Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 9 - Pilot || Part 9

As the group got to open waters and away from residential areas, they instantly became rowdier. "Let me show you a party trick," JJ said, stepping on the front of the boat, elevating himself.

"Oh god, here we go. I'm moving," JB stated, letting Pope take over driving.

"We've tried this like 6,000 times," Pope explained.

"I've got this, it's gonna work!" JJ boasted confidently. The crew watched as he raised the glass bottle of beer, the beer from the bottle hitting everyone and everything besides the back of JJ's mouth.

"What the hell is he doing?" Elizabeth groaned as the cold beer hit her face.

"You're getting beer in my hair," Kiara exclaimed.

"Dude, you suck at this," Elizabeth stated. JJ continued to try to get the beer into his mouth while he lifted his middle finger towards his friends. Pope, John B, and Elizabeth all called for him to stop. Before the crew knew what was going on, JJ was launched into the water from the front of the boat. The boat stopped in its tracks, stuck in place. Both Elizabeth and Kiara had fallen onto the floor whilst Pope and John B were lucky to be cushioned by their seats.

Elizabeth instantly got up, turning to the girl beside her and offering a hand. The girl took her hand and Elizabeth pulled her up. Immediately after, the girl walked to the front of the boat, watching as JJ reappeared from under the water.

"Maybank, you okay?" Elizabeth asked nervously, watching as the boy treaded water to keep himself afloat.

"I think my heels touched the back of my head," JJ explained, taking a moment to himself in the water. Elizabeth shook her head at the boy's response.

"I'm alright," Kie responded to John B, who had asked if she was okay.

"Pope, what did you do?" JJ asked as he sat in the water. The boat had clearly gotten stuck on some sort of land mass that had accumulated during the hurricane.

"Sandbar," said Pope. "The channel changed."

"No shit," JJ stated, swimming towards the boat.

"Ugh, this is probably gonna mess this whole place up," Pope explained. The area was hard enough to traverse normally, but now every boat will have to get used to the new patterns displayed within the water, courtesy of Agatha.

"Hey, I saved the beer though," JJ said, excitedly holding up his beer as a trophy.

"Congrats," said John B.

"You're an idiot," Elizabeth stated.

"That we can agree on," exclaimed Kiara.

Pope stood on the boat, squinting at something in the water. Ignoring the banter happening nearby, Pope stated, "Guys, I think there's a boat down there." Both John B and Kie instantly voiced their disbelief but walked over to the edge of the boat. A large, white spot reflected through the water to show what seemed to be a boat.

"No, no guys, I'm serious. There's like a boat down there for real," Pope stated again.

"Holy shit, he's right. Let's go," Kie affirmed. Elizabeth barely heard Pope talking about the possibility of a dead body being down in the boat before she slipped off her clothing and revealed her navy-blue bikini. Elizabeth looked down through the water, ensuring that she could see the bottom before she jumped in. She dove down past JJ, submerging herself in the water. Kie, Pope, and John B followed her lead, stripping down to their bathing suits and jumped into the water near JJ.

The group swam to the submerged boat together, looking around. Pope was right-- the white blur was in fact a shiny white boat which clearly hadn't been there too long. The algae had just begun to grow on the sides, and the technology was brand new. It was a beautiful shipwreck. After being under for a few moments, the group all came up to the surface for air.