Against the world/OBX

Chapter 6.

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kie said looking at John B, JJ's plan was for John B to steal scuba gear from Ward Cameron; see what I mean about JJ's plans being stupid.

"Okay, this one's a quarter full, it's enough for one of us" Kie was holding up one tank

"Love it when a plan comes together" Pope said from behind the wheel.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie asked the group but we all stayed silent "Anybody?" She asked again

"It's kind of a kook sport" JJ said confirming none of us knew how to dive

"I read about it once" Pope said

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's going to die" Kie said rolling her eyes

"That was rude" I mumbled from the back of the boat and only Pope heard me, turning around giving me a small smile.

"Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard can it be?" JJ said which made Pope and I look at him unsure if he was serious

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood and you get the bends" Pope sounded so sure of himself.

"Bends like, bend over and" JJ said being a child and bending over while leaning on wheel

"The bends kill you" I said from behind the group, probably a bit harsher than I meant for it to come out because the pogues just all looked at me with raised eyebrows. JJ looked over at me making eye contact for the first time since the kiss and quickly looked away again.

"I can dive" I heard John B say making me stand up and walk towards the front of the boat

"You can dive, I'm cool with that?" JJ said making me glare at him

"Since when can you dive?" I asked my brother

"Let me do some calculations real quick" Pope said drawing on a piece of paper "That boat's about 30 feet down. So it'll take 25 minutes at that depth. Which means you need to do your safety stop at about ten feet. For two minutes" Pope said looking straight at John B, there's no way John B would know where ten feet was so I took my shirt off and jumped into the water without telling anyone what I was doing.

"I tied my shirt to the anchor chair about ten feet down, that's where you need to do your safety stop" I said coming back to the surface, Kie came over to help me back on the boat after noticing JJ wasn't helping and Pope was talking to John B

"Keep an eye on this, you need to make sure you have enough air to decompress" Pope was telling John B

"How much do I need?" John B asked clearly nervous

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible" Pope said to John B

"Zen. Think Zen, you know" JJ said imitating breathing through a mask

"If you're so zen JJ, why don't you do the dive?" I asked JJ but he just walked away, he knows I am annoyed at him.

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we are basically screwed so, better get a move on" I said to John B

Kie came over to us and gave John B a kiss on the cheek making me look at Pope and JJ all three of us confused at what just happened.

"Diver down?" John B asked

"Diver down" Kie and I both said

"Care to explain the kiss, Kie?" I asked as we waited for John B

"I just worry about him, care to explain what is going on with you and JJ?" Kie asked me in return.

"What do you mean? Nothing is going on with me and JJ" I said confused