𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕕-𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 (JJ)

❶❹

I squirted some ketchup in a pile on the side of the plate and Pope shook his head. "No, no, you have to, like, drizzle it on top," He said, and I shook my head back at him. "Are you crazy? Pool it, don't pour it," I said, and we playfully bickered over that for a while until we divided the fries onto two plates, letting Pope pour all the ketchup he wanted over his fries.

"I can't believe the gold wasn't in that stupid boat," I said, sounding defeated, and a collective sigh was heard from the group. "Yeah, where the fuck is it? I'm tired of being poor," Pope joked and I nudged him. "Me too," I said.

"Me three," JJ said, raising his hand. We looked at Kie and she shrugged, "Not fair."

"If we think about it though, it's like, super impressive we found it. I mean, for how many years have these crackpots been looking for the Royal Merchant, and we found it in a matter of days?" I remarked, and we all laughed. It was true, the unbelievability of the situation was through the roof. I knew there would be little to no stopping us in finding the gold if we had already found the ship.

"We're like the Mystery Inc. gang," Pope joked, stuffing more fries into his gob. JJ perked up, "Mmm, yeah. Pope, you're totally Scooby," He said, and Pope scoffed.

"It's because I'm brown, isn't it," He said, and I ate more fries to stifle my laughs. "I'm a total Velma," Kie said, and JJ nodded. "JJ, you're Shaggy, you pothead," I said, and he shoved me lightly. "Yeah, I see that. John B. is Fred, for sure, and that makes you Daphne," He said, looking at me last.

"Ooh, I like it," I said with a smile. We finished our food and Kie announced she had to get back to work, but not before begging us to go to some movie night later on. Pope stayed on the Cut to find his dad, more chores I guessed, and JJ and I went back into the van. "Wanna surf?" I asked, and he agreed.

We drove straight to the beach, our boards still secured on top of the van, and we got out. I slid the door open on the side of the van, taking my shirt and shorts off, discarding them inside. I also kicked off my sandals, placing them on the seat to my right. JJ took his shirt off too, already wearing board shorts, and left his shoes where mine were.

When we got over the dunes, we saw how good the swell was and took off running towards the water. I couldn't wait to get in, so JJ and I raced into the sea, splashing each other playfully in order to get ahead. We surfed for a long time, taking up most of the day, and when we were done around four hours later, we laid on our boards after putting them down on the sand.

We'd been in this position before everything had happened between us, and I almost laughed at that fact. My past self would call my present self a complete dumbass if she was told all that had happened in the past month and a half. I looked up at the sky, still catching my breath from the surfing, and I felt the salty sting of the ocean water roll into my mouth as I dripped in it from head to toe.

"That was fun," I said breathlessly, and he chuckled in response. "Stevie, can I tell you something?" He asked, and I nodded, not making eye contact with him. "Yeah, go for it," I answered, and he sighed.

"I know I don't show it a lot, but I really care about you," He said. I propped myself up with my elbows as I continued to listen to him, not sure if he was done, but it seemed like he was. "I know you do, and you do show it," I said.

"Sometimes I feel like you're the only one I can talk to... you know, about real stuff," He said, and I almost dropped my mouth open, but I kept myself composed. "I'm always gonna be here for you," I said, and he smiled wider than I'd ever seen him smile. His teeth were bared and I got to see a raw, unfiltered side of him that wasn't often shown.