kook or not, she's my best friend

as the night goes on, Sarah and I focus on dancing instead of talking to the elders around us. once she overhead people asking about my dad she dragged me onto the dance floor. we locked hands and twirled around, narrowly missing everyone around us.

Rafe makes his way over to us, reaching his hand out for me. "can I have this dance?" he asks with a smile. Sarah gags as I take his hand, causing me to laugh. "how much wine have you had?"

"not nearly enough, but by the smell of your breath I see you found some of your dad's whiskey." his mouth curves into a smirk, making my assumption correct.

"would you like me to make you drink? no one will even notice it has anything added into it." the offer was tempting, but I wanted to stay on my toes for John B's plan. however, I figure at this point, I could keep Rafe distracted.

plus, I kind of missed drinking with him.

"that sounds perfect."

Rafe gives me one last twirl before walking through the crowd. I make my way back to Sarah and start to dance with her. both of us are just swaying instead of dancing at this point, but it was still better than conversing with any of the adults.

someone taps on my shoulder, causing me to turn around assuming it was Rafe. to my surprise, it was JJ instead. "JJ?" Sarah questions, confusion all over her face. evidently the plan was officially in motion.

JJ puts a finger to his lips to shush her while he puts his hands on my waist and starts to dance with me to keep a low profile. "yep. I got a, uh, note from vlad." he explains to her. one of his hands move to give her the folded up paper.

"from... from vlad? you two know about that?"

"barely, but just enough." I give her a wink before JJ surprises me with a spin. "JJ, can you actually dance?"

"focus on the mission, darlin'." he whispers to me. I didn't realize that my cheeks were now hurting from how much I had been smiling since he'd shown up. "just read the note. now I have to go."

JJ places a kiss on my head before Sarah grabs my hand to pull me away. as I'm following her, I turn to catch a glimpse of JJ all dressed up before he leaves. my smile drops as soon as I see Rafe and Kelce stop JJ.

I wait for a moment as she opens the note, hoping that the boys will just leave JJ be and assume he does actually work here. unfortunately, I watch as JJ starts to back away only to be followed by them.

"Sarah, you'll have to do this on your own." I tell her before breaking my hand away from hers.

the crowd of people makes it difficult for me to follow them exactly, but I soon find out I just have to follow the commotion. there was a knocked over chair in the dining area along with some shocked faces on most of the people.

damn they were all so much faster.

just when I think I've lost them, I see a familiar face that I'd seen hang out with Rafe before. the boy quickly rushes into the men's locker room so I slowly follow behind.

when I peak into the room, I see Kelce holding JJ in a headlock while Rafe leans closer to him. "your face looks really bad. starting to look like your dad a lot more." Rafe teases, and my blood starts to boil. before I can step into the room, someone grabs me from behind.

"looks like we've got a snoop, guys." the boys hand squeeze my arms as he pushes me into the locker room behind where Kelce is standing. Rafe smirk drops from his face as I struggle against the other guy's grip. "someone's in trouble."

"yo, I would let her go. that's Rafe's girl."

"you don't want to fuck with her bro."

"she's pogue trash now. you should get tested after touching her."

"fuck you." I snap, but the guy holding me just nudges me further into the room. JJ begins to kick against Kelce when he sees me, but it doesn't help. Rafe doesn't say anything while I stare at him.

"what are you gonna do, Rafe? better reprimand your girl."

"maybe she needs to be taught a lesson."

"all of you are shitheads. every single one of you." I couldn't believe the words I was hearing, and the fact that Rafe had yet to intervene only made the sick feeling in my stomach grow. here I was, surrounded by a group of misogynistic douchebags. JJ couldn't help me at all.

"everyone shut up." Rafe finally interrupts, holding his hand up. a slight spark of hope ignites inside of me as he looks at me. finally, the Rafe I know standing up. "Jake, take her out of here. I'll deal with her later."

"deal with me later?"

and the moment was gone. as the guy I assume was Jake grabs my wrist, my jaw drops while I look at Rafe. he avoids my gaze and the rest of the guys just laugh. leaving only JJ to say, "you never deserved her, Rafe."

Rafe quickly brings his arm back, about to punch JJ, but before he can the lights start to flicker. "gentlemen! is there a problem?" a security guard walks into the room, and Kelce quickly lets go of JJ. the guy holding me lets go as well, so I grab onto JJ's arm.

"pardon me, officer. no, there's not an issue. I just... actually, yes. no, there is an issue. uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress here. beep! call it in right." JJ rambles on, only causing me to become more confused. "blatant disrespect for private property. I'm in violation of all kinds of shit, sir. but these young gentleman caught me sir."

"and the lady?" the guard questions, gesturing to me. I was almost sure he could read my body language as I held onto JJ for dear life.

"I invited him here, so I'm responsible for him." I lie through my teeth, elbowing JJ slightly.

"you should take us away, escort us out of here. you guys got me." JJ holds his hands up, and the security guard takes his arm. I follow close behind, not wanting to look back at Rafe. "you powerpuff girls have fun!"

"hope you enjoy my leftovers, JJ!"

I couldn't believe the words that leave Rafe's mouth. JJ slips out of the guard's hands and rushes for him, only to be stopped short by Kelce before the guard grabs him again. before I follow them out, I stop in the doorway for a moment to stare at Rafe.

his eyes seem sad and filled with regret, but he would never admit it in front of his friends. and that hurt more than anything. I would rather him be fully committed to his venomous words. I shake my head slightly, and then turn to follow the guard.

JJ is causing quite the commotion when I catch up to them, making people stare at us. I give apologetic waves to so many people. especially the Carrera's, who give me a worried look.

"let go of him!" Kiara suddenly shouts, making everyone turn to look. "you can't just boot him! I invited him here. I'm a member of this club."

when the guard gives me a confused glance, JJ shoves him away before grabbing my hand and starting to run.

"hey, mandatory power hour at rixon's, Kie! Pope, you as well all right? rixon's cove, let's roll." JJ points right to Pope, who can only watch.

"come on guys!" I exclaim after JJ, a smile forming on my face. "Kie, come on!"

when Kiara starts to sprint towards us, I cheer. Pope quickly follows as we all start to run off from the party and towards John B who was waiting. I run into John B's arms as Kiara runs into JJ's, before I give Pope a hug as well.

and while I felt like I was on a high, I ran off into the night with my friends.

————

as everyone settles down by the fire, I sit down cross-legged next to JJ and rest my head on his shoulder.

"hey, guys. my dad's already gonna kill me, so what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope questions with a raised eyebrow, looking towards John B for answers.

John B shoots finger guns at JJ, who says, "might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."

"so. the gold never went down with the royal merchant." and there it was, straight from John B's lips.

"oh my god. here we go again with this." Pope sighs, causing me to nudge him. he looks at me and sighs. "are we really entertaining this?"

"no. all right, wait. hear him out, all right?" JJ warns Pope, before turning in Kiara's direction. she holds her hands up in defense and doesn't say a word.

"it's been here the whole time. it's on the island."

"are you serious?" Kiara's jaw drops and her eyes go wide with shock. "oh my god."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism."

"Pope!" JJ, Kiara, and I all groan.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B asks as he stands up. "so, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"who the hell's that?"

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the royal merchant wreck. check this out." John B hands Kiara a paper to look at as he continues explaining. "okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad found the complete manifest. that was his big discovery."

"way to go Big John." I mutter, making JJ quietly snort.

John B continues on. "so Tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom. after that, he bought his farm." Kiara whistles to me before passing me the paper, so I pass it over to Pope to look at. "drumroll, please, because that farm is... tannyhill plantation."

we all stop drum rolling on our legs as Kiara exclaims, "tannyhill?"

"yeah. so after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him."

"of course they did." Pope mutters under his breath. 

"so on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"why do I feel like we're in some sort of Indiana Jones movie?" I whisper to JJ. he cracks a smile before grabbing my hand.

"harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. except there's no wheat." John B pauses for suspense with a grin on his face. "you see, wheat is code for gold. check this out. the gold is in parcel nine, near the water. all we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"back in the g game!" JJ shouts, high-fiving me with excitement. he stands up from next to me and makes his way around the fire before grabbing John B in a big bear hug, lifting him off the ground.

"hello! fire! you're near the fire. you're gonna burn."

"I'm so proud of you right now."

"thank you, that's really sweet of you."

"aw, look at you two lovebirds. almost makes me sick." I tease the two. JJ turns and raises an eyebrow at me before coming back and hugging me, maybe even squeezing a little tighter than usual.

"okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true. so what's the plan?" Pope asks John B, setting the paper to the side.

"good question. so, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight, she'll bring an original survey map-"

"wait wait. hold on. Sarah? why Sarah?" I glance over at Kiara with a warning look on my face, but she only focuses on John B.

"this is gonna be good." JJ says softly, looking down at the ground.

"um, she got me into the archives in chapel hill yesterday and that's where I got the letter." the stuttering in John B's voice doesn't play in his favor.

Kiara almost looks offended. "you were in chapel hill with Sarah Cameron?"

"he was mackin' on her." I pinch JJ's arm, causing his smirk to falter.

"I wasn't macking."

"you were totally macking Sarah Cameron."

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access."

"there was access, all right."

"enough!" I shout to get the two boys to stop. "let's not talk about anyone macking my best friend, okay? if we're saying anything we're saying John B was totally kissing her. because you were, dude."

"did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara questions, growing increasingly mad by the second.

"I left out key details." John B tells her, trying to salvage the conversation.

"yo, what? you let a kook in on our secret?" Kiara exclaims as her frustration reaches its boiling point. I feel a slight stab to my heart, but don't take it personally. "what about pogue lyfe? what about the t-shirt company, bro?"

"I was just using her for information."

"why don't I believe you?"

I stand up from my seat and everyone looks in my direction. "listen, Kiara. kook or not, she's my best friend. if you want to talk about kooks then maybe I shouldn't even be here. and John B, I swear to god if you say you used Sarah for information I will knock your lights out. the disrespect, man." after I say that, I turn around and start walking away. "come get me when you two are done being pissy babies."

five minutes later, I hear footsteps come up behind me. when I turn to look JJ gives me a soft smile. "c'mon babe. you can't take what Kiara says personally." he takes my hand in his and uses the other hand to brush a piece of hair out of my face.

"I don't. but Sarah is my best friend, I can't just stand by and let either of them talk about her like that." I explain to him, hoping he doesn't feel the same way Kiara does.

"I made Kiara promise not to talk any more about Sarah tonight, at least not when you're there. is that okay?"

"thank you. let's just go meet Sarah and get the maps."

the sick feeling in my stomach continued to grow as we walked back towards the van. if only Kiara knew what I knew about Sarah and John B.

————