❛ ━━━ 𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 ❜
☼ ┊ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑵 ... !
𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐌𝐒 𝐏𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡
📍 𝘒𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢

IT SEEMED THAT SERENA HAD BECOME a temporary member of the pogues as she sprawled across the bow of the HMS pogue. she laid there in all of her glory, wearing a pink and yellow floral bikini and a crochet coverup, and jj couldn't help but stare aimlessly.

he hadn't been able to stop since this afternoon when they had picked her up from the cameron's dock. she had quickly got aboard the HMS pogues in a rush, trying not to be seen by her father, before they drove off into the marsh. jj stared at the holes in her coverup, trying to picture what all was under it, until she took her shorts off to reveal her bikini bottoms and gave him something else to stare at.

they had all been trying to figure out their next moves in finding the royal merchant. despite it being an urgent process, serena decided to get a little tan while they did so. so she covered herself in some tanning oil and laid on her back as they all spoke. the glisten that the oil brought to the girls legs only made jj stare even more, becoming more shameless by the second.

serena hadn't noticed at the beginning until this very second when she could hear the sound of another boat approaching. she had originally sat up in curiosity of who could be driving the boat but had caught sight of jj practically drooling over her.

once her eyes caught his, when he finally looked away from her body, she raised a questioning eyebrow. jj quickly cleared his throat and turned away, embarrassed that he had been caught. though that's when he had caught site of the boat approaching them.

he let out an impressed whistled before gushing over the beauty, "you guys see that? that's the malibu 24-MXZ, the words finest wakesetter. number one in luxury, quality, and performance. two hundred k, easy."

"we picked the wrong parents." pope groveled with a shake of his head.

serena chuckled before narrowing her eyes to get a better view of the boat. she had caught the sight of the red bottom and black interior which made her eyebrows furrow. it was when she caught a sight of bleach blonde hair and an outline that looked almost identical to her that she realized who the boat had belonged to.

"that's topper!" she gasped loudly and quickly fumbled away from the bow of the boat.

she quickly rushed to the port to grab as many towels as possible. she then quickly tiptoed to behind the drivers seat and slammed herself down to hide behind john b. the group all looked at her in confusion as she began to cover herself with the towels, hoping to become unrecognizable.

"and sarah, rafe, and kelce." kiara added in an annoyed tone, realizing the group of kooks approaching were that of the worst of the bunch.

serena felt a little bit relieved when she heard that sarah and topper weren't alone. it was a sad thought but it was reality. the less the two were alone then the less of a likelihood they would do something that could fuck up everything serena and topper had going for them.

though ever since topper had apologized and confessed to thinking about marrying serena, the possibility of her twin and her boyfriend being together seemed less worrisome than before. she hated to admit it but all of the marriage talk from topper really put her off. she already had to hide her unhappiness as is, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that for the rest of her life.

serena could hear the muffled sound of toppers boat motor passing through the three towels over her head. she couldn't believe she didn't recognize the boat quicker. she just never found herself interested in the countless hours topper had spoken about it.

serena could feel the tension of her friend groups presence as they passed even through the towels. she had heard the boys talking cut off when they realized that the pogues occupied the boat they were passing. she could also feel the glare that sarah was giving to kiara.

"you don't have to act like you don't see us, bitch." kiara scoffed as the boat full of kooks finally passed.

"is the coast clear?" the pogues heard the sound of serena's hushed voice coming from the back of the boat.

"yes." pope said and snatched the towels off of serena's head, revealing her disheveled appearance and wide eyes.

she quickly looked around in worry but felt it dissipate when she noticed toppers boat was way far away. she let out a relieved sigh and pulled herself up from her hiding spot, knocking john b in the head with the rest of the towels in her grip.

"that afraid to be seen with us, huh?" john b questioned the girl rudely, his tone filled with judgement.

"course she is. she's kook queen, she has a reputation to uphold." jj huffed from his spot on the bow.

he didn't like to say it out loud but the fact that serena felt the need to hide when she was with him kind of hurt. he shouldn't be surprised but part of him thought that with all of this, the treasure hunt and the multiple times they've almost died together in the last few days, that maybe she didn't care about that stuff anymore.

serena rolled her eyes and threw the towels down on the seat, "that's not why i was hiding."

"you sure, kook queen?" jj asked skeptically as he watched the girl walk back to her spot beside him.

serena ignored his skepticism and sat down where she was previously. though this time when she sat, she immediately laid back with a defeated huff. she wasn't sure wether she should tell the group about toppers most recent antics. she wasn't exactly sure if they would care or if they were all even remotely close enough to sharing stuff with each other that wasn't gold related.

though serena could feel it sitting on the tip of her tongue tongue, begging to be spoken about which caused her to blurt out,"topper said he wants to get married."

"what?!" was heard all around the boat in unison from the group, all of them stunned by her words.

though no one was more shocked than jj. he instantly felt his breath get caught in his throat and a terrible feeling in his chest, like his heart stopper beating. the boys face went pale and his entire being was riddled with anxiety.

"he proposed?!" he croaked, his voice barely being able to escape this tight throat.

"no but he practically said that he was going to in the future." serena explained, staring up at the clear sky above her. after everything that topper has put her through, she simply needed to reconnect with nature.

"like the... way way off, deep deep future, right?" jj questioned even further, his tone shaking in desperation.

"i don't know." serena groaned, bringing her hands up and covering her eyes with a grimace.

"hold on, how did he even bring this up?" kiara wondered exactly how the conversation had begun.

"we were fighting-" serena began to explain hit was quickly cut off.

"no surprise." pope commented causing serena to hold up a middle finger.

"reason number one you should not get married." jj persisted, trying to act as if he didn't care but it was clear in his anxious fidgeting that he very much so did.

"and he was in the middle of apologizing, saying all this shit about sarah." serena continued to explain, trying to keep the personal stuff private.

"what about sarah?" john b tried to slip in his question about sarah casually. lucky for him, serena was too busy in her own world to even notice the suggestive tone in john b's voice.

"that i shouldn't worry about them being close because he only saw her as a future sister in law." serena responded, enunciating the last words dramatically.

"oh my god." kiara winced at the girls words, feeling the ick for serena.

"you do know you have free will right?" pope pointed out the fact that topper couldn't marry her against her will, she had the power to say no.

"yeah break up with him. break up with him right now." jj suggested forcefully, fumbling forward and grabbing to girls phone and holding it out to her, "here's you're phone, do it."

serena simply gave the boy a weird look before saying, "it's not that simple. you don't have free will in kook country."

"siri, call topper." jj spoke to her phone, ignoring serena's words.

"there is no topper in your contacts." siri's electronic voice filled the air causing them all to look at the boy in confusion.

"give me that!" serena said and snatched her phone out the boys hands despite his protest.

"why don't you have his number?" john b asked the girl, wondering why she didn't have her own boyfriends number.

"i do," the girl trailed off for a moment before muttering under her breath, "it's just under flopper."

the group went silent before busting out in laughter and kiara spoke through laughter, "oh my god, we call him that too."

"no way." serena smiled in disbelief.

"yes, dude." john b laughed causing serena to chuckle to herself.

once the laughter died down, pope questioned the girl on her previous statements, "wait why isn't it that simple?"

"it just isn't. both of our families are involved now and being with topper is the only thing that's ever made my dad proud of me. he likes that i'm with someone who is almost as rich as him." serena tried her best to explain uncomfortably, knowing that it was going to be hard for the pogues to understand.

the last sentence of serena's explanation hit jj in his chest, feeling like he had gotten electrocuted. flashes of wards reaction to him being in serena's life swirled in jj's mind, bringing the same pain it had brought that night. he remembered the immediate feeling of inferiority smacking the boy in the face as he began to feel anything but good enough for serena.

"we have all these plans made for us, y'know? i'm sure topper wasn't the first person to think about us getting married. mrs. thorton probably has my dress picked out for me already. there's really no going back after midsummers. we're supposed to walk in together, debut how great our relationship is, make everyone envy us and all that shit." serena's words hung in the air between all of them, no one knew what to say and serena wasn't sure why she over shared so much.

the pogues felt bad for the girl, she had her whole life planned out for her without it even being up for discussion. the pogues lived unpredictably and they couldn't imagine knowing their entire life was later out for them. sure, maybe it would bring a sense of safety but not if it was a life that was created without you.

"but it's okay cause we're going to find the gold and then i won't have to worry about it." serena cleared her throat, hating the silence that followed her confession.

"right." jj said lowly, not sure if he was trying to convince serena or himself.

for some reason the idea of serena walking towards topper in a white dress made his skin crawl. it was the worst site he could possibly think of and made him feel like he needed to scrub his imagination clean with a steel brillo pad. the thought alone made him sick to his stomach, though of course he tried to convince himself it was sea sickness from being on the boat.

"and how exactly are we going to do that, again?" pope asked the question they all had been stuck on.

"we need to be able to see where those coordinates my dad left me lead to." john b said, that seemingly being their next step.

"how are we going to do that? we can't get on the internet, electricity is down on like the whole island." jj reminded the group.

they all went quiet as they thought about any other way they could check out the coordinates left on the map by big john. last time they checked none of them were experts on the subject so they couldn't just go out to the sea and hope for the best. suddenly, a thought popped into serena's brain.

"not the whole island." she spoke out loud, slightly talking to herself but the pogues as well.

"what?" kiara questioned the girls words.

"most of figure eight has power. we could go to the island club and use their server room." serena told them, causing most of their eyes to widen at her revelation.

"shit, you're right." john b said, immediately changing the direction of the HMS pogues.

"the one time kooks are useful." jj said, holding his arms up to the air like he was thanking the gods.

"hey!" serena slapped the boys chest, her hand making a loud noise against jj's bare skin.

"ow!" jj flinched and rubbed his peck, "we both know you guys are practically useless otherwise!"

"you're such a dick." serena scoffed.

"name one contribution you guys bring to the other side of the island." jj rested his elbows on his knees causing his biceps to flex.

"we..." serena was about to answer but the sight of his arms halted every thought in her brain causing her to stumble over her next words, "pay a lot of taxes, i don't know."

"exactly. all you guys got are the doohickeys that we can't afford." jj proved, seemingly unaware of the effect his tanned skin had on her.

"don't say 'doohickeys', you loser." serena scrunched her face up, shaking her head at the boy.

jj smirked to himself before doing his very best to annoy serena, "doohickeys, doohickeys, doo-"

serena's hand quickly flew toward the boys face from her spot beside him. her palm smacked against the boys lips softly, silencing jj once and for all. she rested her palm against jj's soft lips and shook her head. the feeling of his lips on his skin brought goosebumps to her skin but she simply ignored them.

"silence." she said simply and kept her hand in place to keep their surroundings quiet.

jj suddenly stuck his tongue one, letting it smear spit all over serena's palm. serena quickly pulled her hand away and gasped loudly while looking down at her hand.

"pope quick get me the first aid kit, now!" serena rushed out dramatically as jj sat back with a laugh.

༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝

THE TWINKIE QUICKLY SKIRTED TO A stop in front of the island club. the group had changed into their normal clothes and decided they had no time to waste in figuring out the coordinates that big john had left behind.

this was in fact serena's idea considering she could get them into the club no problem. though she began to regret opening her big mouth when she caught a glimpse of jj whipping out the gun that had gotten them into almost every problem they had faced.

"alright, keep a look out. we're behind enemy lines." jj said, casualky waving the gun around as pope opened the twinkie door, allowing serena to hop out.

"yo, cmon man. just put it back." john b sighed almost out of exhaustion before hastily turning the twinkie off.

"down, boy. that thing has done nothing except bring problems." serena snapped her fingers at jj as she hopped out of the twinkie and leaned against the boys door.

"you can never be too careful." jj shrugged her off while looking down at the gun as if it were some old relic full of value.

pope quickly rounded the corner to take a spot next to serena, "hey, i predict that bring a weapon to a five star country club will likely cause more problems than they solve."

"thank you." john b sang in a singsong tone, thankful for the pairs reasoning.

"i swear to god, i'm going to throw that thing in the ocean." kiara peeked her head out from the back of the twinkie, her face now in between jj and john b.

"put it back." serena, kiara, and pope all spoke in unison, having to put their foot down on this one.

jj let out a dramatic groan and threw his head back against the passenger seat headrest. john b ignored the boys exaggerations and snatched the gun from his hand, throwing it down on the floorboard.

jj rolled his eyes and the two quickly hopped out of the twinkie to join the others. jj slammed his door shut sassily, letting out a small huff as serena began to lead the as they followed behind her like lost puppies.

"this is some bullshit." jj stuffed his hands into his pockets dramatically as they all waked.

"shut up and try to fit in for once, will you?" serena looked over her shoulder at the group behind her, practically begging them to lay low.

"i'm physically incapable of blending in. you don't have abs like these and go unnoticed." jj pulled his shirt up cockily but john b smacked his hand, causing his shirt to fall down, "they literally call me chick magnet maybank."

"who's they?" kiara asked sarcastically as they all continued to follow behind serena.

"no they don't." pope countered, never having heard a single person call him that.

"swear." jj held his hands up in surrender with his eyes wide, trying to convince the group he was being truthful.

"i've never seen an ab on you a day in my life." serena scoffed as they pushed through the crowded dining area covered in kooks.

luckily enough for them, it was voluntary  beach cleanup on figure eight and most of the kids had been forced into it by their parents. kooks would do anything to make themselves look good except clean up the beaches that actually needed it like on the cut. though this ultimately meant that the club was mostly full of older men and the occasional trophy wife half the age of her husband. so, they were mostly in the clear when it came to being spotted by anyone important.

"oh, you've seen em." jj threw his arm over serena's shoulder, practically putting her in a headlock, before waving his fingers in her face menacingly, "embrace the memory, cameron."

"ew, get off me!" serena practically gagged and shoved her elbow into the boys stomach to losen his grip on her.

though serena didn't mention a word about the memory he had brought up. she knew what he was talking about and he knew that she knew what he was talking about.

"ms. cameron." the sound of a deep voice interrupted the groups voyage to the server room.

serena's steps quickly halted when she turned to be met with the club owner who she had only seen just a few days ago during her scuffle with jj. the older man was quite literally obsessed with her family, more specifically her dad, and she hated how hard he tried to impress her in every conversation they had.

"hi, sir." she spoke breathlessly and forced a small smile, "working on a week day?"

"of course not, just grabbing a few checks. normal boss duties, you know?" the man's stale words and useless small talk almost put serena to sleep.

"course," serena nodded once before they were surrounded by awkward silence, "right well bye-"

the owner spoke up once more before serena could get away causing her to sigh gently, "you're coming to midsummers, right?"

"as far as i know." serena confirmed, knowing midsummers was practically mandatory.

"you must," the man told the girl sternly, "you're father is being coronated as guardian of knights of the rhododendron. it's huge for him."

"i know. i'm his daughter." serena bluntly replied, starting to get annoyed by how the man was talking to her as if she didn't know her own family.

"did you just throw a bunch of words together? it's sounds like you just threw a bunch of words together." jj suddenly spoke up from behind the girl, referring to the title her father was being coronated with and now drawing attention to the pogues.

"mr. maybank, what are you doing out of uniform?" the owner came to recognize jj as he worked there causing serena's heart to skip a beat.

jj's eyes widened slightly, realizing his big mouth had gotten the group into a bit of trouble for the millionth time, "just visiting."

"you don't visit kid and you sure as hell don't bring a group of misfits with you." the man motioned the rest of the pogues causing the jj to clench his jaw, "you work here, you're not a member."

when serena caught sight of jj's tense shoulders and blushing jaw line she quickly spoke up before he could make this any worse with anger, "i am."

"sorry?" the man looked away from jj to serena in confusion, acting like he couldn't have possibly heard her say what she just said.

serena knew that she should probably keep her mouth shut. that if her father ever found out she was with the pogues she would never hear the end of it. not only would she be caught with them but bringing them to the club would be treason in her family.

"i'm a member and he's here with me. they all are." serena spat before she could even stop herself.

the pogues all glanced at one another as they continued to cower behind serena. they couldn't believe she was sticking up for them. they all knew that they were mostly civil now but they never expected the girl to fight for them against another kook.

the owner looked down at serena in shock, bewildered by her words, "what would you father think about this?"

"he's not going to think about it at all because you're not going to tell him." serena replied sternly, her eyes a blaze with fire.

even though jj was behind the girl, with no other view except for the back of her head, he could still tell serena wasn't going to back down. with every passing second he shoulders pulled further back and she stood taller, more intimidating. he knew the look in her eyes that she was giving the owner because he had once been on the other side of it.

this is what the new serena was good at, she could argue and intimidate anyone. she could make the biggest and scariest men crawl into a corner and cry. she simply had that much power. now that he wasn't on the receiving end of it, it was practically intoxicating. she could take control over anyone and anything.

"ms. cameron, i have an obligation to tell your father if you're hanging out with scum-" glenn was cut off immediately by the blonde teenager.

"the same scum that works like a dog, day and night, for you?" serena hissed and pointed at the man's chest.

"i'd hardly call it working like a dog." he rebutted with a scoff, glancing behind serena to jj with disgust in his eyes.

"i would." serena said strongly.

"me as well." jj chimed in and held his hand up to count himself in.

serena looked over her shoulder and scolded under her breath, "shut up."

"yes ma'am." jj nodded immediately, pretending to lock his lips and throw away the key over his shoulder.

"you know what i think you have an obligation to tell my father?" the man stayed silent before serena dropped the biggest bomb ever, "how you put your hands on me last summer."

it felt like the entire world went completely silent as those words left serena's mouth. jj was confused at first, thinking maybe it wasn't in the context that he assumed. though when he saw glenn's face go whiter than a sheet, he knew and he felt his hands ball into fists at his sides.

"what?" glenn croaked, his voice cracking multiple times as if he had just swallowed rocks.

"you don't remember? y'know when you slid your hand down my back and touched my ass after practically pouring tequila down my throat." serena asked the man sarcastically considering she was able to remember that moment like it was yesterday.

when serena further explained jj could feel his heart practically stop. everything inside of him turned to stone. he felt a rage run through his veins like he had never felt before. it was the most powerful emotion he had ever felt, stronger than any sadness or fear he had experienced.

he felt his throat run dry as his brain began to draw the moment serena was describing. the idea of the man's calloused hand running down a sixteen year old serena's back filled him with fire. he could feel the urge to swing on the man become all consuming but he felt john b's hand in his shoulder and turned to look at the boy.

john b gave him a warning look, trying to signal how jj letting his anger consume him could only worsen the situation. he could also see from the redness of john b's cheeks that he was almost as furious as jj was but he knew that they couldn't have an outburst surrounded by kooks that would mostly definitely back glenn up.

"ms. cameron-" glenn nervously laughed and shook his head.

"oh cmon, glenn. that's not what you called me that night, is it? i believe you called me sweetheart, princess, baby girl-" serena began to list off the nicknames he had called the girl loudly.

"that's enough." the man growled lowly, looking around at the passerby's and praying they hadn't heard her.

"you're not even going to deny it." serena scoffed at the man's audacity before narrowing her eyes at him, "you tell my father that you saw me here today and i'll tell him everything about that night."

they were all silent as serena's threat hung in the air. glenn stared at the girl for a moment as he tried to see how serious she was. but it was obvious from the glare in her gaze and her posture that she was the definition of serious. the man stayed silenced, not a word to say.

"that's what i thought." serena backup up and cleared her throat, "you have a nice day now, sir."

she turned around and stopped for a second as the pogues all gazed at her with sympathy. she swallowed harshly, slightly embarrassed that they knew one of the most traumatic moments of her life. she couldn't bear the way they were all looking at her so she pushed through the group and lead them away.

"cmon." she ordered and they all quickly followed behind the girl, not saying a word.

jj wanted to say something, he had to say something but he couldn't think of the right thing to say. he couldn't open his lips and just tell her that it was okay, that none of it was her fault. he couldn't muster up the courage to talk to serena the way he had when they were kids. he wasn't even sure if she would care about anything he had to say. so, he stayed quiet and simply followed the girl down a long hallway.

serena eventually lead the group to the end of the hallway containing double doors with stained glass windows. she smiled to herself as she knew that behind the doors led the way to finding their next clues.

"voila." serena said happily after pushing both the doors open to reveal the server room containing multiple computers.

"sweet lord, the internet!" pope pushed forward urgently to run towards a computer and they all funneled in.

serena rushed the group in before quickly popping her head out the door to make sure no one had seen them. once the coast was clear she quickly pulled her body back inside and shut the doors softly.

"let me get in there, i've gotta check out my insta models." jj tried to push pope out of the way as kiara and john b sat down.

serena felt a little bit of disgust swirl in her stomach at jj's words. she didn't really like how eager he was to see girl who she thought were most definitely prettier than her. so she rolled her eyes at the boy and came to stand by the group.

"we don't have time for that!" kiara scolded the boy and slapped his hand that was reaching for the mouse.

"hey, my dads map!" john b held the map up and slapped it down next to pope as they all came closer to the computer screen.

"coordinates, please?" pope asked and began to type of john b read off the coordinates from the map.

pope hurriedly typed the coordinates into google earth before taking a deep breath and pressing search. the image of the earth popped up and super zoomed into the outer banks.

"boom, continental shelf right there." john b pointed his finger to the red point that shined on the screen.

"okay well if it's off the deep end, it's not going to be much of a treasure hunt is it?" pope asked sarcastically causing john b to sigh.

"cmon, baby." jj rushed the computer as it continued to zoom in.

the sound of footsteps and laughter outside the door made serena look back in worry. she could see a few people passing the door causing her heart to race slightly.

"can we hurry up? i don't have much more blackmailing left in me." serena turned back to the group and leaned over pope to get a closer look at the screen.

"i'm trying and you're breathing on my neck." pope huffed at the girl and she rolled her eyes at him.

"you should be so lucky." she commented causing the boy to shake his head before the screen finally zoomed all the way in.

"shit, it's on the high side! it's only nine hundred feet!" john b shrugged with a carefree smile, like it wasn't that deep.

"is that doable or something?" kiara asked, looking to the group in questioning.

"yeah, totally doable." jj nodded and glanced at john b who nodded eagerly.

"okay, will we be taking your personal submarine?" pope asked sarcastically but jj just shrugged and looked to the blonde girl beside him.

"that's why we have serena." he said causing her face to scrunch in confusion.

"sorry, what?" she asked the boy but he simply looked at her like she was dumb.

"you have a submarine, don't you?" jj asked.

"why the hell would i have a submarine?" she questioned his words as if he were crazy.

"kook doohickeys, remember? we just talked about this cameron, you have to keep up." jj criticized the girl.

"my dad is a real estate developer, not 007. we don't have a submarine." serena reminded him of the fact her family was rich but not billionaires.

"oh my god, well fuck." jj worried as he threw his hands up before setting them on his waist, "do you at least have a drone?"

serena gritted her teeth and practically hissed at the boy, "no."

"why the hell are we keeping you around if your kookness isn't helpful?" he asked her causing serena to glare as an argument ensued.

"because you gave me a black eye and almost got me killed." serena spat back, reminding the boy of all the trouble he had caused.

"oh my god! get over the black eye!" jj threw his head back with a loud groan.

"they only thing over the black eye is full coverage concealer!" serena exclaimed back, pointing her finger at the eye that still had some swelling to it.

"i knew you guys had gone too long without a fight." john b huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back on the desk.

jj's eyes widened for a moment, ignoring serena's words, as an idea struck him, "wait, the salvage yard!"

"i don't have one of those either." serena informed jj causing him to roll his eyes.

"no, that's one of the very few things i have that you don't. you know, besides human decency." he insulted causing serena to take a step forward at him.

"i'm going to punch you in the throat." serena told the boy making him take a few steps backwards in fear.

"wait, what salvage yard?" kiara's voice pulled the pairs attention away from each other as she questioned jj.

"the one my dad worked at. they've got a drone that can drop a thousand. it has a three sixty camera and everything. it's for like deep dives and stuff, exactly what we need." he informed the group, gesturing his finger towards to show that it goes far down.

"and can your dad get his grimy little hands on that?" john b wondered.

"well, my dads grimy little hands got his ass fired. i guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced." jj said, causing the group to let out a sigh.

serena crossed her arms and looked down at her shoes. she hadn't heard much about luke maybank in a hot minute. she had always wondered if jj's relationship with his father had gotten any better since she knew him but from his words it seems to have not changed a bit. there was practically a picture of luke maybank next to the word 'alcoholic' in the dictionary.

"but the drone is there. it's in the impound yard out back." jj implied that stealing the drone would seemingly be easy.

it was silent for a moment as the group processed his words before kiara spoke up, "how much did you say was on the royal merchant again?"

"four hundred million." jj and john b replied causing her eyes to widen a little.

the reminder of how much was on the royal merchant seemed to make kiara and serena realize that stealing was absolutely worth it. pope seemingly realized where this was going causing him to hop up from the office chair and rush towards the door.

"four hundred million dollars?" kiara repeated, coming to realize how much money that actually was.

"yeah, let's go." serena said quickly and they all turned to head for the door.

the sight of popes body sprawled across the doors didn't stop them, "pope! move."

"absolutely not!" he shook his head but was quickly pushed away from the door by kiara.

"absolutely yes!" jj said and followed as the girls pulled the doors open.

"guys, no!" pope protested but they all ignored him and rushed out of the room.

"lets go, kill joy." serena called for pope to follow them as they all began to walk down the hallway.

"why can't we do anything legal for money?" he groaned loudly and followed his friends hesitantly.

༝ ˚ ｡⋆ 𓇼 ⋆｡ ˚ ༝

"POPE WE'RE NOT STEALING THE DRONE, we're borrowing it." john b continued to try to convince the boy to stop worrying over the plan they had formed.

after they left the island club, they quickly came up with a plan to distract the guard so the boys could sneak in and snatch the drone. the girls quickly threw out the idea that they could distract the guy with their "super human sex appeal". the boys weren't quite sure about the plan but kiara and serena seemed adamant that it was going to be a piece of cake.

"humans are the only animal that can't tell fantasy from reality." pope spoke with his arms crossed as he looked out the window.

serena sprawled out across the back sweet with her feet up and resting on the window. john b had told her to put her legs down multiple times but she had simply flipped him off causing him to eventually let it go. serena lobbed her head to the side to look over at the group, watching as jj licked the blunt papers and pope sulked.

"did you come up with that?" john b asked from the front as he turned down another street.

"no, albert bernstein came up with that but it applies to this whole treasure hunting thing." pope sassed matter-of-factly causing john b to let out a quiet sigh.

"so which is it? fantasy or reality?" pope questioned and looked over at his friends expectantly.

"why are you so weird, pope?" jj wondered as he continued to fiddle with the joint in his hands.

"you sound like a fortune teller." serena said causing pope to glare at her.

"it's fantasy, but possible reality." kiara spoke up front the passenger seat softly.

the group was silent for a moment before john b looked back with a smirk, "reality."

"virtual reality." jj spoke as the joint hung from the side of his mouth while he popped open his lighter.

though popes hand quickly came between jj and his lighter to snatch the joint out of his mouth. jj huffed and looked up to the boy in confusion. pope stated down at him and flicked the joint to the other side of the car.

"keep the signal clear." he reminded the boy as they finally came to a stop a little down the road from the salvage yard.

"you know what your problem is?" jj asked as serena sat up from her spot and grabbed her phone.

"you." pope replied sarcastically.

"no! it's that you need to relax man. you're always so tense!" jj exclaimed in which serena chuckled and pulled the twinkies door open.

"it's a side effect of your presence." she spoke up and hopped out of the van.

jj ignored the girls words and looked over to see her exiting. he quickly looked around and realized that they had arrived the destination they had parked kiara's car causing him to sit up a little straighter. he was slightly worried about if the girls could pull this off. he was also worried about serena's safety considering she was going to be flirting to get her way.

"you sure you can do this?" he asked the girl as she stood outside the twinkie.

"of course, it worked on you earlier." she said cockily causing him to raise an eyebrow, "don't think i didn't see you staring."

"i wasn't staring." jj gulped and looked away from serena, his eyes slightly widening at the fact she had definitely noticed his lingering stares on the HMS pogue.

"you sure?" she smirked as she pulled lip gloss out of her pocket and held her phone camera up to see her reflection.

"positive." he tried his best to fake some confidence, "you're the one who picked a boyfriend who looks creepily similar to me."

jj pointed out the similarities between himself and her kook boyfriend. they were both around the same height, jj being slightly taller, while having the same hair color and dark tan. serena couldn't deny that she definitely had a type.

serena practically cackled as she applied the clear gloss to her plump lips, "you wish you looked like topper."

jj shook his head and looked back to the girl as she put her phone back in her pocket, "no you wish i looked like topper."

jj signaled to the fact that if he looked more like topper than maybe she would be more attracted to topper. though serena just rolled her eyes at his antics.

"shut up, i've got this." serena said before pulling her shorts up to reveal more of her legs and pushing her coverup off of her shoulder to reveal her bikini strap, "good?"

jj licked his lips at the sight of her soft skin before looking away and shrugging casually, "yeah yeah, that'll work."

serena smirked at the fact that jj was obviously flustered. at first on the boat she was surprised to see him staring but now seeing him with blushing cheeks gave her a confidence boost. her own boyfriend didn't react that way when he saw her. so it made her feel good about herself and the fact that she still had jj in the palm of her hand after all these years.

serena quickly flipped her hair behind her shoulders, sliding the twinkie door shut and walking around to meet kiara on the other side. the girls gave each other a quick nod before walking to kiara's car and hopping in. it was quiet for a minute as kiara started her car and began to drive down the road, closer to the salvage yard.

though kiara eventually asked the question that had been hanging in her mind since that morning, "do you love him?"

"jj? ew, no!" serena quickly denied, looking at the girl like she was insane.

kiara turned to the girl with a confused look before she trailed off, "i meant topper..."

"oh. oh. i-" serena's eyes widened and she looked away from kiara and to the road in front of them, "i don't know."

"how do you not know? you guys have been together for months." kiara pointed out as they continued to drive.

"because i just don't, okay? we were pitched to each other like a business deal, it wasn't exactly love at first sight. we have a lot riding on us being together so we just are." serena tried to explain but she knew that it was hard for other people to understand unless they were a cameron.

"don't you want to be with someone because you like them not because it's a requirement?" kiara asked, glancing over at serena who was rubbing her forehead as if her brain was hurting from their conversation.

"of course i do, but my life isn't exactly a walk in the park like you guys think it is. my life is planned for me years in advance. every decision in my life has already been made for me. i don't really have a lot of wiggle room for love here." serena replied as she looked out the window to avoid kiara's gaze.

"i think you need to take control of your life." the carrera girl said firmly as if it was that easy.

"yeah well it's not as easy as it sounds." serena muttered and continued to watch as they passed a bunch of trees.

"but it can be. i lived the same life that you did, serena. but i figured out who i was and who i wanted to be. i realized that what i valued was exactly a reflection of the way i was living, so i changed. i chose to become a pogue and i haven't looked back since." kiara began to rattle off, feeling like it was something that serena could benefit from hearing.

"are you suggesting i become a pogue? because that's not going to happen." serena practically spat in disgust causing kiara to roll her eyes.

"no, you'd have to be initiated and there's a whole hazing process. you'd never make it." kiara retorted causing serena to let out a soft giggle.

"i'm suggesting that you start living your own life, serena. it'll be easier if we find the gold but you could start now. figure out who you are outside of credit cards and vogue subscriptions. you have to learn to love yourself before you can love anyone else." kiara's words filled serena's chest with an indescribable feeling.

no matter how much serena didn't want to admit it, she knew that kiara was right. she knew that she would never be able to love anyone if she didn't know who she was first. of course she cared for topper, she didn't want to hurt him or see anything bad happen to him, but she knew that there was something missing from their relationship.

by now she should feel more than just care for him, right? she had heard people describe love all through out her life, how it was all consuming and the most powerful emotion someone could feel. serena knew that she had felt that at one time but not for topper. she didn't dream about him every night or fill her stomach with butterflies. he didn't make every worry disappear with just one smile. someone in serena's life did but it surely wasn't topper.

but that didn't mean that it was toppers fault. serena felt like it was mainly her fault. she couldn't be herself around topper because she didn't know who she was. her life changed two years ago and it felt like since then she had just floated around trying to be what everyone expected her to be. she wasn't sure who she was yet but she knew she wanted to figure it out sooner rather than later.

"what are you, a life coach?" serena asked the girl playfully causing kiara to shrug.

"no, i just watch a lot of love island." kiara said causing serena's jaw to drop.

"what?" she asked in disbelief as kiara's eyes popped out of her head as she came to realize what she had just confessed.

"i can't believe i just admitted that." kiara put her hand over her mouth.

"i can't believe this, you're a reality tv hoe!" serena exclaimed with a huge smile and kiara quickly shook her head.

"no i'm not!" she defended immediately.

"we are more alike than you would like to admit, kiara carrera." serena smirked to herself and leaned back in her seat.

"shut up. we're here." kiara brought the car to an abrupt halt causing serena to jolt forward a little.

kiara quickly pulled her keys out of the ignition and hopped out, trying to escape this conversation as fast as possible. serena chuckled at the girls urgency to end their conversation before she hopped out as well. the two exchanged a look before walking towards the guards office.

"hello?" kiara shouted while raising her hand to get the guards attention.

"excuse us?" serena yelled as well causing the guards head to turn towards them.

the sight of the two young girls immediately caught his attention and he hopped up from his chair to meet them. he was out of sight for a few moments before the door opened and he emerged with eagerness all over his face.

"can i help you girls?" he asked and approached them from the other side of the gate.

"hi! we actually have a flat tire." kiara explained, turning to point at the car behind the girls.

"yeah, we thought we would come to you for help." serena spoke up, pulling the man's eyes to her.

when the man took in the girls presence he quickly recognized her, "are you ward cameron's little girl?"

serena let out a low huff, annoyed at how her father seemed to follow her everyone. though after years of only being recognized as wards daughter she realized it was a perfect way to work the system.

"sure am. not too sure about little though," she brought her bottom lip between her teeth and giggled obnoxiously, "i'm quite mature for my age."

the man soon became aware of her sultry tone and let his eyes roam down her figure shamelessly, "yeah?"

"yeah." she smirked with a nod, pushing her cover up further off her shoulder, "so, do you think you could help us?"

the man instantly nodded and began to walk backwards towards his office, "of course, one minute."

the security guard eventually disappeared into his office once more, allowing the girls to be alone. they turned to one another with smirks and high fives discreetly.

"too easy." serena commented and looked over her shoulder to see the three boys heads popped up behind a bunch of wood.

the boys watched in amazement at how quickly the girls were able to get the man to help. they knew that if it had just been them there was no way they could've kept the guard distracted. though jj did shutter a little when he noticed the guy rake his eyes along serena's body.

the gate suddenly opened and the man came rushing out with a big black tool bag. the girls smiled largely at the man and lead him over to kiara's car. as the girls walked to the car, they could feel the guards eyes on their asses causing they to share a look of disgust.

"it's just this back one right here. i mean it must've been a slow leak or something." kiara explained, putting her arm up to lean against the boat she had connected to the back.

serena leaned back against the boat on the other side of the man so they would black his vision in both directions. serena looked over her shoulder at the boys and gave them a nod to signal them it was go time.

"been sitting in the yard too long?" he asked kiara and she nodded.

"yeah." she affirmed.

"or it happened when we went to the creek a few days ago." serena lied, offering another explanation.

"what creek?" the guard wondered.

"the one off of dudley, it's really remote. great for skinny dipping, y'know?" serena laughed playfully, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"i'll have to go there sometime." he smirked in response.

"for sure." serena nodded before looking down to the tire again.

the man noticed her line of sight and quickly bent down, "yeah, i got this."

"thank you so much." kiara smiled widely at the man who nodded, letting his eyes linger in kiara's legs for a little to long.

kiara raised an eyebrow at him causing him to look away quickly and pull out a tank to fill her tire. he soon got to work and the girls tried to keep watch, making sure the boys had gotten through the gate.

it was silent for a few minutes as the man filled the tire back up. the sound of loud barking sounded off through the air, causing the girls to share a worried look. the man looked away from the tire and began to scan his surroundings.

"do you girls hear that?" he asked and they quickly shook their heads.

"hear what?" kiara tried to play it cool but the man stood up, throwing his pressure tool down.

"tebow's got something." he said and began to look around.

serena knew that 'something' was most definitely the boys so she quickly looked around for a solution. she knew they had to buy more time, causing her to kick kiara softly. kiara looked over to her and serena motioned her head to the other tire in which kiara quickly nodded, knowing what serena was implying. kiara quickly walked around to the other side as serena grabbed the man's attention once more.

"awe, you have a dog?" she popped her bottom lip out and the man smiled.

"yeah yeah, he's a german shepard." he informed her but still looked around a little.

"he's probably got a raccoon or something." she said, making intense eye contact with the man as she bent down to grab the tire tool and allowing him the view of her bikini top, "you dropped this."

the man obviously looked down serena's coverup with a gross expression as he took the tool from her hand, "thank you."

serena made sure to allow the man's fingertips to graze her palm as she looked up at him. his attention seemed to be on nothing except for her until the sound of hissing made his face scrunch in confusion.

serena quickly realized that kiara's attempt to flatten the other tire was now caught as the man began to round the boat, "wait!"

serena rushed after the man to stop him from seeing kiara but it was too late, "what are you doing?"

kiara looked up at the man with wide eyes as she pulled her bobby pin away from the tire, "this one looked a little low too."

the security guard soon came to realize that the girls were playing him causing his eyes to widen. he quickly turned around and ran towards the gate, abandoning the girls and rushing towards the sound of his dog barking.

"shit!" kiara groaned and ran to the other side of the car to hop in.

serena quickly rushed to the passenger side and opened the door. she practically threw herself inside as kiara started the car up and began to turn around so they could escape.

"you were supposed to distract him!" kiara scolded serena as she looked over her shoulder to turn the car around.

"i tried! boobs can only do so much!" serena defended as the finally drove off, leaving the  salvage yard behind them.

the girls drove in anxious silence as they worried about the boys. they had eventually arrived at the spot where john b had parked the twinkie and began to worry more when they noticed they boys still hadn't turned up.

the two girls eventually sat for over fifteen minutes, occasionally hopping out of the car to pace. though the boys still hadn't come back and serena came to the conclusion they had probably gotten caught. though they hadn't seen cops rush by or heard sirens so they were kind of left to their own thoughts.

"shit, i hope they didn't get caught." kiara fiddled with her fingers as she walked back and forth in front of serena who sat with her legs dangling out of the twinkie.

"i hope they got the drone." serena droned as she sat picking at her nails aimlessly.

kiara scoffed at the girl, stopping her pacing to turn to serena, "what a good team player you are."

serena looked up from her nails to see kiara glaring at her causing her to shrug. it's not that she didn't care about if they got caught, she just knew that if they did then their treasure hunt would come to a halt.

though the sound of rushed footsteps on the dirt caused the two girls to turn around. the sight of the boys jogging up to them flooded the girls with relief. they were even more pleased at the black suitcase and bag in john b's hand.

"oh thank god." kiara let out a breath she had obviously been holding as the guys finally walked up.

"you guys got it?" serena hopped up from her seat and approached them.

"i got it, thanks to my amazing acting skills and tragic home life." jj smiled, resting his hands on his hips confidently.

"i got it while you played tag with the dog." john b turned to jj and held up the black bag in his grip.

"i just ran." pope chimed in with a simple shrug.

"i don't even want to know." kiara said, shaking her head.

"alright, so what do we do now?" serena asked the group, wondering what their next step would be.

"we'll test it tomorrow at the chateau and make sure it works." john b said and set the gear in the back of the twinkie, signaling the rest of them to get ready to leave.

"in the meantime i'm starving." jj patted his stomach and leaned up against the passenger side door.

"stealing drones does makes you hungry." pope chimed in to agree and taking a seat inside the twinkie.

"what i would do to have beer and shrimp and grits right now." john b pondered, thinking about how long it had been since he had a proper meal.

"it would not be pretty." jj said, opening the door to hop in.

"i have to take my car home but let's meet up at the wreck and i'll convince my dad to throw us a few strays." kiara pointed to her car and the guys all smiled eagerly.

"i can't. i have to go home." serena said causing the group to look at her in confusion.

"what? why?" jj questioned her, turning in his seat immediately at her words.

"i have a party to go to." she said simply, climbing into the back of the twinkie.

"are you serious?" john b rolled his eyes at the girl.

"yes, i'm serious." serena confirmed as she was slightly confused as to why this seemed to be such a big deal.

"i thought you were with us now." jj assumed that because she was helping them now that she wouldn't be doing her kook activities.

"listen just because i agreed to be a part of all of this doesn't mean that i'm going to up and leave my friends because you decided you want to know me again." serena found herself spitting out angrily.

she found herself in this position a lot. sometimes she could feel her mood change in an instant and suddenly she was being rude without even meaning to. she could feel herself being mean but she could stop doing so.

sometimes she thought that there was something wrong with her. she always found it so weird how in recent years she would ruin the good things that were happening on her life voluntarily. it was like she had a beautiful rose in her hand and suddenly had the urge to crush it in between her fingers in fear that it would blow away.

jj scoffed at the girls words while shaking his head in disbelief, turning back in his seat and signaling john b to go, "whatever, serena. take her home."

the car went silent, as if the others were waiting for the pair to talk it through or at least argue about it further. though serena just sat back as her chest caved in and jj set his arm on the door and looked out the window. without another word john b put the car in drive and waved to kiara as they drove away.

the ride was eerily silent as they made their way back to figure eight. it felt like their successful adventure had been tainted by the awkward silence that enveloped them. serena simply played with her fingers in the back as jj sat in the passenger seat in disbelief.

or rather complete expectancy. he wasn't sure why but a part of him had expected serena to be a part of the pogues now. they had let her in on their biggest secret and adventure yet she still seemed to be the same kook he had came to despise. she hadn't changed even slightly, she still cared more about getting shitfaced with kooks than bonding with the pogues.

serena didn't realize how angry jj really was until they arrived at her house and he didn't even flinch. she had half expected him to at least say goodbye but as she stepped out of the van all she was met with was silence. she let out a small sigh, grabbed her phone, and slid the twinkie door shut.

serena walked up her driveway, a small part of her still expecting him to come after her but when she got to her front door she realized that wasn't going to happen.

jj simply watched the girl walk away with his lip between his teeth and his chest heaving. he wasn't sure why this had effected him so much it just did. he thought serena had changed but now he knew that was never going to happen. she was just like every other kook who practically gagged at the sight of a pogue, she simply just wanted in on the deal. or at least that's what he thought. he didn't know that in a few hours, their entire views on each other would change.

𝗮𝘂𝗯𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀!
it's so funny to think abt
all the places i write my
chapters because i literally
wrote this one in a nail salon,
a hair salon, business class, bed
and more like working women
much??

so so so sorry this one took so
long to get out but the next chapter
was so complicated to write and i didn't
want to force myself to write
just to get something out because
i really love this story and want it
to be good!

alsooo pls pls vote it means
the mostest to me! and comment
that's my favorite part of posting!