Gold Digger// JJ Maybank- OBX

forty one

"I believe Pope's off educating himself on that key. I think he's looking for it. Sarah, she's trying to get ahold of Wheezie." Kiara told her.

Scarlett nodded. "Ah, okay. So basically everyone's off doing something helpful and here we are just getting high as kites." She sighed.

"Hey, sometimes we get our best ideas when we're high." Kiara joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Scarlett laughed. "True. We're geniuses when we're high."

⭐⭐⭐

Scarlett had moved herself into JJ's room, using her now free time to tidy the space. The room was a mess with clothes littering the floor- a mix of both JJ and Scarlett's. She'd left Kiara in the living room, allowing her some privacy to get changed into a fresh set of clothes. Outside night had already fallen, but the fairy lights lit up the garden outside the window. It was comforting to Scarlett, the way the Pogues had left the lights strung up in the trees. It made the Château feel more like home.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Pope's voice from down the hall. "Hey, Kie, what are you doing back?" Scarlett stuck her head out the door, watching the two awkwardly interact. "Sorry." Pope apologised as Kiara turned her back to him, buttoning up her top. Scarlett stepped out of JJ's room, closing the door behind her.

"Hey Pope." She greeted, her voice almost no louder than a whisper.

Pope nodded at her, frowning at the site of her new injuries. "What happened?" He asked, looking between the two girls.

"My mom snapped, and I got booted." Kiara explained, turning around and taking a seat on the couch.

"Wait, what?" Pope asked. walking over to her.

"It's not a big deal." Kiara shrugged. "I'm just gonna stay here a couple of days, hang out with my friends."

Scarlett frowned, knowing her friend was hiding how bad she really felt about the whole situation. It hurt her to see how much their lives were being flipped upside down just to help free their friend. "Kie-" Scarlett said softly, walking across the room and crouching down in front of the girl. She wasn't really sure what to say, instead just resting her hand comfortingly on the girl's knee.

"We have stuff to figure out." Kiara added with a shrug.

"You know, if you need a place to stay, you can always stay with me." Pope told her. "That goes for you too, Lottie."

Scarlett nodded, looking up at the boy. "Yeah, I know." She smiled softly at him before turning her gaze back to Kiara.

"Um..." Kiara cleared her throat. "Yeah, uh... How did things go with you?" She asked, changing the subject.

Pope sat down on one of the dining chairs. "Um... Well... Pops was upset."

"Upset?" Kiara asked sarcastically. "After you left his truck in Charleston? What for?"

Scarlett turned her gaze towards the boy, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. She frowned slightly, knowing how strict Pope's father could be. She just hoped that his visit home hadn't been too bad on her friend.

"Uh, you know, I'm actually trying to figure that out myself. I can't really see any reason..." Pope joked and the four chuckled slightly, the tension between Pope and Kiara breaking a bit. "... that would make him upset. But, um, I did ask him about the key, and he said his grandmother had something like that."

"Oh?" Scarlett whispered. "Do you know where it is?"

Pope nodded. "So, I went over to great-grandma's place, and, uh..." He paused, digging into his pocket. He stood up, searching through his pocket before finding the thing he was looking for. He took a seat on the couch next to Kiara, and Scarlett moved to sit on the arm of the couch so she could see better. "I found... this." He pulled a piece of red string out of the small box he was holding and Scarlett couldn't help but gasp. Attached to the string was the key Ms. Limbrey had been talking about.