"Don't you dare fucking talk to me like that." I snapped at the seething boy in front of me.
"Like what, princess? Like you're full of shit? Someone had to say it!" He yelled back.
"No, don't talk to me like you're better than me! You and I are the...
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★★★
The next morning we were all sitting outside, testing the pulley system Pope had created. Kie took a turn first, sitting in the bucket that was designed to pull up the gold. When she got out, I tested it, and Pope deemed it sturdy enough for the gold.
"How's it feeling?" He asked and I bounced in the pulley bucket once or twice to test it. "Feels good," I confirmed, and JJ looked over at us. "Hey, just be careful over there. I don't feel like scraping guts of the ground when you fall and get crushed by that thing," He said ever-so-nicely.
"JJ, god, relax. Don't insult Pope's engineering skills," I said as I was lowered down.
"Yeah, kinda hurting my feelings, bro," Pope chimed in. "You'll live," JJ said with a small laugh following it. "John B. pullin' a Houdini," He continued. "Yeah, where is he?" Pope asked.
"The guy's been AWOL since last night when he went back to Tannyhill with Sarah, I think," I said. "I got my scholarship interview tomorrow, we gotta get this done," Pope urged. When I got down, I went and sat next to JJ on the hot tub.
He had a beer on his side and had in feet in the water as I sat by him. We heard someone walking towards the house behind us, so we turned and saw John B. finally resurfacing. "Ah, he hath risen," I said, and JJ chuckled, "Yeah, speak of the devil."
"Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything," He lied, and Pope spoke up, not about to have his thunder stolen. "No, he did not, I did that," He protested. When I noticed John B. wasn't stopping, Kie had also caught on. "Hey," She called after him, but he kept walking.
"Hello?" I also called, not sure why he was bee-lining for the house without talking to any of us.
"Okay, that's it?" JJ asked, and I shrugged. "Uh... what's that all about?" Pope started, and JJ and I got out of the hot tub to follow them inside. "I was gonna ask you the same question," JJ said.
"I wonder if he didn't catch any fish or something," I said, and JJ looked at me like I was joking. "Well, I don't know! I'm just... giving out ideas," I said quietly. We went into the house, following in a fuming John B. only to see him rifling through his belongings.
He kept looking for something, ripping apart the house, and we all shouted at him to try to snap him out of this trance he was in. When he finally found what he was looking for, we realized something was really wrong. "Why do you need that gun?" I demanded, now not sure what he would be capable of.
