accident, but the blonde was delighted.
"I haven't had so much fun, like in forever." They were walking along the water, on the beach when she confessed.
Pope and Kiara were the first to be dropped off, as their parents set curfews after their last party. John B, as the friend he was, made JJ walk Eva home, after coming with an excuse that there was no more gas for the boat.
"Well, what about the parties with the Kooks?" Most of the rumors that started about Eva started with the Kooks. In the Outer Banks, rumors and gossip were the one and only source of entertainment for so many, especially in the Cut.
"Maybe is a dumb question, but what is a Kook?" His first instinct was to laugh, as everyone knew what Pogues and Kooks were and what set them apart, but that was only their thing. The outside world, as he liked to put it, was not aware about the war existing on their island.
"The rich and the spoiled that live in Figure Eight." Eva stepped in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest, making him nearly bump into her.
"You think that I am spoiled and rich." His words came back to him, slapping him over the face. The atmosphere, his mind running straight to his father. Luke lost his job for showing up drunk three times in a row and he was working in the Cut.
He needed the money more than ever, as his pride wouldn't let him live off his friends. He wanted to lie his way through it, but his mind blocked, terror washing over him.
He could not read her, he knew too little about her. The darkness around them was not helping either.
"I guess I do come up as spoiled and rich."She took a few steps back from him before she let out a sigh.
"Thanks for the honesty." He bit his tongue in order to know if it was just some weird dream. "I mean it. I've been here only for a couple of weeks and I know that those Kooks as you call them, us, whatever, they are so boring and full of shit." She continued as she started to walk again.
"What?" She snickered as he questioned her.
"JJ, when I look at someone I want to hear a story, when they look as someone they see paper. That is just a way of wasting life."
“A story you say? So what kind of story am I?” He could play for as long as she wanted and her game was made to be played in two.
“Mostly adventure, maybe some drama here and there, just to spice things up.” As they moved along the water, they were getting closer by the moment, to the point where their hands brushed against each other.
“Are you ready for it?” Making up stories from barely nothing was his speciality.
“Yes. But, I don’t want spoilers. I like to find things on my own.” She wanted to know him, a poor boy, beaten by his father. He was just the guy that was working in her yard, yet she took her time to observe him.
“Only if you want.”
It was just two weeks since he saw her for the first time, only a few hours they spent together, yet JJ was aware of his soft spot for the new girl.