As always, their group has taken the HMS Pogue out into the water. Vera and Kie are sunbathing while John B steers the boat, Pope standing next to him and JJ sitting at the bow.

JJ whistles suddenly, grabbing their attention as he nods to a boat they're heading toward. "You guys see that? That's the Malibu 24-MXZ, the world's finest wakesetter. Number one in luxury, quality, and performance. 200k, easy."

"We picked the wrong parents." Pope points out.

"I hate to break it to you guys, but that's Topper and his girlfriend." Kie points out just as their boats cross paths. Sarah lifts her yellow sunglasses up as they pass, looking them up and down condescendingly. Vera waves mockingly, smirking when Topper clenches his jaw when he sees her.

"You don't have to act like you don't see us, bitch!" Kie calls after them, and Vera laughs as she nudges their shoulders together.

"Aren't you glad you've got us as friends instead?" She laughs, because she'd take the Pogues over Sarah Cameron any day.

"Every damn day." Kie smiles at her, forgetting all about Sarah Cameron.

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"Alright. Keep a lookout." JJ warns them as John B parks the Twinkie. "We're behind enemy lines."

"Yo, come on, man." John B's protest has her sitting up from the back seat, seeing that JJ has grabbed his gun out of the glove compartment. "Just put it back."

"What?" JJ asks as he loads it.

"JJ."

"You can never be too careful."

"Hey." Pope moves to lean against JJ's door. "I predict that bringing a weapon to a four-star hotel will likely cause more problems than they solve."

"Thank you, Pope."

"Listen to Pope." Vera sighs. "This is not the place to have that thing, Jay."

"I swear to god, I'm gonna throw that thing in the ocean, JJ." Kie sighs, jumping out of the van. "Put it back!"

John B snatches it from him, grabbing it by the barrel and shoving it back in the glove department.

"You can't grab a gun like that!" JJ protests, and Vera scoffs.

"Says the guy waving it around everywhere." She reminds him, still mad about him aiming it at her, John B, and Pope the day he first got it.

"Can't forget my badge." JJ laughs as he grabs his key card. "Professional busboy."

"So, where are we going now?" Pope asks.

"We're getting on the internet because only rich people have electricity right now." JJ reminds him, leading the way as he clips his badge to his shorts. "This way!"

"Andrew!" He calls as they pass through the kitchen, and Vera waves, knowing the crew. "What's up, bro? Mama L, good to see you." He tries to grab a piece of shrimp off of the plate she's about to bring out, but she slaps his hand away while John B acts shocked by his actions, his mouth open wide.

"JJ!"

"You're a bad, bad boy." Vera shakes her finger at him. "Don't worry, Mama L, we'll get him for you."

"See, they got the backup generators going?" JJ whispers to them. "Kook's don't miss a beat."

They reach the computer room soon enough, and Pope rushes to the computer as soon as JJ has opened the door for them.

"Sweet lord, the internet! I've missed you!"

"Let me get in there." JJ tries to shove him aside while Vera grabs a seat, her body feeling beyond sore after the non-stop activity of the last few days. "Gotta check out my Insta models."

"We don't have time for that." Kie scoffs while Pope snags a computer, sitting in front of it and typing while John B grabs the map from his bag.

"I got the map!"

"Coordinates, please?"

"34° 57' 30" north. 75° 55' 42" west." John B reads off for Pope, while they all gather around the computer and eagerly wait for the results. "Boom! Continental shelf right there."

"Okay, well, if it's off the deep end, it's not gonna be much of a treasure hunt, is it?" Pope asks him while Vera gapes at the computer screen.

"Not it on diving again." She tells them, shaking her head in disbelief. Voices come closer from outside, and she quickly turns on the other computer, pulling up Instagram so that they have a ruse if needed. She has to bat JJ's hands away when he tries to type some random girl's username into the search bar, laughing at him. "Look, do that shit on your own time."

"I literally can't."

"Not my problem, Jayj." She retorts just as the computer finally gives them a more accurate reading.

"Shit, it's on the high side." John B notes happily. "It's only 900 feet."

Only?

"That's not too deep." JJ pitches in, while Pope and Vera give him incredulous looks.

"Is that doable or something?" Kie asks, and Vera rolls her eyes as she shakes her head.

"No."

"Yeah." JJ disagrees, giving her a confused look. "Totally doable."

"Will we be taking your personal submarine?" Pope backs her up, and Vera reaches over to give him a low five, laughing.

"How do you know this, Mr. Dive Master?" John B questions JJ.

"The salvage yard." JJ answers as if they should've thought of that. Vera sends Pope a confused look, only for him to look just as lost. "They got a drone that can drop 1,000. It has a 360 camera and everything. It's for, like, deep dives and stuff. It's exactly what we need."

"Okay, now we're talking." Vera approves, grinning at him. "Nice thinking, JJ."

"Can your dad get his grimy little hands on that?" John B asks, but Vera frowns.

"The fuck do we need Luke for?" She questions, genuinely offended by the thought of going to him for help. He's a worthless piece of shit. "JJ, do you know the layout? The two of us can get it."

"My dad's grimy little hands got his ass fired." JJ admits to John B. "I guess the salvage captain frowns on turning up shitfaced, turns out. But Vera's right, I do know the layout. The drone's in the impound yard out back."

"How much did you say was on the Royal Merchant again?" Kie asks them.

"400 mil."

"Yeah, we're doing this." JJ smirks at Vera, just as Pope gets up and rushes to block the door.

"Pope, don't even try." Vera laughs as she logs out of both computers, moving to join the others as they pull Pope away from the door. "Look, you don't have to do any actual thieving. You can be lookout!"

"Guys!" He tries while Vera pulls him away from the door, which Kie yanks open. "That's too–"

"Don't you want to buy those college textbooks?" Vera teases him, patting him on the cheek before pulling him into the hallway with her.

"Can't we do anything legal for money?"

"No. Where's the fun in that?" She asks, smiling to herself when he sighs loudly but follows them anyway.

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"Pope, we're not stealing the drone." John B assures him as they drive to the salvage yard. "We're borrowing it."

"Human's are the only animal that can't tell fantasy from reality." Pope tells them, his arms crossed as he stares out the window. He's in the back with JJ, who is rolling a blunt, and Vera, who is giving herself a stick and poke smiley face tattoo on the side of her knee. It comes out a little wonky, considering that she's in a moving vehicle, but that's how she likes her tattoos: imperfect, messy. None of that perfect fine line shit.

"Did you come up with that?" John B asks, impressed.

"Albert Bernstein came up with that, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing."

"Oh."

"So, which is it?" Pope asks, finally pulling his eyes away from the window and uncrossing his arms. "Fantasy or reality?"

"Why are you so weird, Pope?" JJ asks, his gaze focused on his joint but a small smile curving his lips.

"It's fantasy, but possible reality." Kie answers.

"Reality." John B answers firmly, sharing a smile with Kie in the front.

"Virtual reality." JJ answers, his words muffled by the joint in his mouth. He flicks open his lighter, the silver one with JJ carved into the front, but before he can light it, Pope snatches it and flicks it out of the window. JJ gives him a betrayed look while Pope smirks in his face.

"Keep the signal clear."

"What do you think, Vee?" John B questions, and Vera looks up. She's been tilting her arm side to side, trying to decide on her next tattoo, but she abandons her kit to focus on her friends instead.

"I think . . . insane reality." She decides, shrugging when Pope rolls his eyes. "I mean, no offense, but I assumed you were wrong about your dad leaving you notes. You were right. I'm hoping that you're right about this one, 'cause I really want to get that beach house."

"I am right, and we'll get that." John B insists, pulling up to Kie's house, where her First Gen Nissan Xterra is parked with the HMS attached to the back.

"You know what your problem is?" JJ asks Pope.

"You?"

"No! It's that you need to relax, man. You're always so tense!" JJ reaches out, massaging Pope's shoulders, and Vera has to look away as she fights her smile. Whatever they have going on is too cute sometimes.

"I'm not too tense!"

Kie gets out of the van and gets in her own car after exchanging a few words with John B. She'd asked Vera to come with her, but Vera would rather be part of the heist than flirt with the security guard.

The plan is simple: Kie pulls up to the gate of the salvage yard, getting the security guard's attention, and asking for help with a flat tire. JJ assured them that the guard's are sleazy enough that they would jump for the chance to help a cute teenager--trying to get Vera to do it, which was met with a firm no. Once he was distracted, the real fun begins.

"How's it going with Kiara?" JJ asks John B from where they're hiding off to the side, watching the guard grab a bag to help her.

"It's not awkward, weird, or anything." John B answers sarcastically while JJ snorts.

"Honestly, I did not think you were gonna actually listen to me." JJ admits.

"What?"

"I was 100 percent sure she was into you." JJ assures him, not wanting him to think he personally led him astray. "Pope would agree."

"Eh."

"She was giving major crush vibes." Vera admits, smiling. "No offense to your broken heart or whatever, but I am glad it didn't work out. Not only did I get 20 bucks out of these suckers, but our rule is still intact. No Pogue--"

"On Pogue macking." The boys sigh out, finishing her sentence, and Vera frowns when JJ and Pope share a commiserating look. What's that all about?

As soon as the guard is looking at Kie's back tire, the four of them are rushing past a ton of cards and to the gate. They slip in right before it finishes shutting, with Vera's t-shirt getting snagged for a second, leaving a hole in it. JJ leads the way to a giant storage container, holding a post it note with the combination on it and getting to work while John B and Pope keep lookout.

It doesn't open when JJ tugs, and Vera snatches the note from him, trying it herself.

"Do you have the right numbers?" Pope asks JJ when that also doesn't work.

"Alright. So I might have the wrong numbers." JJ admits, grimacing at them.

"Ah, damn it!" Pope exclaims, just in time for a guard dog to come rushing at them, barking loudly. Vera jumps back, her heart in her throat.

"Oh! Hey!"

"That's a cougar!" John B panics, running away while JJ tries to calm it down.

"Hi! No, stay there! Good boy! No, you're okay!" JJ and Vera rush a few feet away, while Pope stays frozen in front of the dog. "Pope, run!"

Instead of running, Pope grabs a metal pipe from behind him, swinging it in the air in front of him and aggravating the dog more. "Back off! Back off!"

"I got a toy, boy!" JJ holds up a bean bag, and the dog instantly takes off in his direction while Vera moves around the other side of the boat to get to Pope. "Wait, no! I was just kidding! Shit! Okay, sit!"

He takes off at a sprint while Vera grabs Pope's hand, tugging him in the other direction, back to the Twinkie.

"Go first." Vera hisses, pushing him to the gate. He doesn't have the best track record with fence hopping, so she's hoping this will save them some time.

"What about JJ?" He worries, his breath coming out in shallow gasps, clearly still scared out of his mind.

"It's JJ, he'll be fine." She promises. "He'll meet us at the Twinkie."

She gives him a push over the top, watching as he rolls to the ground on the other side of the gate, and then she hefts herself up. She swings her legs over with practiced ease, hopping down and pulling him straight to the van.

Somehow, John B managed to steal the drone in all of that chaos.

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"Stealing drones makes you hungry." Kie laughs as John B parks the Twinkie at The Wreck, all of them rushing out.

"What I would do to a beer and fish and grits right now." JJ moans, being the first one out of the back.

"It would not be pretty." Pope agrees.

"I just want sweet tea and shrimp before I head over to Bernie's." Vera admits, feeling beyond tempted to call off her shift at the 24/7 waterside diner: Barefoot Bernie's. The owner was a lovely old woman named Bernadette (yes, the place was named after her and not a man) though, so there was no chance of her skiving off. She'd feel like dirt.

"Doesn't Bernie always feed you?"

"Yeah, but like, pies and stuff. I want shrimp." She groans out, leading the way to the door and holding it open for the others. JJ salutes her on his way in, and Pope trips John B up.

"Hey, dad!" Kie greets as she heads straight to him. Vera waves at him, receiving one in return. "How'd we do?"

"Didn't turn it over once." Mark tells her, sighing as he walks around the counter to pull her into a hug.

"It's probably just bad luck because of the storm." Kie tells him, trying to be optimistic.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell the banks that."

"Guess now is not the best time to ask for free food for me and my friends?" Kie asks, pulling away from the hug. Mike sighs, giving her a long look before he turns to look at them huddled in the entry way.

"Look at them." He sighs. "They're greedy pelicans."

"So hungry." John B growls, and Vera leans in close to his face, pretending that she's going to bite him.

"I thought I told you to stop hanging around these guys."

"You just told me to invite Vera to dinner." Kie tries.

"Vera works hard, and her parent's are good people."

Jim and Marlene, you mean, Vera thinks with disdain. Mike is always trying to convince her to adopt the Kook lifestyle, hoping that his daughter will join her. He doesn't respect that they are who they are. Don't get her wrong, she's beyond thankful to him for the job, which is why she lets those comments go—most of the time.

"Well, everybody at the Kook Academy hates me, dad." Kie points out, her eyes watering.

"'Cause you never gave them a chance."

"I did give them a chance! They got all stuck up on me. I mean, they care more about shoes than surfing. What am I supposed to do with that?"She turns her head, smiling at the sight of Vera and John B playing Miss Mary Mack. John B wins. "These are my friends."

John B and Pope wave while JJ throws up a peace sign. Vera just smiles at him, feeling incredibly awkward as they wait for him to either throw them out or agree to feed them.

Mike chuckles, giving in. "Well, I--I got--I gotta throw it out. Might as well take it."

Kie beams and throws her arms around his neck, and Vera has to look away, jealousy hitting her hard.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. I'll bring it out."

Kie calls for them to sit down, but Vera moves past her, following Mike into the kitchen.

"Do you want some help?" She asks him, hovering in the doorway. He looks up at her words, giving her a warm smile as he nods, gesturing to the fryer. They work in silence for a minute, Vera loading french fries and chicken tenders into the fryer while Mike plates up baskets of fish and shrimp. "Thank you, for this. We all really appreciate it."

"I know you do." He sighs, shaking his head. "It's fine. How're you holding up after Agatha?"

"We're good." Vera nods, wishing they had music playing back here like they normally do. "There were a few trees pulled out, but nothing too bad. We'll make it through."

"Have you stopped by your mom's house?" He asks her, and she desperately wishes the chicken would cook faster. "Checked out the damages? It'd be nice for them to know what they're coming back to."

"No, uh, I've been busy. Working." She gives him a thin smile. "That's a good idea though. I'll do that."

"If you need any help, let me know." He offers, setting the baskets on a tray for her to carry out. "I made some raspberry tea earlier, do you want the rest of it?"

"Oh, absolutely." She perks up, giving him a real smile now. "Thank you, Mr. C!"

"It's Mike!" He calls after her while she dumps the fries and chicken tenders into a basket, quickly scooping up the tray and heading out to the lobby, where the others perk up at the sight of the food.

Kie gets John B to dance with her, and Vera smiles as she watches them before she's pushing herself up, ignoring the way that her feet protest the action. She pulls JJ up, and then Pope, twirling between the two of them and encouraging them to dance with each other as well as with her. The five of them move around each other with ease, and Vera laughs while JJ and Pope do their best attempts of ballroom dancing with her.

She's upset when she catches sight of the time and has to pull away from them, but she loves that the two boys continue dancing with each other as she slips out the back door.

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"Hi, Bernie. How's business today?" Vera beams as she walks through the diner's doors, smiling at the old woman as she quickly pulls on a pink Barefoot Bernie's sweatshirt. It's got a picture of the shack on the front, with footsteps leading up to it. By this point, she owns it in every color.

"Slow, but that's expected after the hurricane." Bernie sighs, nudging her to the side so that she can set a plate on the counter in front of her. "Agatha's been a real bitch."

"Damn straight." Vera nods, tying an apron around her waist.

"There's some men having a business meeting, they asked to be left alone aside from coffee refills." Bernie nods to the table. "And a girl's been sitting by herself in that corner seat you love. She hasn't talked to me."

Vera isn't sure who she expected to see, but it certainly wasn't Sarah Cameron.

She's wearing a pink string bikini, and she's got her wet hair shoved out of her face, falling in limp waves behind her ears. Her knees are pulled to her chest and she's sat in the corner of the booth, staring blankly at the table in front of her.

Vera takes a deep breath, grabbing a slice of apple pie from the kitchen. Sarah only looks up when she sets it in front of her, surprise flickering in her eyes for a second.

"I didn't order anything." She says quietly while Vera gets a closer look at her. She's shivering, despite the diner not being cold, and her right hand keeps tapping at the table. An anxious tick that Vera recognizes.

She doesn't say anything, simply sliding the plate closer to her until Sarah reluctantly picks up her spoon, her eyes sliding shut in pleasure at the first mouthful. Vera slides into the booth across from her, pulling her sweatshirt over her head.

"Here." She offers quietly, sliding it across the counter. Sarah opens her eyes, looking at the offering wearily, as if it'll bite her. Vera rolls her eyes. "I mean, if you want to stay cold, I'll take it back."

"No!" Sarah quickly snatches it up, pulling it over her head. Her hair gets caught in it for a moment, and Vera has to pull her hand back as it automatically moves to fix it for her. She's not sure that would be appreciated. "Th—thank you."

"Don't mention it." Vera shrugs it off, looking across the diner. The business men still have half a pot of coffee left, and Bernie is getting ready to leave, waving at Vera as she grabs her keys off the hook. It's just her working until the morning, when Bernie comes back in.

Vera lets the silence build until it feels too oppressive, and then she's speaking again.

"So . . . where's your entourage? Is Topper gonna run in here and try to drown me for daring to speak to you?"

Sarah doesn't respond with anger the way Vera had expected her to. Instead, she flinches. Vera tracks the movement, suddenly much more concerned about what she's doing here, looking so downtrodden.

"He wouldn't—he's not—" Sarah stops, taking a shaky breath before she continues. "He wouldn't do that."

"No? That's just reserved for John B, then?" Vera points out, shaking her head. "What'd he do?"

"What?"

"Topper. He clearly did something." She points out, reaching over and stealing Sarah's spoon, scoping up some of the pie for herself. She makes a point of grabbing a lot of the vanilla ice cream, since that's her favorite part.

"Since when do you care?" Sarah snaps, glaring at her while she smiles.

"I don't, really." She says breezily, enjoying getting a rise out of the girl. "It's a boring shift, and you're sitting here like a drowned cat, so."

"Right, and we're not friends." Sarah says bitterly. Vera points the spoon at her, agreeing.

"Exactly."

Vera gets another two bites of apple pie in before Sarah is snatching the spoon back, glaring at her. Vera just laughs, leaning back in her booth and meeting the poisonous look head on. Sarah gives in first.

"Why'd you never reach out?" She bursts, flushing red instantly. It's obvious that she didn't plan on saying that. "I mean, um . . ."

"I didn't really see a reason to." Vera tells her honestly, and Sarah's eyes shoot to hers. Vera isn't sure if she's more surprised by the answer or the honesty. "Was there a reason?"

Sarah looks away, clenching her jaw for a moment before she asks a question of her own, surprising Vera this time.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

Does she think I have amnesia or some shit?

"'Course. Kie started at Kook Academy and you asked her to go save baby sea turtles with you. Kie made me come with her 'cause she was scared of being kidnapped behind enemy lines." Vera still remembers how desperate Kie had looked standing outside of John B's, begging for her to go hang out with a Kook. She'd had to bribe her with getting her the job at The Wreck, along with a new surfboard, before Vera had finally budged. "You--"

"No." Sarah interrupts, shaking her head. She looks resigned. "That wasn't when we met."

"Okay." Vera drags the word out, confused. She's racking her brain and nothing is coming to mind. "When . . .?"

Sarah leans back in her booth, her eyes landing on her hands as she speaks. "It was in elementary school, um, fourth grade. Back when kids didn't care about all this Kook and Pogue bullshit."

Vera scoffs, interrupting her. "Maybe you Kook's didn't care, but we didn't have that luxury."

The thing about growing up poor? You always know that you're poor. The Kook's made it very obvious that they didn't belong with them, even as kids. They mingled more, sure, since they were always at the beach and playgrounds, but that divide was always there.

Sarah frowns, but doesn't protest that, even though she'll never understand it.

"Whatever. I, um, I was so excited because this cute boy asked me to meet him at the beach. I was nine, and I'd never been on a real date before, but I snuck out and went to the boardwalk by myself. I bought this gorgeous blue dress just for that, and I wore a white bikini underneath, and I felt so pretty. I was, like, walking on water. I felt like a teenager, you know? Except . . . do you remember Ruthie? Yeah, I know, gross. She, uh, she had a crush on the same guy, I guess. So she spilled her milkshake all down my dress, and acted like it was an accident. All 'oops, I didn't see you there.'"

Vera hums sympathetically, even though she's really not sure where this story is going, or why Sarah is telling it to her.

"She leaves, and I'm just standing on that sidewalk, completely drenched and feeling like I'm going to cry. Except then I hear this shout, and when I turned around, you'd tripped Ruthie. And you smirked down at her, and I still remember what you said. 'Oops, guess we should all watch where we're going. My bad.' And you just stepped over her like she wasn't there, and ignored her yelling at you, and walked right up to me. You were 10, and you always wore max skirts and waist beads, even though everyone made fun of you for it at the time."

"I'm a real trendsetter." Vera snorts, remembering all of the comments other girls would make about her 'grandma clothes.' Funnily enough, one of those girls is probably the one that stole her maxi skirt from the beach the other day.

"Yeah." Sarah gives her a small smile. "You pulled me over to this truck, and just talked to me while you dug through a bag, explaining that you were with your mom for the weekend. That I was lucky you'd been there, because you had clothes with you. And you grabbed out this beautiful orange maxi dress and within, like, five minutes you'd turned it into a skirt for me to wear because it was too big for me as a dress. I still don't know exactly how you did it, but I remember that you used string from a friendship bracelet kit, and I remember thinking that you were magic."

"I don't remember this at all." She admits. She wasn't exactly trying to remember any of the time she spent around her parents, to be fair. Sarah looks a little sad at that, and Vera feels guilty about it. Clearly it was a big moment for Sarah, while for her it was a regular day.

"Well, I became a little obsessed with you after that." She admits slowly, eating her last spoonful of pie. "Like, I don't know . . . you were older and so much fun. You were always surfing and climbing onto things and exploring shit you shouldn't be. You always had that group with you, the boys and then Kiara when she joined. I didn't know if I wanted to be you or . . ."

"Be with me?" Vera asks as a joke, but Sarah doesn't laugh, and Vera feels her eyes widen. "Oh. Oh, shit. Sarah, did you . . . ?"

"Not anymore." Sarah says quickly, blushing a dark red. "I don't, like, have feelings or whatever. But, um, I'll admit that when Kiara transferred to my school, I took it as a bit of a sign. Like, I was meant to try. So I asked her to come save baby sea turtles, and I acted indifferent when she invited you along, even though it kind of broke my heart when you didn't recognize me. And I had this whole idea in my head of making you love being a Kook, so that you'd move in with your mom a few blocks from me. We could sneak into each other's houses all the time, and our parents would be friends, and it would all be perfect."

Vera doesn't know what to say. She just looks at Sarah, who meets her gaze and continues talking, clearly determined to get all of this out.

"But you wanted nothing to do with me at first. You were nice, but in a distant, bored way. Kiara kept telling me that you were just hard to get to know, worried that I'd take it personally and stop being her friend. And then . . . I don't know what I did, but you warmed up to me. You laughed at my jokes and actually hung out with me, without being disappointed if Kiara wasn't there. And I got confident and--"

"Kissed me." Vera finishes, because she knows this part of the story. Her heart is racing. "You kissed me."

"Yeah." Sarah whispers, breaking eye contact with her again. "I kissed you, and you kissed back, and I was on top of the world. But when you pulled back, you just grinned and said 'so I do like girls. Thanks.' and acted like nothing had happened. And when Kiara and I stopped being friends, you never reached out to me."

"I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings." Vera tells her softly, because she really is. "Honestly, I didn't know you had any for me. I don't know, I like to think I would've been nicer about it, at least."

"You really couldn't tell?" Sarah asks, her eyes shining.

"No." Vera answers. "No, I--okay, I'll be honest, I thought you were trying a little too hard to be my friend at first, but I never got the feeling that you had feelings or anything. I thought, 'oh, she's hot' and that was that."

Sarah looks relieved as she thinks that through.

"I never told Kie or anyone." She promises. "About the kiss, I mean. I didn't tell anyone, if you were worried about that."

"I didn't tell anyone either." Sarah says, but Vera smiles.

"Thank you, but it's okay if you ever want to. I don't care if anyone knows. Honestly, I knew I was queer in some way ever since I watched Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time. I couldn't take my eyes off of Keira Knightley or Orlando Bloom."

Sarah bursts into laughter, her shoulders shaking with the force of it, and all the tension over them vanishes. Vera feels lighter from the conversation, since she'd been wondering why Sarah always tended to stare at her like she was hiding something.

"God, they're hot." Sarah gasps out, wiping her under eyes.

"I know. I'll admit to having watched fan edits." Vera confesses, watching as the lead businessman sets a few bills down on the table, all of them trailing out of the building. She gets an idea as they leave, standing up to turn the sign on the door from 'open' to 'closed' as she locks the building.

When she turns back to Sarah, she looks uncertain of her place, fidgeting on the spot. Vera can't have that.

"Want to bake cookies?" She asks, delighted when Sarah beams and runs over to her.

They end up on the kitchen floor, with their backs against the cabinets behind them as they watch the cookies bake. Vera had turned the oven light on, feeling like a kid again as they sit and watch the desserts slowly rise. They both have flour in their hair, and Sarah had gotten egg on Vera's shirt, but it had been almost therapeutic. She forgot how much fun Sarah could be. She's spent so much time listening to Kie gripe about her, that she forgot about the good moments before that.

"He, uh, wanted to have sex." Sarah admits after a while, and it takes Vera a second to process the subject change, since they'd just been discussing their top 10 childhood movies. "And I--I did too, but then . . ."

"Yeah?" Vera prompts, reaching over and grabbing her hand, but making a point not to look at her. She doesn't think Sarah wants to be seen as she talks about this.

"He said he loved me." Sarah whispers, her voice cracking halfway through. "And I--I felt like he dumped ice water on me or something, you know? Like, we're so young, how can he say that? I don't even know what love is and he wants to put that label on me?"

"I would've freaked." Vera admits, wrinkling her nose. She's seventeen while Sarah and Topper are sixteen. What do any of them know about love?

"Yeah, I panicked, and he got mad and asked me all of these questions and it just really sucked." Sarah sighs, and Vera thinks she understands why she's been so open and vulnerable tonight. "I don't . . . I don't know why I ended up here, but I'm really glad that I did."

"I'm glad too." Vera nods, squeezing her hand. "And, Sarah?"

"Yeah."

"I'll beat him up for you, if you want."

Sarah laughs loudly at that, the sadness leaving her face. She most likely doesn't realize how serious Vera is about that, but she means it. She doesn't play around when it comes to her friends, and Sarah Cameron is now firmly in that category.

Kie is going to be pissed.

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JJ and Pope are the only ones on the deck. Pope is fiddling with the drone monitor, while JJ watches over his shoulder. John B swims in front of the drone, and the monitor picks up his movements, showing him tap on the camera and then run a finger over his teeth. He swims backward, throwing up a thumbs up.

"What's this right here?" JJ asks curiously, getting his hand swatted away by Pope.

"Don't touch that! I'm trying to work out this thing."

He continues messing around with it, turning the drone in the water. For a second the camera picks up Kie before it lands on Vera, who starts imitating a snorkeler, plugging her nose and waving her hand above her head. Pope huffs out a laugh, and JJ smirks to himself when he doesn't move the drone. Vera beams, looking directly into the camera, and starts blowing them obnoxious kisses.

"She's gonna catch on if you don't move the drone, bro." JJ tells him, and Pope jumps before glaring at him. His cheeks are flushed, but JJ doesn't point that out.

"Catch on to what?" He scoffs, moving the drone. "I was just, um, checking that it would stay put."

"I'm sure you were." JJ smirks. "Look, I'm not judging. We both have a crush on the same girl, and she's not going to look at us twice. We gotta get through it together."

"Shut up." Pope hisses frantically just as Vera and John B break the water surface, Kie following them seconds later. JJ mimes zipping his lips shut and throwing the key in the water.

"What would we do without you to control the drones?" He beams, watching as Vera leans back and pushes her hair out of her eyes.

"Technically it's not a drone. It's an ROV--" Pope starts.

"Shut up. It's too early for that right now." JJ tells him, while Vera sends a huge wave crashing over Kie and John B with her hands. Kie instantly retaliates, teaming up with John B, even as he starts talking to them.

"Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." He tells them, which seems like a ton of work to JJ.

"That's such bullshit. Why do we have to do that?" He complains.

"Well, there is maritime salvage law." Pope explains for him, coming to stand next to him at the edge of the dock, leaning over the railing. "You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up."

"I know. I know. It's just, lawyers aren't cheap, bro." JJ explains, because that's his main concern.

"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp." John B tells him, but Vera frowns.

"We need to find a lawyer we trust." She tells them. "We don't need anything sleazy happening, and a lot of lawyers can be just as bad as cops. Did you know--?"

"Not the time." John B tells her gently, since they all know how worked up she can get over the police. She wrote an entire essay about hating cops and proudly presented it for their English class. It'd been the only presentation he didn't sleep through. Even Pope's had knocked him out, and that's saying a lot, because he enjoys listening to his voice.

"This tether is like really long." Pope points out, looking at the tether to the drone. "In the wrong weather, it could get pushed around."

Vera yawns, giving up on the water fight and swimming over to the ladder. JJ enjoys the chance to look at her as she climbs, especially since she's wearing one of JJ's favorite bikinis: black with white seashells along the neckline. John B winks at him over her shoulders, looking as amused as he always does when he catches one of them staring at her.

"Then we'll go at dead calm." John B assures him, just as thunder rumbles. Kie is quick to move to the ladder, and Vera pulls her up.

"So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather." Pope points out, which is pretty disappointing. "And today is not that day."

Instead of anything exciting, JJ joins Pope on a delivery run. It's good money, and it keeps Heyward mostly happy with him, so JJ joins as often as he can. Today's as good a day as any.

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"Sarah?" Vera questions, completely surprised to see the girl at John B's house. She's wearing a light blue NC hat, red floral shorts and a white bikini, and she looks amazing. She also looks surprised to see Vera, or maybe surprised at her appearance, which is fair enough. They still don't have any power, and she's tired of going without a shower, so she's got a bottle of shampoo in one hand and a brush in the other. She'd been about to use the garden hose to tackle her hair, which has spent a few too many days in messy buns.

"Hey." Sarah gives her a smile, shifting on her feet.

"What, uh, what are you doing here?" Vera asks, because it's not like her and John B left off on good terms. He lost his job with the Cameron's, and believes that Sarah's responsible for that, seeing as she'd seen him out on her boat the day that they borrowed the scuba gear.

"I was just clearing things up with John B." Sarah explains, and Vera nods.

"Ah. Gotcha. Did you bike here?"

"Yeah." Sarah nods, pointing to a pretty blue bike leaning against the side of the house.

"Well, do you want a ride?" Vera asks her, smiling when Sarah immediately nods, looking relieved by the offer.

"You've got nothing going on?" She checks, but Vera shakes her head.

"I was just gonna take a backyard shower, but I can do that later." She tells her, waving for her to stay put as she ducks into the house, grabbing her key ring. She has a key to her dad's, John B's, and the Twinkie. She shoves the shampoo and brush into a tote bag by the door before ducking back outside. "Here, give me your bike."

They make quick work of putting Sarah's bike on the bike rack, and then Sarah is hopping in the passenger seat while Vera starts up the van.

"Won't he be mad that you took it?" Sarah asks her, referring to John B's car, but Vera shakes her head.

"Nah. We all pitch in for gas and repairs. It's kinda a group car. Like, it's John B's, but it's also ours." She explains, honking twice as a goodbye before pulling out of the yard. "JJ is the mechanic of our group, so he takes care of her a lot."

"That's really cool." She says, before getting distracted by the cassette tapes scattered everywhere, and then discovering one of Vera's disposable cameras. This one has stickers covering it, and is almost completely used up. "Can I . . . ?"

"Nah, go wild." She says, laughing when Sarah instantly turns and takes a picture of her.

"Cute." Sarah teases, setting the camera down. "Can I put in a tape?"

"Sarah, you don't have to ask." Vera laughs, nodding. "Put in whatever. Ooh, there's a cool Frank Ocean one."

The look on Sarah's face when 'Super Rich Kids' plays first is priceless, and Vera almost runs them off the road with the force of her laughter.

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Vera whistles when they reach Sarah's house, and she gives her an annoyed look as she grabs her tote bag.

"You don't have much damage on this side of the island." Vera notes jealously. "I'm assuming workers took care of whatever you had?"

"Yep." Sarah nods. "Hey, uh . . . don't be offended by this, but do you want to come inside? I have a working shower that you can use."

"Wow. Way to make a girl feel special." Vera teases, laughing. "I would love to take an actual shower. Uh, is Rafe home?"

"Nope, he's out, and so are my dad and Rose." Sarah promises, exiting the car. "I think Wheezie might be home, but that's it."

"Cool." Briar exhales in relief, jumping out of the driver's seat and following Sarah into the house. She'll never get over how differently rich people live. Sarah's house has six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a four bedroom carriage house, a three bedroom groundskeeper's cottage, and 14 acres of land. They have a wine cellar.

Sarah pulls her through the house and into her bedroom, where she pushes her into the en-suite bathroom.

"You can use whatever!" She calls out, shutting the door and leaving Vera alone in the room, shaking her head in amusement. When she turns to the shower, she stops and just stares in amazement. Sarah has a bluetooth shower. Vera honestly thought that was only a thing in the movies, and finds herself scared to touch any of the buttons in case she breaks it.

Vera missed being able to take a hot shower. As soon as she's under the stream, she's cranking the heat up until she's steaming up the room, just as the door opens again.

"Hey, sorry, I just realized that I didn't grab you a towel." Sarah calls out. "I'm leaving it on the counter."

She tosses a washcloth over the shower curtain, and Vera makes a pleased noise as she reaches for it, feeling absolutely filthy. She's been non-stop running, swimming, surfing and scuba diving for days, along with working in restaurants. She doesn't want to even think about how much caked in sweat and dirt is on her body and hiding in her hair.

By the time she's done, she feels like a brand new woman, with coconut smelling hair. She has the weird urge to keep sniffing herself, but she doesn't want to seem like she's never showered in her whole entire life. It's just that showering at Sarah Cameron's house is an entirely different process, with fuzzy towels and bluetooth showers and unlimited hot water. 

"Okay, I totally won't be offended if you throw out that washcloth, 'cause I just washed away like ten layers of grime." Vera laughs as she walks into Sarah's room in just her black bikini, finding her sitting on the floor, a variety of nail polish sitting in front of her. "Oh, now it's a party."

Vera drops to the floor with her, quickly going through the options when there's a knock at the door.

"Oh, it's Wheezie. I told her I'd hang out with her today." Sarah sighs, biting her lip, but Vera shrugs.

"Wheezie's cool. I don't mind." She says, and Sarah's entire face lights up as she calls for her younger sister to come in.

"Hey, Sarah, can you--? Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize you invited a friend over." Wheezie sighs, looking surprised to see Vera there. She's friends with Lottie, so they've met a few times, with Wheezie going to Vera's mom's more than she does.

"Hey." Vera waves.

"Hey. I can go."

"Don't be stupid." Sarah laughs, reaching over and tugging her down until she's sat next to them, all three of them in a circle facing each other. "We're gonna do mani-pedis and gossip. Do you want to start?"

"I drank for the first time the other day." Wheezie tells Vera, looking proud of herself. Vera laughs, reaching out and high fiving her.

"Nice. How'd it go?"

"Don't even try to lie." Sarah interjects, smirking. "She was practically face-planting the toilet after. I held her hair back for hours."

"Ooh, I've been there." Vera winces, waving for Wheezie to pick a color of nail polish and instantly getting started on her nails. "So many times."

"You're the one with the record on keg stands, right?" Wheezie asks, glancing between her and Sarah. "Sarah told me about it. She said it was super cool."

"Oh, did she now?" Vera smirks, winking at Sarah. "Yeah, I am. Give it another year or so, and maybe I'll teach you."

Wheezie squeals at that, rushing to ask her questions about it, and that's how the next hour or so goes. It's nice and calming after the adrenaline rush that her life has been recently. Wheezie and Sarah both hug her when she leaves, not wanting to steal the Twinkie for too long, and missing her best friends. She might be a little bit dependent on them.

JJ and Pope are the only one's at the Chateau when she arrives, slamming the door shut behind her and causing them to jump from where they're raiding the kitchen cabinets.

"Sup, losers." She calls out, stealing a handful of chips from the bag in Pope's hand. A second later she freezes, her eyes darting back to his face, where there's a bruise forming on his forehead, right below where his hat would cover it. "What the fuck is that? What happened!?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Pope tries, ducking away from her, but she puts her hands on his shoulders and forces him still, a deep frown on her face.

"That's not fine. When--did this happen while you were doing deliveries?" She demands, narrowing her eyes when his eyes dart away, a clear giveaway. "Mother fucker! I'm gonna kill them. Let me guess, Rafe and Topper?"

"They jumped him while he was doing a delivery." JJ gives in, ignoring the hurt look Pope sends his way. "Rafe had a golf club."

"He's so fucking dead." Vera scowls, her hands on her hips. "I swear to god, that low-life, worthless, nepo baby piece of shit is going to regret ever being born by the time I'm done. He wants to hit people with golf clubs? Great. Fair's fair. Was he at the golf course? How long ago was this?"

She grabs her keys, spinning them around her finger as she waits for them to answer her.

"You know what? I'll just go check." She snaps when neither of them answer, her temper flaring as she whips around. She only gets to the door before a hand wraps around her wrist and pulls her around to face JJ, who shakes his head at her.

"Look, we took care of it, okay?" He tells her softly, shooting a quick look back at Pope, who looks nervous. "Don't go running off. He'll only feel worse if you get hurt too."

Vera clenches her jaw, but exhales after a moment of holding JJ's gaze, knowing that he's right. She'll leave it alone for now.

"Fine." She agrees weakly, before pointing between the two of him. "But if he thinks he's touching my boys again, I will do something."

"Yes ma'am." JJ grins at her, releasing her wrist while Pope swallows thickly, pulling his hat down as if she hasn't already seen the damage. "You up for surfing?"

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"Hey! Save some waves for us!" JJ shouts to Kie and John B, hanging out on their surf boards in the water. He rushes in with Vera and Pope, the three of them making quick work of reaching their friends.

"Hey, where you been?" Kie calls out to them, a smile evident in her voice, and guilt sinks into Vera's stomach. She still hasn't told her about this new friendship with Sarah. She's not necessarily hiding it, but she also isn't being forthcoming, and she knows Kie is going to be mad at her about it.

She pushes that thought aside, instead focusing on having fun with her best friends. They all show off, doing different tricks while the others judge them. Vera's voice hurts from the constant laughter, and how much salt water she swallows, getting covered instantly. So much for being clean for longer than an hour, although she can't be blamed for not wanting to waste such a great surf day.

When it's Vera's turn again, she decides to try for a handstand again. It's not the most ideal weather for it--that would be glassy conditions, when there isn't any wind. Still, though, she's determined to nail this move like she did rodeo flipping last year, and that means making use of every opportunity.

She starts paddling out, feeling the water hitting her in the face as she pushes through it, determination hitting her as she stands up with her knees bent for about two seconds. She still feels slightly panicked as she puts her hands on her board and lifts her feet up in the air, but the previous experiences of being knocked completely off of her board have actually helped calm her. The worst that can happen is that she wipes out: been there, done that, and she has four amazing swimmer's by her if she needs help.

She's not sure how long she keeps her balance before she feels off kilter and quickly flips back down, leaning her body backwards and letting the wave lead her out. She's never felt more in tune with the earth than while she's surfing, with salt water coating her tongue and so much force at her feet.

Pope yanks her into a hug when she reaches them again, laughing into her shoulder before JJ grabs and shakes her shoulders, cheering loudly.

"New record! 9 seconds!" He brags, and Vera actually slips off of her board in shock. She resurfaces quickly, the board remaining nearby since it's tied to her leg, spluttering in shock.

"No fucking way!" She calls back, happiness bringing her to tears even as she settles in to watch Kie catch her wave, cheering her on next.

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"You really think it's out there?" Pope asks a few hours later, after the sun has set. They're all gathered outside, on his giant hammock. Vera is curled into Pope's side, feeling clingier than ever after he was jumped earlier that day. His voice rumbles through her since her head is on his chest, and it's a strange feeling, but not an unwelcome one. "Like, no bullshit?"

"My father thought it was."

"But do you?"

"After hearing his voice on that tape . . ." John B pauses. "I think I do."

"Only one way to find out." Pope says, and him and John B perform their handshake.

"Look, we're gonna find it, you know?" Kie tells them. "Even JJ believes."

"Oh my god, JJ, do you really believe?" John B plays along, surprise in his voice.

"Totally. Wait. Are we talking about 4 mil?"

"Four hundred mil." Kie and Vera correct him at the same time, sharing fond looks with each other. JJ has always been bad at math.

"Jinx!"

"Jinx!" They both say, Vera being quicker, and she smirks. "You owe me a soda."

"Bitchhhh." Kie drags out, and the two burst into laughter.

"I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks." JJ mumbles, twisting to get more comfortable. His legs end up tangled in with Vera's and Pope's, but they don't say anything or make him move. "Goodnight, Bird!"

"Goodnight, Bird Shit!"

JJ flips John B off, and Vera smiles into Pope's chest, finally letting herself close her eyes. If she falls asleep too quickly, it's only because Pope is running his hand through her hair, and who could resist sleep with that happening?

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As soon as the weather improves, they're out in the water with the drone, determined to get to the bottom of this. Vera's nerves are shot as the boat stops, sharing a hopeful look with Kie as they get situated.

"Alright, JJ. Pin it here."

"Roger that! X marks the spot!"

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen." John B narrates as he unravels the drone, holding it over the water. "To going full Kook."

He carefully drops it in, and Kie starts feeding the tether down while Pope watches the monitor and controls the drone. Vera watches him, intrigued by it, having been in the water when he practiced.

"Alright, JJ, we're right over it!" John B calls to JJ. "Ten seconds northwest."

"Got it. Ten seconds northwest." JJ agrees from the helm where he's steering.

"One hundred feet!" Kie tells them, having reached the portion of the tether that's colored red as a guide. Vera marks that with chalk on the side of the boat, nodding for her to keep going. Pope gasps suddenly when something crosses the monitor, and they all perk up. John B rushes to his side, only to see nothing but fish through the camera.

"It's nothing." Pope admits sheepishly.

John B groans, his head falling back as he walks back to his map.

"I'm sorry! I thought--"

"Don't do that to me, man." JJ calls to him. "Come on, bro!"

"And to quote The Hobbit, 'down, down, to Goblin Town.'" Pope quotes with a deepened voice, and Vera beams at him, loving the reference.

"'You go, my lad! Ho ho, my lad!'" Vera continues for him, delighted by the callback. They'd watched the children's musical adaptation of The Hobbit frequently as kids, having a copy of it on VHS.

They sing the entire song as they keep an eye out, trying to keep the group entertained as time goes on. Vera keeps tallying every hundred feet, with them soon reaching four hundred as thunder rumbles ahead.

"The tide's turning!" Kie warns them, and Vera grimaces as she looks over the ledge.

"Hey, JJ?"

"Yep."

"Ten seconds easy, South-southeast."

"Copy that!" JJ calls, quickly doing just that while Vera walks back to him, uncapping a water bottle and holding it up to his lips for him to drink from without letting go of the wooden wheel. He gives her a thankful smile as she leaves. "Thanks, baby."

Vera stumbles a step on her way back to the deck, glowering at John B when he takes a second to smirk at her.

"JJ, 20 seconds mid-speed, alright? South." John B continues to direct him.

"Keep the tether out of the prop!" JJ calls out to Kiara, and Vera moves over to her to help out. She pulls with all of her strength, sharing a look with Kie, who looks exhausted.

"JJ, keep going!" John B orders over the looming thunder.

"John B, is that good?"

"We're good! We're good."

"700 feet!" Vera shouts out, watching Kie mark the line. The wind is picking up with every second that they're out there, sending their hair flying. Vera shivers, glad that she'd stolen one of John B's hoodies before they came out here.

"800!"

"JJ, hold it steady!"

"Guys, this storm is really picking up." Vera states the obvious, her worry increasing as her and Kie keep pulling the tether, dropping the drone further into the water.

"JJ, we'll turtle in this storm!" John B adds.

"900!" Vera screams, sharing a relieved look with Kie. They're getting closer. "920!"

"Crank it North by Northwest! Ten seconds! Pope, how are we doing?"

"Almost there."

"There's too much current!" Kie shouts, "We're gonna lose it!" The two of them are tightly gripping the tether, and Vera's fingers are burning from the effort involved.

"South, Southwest, JJ! Hard!" He calls, and then a second later: "Half speed. Steady at this bearing, JJ."

As soon as JJ isn't steering them so harshly, Vera is able to get better footing. Her hair is drenched with water from the waves coming over the edge of the boat.

"What do you got, Pope?" John B asks desperately. "Come on, man. What do you see?"

"Nothing." Pope says slowly, sullen. "A whole lot of nothing."

"You should be right above it, brother."

"Vera! Kie!" Pope shouts to them, wanting an update.

"960!" Kie shouts back, taking a break and sucking in sharp breaths. Vera continues feeding the line, since she hadn't been doing it for as long.

"970!" Vera shouts, her voice breaking. This wind is horrible. "980!"

"You're almost out of rope!" Kie tells her, as she feeds the last of it.

"I'm at the bottom! I'm at the bottom!" Pope yells.

"JJ, steady!" John B screams. "Steady here! Quarter speed, alright?"

"You should be seeing something, man." John B tells Pope, hovering over his shoulder and staring at the same monitor. "You should be seeing something."

Vera rushes over to them, leaning in on Pope's other side, and her eyes widen at what the monitor reveals immediately after.

"See anything?" JJ shouts for them, but Vera's too busy gaping to respond. John B does it for her.

"It's the Royal Merchant."

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the way i've loved every second of writing this fic genuinely. so fucking fun.

this was a sarah cameron heavy chapter and i am VERY happy about that. i love my girl.if there are questions about her previous dynamic with vera, please ask, but to summarize: they properly met through kie, eventually got closer and hung out one on one, and then sarah kissed vera, who thought it was just a "lets experiment while drunk" thing . yikes 😬

vera labels herself as queer!! also there won't be any drama between john, sarah and vera. those feelings are really dead and buried. sarah and vera friendship coming up... im so delighted. i love them already.

jj and vera being the only ones to notice that pope got hurt & instantly getting protective >>> love them bad.

if anyone's reading this, thoughts on the different dynamics?? anything you want/don't want to see??

tell me anything you're thinking, i want to hear it all :)

i love you all!! <3