─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"and this is the twinkie." john b pointed to his car that was parked outside of the hotel. marella marvelled at it, genuinely fascinated. "incredible." she had changed into a more fitting outfit. now wearing a black tube top with brown elastic waist shorts and black vans. "volkswagen microbus?"

"volkswagen microbus?" jj mouthed to himself, wondering how she could just simply tell.

"nineteen seventy one, type two." john b boasted. "it's so beautiful." she praised, letting her palm rest on the side of it and feeling it's cold, steel surface. "pfft, this old thing?" john b joked, wafting the air with his hands.

"come on, let's go." kiara pulled the passenger door open and she slid into the seat. john b stepped into the driver's side while jj pulled himself into the back of the vehicle. marella stood awkwardly by the door, not sure what to do. pope took a step back, gesturing she could go in first.

"thank you." she smiled at him, climbing in and sitting opposite jj. the blonde boy rolled his eyes at pope's politeness as he sat beside the him and shut the door. "not that i'm complaining... but how long do you think this escapade will take us?" marella asked.

"why? you got better things to be doing, princess?" jj questioned.

"not better. but i have things to do, yeah." she explained, vaguely, while cringing at the nickname. marella heard him call her that at the kegger, but she's choosing to ignore it for now.

"shouldn't take us too long." john b spoke up.

"i still don't think this is a good idea." pope immediately said once john b began to drive. "i mean, can't we get money in a legal way?"

"pope, we're not stealing the drone." john b sighed. "we're borrowing it."

"humans are the only animal that can't tell fantasy from reality." pope announced. john b was impressed. "did you come up with that yourself?"

"albert bernstein came up with it, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing." he replied without thinking. pope then slowly looked at the girl opposite him, his face falling. kiara also shifted around from the front of the minibus to look at her, jj glancing up to see her reaction to what pope had said, even john b was staring through the rear-view mirror.

marella felt the four pairs of eyes on her and frowned. "is there something on my face?" she questioned, gently brushing her cheeks.

"no. uh, did you hear what i said?" pope challenged.

"yeah, you mentioned it in the library. and john b had a map, and you guys were all looking at coordinates so i kind of put two and two together." marella explained.

"and you're not going to... question it?" pope continued.

"keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours." marella quoted. "that was epicteus."

the pogues remained silent, not knowing exactly what to say to her philosophy. "so, you've just got a heap of fancy sayings stored in your head?" jj asked, knocking on his forehead.

"they're not just fancy sayings." marella shook her head. "epictetus was an incredible philosopher."

"you still like to read those sophiticated books?" pope inquired.

"yeah." she nodded. "i do. so, were you guys ever planning on telling me about the treasure hunt?"

"not really, no." kiara spoke up, coming off harsher than she wanted to. marella hummed in response. "okay."

"are you okay with that?" pope asked her, worried that she'll feel hurt for being left out.

"it's none of my concern." marella told him, picking the skin around her fingernails.

"i kinda like that. you don't ask questions, you just go with it." jj spoke. "do first-"

"ask questions later." she finished off for him.

jj could almost smile at her, but he didn't. pope tried to hold in his irritation at their interaction. it was weird, the two definitely didn't get along when they were younger. in fact, they basically hated each other. they were complete opposites. jj was impulsive, quick-tempered and rebellious. while marella was cautious, patient and more obedient.

"so, which is it?" pope asked, taking the attention away from their conversation. "fantasy or reality?"

"why are you so weird, pope?" jj muttered.

"it's fantasy, but possible reality." kiara was the first to speak.

"reality." john b said.

"fantasy." marella hummed.

"virtual reality." jj joked.

"that wasn't an option." marella pointed out.

"have you always been such a know-it-all?" jj asked her, now gradually getting annoyed by her presence. he had mixed feelings about marella. sometimes he thought she was cool but sometimes she was a real kook: believed she was better than everyone else, especially him.

if she wasn't such a pretty girl and there wasn't fifty bucks on the line, he would try to completely ignore her.

"you don't know me." marella stated as the boy pulled out his lighter, to light up his joint.

pope seized it from his hand and flicked it to the empty space right beside marella. "keep the signal clear."

"you know what your problem is?" jj scoffed.

"you?"

"no! it's that you need to relax, man. you're always so tense!" jj exclaimed, watching the girl pull open the door and step out.

"i'm not too tense." pope muttered.

"hey, don't worry." john b leaned out of the car window. "you guys got this."

"it's not me that i'm worried about." kiara remarked.

"got it."

"follow my lead." kiara explained, walking in front of marella, over to the small office. "hello, excuse me?"

the door opened and a security guard, bobby, made his way over to the wired gate to face them. "can i help you two?"

"hi! um, we actually have a flat tire." kiara explained. "i was wondering if maybe you could help us out?"

"please?" marella added, softly.

"yeah."

"yeah?"

"yeah." bobby nodded, turning back around to go open the gate.

"it's too easy." she whispered to the girl as the man came back over to them.

"over here." marella ushered him, leading him to one of the vehicles.

"it's just this back one right here." kiara showed him. "i mean, it must've been a slow leak or something."

"probably just been sitting in the yard too long?" the guard suggested.

"yeah."

"yeah, i-i got this." the man smiled at them.

"thank you."

"everything okay?" marella questioned.

"yeah."

suddenly, a distressed dog began to violently bark, making marella assume something had gone wrong with the boy's plan. whatever their plan was.

"do you hear that?" bobby stood up.

"hear what?" kiara acted confused.

"tebow's got somethin." the man pointed out.

"it's probably just a raccoon, maybe." kiara manipulated him, knowing exactly what it was that was making the dog act out. "you know? nothin' to worry about. yeah?"

"yeah."

the two's repetition of the same four letter word started to make marella feel quite uneasy and tense. she began to play around with her fingers, hoping that they boys would manage to complete their task.

"hey, you work up at the hotel, don't you?" the guard questioned. when he first saw her, she looked familiar and he had spent his time working on the tire trying to figure out how he knew her. it finally clicked.

the loud buzz of anxiety circling her began to disperse and marella knew she had to put on an act. she gave him a twinkling smile and nodded. "yeah, you like it there?"

"i love it there." bobby chuckled. "how's the availability? my-my family's planning to come down here later this month."

marella began to subconscously bite the inside of her cheek as she thought of an answer. she watched as kiara moved over to the other side of the vehicle. "erm, quite low as of now, my deepest apologies.

"that's a shame." he shrugged.

"yeah."

they now could hear the sound of hissing coming from the tire kiara was beside. the two looked at eachother awkwardly before the man stood up straight and quickly went over to the other girl.

"what are you doing?" the guard asked her.

"this one looks a little low too." she nervously told him.

the barking continued, and he didn't want to waste any more time of the two girls. bobby grabbed his tool box and began to run to where the barking was coming from.

"wait! wait!" kiara yelled. "shit! come on." she rushed over to the driver's seat, while marella made her way into the passenger's side.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

by the time they had driven to kiara's family's restaurant, the wreck, it was already dark outside. marella knew there was no way she would be able to make it to the kook party. but she didn't complain.

"i guess stealing drones makes you hungry." kiara groaned, stepping out of the twinkie once john b had parked.

"what i would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now." jj shook his head.

"it would not be pretty." pope added as they entered the restaurant.

kiara went straight over to her father, while the others walked past him and made their way to the table, marella muttering a greeting to the man.

"hey, dad."

"hey."

"how'd we do?" kiara questioned.

"didn't turn it over once." mike carerra sighed in disappointment.

"it's probably just bad luck because of the storm." kiara suggested as she entered his embrace.

"yeah, i'll be sure to tell the banks that." he joked.

"guess now is not the best time to ask for free food for me and my friends?" kiara muttered.

mike pulled out of the hug and groaned. "look at them. they're greedy pelicans. i thought i told you to stop hanging around them."

"well, everybody at the kook academy hates me, dad." kiara reminded him.

"cause you never gave them a chance."

"i did give them a chance. they got stuck up." kiara fought back. "they care more about shoes than surfing. what am insupposed to do with that? these are my friends."

mike took another look at the pogues, noticing a familiar face laughing with the heyward boy. "hey, is that river's kid?"

kiara peeked back at the girl. "uh, yeah."

"what happened to everyone at the kook academy hating you?" he questioned his daughter.

"she's different, i guess." kiara shrugged. "i don't know. it's a new thing, probably temporary."

"keep her close, she's a good kid." mike advised his daugher. "i mean... since she's here and i've gotta throw the stuff oit, you guys might as well take it."

kiara squealed and hugged her father again with excitement. "thank you!"

"you're welcome." he smiled. "i'll bring it out."

"sit down." she ordered her friends.

jj jumped with glee as they all hurried to take a seat. kiara poured them all a cup of water and pushed jj's dirty boots off if the table. as they all sat, kiara and the workers brought over their food. the five began to eat, laughing at each other and singing along to the music on the juke box.

once kiara had finished her meal, she got up to dance. the girl uses finger gestures to silently ask john b to dance with her. the boy smiled, shaking his head at the request. but eventually, he gave in and moved over to her. the two began to dance around together, chuckling at anything.

jj glanced over to marella, ready to try and begin a conversation with her. but she had taken pope by the hand and brought him to his feet. they danced around, aimlessly. huge smiles on both of their faces. the blond boy had to sit and watch as pope twirled the girl around and made her chuckle. he couldn't help but roll his eyes, pope was in the lead.

"i think if i keep on dancing, i'll throw up." pope finally groaned, moving back over to his seat.

"okay, sit, sit." she helped him to his chair. "you seem to have such a weak stomach."

he grinned at her. "or maybe it was all the twirling you made me do."

"made?!" marella laughed out. "you have free will!"

mike was now stood by the kitchen door, tapping on his watch which signalled they were going to close. standing beside him was parker sato. he had worked in the wreck for a few months now and attended school with the pogues. kiara cleared her throat, getting her friends' attentions. "we've got to go now, guys."

"so soon?" jj pouted, not exactly wanting to go home.

"hey, does anyone need a place to stay tonight?" marella randomly asked, oddly reading jj's mind. "i mean, i missed the party so i might as well make my own entertainment."

"how much is a room?" john b questioned.

"just the price of an explaination as to why you wanted to steal-"

"borrow."

"borrow a drone." she corrected herself.

the boys glanced over to kiara, wanting her to be the one to respond. kiara sighed, the river girl wasn't as stuck up as she assumed she would be. but she still didn't completely trust her. "yeah, sure."

pope smiled, glad that they would be able to hang out with marella again. maybe it would help jog her lost memory. even though he wasn't actively allowed to.

"what happened to low availability?" kiara asked.

"two rooms just freed up." marella joked and kiara couldn't hide her grin.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
jj if you 'can't stand' the girl why bet on winning her over?? and why do you think she's pretty? silly boy....