Dreamer | Outer Banks

08- Diver Down

We should've learned a long time ago never to listen to JJ. He's full of bad ideas, like stealing from John B's rich boss. But for once I had to agree with him, no matter the cost. Our dad said the island was America on steroids. The haves and have-nots like anyplace, but magnified and multiplied. The way I see it, the game's rigged. Maybe it always has been. No parents, no money, and only having John B to look out for me.

I watched John B while he unlocked the door to the boat and we quickly made our way in as we avoided being seen by the Camerons. We made our way down the boat's stairs to the pit and John B began to pack the scuba gear into the bag he brought while I served as the lookout. The sound of the bag's zipper snapped me out of my trance and we hurried up the stairs and made our way onto the boat's deck.

"Oh! Hey." I jumped at the voice and turned my head to see Sarah Cameron making her way up to us. "Are you stalking us? Plotting your revenge?"

My brother laughed and casually leaned against the boat. "Yeah. Why don't you just tell your daddy I blew the bulge on Druthers."

"Everything's good to go. Just topspin' off these tanks." John B continued as he made his way down from the boat and began to set the tanks down into our boat.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sarah asked, standing next to me and watching as John B finished loading the gear into the boat. "Cause' that eye of yours looks really gnarly."

I held back a laugh but quickly regained my composure as John B turned around to face us.

"You know what? You can tell Topper he won the first round. I'll get him next time."

John B and I hopped into our boat as Sarah walked over and stood at the edge of hers. "So there's just going to be a reign of terror on this island now?"

"Wars have been started for less Sarah." I pointed out as I took a seat on the front of the boat while John B powered up the motor.

Sarah playfully rolled her eyes at me. "Okay. Can we drop the whole Pogued versus Kooks thing? It is really stupid."

John B sighed loudly and leaned over the side of the boat to get closer to Sarah. "You know, it's easy to say when you're a Kook."

After the two started at each other intensely for what seemed like forever, John B walked over and started the engine to the boat. When we began to speed away Sarah saluted us which then turned into flipping us off in which I playfully looked hurt and winked at her.

~~~

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kiara questioned as she searched through the equipment when we made it out to the marsh above the sunken Grandy-White. "Okay, this one's quarter full. It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together." Pope muttered from the captain's chair as he propped his feet up under the steering wheel.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" I questioned standing next to JJ, looking around for any sort of reassurance this plan has a chance to succeed. "Anybody?"

"It's kind of a kook sport." JJ pointed out, shrugging his shoulders. I sighed before Pope raised his hand. "I...read about it."

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kiara groaned from the front of the boat where she sat next to John B.

"Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard can that be?" JJ questioned, clueless about the dangers of diving.

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." Pope explained even though I knew JJ wouldn't know what Pope was talking about.

"Bends like, bend over and..." JJ bent his back forward and smirked at me. Pope shook his head and sighed. "The bends kill you."

JJ stood silent for a minute before nodding his head. "Right."

"You know what, since none of you are stepping up I'll dive." I volunteered, I had no idea what I was doing but it's better than giving up.

"There's no way I'm letting you dive." JJ argued as he tugged on my arm and made me face him. He gave me a pleading look but I ignored him.

"JJ's right, you're not diving. I'll do it, I can dive." John B added but it didn't surprise me, he never would've let me do something like that.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ said before which caused me to punch his shoulder but I only received a playful kiss on the cheek.

"Since when can you dive?" Kiara questioned, giving him a doubtful face. "I'll do it. It's fine." John B assured us but Kie only shook her head.

Pope stood up as he pulled out a scrap piece of paper and began writing. "Let me do some calculations real quick."

"You serious?" I heard Kiara ask my brother before she got up from the front of the boat and made her way next to me.

"That boat's about thirty feet down. So it'll take twenty-five minutes at that depth. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about ten feet. All right? For two minutes." Pope explained, glancing up at John B to make sure he got it all.

"Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." John B said before we all turned our attention to Kie who had pulled her shirt off and jumped into the water without a word. "What was that all about?" Pope questioned but none of us had an answer.

"I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ added which disappointed me in a way. He always talked about other girls but after the kiss it felt different.

The boys all exchanged looks until John B cleared his throat and they all started mumbling different things. Do they all have a thing for Kie?

"Yeah, uh, when you, uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ explained holding out the key to John B.

"Stick in, twist, pull." My brother mumbled to himself as he tried to memorize it.

"Yeah. My dad moved weight back in the day." JJ said as Kie emerged from the water.

"Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." Kiara explained as she swam back to the boat.

"Cool." My brother replied, watching Kie swim to the boat. Cool? Was that all he could say? It was obvious Kiara liked him for the longest time.

"Keep an eye on this." Pope said showing John B the gauge attached to the tank. "You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."

I began to tap my fingers against the boat, it's something I tended to do when I got nervous. I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well. JJ must have noticed this because he placed his hand over mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Okay, how much do I need?" John B asked Pope as I gave JJ a small but visible smile in which he returned.

"Unclear. Breath as little as possible." Pope guessed which made me sigh. Well that's reassuring, nothing to worry about.

"Zen. Think zen, you know." JJ suggested as he made hand gestures.

"Yeah. Got it" John B said and snuck me a confused look to which I only shrugged in response.

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so...better get a move on." Pope explained while he examined our surroundings.

Kiara went up to John B and kissed him on the cheek. "Diver down?" My brother said while he held onto his mask.

"Diver down." Kie replied before John B pulled the mask down over his face and jumped into the water.