"You were totally macking on Sarah Cameron," JJ nodded with a smirk.
"I bet if we checked the security footage, it would say different," Atticus added with a toying smile.
"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access."
"There was access, all right," JJ muttered beneath his breath.
"Nice one, man. That was good!" The two boys high-fived before Renna kicked the closest one - JJ - in the shins, to grab his attention.
"Cut it out," she whispered before looking back at Kiara.
"Did you tell her about the treasure?" She asked, hope held back behind her eyes.
"I was just trying to get into the archives," he defended yet again, although he knew he was defenceless.
"Is that a yes?" Kiara exasperated again.
"I- I left out key details!"
"Yo, what? You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?" Kiara listed desperately, trying to understand why he would 'go behind her back' like he had.
"I was just using her for information." Renna hated that. Although she didn't speak up on it, didn't flinch, and acted like she didn't bat an eye, she was truly annoyed at her friend's statement. Nobody should be used for information, especially Sarah, who was truly just an innocent girl.
"Why don't I believe you?"
"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here, okay!" The boy attempted to salvage his single chance at forgiveness. "So that we can pay off a boat,or- or uh . . . send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies, or so you can race stupid cars."
"Hey!" Atticus shouted with furrowed brows, holding out his hands in confusion towards the sudden accusation.
"Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?" There was only silence.
"Yes, no questions asked," Atticus mumbled.
"Look, you don't know her yet, I do! You can't trust her," Kiara reasoned pleadingly.
"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," Pope added with a nod in Kiara's direction.
"Yeah, but he's clinically insane," Renna defended as she pointed to her temple.
"Whose side are you on, Ren? I thought you would be on mine!" Kiara argued. Renna faced her with wide, incredulous eyes.
"I'm not on any side. I'm not picking a side, you know I hate doing that." She shuffled back in her seat with her arms crossed.
"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ questioned as he adjusted his cap on his head.
"Yeah, Kie? I'm quite interested, actually," Atticus murmured as he crossed his arms.
"She's like a- like a spitting cobra. First, she blinds you, and then-"
"This is a bad analogy," Pope mumbled.
"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take," she shouted hopelessly, praying that her friends would somehow believe her.
"Okay," Renna said tiredly, "can we just go, please?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here. It's gonna rain any minute now," Atticus mumbled as he walked towards the girl, throwing a hand around her shoulder as they made their way towards the car. He noticed, as they were walking with the others behind them, the tight grip she maintained onto his dangling hand. He couldn't do anything but notice.
When they arrived at the tower, John B announced that he was going to do the mission by himself. They were sceptical at first, but they let him go. However, they stopped once they heard someone ruining outside of the van whilst shouting out the groups' names - noticing that it was mainly Renna's.
"Stay here," Atticus told them as he and JJ snuck out of the car. When they got outside, Blake ran around the side of the van, scaring the two as they jumped back in fright.
"Woah!" JJ shouted as he leaped back, Atticus immediately holding a hand out to distance himself between the boy.
"Stay back, man."
"Where's John B?" He asked immediately, looking between the two who shared a confused look. It was then that the rest of the group clambered out of the van's sliding door.
"Blake? What are you doing here?" Renna asked worriedly, stepping in front of the others with concern.
"Topper knows Sarah's meeting John B here, so is he up there or not?" He asked hurriedly.
"Uh- yeah. Yeah, he is," Pope nodded, Kiara sharing a nervous look with him as the girl in front of her continued to anxiously play with her fingers.
"So, what exactly are you saying here?" JJ asked with furrowed brows.
"Topper's gonna lose his shit," Blake mumbled before taking off towards the tower, the rest of the group running not far behind him as thunder boomed around them. As they were running, they heard Sarah's cries, which only grew louder as they ran closer.
"Someone help! Somebody help!"
"Sarah!" Renna shouted as she came into view, the group rounding a corner surrounded by mounds of dirt and bushes and trees as the girl in the white dress leant over John's body. "Is he okay? What happened?"
The girl kneeling on the ground looked up at the sound of her friend's frantic voice. "I don't know what to do. He needs help, Topper shoved him!" Her voice was shaken, her fingers trembling in the darkness as lightning illuminated the sky around them. Renna could see the shine of the tears in her eyes every time the bolts struck in the air.
"Where the hell is he?" JJ yelled out in anger, holding a hand to his head as he turned around on the spot.
"Where'd he go?" Blake questioned, equally as mad. Atticus was fuming along with them too.
"That fucking chicken," he mumbled as he paced the ground around them, peering into the distance to try and make out the bleached-hair that would stand out anywhere.
"Oh, please, please, please get help. I don't care who. Just call someone," Sarah pleaded to the group who were crowding around their friend's body.
"Go, go!" JJ yelled at Pope, who immediately sprinted away.
"Help, please," Sarah cried again, holding tightly onto the head of John B. The two Larson siblings fell down on either side of the broken girl as Kiara yelled out to Pope to move even faster.
"You're gonna be alright, JB. You're gonna be okay," Renna whispered as she grabbed his hand, sniffing into the air in an attempt to hold back her tears.
"He's still breathing. That's a good sign, right?" Blake asked. He was only met with silence and tears.
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