─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"So, how was the party?" Autumn Alvarez questioned once her daughter walked through the front door. Sunny sighed. "You know Judge Thorton's grandkid?" She asked.

Autumn nodded. "Yes, I do... Topaz?"

"Topper." Sunny corrected her mistake. She made her way over to the kitchen island and took a seat behind it. "Well, he and John B really got into. It was super intense."

"Did John B win?" Wynter, or Winny, Alvarez questioned, walking into the kitchen. She made her way over to her sister, who happily pulled her into an embrace. "Erm... well, he was. Then he didn't. But I'm pretty sure they took him back to the Chateau safe and sound."

"Well at least he's okay." Autumn spoke, pouring herself a glass of water. "He's a good kid. So, how did they take the good news?"

"They're super happy about it." Sunny grinned. "And so am I."

"Me too!" The thirteen-year-old exclaimed.

"You know the Camerons down the street?" Autumn questioned, Sunny nodded. "Well, I have a meeting tomorrow with Mr Cameron and he has two girls your age so I was thinking you could introduce yourselves."

"Sarah Cameron." Sunny stated. "She's Kie's arch nemesis."

"But that does not mean she has to be yours. You could get to know her and the two of you could easily be best friends." Autumn pointed out. Soleil just shrugged, sipping her mother's cup of water.

"What about Percy?" Winny questioned, not wanting her sister to feel left out.

"Perce wants to go job seeking. She's so adamant on making her own money." Autumn explained. "I think it would be good for her, gaming some independence. Either way, His eldest son is around her age."

"Oh, okay." Wynter nodded. "That's fine then."

"Soleil, honey. We tried to set up your room for you, but we didn't know exactly how you'd want it, so we gave up." Her mother explained to her.

Soleil chuckled, standing up to her feet. "That's okay, thanks for trying Mom."

"I left that painting you said that you liked by your window." Wynter said to her. Sunny ruffled her hair and grinned. "I'll definitely be hanging that up." The girl then made her way out of the room and over to the staircase. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

"Night."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

Soleil was invited to an early morning meeting at the Chateau the next morning, which she happily accepted. She was sitting comfortably beside Kie on a wooden bench, playing the small bongo drums as Kiara filled her in on what she missed.

Just as Soleil was growing excited at the prospect of going on an adventure, John B walked over to them. "Look, I'm callin' it off. All right?" He announced. "Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS."

JJ scoffed, sitting on one of the tables. "And you believed her?"

"Yes, I believe her, JJ." John B nodded.

"An actual cop, John B." JJ reminded him. "You believed a cop."

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out." John B explained as if it were simple. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

JJ looked offended. "You know what I should have done, man? I should've just let Topper drown your ass." John B rolled his eyes at his dramatics. "Yeah because Topper was gonna drown me?"

"Sure looked like it."

"He didn't seem like he was going to stop." Soleil chimed in. John B gave her a look of disappointment, she was usually always on his side. "Really funny." John B nodded.

"I mean, have you looked in a mirror?"
JJ started, getting to his feet and stepping closer to John B. "Come on, tell me some more. Come on." John B challenged
him.

Kiara and Soleil shared a look, this was most likely not going to end well. JJ leaned against the pillar, clearly irritated. "They always win, don't they, man?" He asked. "Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win!" He slammed his hands on one of the hanging balls. "Goddamn!"

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara exclaimed, trying to calm him down.

"No, it's not okay!" JJ exclaimed. "It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. I know you do."

His eyes shifted to Pope, who was just silently observing the tense confrontation. "And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk. And you..." JJ gazed at Kie. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?"

Soleil sat back, interested in what he was going to say to her. JJ paused, clearly attempting to find something. "Your family's just moved to town, so you can't get into trouble. It's ruin your reputation." He explained. Soleil shrugged, he had a point.

The blond boy finally turned to John B. "But you and me, man, we got nothin' to lose!" He exclaimed. We really don't, all right?"

"JJ—"

"And I know it didn't use to be that way for you." JJ continued. John B was growing visibly distressed, making Soleil frown for him. "I don't want to talk about this. I don't want to talk about it." He shook his head.

"So that's it?" JJ asked. John B shoved his body to the side, "Just get out of my way, bro."

"John B, listen to me. I have a plan." JJ called out. John B sighed, stopping in his tracks, allowing the boy to explain himself. "You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?"

"No." John B mumbled.

"There's scuba gear. We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man." JJ told him, snaking his arm around John B's shoulder. "You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?"

John B sighed, shaking his head. He didn't want to admit it, but JJ was onto something.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kie groaned with irritation. "I... Okay, this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope remarked, his feet up by the steering wheel.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie questioned. No one replied to her, making her sigh, "Anybody?"

JJ shrugged. "It's kind of a Kook sport." His eyes moved to Soleil, who was sitting cross-legged on the deck of their boat. "Sunny?" He asked.

She looked up at him with confusion. "I don't know how rich you guys think I am." JJ gave her a look of disbelief, "You live on Figure 8." He reminded her.

"Right." She nodded. "I mean... I've watched it happen."

Pope nodded in agreement. "I... read about it."

"Great, Sunny watched it and Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kie huffed with irritation.

Soleil frowned, patting Pope's leg with reassurance. "Ignore her, we still know more than them." Pope glanced down at her and smiled.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ questioned. "Well, if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends."

"Bends like, bend over and—" JJ started, arching his back. "The bends kill you." Pope stated, making JJ stop, "Right."

"I can... I can dive." John B volunteered. JJ nodded in agreement. "Yeah, You can dive. I'm cool with that." Soleil put her hand up, "I agree."

Kie glanced over to the boy beside her. "Since when can you dive?"

"I'll do it. It's fine." John B stated. Pope leaned forward, grabbing a pen and paper. "Let me do some calculations real quick."

"You serious?" Kie questioned before standing to her feet. Soleil frowned, unsure of what Kie was planning. She quickly stood up and made her way over to her. "What are you up to?" She asked, watching as Kie pulled her shirt off.

"Using my shirt to make a safety stop." Kie informed her. "You coming? Two shirts are better than one."

Sunny grinned, immediately peeling off her shirt. Underneath, she had a pale, orange two-piece bathing suit. "You think I'd miss out on any chance to get into the water?"

"This is why you're my favourite." Kie smiled, placing her hand out. Sunny took it and the two jumped off of the boat into the water. As expected, the water was incredibly cold and immediately moved up through her nostrils. Ignoring the discomfort, Soleil followed Kie's lead as she navigated through the water and over to the anchor chain.

She observed as Kie quickly tied her T-shirt around the chain and swam back up to the surface. Sunny mirrored her actions and pushed herself backwards to swim back up. Once she was above the water, she began to gasp for air, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Hey! We tied our T-shirts to the anchor chain about ten feet down." Kie called out. "It's where you need to do your safety stop."

"Cool." John B nodded.

Soleil swam over to Kie, splashing her with water as Pope continued to give John B instructions. The two quickly began to play around in the water, their genuine laughter slightly comforting John B's nerves about diving. Sunny quickly swam away from the girl, making her way over to the ladder. Pope was waiting for her at the top, putting her hand out for her to take.

"Thanks, Pope." She smiled at him, allowing him to help her back onto the boat. Kie pulled herself up to the deck and made her way over to John B. They watched as she placed a soft kiss on his cheek, making Soleil slightly gasp.

"Diver down?" John B asked her.

"Diver down." Kie nodded with a smile. John B jumped down into the water and the four others moved closer to the ledge to see him. "Diver down." Pope called out, making him salute.

They watched as he submerged under the water, bubbles following him as he disappeared from their eye-line.

"All right."

"See ya, dude." JJ waved.

Sunny took a seat on the ledge of the boat, allowing her feet to tangle. "You cold?" Pope questioned, making his way over to her. "I know the water was freezing."

She chuckled, nodding. "I'm kinda regretting following Kie now."

"Here." Pope spoke, dragging his white T-shirt over his head. He placed the article of clothing into her hand. Sunny flashed him a smile, gladly accepting his offer. "Thanks, man."

He observed as she pulled it on, it was a little big for her but she knew not to complain. "You smell nice." Soleil stated, taking a deep inhale of the shirt.

Pope nervously chuckled. "I'd like to think so."

"Well, now you know so." Sunny said. She glanced back to JJ, "Could I have a beer please?"

He nodded, digging into his backpack and pulling out a can of beer. "Anything for you, Sunshine." The boy tossed it over to her, and she managed to catch it. Just as she was about to pop it open, the sound of sirens blaring filled the air.

"Shit. JJ." Pope hissed, his eyes on the police boat nearing them. They all shifted back to see the authorities approaching them. "Guys, that's the police." JJ announced.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Pope groaned. Sunny was panicking, she had a can of beer in her hand. "What should I do?" She questioned, her voice cracking. The easiest way to tell when Sunny was either lying or nervous was to pay attention to her voice, it unusually altered itself during unsettling situations.

"Yep, that's the police."

"Just act frickin' normal. Get rid of it." Kie instructed her. Sunny nodded, leaning over and rolling the can into the deck.

"Evening, officers." Pope greeted them, trekking closer to their boat.

"Evening." Deputy Victor Shoupe nodded, passing them some rope. "Here you go."

"Howdy, officers." Sunny spoke up in a unique Southern accent. Kie gave her a look of incredulity, making her sigh and hide her head in her hands.

"JJ, tie it off." Pope ordered, handing him back the rope.

"How you kids doing?" Shoupe asked. "You know the marsh is closed?"

"No."

"No. Wow." JJ pretended to be surprised. "I didn't know that. We just wanted to give our friend here a tour." She gestured to the dark-haired girl sitting on the border of the boat.

Sunny stood on the deck, waving at Shoupe. "Hola." She said, this time in a Spanish accent.

Pope cleared his throat, wanting to take the attention off of her. "Um, why... why is it closed?" He asked.

"Well, we're conducting a search out here." Shoupe explained. "A boat went down. You see anything?"

"I ain't seen nothing." Sunny told him. "No, no boats." Pope shook his head as he sat back down behind the steering wheel.

"Where's your friend you always hang with?" Shoupe questioned. "He here?"

"Who?" Sunny questioned. Kiara pinched her arm before smiling at Shoupe. "Sorry about her, she's just getting to know everyone. John B, he's working." She informed him.

"Hm." Shoupe muttered. "Welcome to town."

"Thank you, Sir." Soleil nodded, "You too."

He gave her a look of scepticism, "Yeah, I'm gonna check your little boat out." He jumped off of his boat and onto theirs. "Yeah." JJ nodded, discreetly kicking Sunny's unopened can of beer to the side.

"Yeah, hop aboard. You wanna check... uh, check her out." Pope said, getting to his feet.

"Thank you." Shoupe said. Soleil quickly stood up and made her way beside Kie, taking her hand for comfort.

"Uh... you got another one of these?" Shoupe asked them, holding up a life jacket. JJ nodded, "Yeah, yeah. Of course. It's, uh... it's in the hold."

"Yeah. Show him." Pope suggested. JJ reached over and pulled out their second life jacket. "Here we go." He held it up.

"All right." Shoupe hummed. He moved over to the front of the boat, making them all panic. "Be careful." JJ warned him.

"Uh... don't wanna slip." Pope added. Sunny watched as the man pulled on his sunglasses and looked out into the water, she just hoped that John B had enough air to stay down a little longer.

Eventually, Shoupe just sighed. "All right." He nodded, stepping back onto the deck. Soleil let out a sigh of relief. "All right." She echoed.

"Beautiful day." Shoupe remarked, making his way back onto his boat. "Sure is." JJ agreed, waving him goodbye.

"Very." Pope said.

"Let us know if you see anything on your way out." Shoupe spoke, starting his engine.

"Will do. Will do." Pope nodded, sending him a salute. "We'll be gone soon, sir." JJ reassured him.

"Yes, you will." Shoupe said before they drove away.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
titled after one of my favourite songs by wheezer, alt title would've been: sunny and her weird accents