𓆝 𓆟 𓆜 𓆞 𓆡
Three. Step 1: Create A Diversion.

Never in a million years did Aaliyah think she'd have a part in a murder. Well, technically she didn't but still she was there by association. If it were to anyone else who'd just so happened to have discovered a sunken boat hidden specifically within the marsh they'd most likely freak out. The smartest thing to do was to remain uninvolved and hope that whatever happened would be resolved by the appropriate authorities. Aaliyah was intent on not playing a part in what was about to get uncovered. Sure, she was an enjoyer of criminal-related series but that didn't mean she wanted to actively be in one.

    With the others worried and engaging in an intense debate on what would be the ideal thing to do with what they'd found out, Aaliyah couldn't help but rub her temples in hopes of calming her nerves.

"Are you okay?" Asks Kiara whose brow quirked up with a sense of worry. She noticed how out of it Aaliyah appeared and wanted to make sure that she was at least okay. Especially with what they'd found themselves in.

Shrugging, Aaliyah nodded. "I'm fine." With a sigh, she sits back on the couch. "I honestly just feel like I'm in a CSI: Miami episode. Minus the hot cops."

The screen door bursts open with a loud scraping sound, eventually, the stomping of sneakers imprinting onto the ground grows stronger as it is Pope who rushes inside the Chateau, panting. He was panicking over what had just happened and rightfully so. No teen in their right mind would be excited to willingly partake in what they were in. "Okay. So, um... we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia." He pointed at each of them making sure they heard his words. Once he got that out of the way, he made his way over to the space where Aaliyah sat.

"Actually, Pope's right for once," JJ started.

Quirking up a brow, Aaliyah turned her head over in JJ's direction. "You mean ninety percent of the time?"

   Pope managed to hide his smile this time.

    "See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny."

   Kiara shook her head. "Guys, we can't keep that money."

    "She's right. If they get ahold of it, they'll pull out a dusting kit, get JJ's fingerprints, and then we're headed straight to juvie." Aaliyah points out all while shaking her head in JJ's direction. Why did he have to take the gun and the money?

"Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, you guys." JJ shot out mainly looking at Aaliyah and Kiara.

Glaring at him, Aaliyah knew that he was somewhat right but still that didn't make it right. "Not everyone wants to go to jail, JJ."

    "Okay!" Raising a hand, Kiara tries to diffuse the argument before it turns into something even more. "We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too." Adds Pope his words directed in JJ's direction since he was the one who'd stolen the gun. "We gotta go dark."

    "If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." JJ accepts not before looking ahead of him into the yard.

    "I don't agree," It came from John B. His rejection of what they've proposed caused everyone to look at him with a brow raised. Just what else did he have in mind?

    "What? Why?"

    "Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about." He motioned to Aaliyah, who sat up just by his implication. "AJ, now you know this more than anyone since it's happened plenty of times before. He's the same dude that's buying individual cigarettes at the porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot cause he needed gas. He even came by at Tiki's hoping that you'd give him a discount on a shirt. A shirt! We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than forty bucks in his pocket and all of a sudden he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin."

   Aaliyah processed his words with a nod, finding his words easy to believe. John B did have a point and that's what scared her.

"So my question to you AJ is what can you make of this?"

   Immediately all eyes landed on her. Sighing, Aaliyah simply shrugged. "Hypothetically speaking a man like Scooter couldn't have gotten a boat like that just by the small jobs he's had—unless he's been saving for about five or six years. No person in their right mind would give him a boat with such significance unless it held a great amount of value. Let's say, for instance, he managed to steal it. If Scooter had the motive to steal something that big and expensive he couldn't have done it on his own. He had to have been working with someone. If I had to say who he might've done it with, it couldn't have been with someone in Kildare. Had to be on the mainland because you can't have too many traces."

It soon turned into silence with everyone looking at her hypothesis in disbelief. Pope could only turn to her with his eyes visibly wide. "Your mind scares me sometimes."

With a grin, Aaliyah turns to the others. "I'm just hypothetically speaking since I still don't like this. But think about it, why would everyone be searching for this boat if it meant nothing." Sitting back, she concludes her statement. "The question is who did he get it from and why."

Later that day, John B continued with his theories while Aaliyah jotted down some notes just in case something came up. Pope and JJ fished on the dock while the remaining three stood by and watched. "All right, so think about it, Pope. How does a marina rat get a Grady White? Keep in mind what AJ said." Said John B.

"Prostitution," Pope answered simply.

Aaliyah sighed. "Not what I had in mind but continue."

"Square groupers, bro. As Aaliyah said, he couldn't have done this by himself." John B continued. "Okay, flying under the radar, no aerial surveillance. They don't do that stuff during a hurricane. What does that mean? JJ?"

"They were straight smugglin."

"And I guarantee there's a serious amount of contraband in that wreck." He added.

"Hell yeah," JJ exhaled and his pole tugged in the water signaling he got a fish. "Fish on!"

Now back inside, Aaliyah had her foot propped up against John B's bed with Kiara sitting beside her. She listened as Pope came up with his theory based on what he's been told. "For the record, if that is a smuggling ship with illegal contraband on the inside of it, it probably belongs to someone else."

"Minor details," Kiara muttered in the back.

"They could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."

"Right. Well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." JJ recited while playing with the wad of money in his hands.

"Listen," Aaliyah chimed in with a wave of her hand. "I've watched enough crime movies to know that for us to not get in trouble because of one's actions we need to initiate step one of this so-called plan... and that is creating a diversion. What's one thing that'll have everyone together without the possibility of trouble happening? Ideas anyone."

JJ hums in agreement. "Our genius is right. All we need to do is get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Just act normal."

"Right, and how exactly do we do that?" Pope questioned, referring to Aaliyah's suggestion from earlier. "How do we act out step one of whatever the hell is happening right now."

It grew quiet until Kiara spoke up with a simple suggestion. "Kegger?"

• • •

Not much happens in the Outer Banks specifically in the island of Kildare. Despite being surrounded by a large body of water, it almost felt like a small town. Everyone knew each other. Secrets could never be kept a secret with word getting out a lot quicker than you'd think. Shopping at the same grocery store, learning the same things. But there was just one thing that managed to connect everyone, no matter what societal background they came from. The thing in particular gave out free beer and good vibes. So who's to say no to coming to a kegger? Keggers almost always took place at the Boneyard which turned into a cesspool of all walks of life. Everyone was welcome to come to the Boneyard. As long as you stay out of trouble of course.

    Due to the levels of classism that never seem the change and only heighten as the years go by. Let me give you insight into what those levels were. There were the Pogues, of course, the working class minority who had to fight tooth and nail to make it out of the South and when they did, their chances of coming back were unlikely.

Then there's the Kooks, the highest of the so-called hierarchy which many people would consider Kiara and Aaliyah as. Like most Kooks, they came from old money, attending out-of-the-country boarding schools, and trips to foreign countries whenever school was out. Lifting a finger never seemed to be an option. Or a chore. Aaliyah, ironically was one of them. There were two sides of Aaliyah Jackson. The first side was the more mild-mannered Aaliyah who grew up on Figure Eight, never got in trouble, grades were always A's and B's, was in attendance for Midsummers, lived on a large estate, attended Kildare Academy and that itself allowed her to get in a good university. To her parent's friends, she was the ideal poster child of what someone from Figure Eight should be. Could've been.

    Then came the other side of Aaliyah who spent her summers with her grandmother who lived in the Cut, fishing down at the marina with Pope, chugging down beer while being held upside down (she swears that she would never do it again), finding herself participating in protests about saving the turtle migration routes, and dragging her karaoke box to The Château where she'd challenge JJ in their respective renditions of classic songs. Aaliyah would never deny her background, she would never deny the obvious privilege that she'd been given due to her parents. But that doesn't mean she didn't work as equally hard. She had a job, and even with her getting an allowance she still saved money from her paycheck. No matter how out of place she might feel at times, Kildare Island was her home and that was that.

Now here's where it gets simple. They're not really on the hierarchy level since they come and go. In comes the Tourons. They were mainly sought after by the fact that they'd spend money on anything that had the names Kildare Island and Outer Banks on them. They were tourists who usually only visited for a week or two with their families. Although they weren't seen as much, they made a great summer fling.

Whenever it came to keggers, Aaliyah wasn't the type to get outwardly drunk without a mere thought of the consequences that came from it. She did enjoy having conversations. After taking a well-needed shower and packing extra clothes just in case, she'd make her rounds at the party before settling down in a comfortable spot with a boy.

    "I honestly think we as young people should use our voices for important conversations like voting," Aaliyah emphasized as she sat with a boy, his name was Michael and his family was on the island for vacation. "We're the future of the generation. So, we need to amplify our voices and make them heard."

The boy smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course. Honestly, it's rare to see a girl be so interested in politics."

"You have no idea. I can go on and on about my political views. It's fitting since I'm a part of the student body president." She proudly boasts.

Just a few feet away from them was Pope as he was thrown into a separate conversation with a girl. "It's kinda weird when on TV, we see people die and they kinda just sit there, but in actuality, they would be shitting and farting up a storm."

She didn't laugh. Aaliyah would have laughed. She laughed at anything he had to say, funny or not.

On the other side stood John B. Looking at them both he couldn't help but notice how, no matter how much they'd been thrown into conversations they found themselves glancing at each other. He wasn't so sure if it was on purpose or an accident. What he did know was that it wasn't just a coincidence.

JJ also stood next to him and watched the interaction himself. With a shake of his head, he turned his direction to John B. "How long do you think it will take until they decide to stop torturing each other and accept the fact that they like each other?" He questioned.

"At this point, I'd be eighty when they finally do."

Pope Heyward and Aaliyah Jackson. Lovers who have no idea of one's love for each other.

Pope had been undeniably in love with Aaliyah since the third grade. He didn't know it then, given that he was just a kid but he knew that she was the prettiest girl his eyes had landed on. Ironically, his father was best friends with her mother so they were bound to be around each other. Someday, with the right timing he'd tell her how he felt. Too bad he was a shy boy. Always quiet. Kept to himself. Smart. Observant. Always finding the need to point out the obvious when others couldn't. Aaliyah couldn't have been slightly different. Open. Social butterfly. Louder. Will end you in a debate. Bright as the sun. She was always dragging him along to her mini adventures or trips to the mainland.

    Aaliyah had to be the first person to get him to open up. It's one of the many reasons why JJ and John B became friends with her. Not to mention how smart she was. If you needed someone on her team, it was the best logical option to choose her. It was impossible not to fall in love with her.

Aaliyah always knew, deep down inside from the crevices of her caged heart that she loved Pope Heyward. Even if she didn't know if it came from being friends of straight-up lovers. She cared for him a lot and he was one of the few guys who hadn't managed to piss her off. She'd snuck off away from Midsummers and arrived at his bedroom window with a piece of cheesecake and champagne bottle in her hands (much to his surprise, she promised not to skip it), they were the thickest of thieves and only grew worse as time went on.

    They were best friends. Inseparable. Two peas in a pod. Pope, at times, couldn't pinpoint the reason why she even allowed him in her life to let out be friends with him. But what he did know was that they were in for a long time.

    The sun slowly went down, saccharine shades mixed in with baby pinks and blues washed away into the spectacle that is nighttime. The moon shined even brighter than before, waves picking up with motion creating an even stronger wind flow. Bringing her green jacket closer to her chest, she sat directly in front of the fire, listening as it crackled and popped from burnt wood touching its surface. She could use a s'more right now. It had been a minute since the Touran boy disappeared leaving her to bask in her thoughts, alone. Amongst the fire, sitting on the other side was Pope. By himself. Taking the opportunity, she got up from the log and made the round over to him. "Hey." She greets.

Looking up, Pope's lips stretched into a warm smile. "Hey, AJ. Having fun so far?"

Sitting in the space next to him on the log, Aaliyah merely shrugged. "It's been alright so far." He knew that she was lying hence why he chuckled. "So, what made you sit here all alone?"

"There's not much interesting people to talk to." I wanted to talk to you.

   "Tell me about it. By the looks of it, both John B and JJ swept them away." She joked and it caused the both of them to burst out into laughter.

   Their endearing conversation was put to an abrupt stop when a chorus of shouting, yelling, and the apparent slamming of bodies was heard. The pair looked over at the shoreline only to see JJ and John B enthralled in a brawl with Topper. Out of all people it had to be Topper Thornton whose grandfather was a part of the judicial branch. JJ was the first to get in Topper's face. "The one time I don't watch him is when he decides to get in some bullshit."

   "Isn't that all the time?"

    Aaliyah and Pope made their round towards them only to stop when Kiara made her way towards them. John B shoved Topper back with brute force making the teen boy grunt. "John B, we're supposed to be incognito, remember?" Pope reminded.

    That sentence itself got ignored with Topper punching John B.

  "So is anybody going to stop this?" Aaliyah points out glancing around as the audience seemed to egg it on.

   Topper proceeded to kick John B in the stomach which sent him rolling into the water.

   "Topper can you please, stop!" Aaliyah stopped as she began to take careful steps as to where the fight was happening.

   "Stay out of this, Aaliyah!" Grits out, Topper. He then turns to John B with a glint in his eye, that made her body chill. "Hey, John B, don't make me drown you like your old man, all right?"

    "Fight, fight, fight, fight!" The party crowd started chanting.

    Everything happened so fast with Aaliyah witnessed Sarah Cameron crying and screaming for her dear boyfriend to stop. Kiara gasped and shouted at Topper who was currently trying to drown their brunette friend.

   Trying to drown their friend. John B was going to die if nobody did anything. Why wasn't anyone trying to help?

   She then saw red. Aaliyah couldn't see or hear anything as she advanced where they fought, cold-hard dark eyes settling onto the blonde Kook. When she got there, she didn't hesitate to make her thoughts known. Ignoring both Kiara and Pope's shouts after her she stopped just in time.

Tapping Topper's shoulder he turned around only to gasp when her punch took him by surprise. Thankfully she was wearing a multitude of rings which made the impact even worse. She could hear quantities of JJ's joyous laughter when Topper yelled in pain and Aaliyah released another punch, this one directed towards his right eye. Topper regained some sense of control and pushed a battered John B away to look at Aaliyah.

She wasn't scared of him (never), she was just mad. Beyond mad. And maybe her anger was the reason why she was even in that predicament.

That fact, however, didn't mean she was stronger than him, so when he punched her right back, with a decent amount of force she stumbled back a bit. She knew Topper was an asshole but this takes the cake. Feeling blood drip from her lip, she spat it out before sending daggers in the blond boy's direction. Topper paid her no mind as he went back towards the brunette boy. JJ's rage had only escalated as he saw the Kook drowning his best friend but when he saw him punch Aaliyah, someone he considered as a little sister, he couldn't take it anymore.

Pope too saw red. The shyness and fear that once consumed him turned into boiling anger as he witnessed Topper putting his hands on someone he cared so deeply about. Not even realizing it, he rushed over to where Topper was headed and sent a blow directly to his jaw. They engaged in a short live brawl with Topper punching him across the cheek before getting dragged away by John B.

    Pope who was in a small daze, regained focus as to what he was even there for while Kiara screamed at him to calm down. He took Aaliyah's arm and cupped her face to see the bruise blossoming bruise on her lip and looked at the boy, a death oath shining in his angelic eyes. They'd get their second round real soon.

    JJ was just a couple of meters away and glanced at Aaliyah with an equal amount of concern.

    "I'm fine." She whispered for the both of them to hear. "But John B... he's going to drown him if neither of you stop him."

    Pope, with Kiara finally joining brought the disoriented girl to the side while JJ moved to put an end to this chaotic fight.

    "Yeah. You know what that is." He pressed the stolen gun to his thick empty skull and felt Topper freeze under him, tight knuckles holding his best friend underwater becoming still with fear. "Your move, broski."

    The people in the boneyard started screaming and running away as soon as they saw the gun but Sarah Cameron stayed.

    "Kie! AJ!" She shouted, scared. "Can you check your psycho friend, please!"

    Aaliyah was still in a daze to have a proper answer but she did have the strength to raise her middle finger in the blonde's direction. She was cool with Sarah it's just at the moment she wanted to kill her boyfriend. Kiara would have laughed but she was too worried about her two friends to engage in the fight or laugh at the situation. "How about you get your psycho boyfriend?"

Topper released John B and stood up, quickly getting away from JJ and grabbing Sarah's hand, trying to get away from the beach as soon as possible.

JJ's frantic eyes moved toward the Boneyard and raised his gun to the sky. "Okay, everyone, listen up!" He shouted and walked in a circle. "Get the hell off our side of the island!"

Loud and taking her by surprise, Aaliyah could only feel everything blurred around her, eyes growing bleak as two more shouts rang out. It soon grew dark.