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All right, keep a look out.” JJ stated as the twinkie pulled up outside a hotel. “We're behind enemy lines.” 

“Yo, come on, man.” John B complained,  causing Eli look over, noticing the gun in JJ’s hand. “Just put it back.” 

“What? You can never be too careful.” 

“JJ, I swear to God,” Eli warned as she leaned over and stared at him. “Get. Rid. You promised you wouldn't use it for something stupid.”

“I didn't say anything about not having it on me,” the blonde shrugged as he turned to look at her.

Pope rolled his eyes as he jumped out of the van, and moved to lean against the passenger door where JJ was sitting. “Hey, I predict that bringing a weapon to a four star hotel will likely cause more problems than they solve.” 

“I swear to God,” Kie complained as she stuck her head beside Eli to stare at the blonde. “I'm gonna throw that thing in the ocean, JJ, put it back.” 

Eli let out a laugh as she turned to John B in the driver's seat, who had his eyes closed and a hand resting against his forehead in disappointment. 

The blue-haired girl yoinked the gun from the blonde, making sure to hide it in the back of the van before getting out and sliding the door to a close.

“There you go.”

“You can't grab a gun like that,” JJ stated as he climbed out. “Oo, can't forget my badge. Professional busboy,” he said as he spun his badge around his finger. 

“So, where are we going now?” Pope questioned as the teens made their way towards the side entrance of the hotel. 

“We're getting on the Internet because only rich people have electricity right now,” JJ declared as he pointed towards an entrance. “This way.”

“I would have dressed nicer if we were coming here,” Eli mumbled as they walked through the kitchen, awkwardly smiling at the workers who were familiar with the blonde Maybank boy. 

“See, they got the backup generators going, ” JJ pointed out as they made it to the hallway. “Kooks don't miss a beat.” 

The teens tried to act natural as they walked through the hotel, sighing in relief as JJ finally led them into an empty room full of computers. 

“Sweet lord, the Internet,” Pope exclaimed as he ran towards the closest computer and sat down, breathing out a sigh of relief. “I've missed you.” 

“Let me get in there,” JJ hastily spoke as he sat down next to Pope. “Gotta check my insta models.”

“We don't have time for that,” Kie hissed.

Eli sat down at a computer station that was opposite to  Pope, immediately getting to work. “I gotta check in on my boyfriend.” 

JJ sat up straight and stared at the girl over the computer with furrowed brows. “What boyfriend?” 

Eli didn't even bother to look at the boy, eyes still fixed on her screen. “Don't worry about it.” What JJ didn't need to know was how she was actually just making sure her favourite artist hadn't released a new album in the time she was away from the Internet. 

“Phew,” she spoke to herself as she exited the Web browser, before walking to stand behind Pope to stare at his computer. 

“Hey, hey, hey, I got the map,” John B whispered as he slammed down a map beside Pope. 

“Coordinates, please?”

“34° 57’ 30” north. 75° 55’ 42” west.”

Eli simply stared as Pope typed it into google earth. John B might as well be speaking a different language. 

The group leaned in closer in interest as the map zoomed in, pinpointing an area on the Outer Banks. 

“Boom, continental shelf right there,” John B said with a smile. 

“Well, if it's off the deep end, it's not gonna be much of a treasure hunt, is it?” 

JJ and Eli turned their head towards the door in panic as unfamiliar voices started to get louder. 

“Shit, it's on the high side,” John B exclaimed. “It's only 900 feet.” 

“That's not too deep.” 

Kie and Eli looked at each other, clearly not understanding. 

“900 sounds like a lot,” Eli stated with raised brows.

“Yeah, is that doable or something?” Kie queried. 

“Yeah, totally doable,” JJ nodded.

Pope looked up at the boy. “Will we be taking your personal submarine?” 

“How do you know this, Mr Dive Master?” John B questioned in disbelief. 

“The salvage yard,” JJ responded without missing a beat, looking between the group. “They got a drone that can drop 1000. It has a 360 camera and everything. It's for, like, deep dives and stuff. It's exactly what we need.” 

“Can your dad get his grimy little hands on that?” 

JJ stared for a few moments, awkwardly scratching his forehead. “Well, my dad's grimy little hands got his ass fired.” 

Eli rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

“I guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shit-faced, turns out. But the drone's there. It's in the impound yard out back.”

“How much did you say was on the Merchant again?” Kie questioned as she looked at John B. 

“Four hundred mill.” “four hundred million.” JJ and John B answered in unison. Pope suddenly jumped out of his chair and ran towards the door, throwing his back against it with his arms stretched out. An attempt to block their exit.

“Four hundred million dollars?” Kie confirmed as she stood up, moving towards the door with JJ

“No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. No!” Pope fought, trying to block Kie and JJ from leaving. 

“Pope, move,” Kie ordered as she lightly pushed him, the boy not showing much resistance as he moved immediately.

“Guys that's too-”

“Come on.” 

“Can't we do anything legal for money?” Pope questioned as he hastily followed them out.

Eli made sure to close the browser to hide any evidence, when she noticed the date and time in the corner of the screen. 

“Oh shit,” she said as quickly caught up with John B, who turned to her in curiosity. 

“What's wrong?” 

“I can't come with you guys to the salvage yard,” she said with a sigh as they followed the others out of the building. “ I completely forgot that I have to see my grandmother about something.” Eli pulled out her phone to check the time again. “In like half an hour. Could you drop me off along the way?” 

“Yeah, of course,” John B said with a smile as he slung an arm around her, making their way to the van. 

True to his word, John B dropped off Eli at the gate of the Harrington Estate, home of her grandparents, her father’s parents. The owners of Harrington Tech, one of the big companies in the area which supplied state of the art tech to various businesses.

Valentine was actually Talia’s maiden name, which she decided to keep after marriage due to loving the family name so much. Jason Harrington was more than thrilled with the idea of taking his wife’s surname rather than keeping his own, much to his parent’s dismay.

It was no secret that Eli was the cherished  grandchild of the Harrington family, but there were a surprising number of stupid Kooks who never put two and two together. Her grandmother had tried to admit her to the kook academy for middle school, but Eli had thrown such a big tantrum that the decision was scrapped almost immediately and she ended up going to the same school as  JJ. Hence why she wasn't a familiar face within the kook circle.

The only time Eli spent in Figure Eight was to visit her grandparents and to help at her mother’s cafe, and the rest of the time was spent on The Cut with her best friends. It wasn’t surprising that most people saw her as a dirty pogue, but honestly, Eli preferred that. Unfortunately for Eli, people like Topper and Rafe were aware of her bloodline, and always trying to convince her to leave the pogues. You would think they would get the hint after about half a decade. 

The girl took a deep breath as she walked through the front door of the mansion, immediately greeted by none other than Cecelia Harrington, her grandmother. 

“Good afternoon, sweetie,” the older lady greeted as she pulled the girl in for a hug, quickly placing a kiss on both cheeks. 

“Hi, Grandma,” Eli responded with a smile as she pulled away. “Why did you want to see me today?”

“Can’t a woman spend some time with her granddaughter?” Cecelia questioned as she held Eli by the shoulders. “I’d like for you to join us for dinner, but first…” she trailed off as she eyed Eli’s outfit. “Why don’t you get changed into something a bit more appropriate. I’ve left an outfit for you in your room.”

Eli awkwardly looked down at her clothes, which consisted of a simple oversized tee that was slightly faded, and denim shorts that had slight rips in them. The blue-haired girl wasn’t offended by the fact her grandmother didn’t approve of her clothes, and more offended by the fact she had already laid out an outfit because she assumed Eli’s clothes wouldn’t be appropriate before even seeing her.

The girl quickly made her way upstairs to her room, quickly changing into the semi-formal top and nice skirt that fell to her knees. Surprisingly, it wasn’t an outfit that Eli hated, meaning her grandmother must have actually tried to find something that they would both approve of. 

With one last look in the mirror, the blue-haired girl made her way down the stairs and towards the dining room, dropping her jaw as she saw a familiar boy seated at the table. 

“What are you doing here?” 

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some eli lore ooOoo

Nova x