CHAPTER TWO
iced tea and party tricks
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SITTING ON THE EDGE OF THE DOCK BEHIND HER HOUSE, joint in hand, she was approached by hms pogue boat containing jj and john b.

"i was wondering when you two idiots would show up." she asserted to the two.

pulling herself up, she reached out for jj's hand in assistance in getting onto the boat. "we just love making you grow impatient kota, nothing personal." john b sent her an wicked smile.

"haha, so funny." she rolled her eyes.

making there way through the marsh, they made sure greet everyone they passed by seeing as everyone was cleaning up due to the mess hurricane agatha made on everyone's property. agatha sure did take a good toll on dakotas house, making sure to tip over most of the trees in the yard and smashed open her bedroom window, which most definitely startled her in her sleep and surely needed to be fixed soon.

"hi miss amy! you guys get through it?" john b shouted to the woman cleaning up the mess agatha made on her dock.

"yep still here!"

after passing by, jj smirked at the two, "she totally looked at me."

     "i saw it."

     standing up from her seat on the back of the boat, she approached jj patting him on the back. "you think every girl looks at you buddy, it's just your delusional mind." she quipped receiving a playful shove in return.

     jj wiggles his eyebrows, "you love my delusional mind."

     "quit flirting!" john b shouted at the two from his position driving the boat.

     raising her hands in mock surrender, "sorry didn't mean to flirt with your boyfriend." she joked.

     continuing their way through the water they made it over to pope who was helping his dad on the dock with the mess hurricane agatha made.

     "well look who we have here." john b acknowledged pope as they made there way to him. while he whooped in the background.

     john b placed a hand over his mouth imitating static. "we have a safety meeting. attendance mandatory."

     dakota smiled, "get ready for the ride of your life, it shall be a crazy fun ride."

     "i can't. my pop's got me on lockdown." he explained to the three teens residing in the boat.

     "come on, man." jj complains. "your dad's a pussy. over." mimicking static just like john b did seconds ago.

     "oh i heard that, you little bastard." heyward interjects making his way down the dock towards the four teens.

     "busted." dakota sang out from behind jj.

jj whipped his head around and sent her a playful glare and smacked her in the stomach jokingly.

doubling over in mild pain the girl chuckled, "you're definitely getting better at that." pointing at him.

to others outside the friend group it may look like the two didn't get along but in reality the two were as close as it could be. most often they found themselves doing the stupidest shit together. playful banters occurred frequently between the two but that's how their "friendship" worked. they were basically north carolina's real life drake and josh.

"we need your son." john b stated to pope's dad.

jj agreed. "yeah, and island rules. day after a hurricane's a free day." he explained, armed raised in the air.

"who the hell made that up?" heyward questioned.

jj thought for a second. "uh, pentagon, i think. we have security clearance. i have a card." he announced, and began searching through his pockets to prove himself to heyward.

"think i'm stupid?" he asks jj.

"i was hoping maybe a little bit." dakota muttered under her breath, aggravated because pope wasn't in the boat already.

"get in the boat." john b whispered.

"make a run for it." jj waves his hand gesturing pope to come onto the boat which is exactly what he did.

pope kept telling john b to go so he didn't have to stay in the vicinity of his angry father who he just denied.

     "bring your ass back up here!" heyward shouted from the small distance between him and the teens.

"i promise we'll bring him back in one piece!" dakota shouted back muttering a possibly under her breath knowing that something was bound to happen on their trip— something always did.

     now after many minutes of pestering pope's father to let him on the boat, all they had to do was pick up kie and then they'll be on their merry way.

     "oh, top o' the mornin' to ya." john b greeted to kiara who was making her way to the boat.

     "whatcha got? you got some juice boxes?"

     "you know, just some yogurts and carrot sticks."

     "i hope that includes arizona iced tea." dakota interjects, eyes widened in anticipation. the girl always had an unhealthy addiction to iced tea. much like jj's addiction to weed and nicotine— which is a lot.

     "how about my kid of juice box?" jj asked reaching his hand out to help kie onto the boat. after setting down the cooler, they all begun reaching in to grab their preferred beverage.

     "salud." they cheered clinking their drinks together.

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     "LET ME SHOW Y'ALL A PARTY TRICK." jj raved excited to try the exact things he's done almost every time they ride on the boat. he walked towards the bow of the boat where he was going to stand to perform his "amazing" party trick.

     "oh god here we go again!" dakota shouted from the back of the boat."

     "pope, can you go a little faster please?"

     "we've tried this like six thousand times." john b complained walking towards the back of the boat to take a seat next to dakota.

     "welcome to the club of people who don't want to be covered in beer." she smiled at the boy.

"delighted to be here." he countered, slinging his arm around her shoulder. the two of them weren't as close as she was to jj, but there was still a connection between the two— platonically of course. the girl often found herself crashing at his place on his couch because she was too afraid to be around her brother for long periods of time.

     "i got this. it's gonna work!" jj shouted from the front confident in himself.

     as pope speeded up the boat, jj tilted the beer and his head back aiming for the beer to land in his mouth, but all he managed to do was get it on his friends residing behind him.

     "you're getting beer in my hair!" kie complained.

     "all right. all right. stop."

     pope stopped the boat, making the boat lurch forward. jj flying into the water as john b and dakota were thrown off their seats.

dakota felt herself get flung from her chair and she definitely felt the harsh slap her stomach made on top of john b's back.

     dakota groaned from her spot on top of john b patting his head. "thanks for breaking my fall."

     grunting from the impact from the fall and the weight of dakotas body on top of him, "no problem." he belted out, out of air.

     as she got up, she noticed jj was no longer on the boat. rushing over to the edge she saw the boy rise up from under the water.

     "oh god, are you okay?" dakota rushed out.

     "i think my heels touched the back of my head." he rasped out, winded from the impact of his fall.

     all dakota could do was wince in sympathy.

     "pope, what did you do?" jj asked.

     "sandbar." he explained. "the channel changed."

     "no shit." jj belted out making his way back towards the boat.

     sitting on the edge of the boat, john b complained, "this is probably gonna mess this whole place up."

     "hey, i saved the beer though."

     rolling her eyes at how dumb he was dakota congratulated him. "way to go stupid. award of the year goes to you."

     "i only want it if you're the one putting it around my neck." he winked in response.

     ignoring his friend chatting around him, pope observed the water noticing something below the water.

     "guys... i think there's a boat down there."