It was a typical afternoon in the Outer Banks, and Alora was walking down the pier, her mind focused on the pages of her book. She wasn’t paying much attention to where she was going, as usual—she liked the calm of her own world.

Suddenly, she collided with someone. Bam!

Her books flew out of her hands, scattered across the dock like confetti. "Oh no!" Alora gasped, her messy high bun falling out of place as she scrambled to pick them up.

"Whoa, hey, are you okay?" a voice said. She looked up and found JJ standing there, a concerned look on his face. He was surrounded by the other Pogues—John B, Kiara, Pope, and Sarah, but JJ was the one who stepped forward, kneeling down to help her.

"I’m fine, I—" She started to say, but her words got stuck in her throat. Her large glasses were slipping down her nose, her grey jumper crumpled from the impact. She felt like a mess in front of them.

JJ, with that usual playful grin, handed her a book. "You sure?" He raised an eyebrow, and something in his gaze lingered a little longer than normal.

She nodded quickly, cheeks flushing. "Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going."

"Doesn’t seem like it," JJ teased, his voice light. But there was something in the way he looked at her—like he was genuinely interested. "No harm done. You okay, though? Need help with... uh, all this?" He gestured to her scattered books.

Alora adjusted her glasses and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, thanks."

As she stood up, JJ’s hand brushed hers as he handed her another book. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and she felt a strange flutter in her chest.

"Name’s JJ," he said, giving her a wink. "What’s yours?"

"Alora," she replied, feeling her heart skip a beat. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Alora," JJ grinned, the warmth in his eyes lingering. "Hope we bump into each other again sometime."

She smiled back, the flutter in her chest turning into something more. "Yeah, me too."

As they walked away, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had just changed. Maybe, just maybe, love at first sight was real after all, like what she read in a book yesterday.