downgrade // jj maybank (obx)

i. one - kooks

i. one - kooks

"You're tutoring kids for the entire summer?" A heavy groan escapes blonde Sarah Cameron's lips, the dark straw of her mango mocktail dancing between her teeth. She sits in total and utter disappointment that her best friend would rather spend time with voice cracks and hormones than party with the Kooks over the next few weeks.

Violet Ranson, her dark-haired counterpart, avoids her blank stare by looking out onto the freshly mowed lawn of Figure 8's Country Club. Her sparkling blue eyes are more captivated by the scene at hand, than participating in any conversation that requires her to repeat herself.

"I always tutor on the holidays," She says, taking a sip from her cucumber water. "You know this."

"Yeah, but..." Sarah leans forward in her seat, propping one elbow up onto the smooth white surface they sit at. "It's the last summer before our last of high school. Shouldn't you be catching a break?"

Violet shakes her head, her ponytail swaying like it's in a television commercial. She chuckles at her friend's desperate need to party this summer. "I'll have plenty of time to drink and whatnot after high school is over."

Sarah shrugs nonchalantly, sitting back in her seat to accept defeat. "Suit yourself," She grins.

The two girls have been friends for about a year now. After the police were called on possibly the tamest fifteenth birthday party known to man, Sarah started sitting with a new group of Kooks at lunchtime and the rest is history. Violet met Sarah's brother, Sarah met Violet's best friend, and now they're just two teenage girls hopelessly in love, trying their best to find their way in the world.

The girls sit, discussing when they plan to meet up next. Secretly, Violet wants to talk about her uncertainty about applying for colleges over the course of the next year, but it seems to be the one topic of conversation that the two can never seem to talk about. Having to follow the path that your parents have paved, is not necessarily the most fulfilling prophecy to have to live up to. Especially for someone like Sarah who wouldn't quite thrive in a college environment. And now with senior year rapidly approaching, Violet was starting to feel the same. But try arguing with a lawyer and a mother of two teenage girls - impossible.

"Hey!" Sarah's gaze and attention extends past Violet, waving at someone in the distance. Violet turns in her seat, concerned about what the fuss would be about, but half-expecting who would be there.

Three attractive teenagers, Kelce, Topper and Rafe, all stand at the bar just a few feet away; drink in one hand and eyes glued to their phones in the other. They're each dressed similarly to the next, in coloured polos and khaki shorts - the seemingly popular attire at the club amongst all its members. There's no knowing how the three of them are managing to day-drink in a thriving club, but they always manage to find a way.

A smile slowly finds its way onto Violet's face as her attention hones in on one boy in particular. Her lover of eight months, with dark shades fitting his eyes and blonde hair falling perfectly over his face. To her, he looks so effortlessly gorgeous. She can hardly believe how lucky she is sometimes.

"Rafe!" She calls. 

His head immediately tilts up, his lips forming a thin line. He raises his half-empty glass, gesturing a hell back before shifting his gaze back to his phone. It's not quite the reaction Violet had hoped for from her boyfriend, but that seems to be the way things are with him as of late.

Topper and Kelce lift their gaze as if I called their names, beaming at the sight of familiar individuals. They strode towards the two girls instantly, brushing through the crowd of drunken rich people and underpaid waiters. Topper's smile grows significantly wider after seeing his girlfriend being one to wave him over.