THE TEENS SAT IN THE HMS POGUE silently gliding along the water, the only source of sound was the rumbling of the boat engine. The sky cast a wave of orange to illuminate the island, causing a beautiful scenery. It was like the perfect, typical summer morning in the OBX. Bright skies, warm sun, all residents of the island wearing either swim shorts or a bikini. For the Kooks, they'd probably be sporting a ridiculously large sun hut.

  JJ let out a small whistle as he stared at a larger, far more luxurious boat through his glasses. "You guys see that? That's a Malibu 24-MXZ, the worlds finest wakesetter. Number one in luxury, quality, and performance. 200k easy."

  "We picked the wrong parents." Pope muttered as Kiara's disgusted expression glared at the vehicle.

  "I hate to break it to you guys, but that's Topper and his girlfriend." From afar, Sierra noticed the blonde girl lower her glasses and glance at them, "You don't have to act like you don't see us, bitch."

  "We look pathetic next to that fuckin' thing." Sierra turned away, rolling her eyes. "Like, who the hell decides that they just wanna take their transformer out for a drive."

  "How old even is this thing?" Pope questioned, turning to John B who nearly twisted his neck with how hard he stared at the Cameron girl.

  He cleared his throat, tapping on the steering wheel gently, "Uh, I don't know, same age as me probably?"

  "Good god." Sierra blew out a breath, "46 years old is crazy."

  "Oh, fuck off."

—

  THE PLAN WAS SUPPOSE TO BE SIMPLE, well, hopefully. As of recently, simple plans ended up having complex problems, but they hoped that they don't run into any of those issues. The teens drove to JJ's workplace, which was over on Figure Eight, which also meant that they'd be in for a longer drive than normal. The country club rested atop of hill, overlooking most of The Cut and the beaches of the Outerbanks. Pulling in, the van came to a stop in one of the parking spots that most definitely was reserved for some Kook and not a group of Pogues hoping to borrow the computers for a bit. The old, brown vehicle stood out drastically against the many sports cars surrounding them.

  "All right, keep a look out, we're behind enemy lines." JJ muttered as he reached into the glovebox and grabbed the gun.

  "Yo, come on, man." John B admonished, watching from the driver seat as he shut off the engine. "Just put it back." Once he realized that JJ hadn't even lowered it, he frowned. "JJ."

  "What? You can never be too careful." JJ shrugged, casually loading up the gun like it was nobody's business.

  Pope slid the back door open, climbing out and casually leaning up against the door where it was open due to the rolled down window. "Hey, I predict that bringing a weapon to a four-star hotel will likely cause more problems and then they solve."

  "That's because it will." Sierra added as she peeked her head from in between the seats. "I swear to fuckin' god, I'm gonna throw that thing in the ocean, JJ. Put it back."

  "Thank you, the two people with a brain have spoken." John B grabbed the gun, shoving back in its place inside the glovebox. Sierra lightly slapped the side of the blondes head, knocking his hat partly of his head.

  "Ow." JJ whispered, adjusting his hat and glaring at John B. "You can't grab a gun like that."

  "There you go." Pope proudly muttered, tapping the door and pushing himself away.

  The Maybank boy reached into the glovebox once more, John B keeping a close eye to assure that he didn't go for the firearm once more. "Can't forget my badge." JJ mumbled, stepping out the van, "Professional busboy."

  The five followed after the blonde, the one time they'd let him lead a plan given that he knew the building layout more then they did. Pope trailed just a few steps behind JJ. "So, where are we going now?"

  "We're getting on the internet because only rich people have electricity right now." JJ responded motioning them towards the building. "This way!"

  The Pogues came in from the back, wandering in like they didn't belong, because they didn't. But, with JJ leading them they looked like any other workers just trying to clock in for the day. "Andrew! What's up, bro?" Shouted the boy cooly, the variety of coworkers familiar with the Maybank boy. He continued down, turning to greet an older woman prepping food on a plate to go out. "Mama L," JJ's fingers sneaked down, reaching for a piece, "good to see you!"

  "Hey, no, JJ!" The women scolded, her face scrunching up to emphasize her wrinkles in sternness. She lightly smacked his hand away, watching him pass and not noticing a smirk grew on his face as he hummed in response.

  They exited the kitchen, looking ridiculous in their ratty clothes when put in such a elegant lobby like the one they walked through. Sierra could feel the eyes on them, making her cross her arms in front of her. "See, they got back up generators going? Kooks don't miss a beat."

  With a sweet smile flashed to the middle-age woman behind the front desk, JJ scurried right past and into the computer room. "Sweet lord, the internet! I've missed you." Pope gasped, being the first to walk in and collapse onto a chair.

  John B followed after, resting his backpack onto the chair next to Pope, digging into it to find the map. "I got the map."

  "Coordinates please." Pope requested, not even looking over as his fingers awaited to type in the numbers. He certainly felt like a stereotypical guy-in-the-chair from some action movie.

  The Heyward boy was swift, putting in the coordinates as John B listed them, clicking the blue 'FIND' button which showed them a location. John B leaned in closely, observing blue waters that the coordinates led to them to. "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 quickly remarked making John B sigh.

  "Come on, baby, come on." JJ quietly pleaded as the screen slowly zoomed in, revealing the number of feet it took to reach the bottom. The dot say exactly on the 900 mark.

  "Shit, it's on the high-side. It's only 900 feet." John B encouraged enthusiastically which made the Heyward boy give him a flummoxed look.

  "That's not that deep."

  "Is that doable or something?" Kiara skeptically questioned, looking over at JJ.

  "Yeah, totally doable."

  "Okay, and will we be taking your personal submarine?" Pope asked rhetorically, swiveling himself in the chair to also look over at the blonde.

  "How do you know this, Mr. Dive Master?"

  "The salvage yard." JJ simply began like it was the most obvious solution, "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."

  "And can you dad get his grimy little hands on that?" John B asked as Sierra cringed at the mention of JJ's dad, she really didn't like him, at all. But then again, who did?

  "Well, my dad's grimy little hands got his ass fired." JJ clicked his tongue as he slowly revealed the information. "I guess the salvage captain frowns on showing up shitfaced, turns out. But the drone is there, it's in the impound yard outback."

  "How much did you say was on the royal Merchant, again?" Kiara spoke up, knowing that the answer sat in her mind but she wanted full reassurance that she remembered correctly.

  Before Sierra could utter her answer she noticed Pope her and practically sprint to the door. "400 million."

  "400 million dollars?" Kiara repeated, letting the number sink into her brain before she suddenly sat up.

  "No. Absolutely not." The Heyward boy rejected as Kiara walked to the door. "Absolutely not. No!"

  "Pope. Move." Kiara yanked his arm away as it barricaded the door, walking out with the rest of the group following after.

  "Guys, that's too—" Pope looked at John B who was the final man to walk out with an incredulous look. "Can't we do anything legal for money?"

  John B gave him a small push, forcing him out the door. "Go."

—

"THINK OF IT LIKE THIS." SIERRA BEGAN, placing a hand on Pope's shoulder as he stared out the window. His agaisnt John B's seat and arms crossed stubbornly. "We're not stealing the drone, just borrowing it, for a while."

Pope continued to rest his gaze on the outside instead of what frustrated him the most on the inside. "Humans are the only animals that can tell fantasy from reality."

"Wait, did you come up with that?" John B questioned from the drivers seat.

"No, Albert Bernstein came up with that, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing." The Heyward boy explained, his tone sharp as the frustration still ran through him.

"Oh."

"So," Pope turned around, resting his arm on the back of the seat, "which is it? Fantasy or reality?"

"Why you so weird, Pope?" JJ loudly inquired, his eyes squinted in concentration as he rolled up the green herbs into a thin paper.

"It's fantasy," Kiara answered nicely, "but, possible reality."

"Reality." John B firmly added, confidently looking over at the Carrera girl, smiling softly.

"A even amount of both." Sierra shrugged, looking up to Pope who sat on her right side. "I hate choosing."

"Virtual reality." JJ chimed in, his newly wrapped joint stuffed in between his lips as he flicked open his lighter. With full intension to light the tip, he raised the flame but was cut off when Pope reached over Sierra.

  He tossed the joint towards the seats at the very back of the van, keeping a glare concentrated on the blonde as he did so. "Keep the signal clear."

   JJ returned the pointed gaze, snapping shut his lighter. He mocked the Heyward boys words under his breath, shaking his head as the van came to a stop. The blonde kindly opened the sliding door, allowing Sierra to crawl over him in order to exit. As soon as the door was closed, he began. "You know what your problem is?"

"You?"

"No! It's that you need to relax, man, you're always so tense."

"I'm not too tense." Pope snapped back, the rest of the conversation going unheard as Kiara and Sierra walked to John B's side.

The brunette smiled encouragingly at the two, but directed his words at an antsy Kiara. "Hey, don't worry. You got this."

Kiara smiled, sucking in a deep breath as she lifted a hand to point at the back end of the vehicle. "It's not me that I'm worried about."

—

SLOWLY, KIARA PULLED INTO THE front gates of the junkyard, a chain linked fence separating the outsiders from entering. In a small parking booth sat a middle aged man, too focused on his book to notice the vehicle.

The Carrera sighed, her grip on the steering wheel tightening in nervousness. "You should be the one to do it."

"Why me?" Sierra looked over, furrowing her brows. "What happened to the whole 'It's not me I'm worried about' shit?"

"I'm not worried!" Kiara quickly defended, "It's just that...you're better at this then I am."

"Oh, really?"

"Half the people who know us think you and JJ are dating, so, yeah. I think you're better at 'seducing' or at least coming off as flirty."

Sierra glared at her softly, "Fine." Pushing the car door open, the girl slowly made her way to the booth. She turned to look at Kiara once more, swallowing thickly before speaking. "Excuse me, sir?" Waving an arm she caught his attention quickly, "Hi, there."

The guard walked out in an instance, lured in by her sweet smile and kind eyes. Even so, he kept a straight composure as he approached. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, um, me and my friend actually have a flat tire." Sierra pointed with her thumb over her shoulder just as Kiara exited the vehicle, offering her own smirk. "We were wondering if maybe you could help us out?"

After a beat of silence the man began to nod, slowly waking back into his booth. "Yeah."

Sierra turned around, throwing Kiara a subtle thumbs up in confirmation as she walked back. "Too fuckin' easy."

  "Yeah, well, practice makes perfect."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "Sierra, c'mon, I won't even be mad." Kiara smirked, walking closer to the girl. "Just tell me, are you and JJ dating?"

  "No!"

  "I get it, I know I'm the one always up everybody's ass about the whole rule, but—"

  As the footsteps of the security guard returned, Sierra gripped Kiara's arm and pulled off the side, just a few feet away from the car. "It's just that back one, right there."

  The man only nodded, kneeling down in front of the tire to begin his work. "But," The Carrera girl continued, "I'll totally make an exception."

  Sierra eyes watched as the boys sneaked in swiftly, the guard going clueless as he skillfully refilled air into the tire. "There is no exception to be made."

  "But there is."

  Before Sierra could reply, a dog barking caught all of their attention. It was continuous and aggressive, enough to make the guard stand up worryingly. "Hear that?" He questioned to the girls behind him.

"Hear what?" Kiara cluelessly asked, tilting her head for extra affect. Mentally she prayed that it was enough to make him return to the duty.

  "Tebow's got something." He pushed, a crease forming between his furrowed brows.

"It probably just a squirrel." Sierra butted in with a smile, "Or a raccoon, I had a dog, y'know. Even trained he liked to chase little critters around."

The excuse and look she have made
him slowly crouch back down. "Yeah."

  Sierra turned, giving a swift signal for Kiara, making her rush to the other side. Nervously, the Ray girl kept looking back and forth between the gate and man. As the man began to finish up, she spoke up. "Umm, y'know, I'm pretty sure the tire on the other side is looking low, mind fixing it too?"

"Yeah, of course." Instantly agreed the guard, picking up his toolbox and making his way to the other side. What Sierra didn't expect to find was Kiara still crouched down, attempting to deflate the tire, "What are you doing?"

Snapping her head up, Kiara stood up, shoving the hair pin into her pocket. "Uh, this tire is looking kinda low."

Her hope for the terrible coverup to work deflated as the man sprinted back into the booth, abandoning his took box about half way. In the distance, the sound of his dog still barked, letting a message be known from across the junk yard.

"Fuck." Sierra grumbled, looking to Kiara silently before the two bolted to the car. They were gone in an instant, already down the road with heavy breaths. "You think they got caught?"

"I hope not." Replied the Carrera girl, her thumbs nervously patting against the wheel. "Do you think they got caught?"

"Nah." Sierra replied with a simple shrug, "They'll be fine, they got JJ, and he always has an escape plan."

"Right." Kiara let in a deep breath, releasing it a few seconds later. "So, speaking of JJ..."

The girl next to her groaned, "Kie."

"Fine, you and JJ aren't together." Kiara's eyes remained trained on the road, though she kept speaking despite her friends obvious disinterest. "But there's something there, I know it, and I'm pretty sure everybody knows it too. JJ is complicated, but you somehow know how to figure him out. And JJ may not be the brightest, but he also knows how to figure you out."

Sierra was silent for a moment, crossing her arms and chewing on her lip. "You sound like a therapist."

"If sounding like a therapist also means that I sound like a good friend, then so be it." Kiara shrugged, finally tugging her eyes from the road to glance over at her friend as they approached a red light. "Give it a shot, Si. It'll be worth it."

Sierra gave her friend a look, her features soft and almost scared. It was quiet, then she spoke. "Okay."

NATTI SPEAKS:
edited on June 10th, 2024