JOHN B CAREFULLY steered the boat through the wreckage and debris piled in the water, surrounding the docks in town at the market.

"that's unfortunate." kalani said, look at where a dock was torn up and a boat had been pushed ashore. mara laughed quietly at the sight.

"couldn't be me." the maybank girl commented, glancing at the dock before going to stand next to john b, who put his arm around her waist.

"it's giving sarah and topper energy and i'm about to stick my arm in the propeller." maya said to the two, mara quickly pulling away from john b who immediately returned his hand to the steering wheel.

"that's a horrible thing to say." mara deadpanned. "literally how can you think that lowly of me?"

"i love you, that's all that matters." arden said, putting her arms over the shorter girl's shoulders.

"i'm gonna go date your sister." mara said to john b, who rolled his eyes.

"i'm honestly surprised you aren't already." he replied, kalani standing up from her seat and standing on the bow as the boat steered closer and closer to heyward's dock where pope was standing, hosing down the deck.

"your hose is a very pretty green." the brunette taunted, pope flipping her off in response.

"well look who we have here." john b added before pretending to speak into an imaginary radio on his shoulder. "we have a safety meeting, attendance mandatory."

"i cant, my pops has got me on lockdown!" pope replied exasperatedly, jj climbing onto the bow next to kalani.

"come on, man!" jj whined, immediately switching to the radio act john b had tried. "your dad's a pussy, over." he said, right as heyward made it to the end of the dock.

"oh i heard that, you little bastard." the older man spat, leaning on the railing. "lani, arden, how are you?"

"hanging in there." arden answered for both of them.

"can we borrow your son, i won't break him, i promise." kalani attempted.

"and, island rules, day after hurricanes a free day." jj interjected, kalani slapping him on the arm.

"who the hell made that up?" heyward questioned, jj looking around.

"pentagon, i think? we have security clearance, mara has a card." he explained, pointing at his twin sister, who flashed an invisible business card at the man, who seemed displeased with their antics.

"pentagon- y'all think i'm stupid?" heyward asked angrily. the man had always acted like he couldn't stand the maybank siblings, but everyone could see he had a soft spot for the group.

"definitely not." maya muttered under her breath sarcastically.

"i promise i'll get it done tomorrow, pop." pope attempted to negotiate, heyward turning to his son in disbelief.

"no- hell no! you're doing it right now!" the man snapped, john b leaning toward the boy on the dock.

"get in the boat." he whispered. pope shot one last glance at his dad, heyward shouting many warnings at his son before the boy rounded the railing and jumped on the boat, grabbing kalani's hand as the girl helped pull her onboard.

"get your ass back up here!" heyward yelled, pope leaning on the metal pole in front of john b, a wide grin on his face.

"i promise i'll do it tomorrow!" pope assured.

"when you get back you're gonna clean shrimp, you're gonna clean fish, you're gonna clean your dirty ass room! and i don't like your friends!" the man added as the teens on the boat shot smart remarks back at him.

"welcome to the party." mara said with a smile, carra looking up at the short haired boy who had just arrived on the boat.

"you must be pope." she commented.

"the one and only." the heyward boy replied with a smile, going to sit next to the dark haired girl, the two immediately starting a conversation.

"watch yourself, kalani's throwing sarah and topper's names at people who act to coupley." arden warned, the brunette on the bow next to jj shaking her head.

"that's only for mara and jb."

"why me?" john b asked offendedly.

"because your face is ugly." the brunette replied without hesitation, mara stifling a laugh at the comment.

"my face is very beautiful, thank you very much." john b scoffed offendedly, arden smiling as her younger siblings bickered, taking the wheel as the two progressively moved further away, beginning to shove each other lightly, insults barely audible through their laughter.

"how come they're so much closer than you?" maya asked the oldest routledge, who shrugged.

"they always ganged up on me when we were little, i always hung out with friends, they hung out with each other, i don't really know. it was just kind of always this way." arden explained, maya nodding.

"i get it." she assured. "mara and jj are closer to each other than i am to both of them combined."

"it was the weirdest thing too." jj joined in. "i couldn't stand either of you for like, thirteen years, and then i woke up one day and decided you were okay."

"thanks." mara said flatly from behind the group, glaring at jj.

"of course, any time." jj replied, the two engaging in a fight of their own as the boat steered towards kiara's dock.

"there's my favorite girlfriend!" maya said happily to the brunette walking down the dock, helping her onto the boat, the two of them sitting on the floor next to the bow.

"what's in the cooler?" kalani asked, not waiting for an answer before opening it and pulling two beers out, passing one to jj and opening the other for herself.

"i literally let you sleep in my bed." mara said offendedly, reaching into the cooler herself.

"still love me though, right?" kalani asked, mara nodding in confirmation.

"lemme show you guys a party trick." jj said from the bow, kalani and mara turning to face him.

"we're moving." kalani said, she and mara moving as close to the back of the boat as possible as jj raised his beer bottle into the air, attempting to pour it into his mouth as everyone around him shouted in protest.

"you're getting in in my hair!"

"jj, you're getting beer on my face!"

"you're drenching my towel- stop!"

"how is he this stupid?" kalani muttered to mara.

"i got the smart genes." the blonde said shortly. suddenly, the boat jolted to a stop, sending mara and kalani flying forward off their chairs and into a heap of limbs with john b, arden, and maya. a loud splash echoed as jj flipped off the front end of the boat, landing in the water with a sickening splat.

"holy shit, pope." kalani breathed, pulling herself up onto a seat and rubbing her back.

"i think my heels touched the back of my head." jj groaned from where he had surfaced in the water.

"it's a sandbar, the channel changed."

"how many times do i have to tell you dipshits there was a hurricane." maya asked, carra and marlee groaning as they stood up, pope climbing onto the bow to look down at the sandbar.

"guys?" pope yelled to the group, he was joined by kalani and arden, who peered over the edge into the water with him. from their spot on the bow, they could see the roof of a boat, barely visible through the murky water.

"guys, there's a boat down there."

kens speaks 🪐

it's been a minute

everyone thank harringtonssss for this, this chapter is courtesy of a deal we struck up on sunday (go read her book summertime sadness for clear skin)

see you in like a month for chapter 5