THE PERFECT GIRL.

chapter one, sleeping beauty.
[ original episode ]

JUNE 2018.

"GOD HELP US ALL." A young girl with short black hair says as she watches her friend throw her head back, white powder lingering on her upper lip.

They may be only fourteen and fifteen years old but some Kooks have been introduced to hard drugs at ages much younger than them.

Lyn Rogers laughs wildly as she shakes her head. The crowd around the two friends let out a loud cheer. It's Lyn's first time trying coke; she's tried pot and molly before but that's it. Now she's gotten a taste of cocaine.

Layla Rich watches her friend with sad eyes. She knows Lyn is using the drug in attempt to turn her back from her problems but it isn't working. Layla can see the sadness and anger still raging in Lyn's blue eyes.

"Holy shit!" Lyn shouts. She looks at Layla, "Lay, you gotta try this shit, dude!"

"I'm good." Layla shakes her head. "It's not really my scene, Lyn."

Layla isn't going to taint her body with that disgusting life ruiner. She already has her entire life planned ahead of her. She's going to go to be a world champion cheerleader. She isn't going to wash it all down the drain because of one simple party at the measly age of fourteen.

It's the end of the school year, people host parties in honor of the end of another difficult year at what the Pogues call 'Kook Academy'. It's like a giant, "fuck you, school! We never gave a fuck anyway!"

But in all reality, they all give many fucks. The kids on Figure Eight are too scared to let down Mommy and Daddy. They're too scared to lose their trust funds.

But once the school year ends?

All hell breaks loose on Figure Eight.

It's two months of being drunk and high. It's two months of throwing ragers and going to the beach. It's two months of freedom.

The parents don't give any shits what their children do as long as they don't die. Most of the time, none of them know where their kids are on the island. And that's the sad part.

Farther away from where Lyn Rogers decides to end her life and Layla Rich watches it unfold, their blonde friend throws back a shot of she doesn't even know what. Fourteen years old and already drinking. Who would've thought?

Her friend, Topper Thorton, stands protectively beside her, making sure no out of control teenage boy slips something in her drink. They've tried it before and Topper beat the shit out of both of them. They were sent to the hospital. Topper's mom and Aurora Fernsby's shitty dad are sleeping together. It's common knowledge on the island. Everyone keeps telling the pair of friends they're going to be step siblings.

And every time they do, someone is always moaning the words, "oh, step-bro, I'm stuck!" It disgusts Rory and Topper. Never in a million years would that happen. Ever. They've known each other and been friends for too long. Not to mention, they would be siblings.

Topper is more of a brother to Rory than a friend. He's been there in times when Layla and Lyn were too busy with their own lives.

"Is Lyn okay?" Topper asks suddenly, glancing back at where people are gathered around Lyn and Layla.

"No," Rory looks over her shoulder at the scene. "She's going through a tough time right now. You know, with her dad threatening to kick her out after she came out and then her parents are divorcing because of it. She blames herself for it.  And not to mention, her brother ran away to the mainland."

"I feel so bad for her," Topper frowns. "It sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Rory says before throwing back another shot of what she figures is tequila. It's strong enough to be tequila.

To Lyn, her biggest problems are her parents and brother. To Layla, her biggest problems are making sure she stays Head Cheerleader at "Kook Academy." And Rory's biggest problems? Making sure her dad doesn't beat her to death.

Dylan Fernsby is not a good man. Rory's not sure if he's ever been a kind man. But for her mother to have once loved him, he had to have been kind at one point, right? Rory wouldn't know though. Her mom skipped town when Rory was only three years old.

Dylan blames his daughter, because why not? The letter Julia left never gave clear a reason as to why she left but to Dylan, that's reason enough to blame his daughter.

The letter read:

Dylan,

I can't be here anymore, not after everything that's happened. I'm sorry, Dylan, but it's too hard. I can't live a lie anymore. You know why I'm leaving, why I can't take Aurora with me. Take care of her please, take care of my little girl. Don't let her get mixed up in the same stuff I did. Tell her I love her.

With love,
Julia

She hates her mother. She hates her so much. She gave birth to her only child and then left after three short years. She didn't get to see her daughter grow into a beautiful young lady. Rory has never brought herself to care about the reason her mother left because she's never been told the exact reason. All she knows is that her mother left and now she has to suffer the consequences of it.

The entirety of Outer Banks knows about Rory's abuse. The only people who have ever remotely done anything about is Sheriff Peterkin and Big John Routledge.

Peterkin threatened to arrest her father many times but he's too important of a man for that. He has people in extremely high places; people that could demote Sheriff Peterkin from the spot she worked so hard to get to.

He's a feared man, her father.

But still, the Sheriff has helped Rory more than she knows. By taking her from the Fernsby Estate many times, she's saved Aurora's life on several occasions.

Her foster father, Big John, welcomed Aurora with open arms every time she and Sheriff Peterkin showed back up. At the age of fourteen, she's been with the Routledge's three times already. But Dylan always gets her back.

Big John is more of a father to Rory than anyone else in the world. And his son is her brother.

"Are you okay, Ror?" Topper asks her. His dirty blonde brows are furrowed. She looks over at him and smiles sadly.

"Yes." She lies. She's lied so much in her life but there's one person in the entire world she would never lie to. And he's miles away, across the island. He's no doubt laying in his hammock looking at the stars and wishing his foster sister was there. His name is John Booker Routledge.

"Are you lying?" Topper asks her.

She shakes her head. "No. I don't lie, Top. You know that." And he knows she's lying. It's not hard to see past her facade, especially for Topper Thorton who's known her longer that Layla and Lyn have. "Big John and John B are probably worried about me though."

This causes Topper to roll his eyes. "Are you seriously living with those Pogues again?"

Rory draws back, a hurt expression crossing over her face. "What? You want me to live with my abusive dad?"

Topper gives her a look, "you know damn well I don't want that for you, Aurora."

Her eyes narrow. So he's pulling the full name bullshit? "At least my mother didn't name me Topper. What the fuck is that?" She hisses.

"Shut up, Rory." He rolls her eyes. She can feel the fuzziness of the tequila shots now. She's mad at Topper for disrespecting Big John and John B. "You're drunk. I should get you back to the Château."

He goes to grab her but she pulls away from him, "don't touch me, you prick. You're not taking me anywhere."

"You're drunk. I'm not letting you go anywhere by yourself." Topper frowns. He grabs her arm firmly.

"I'll tell Big John you hit me," Rory hisses.

Topper's eyes narrow. Big John would storm Figure Eight if Topper hit her. He wouldn't give a damn about anything. He'd walk right up to Topper's house and demand to see him.

"Stop acting like a little kid, Aurora." Topper demands. "Just let me take you home. Or do you wanna get kidnapped?"

"Fuck you," Rory slurs.

Suddenly, the crowd's loudness grows in volume. Rory pulls away from Topper while he's distracted. She stumbles over her own feet, she bumps into someone.

Rafe Cameron finds Rory Fernsby in a heart beat.

And from the moment forward, she will always be the first person he looks for when he enters a room.

______________________________

word count: 1,315
episode: original episode

HERE IT IS!!!! the very first chapter of the perfect girl!!! as said before, this is a refurbished version of one of my old books, wild child. the plot is slightly different but i am so, so excited for all of you to finally get to read this story.

i've had it planned out for nearly two years now. not to mention, more and more ideas come all the time. but if you didn't read the authors note in the before reading chapter, i recommend that you do that now.

rory has my whole heart and means the absolute world to me. she's one of my most special and loved original characters.

anyway, we also met layla and lyn!!! layla is my precious goody goody. i've never had a character be such a rule follower but i'm so excited to write her and explore her character more. and then there's lyn. the very first scene of the book is her trying coke for the first time which should say a lot about how her character is going to play out.

butttttt as of right now rory has a good relationship with topper. they're close friends, but their parents are sleeping together. like gross, they're both shit parents. ESPECIALLY DYLAN!!

anyway, i hope y'all love the first chapter!!! in the next one, we finally get to see the pogues for the first time!!