𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 27.

    "I got this," John B shrugged, with an air of confidence. "These are my people."

Sarah stopped walking as John B advanced, breaking away from us, so I halted beside her. I looked past John who was quickly skipping up to a man holding a clipboard, over his head at the enormous boat in front of us at a distance.

"We're going on that thing?" I asked Sarah without looking to her, my eyes glued on the large boat, with workers constantly trudging in and out of the entrance with crates and boxes.

"Apparently," Sarah crossed her arms over her deep yellow tube top, as she watched John B try and persuade his way with the captain. "Do you think that'll work?"

"No," I said with a grimace, accidentally inhaling the musty scent in the air.

Before she could reply, John B was coming back in our direction, approaching us with his hands gripped on the straps of his backpack.

"So?" Sarah asked him when he got close enough.

"So..." John B repeated, with a tone of voice that indicated something wasn't good. He shifted gazes between the two of us standing next to one another. "They're booked."

"Who?" Sarah spoke.

"I thought they were your people," my arms crossed over my chest, and I rolled my eyes.

John B rubbed a hand over his forehead stressfully, eyes closed in a hard blink. "He told me— there was no more room," another long sigh.

"That's wonderful," Sarah grinned an annoyed, tight smile.

I let my eyes trail away from him, and down to the railing of the dock on my left side. The first thing I noticed was a few stray yellow raincoats hanging over the posts.

"What? You got a better idea?" He retorted chaotically, with an equally annoyed and sarcastic tone to his words.

The two of them began to argue, and I didn't feel like listening, figuring that they could find a different way to Chapel Hill while I turned to the side and stepped away from them. My hands gripped onto one of the yellow raincoats.

"What are you doing, Charlie?" Sarah called after me with confusion. I guessed they had both somehow noticed my absence during their bickering.

"Who just leaves raincoats hanging around like this," A small laugh fell past my lips, in hopes of lightening the mood. "I mean, are they for the workers?" I held up two of the three raincoats that were on the railings, examining them randomly.

"That is so irrelevant right now," John B scoffed.

"Wait—" Sarah's face lit up with a look of realization, "I have an idea,"

"I've never owned a raincoat before," I was still holding one up, looking down at it with a foolish sense of admiration.

Sarah quickly grabbed the other one from my grasp. "Charlie, you're a genius," she was grinning from ear to ear as she let her small bag fall from her shoulders, before sliding her arms through the sleeves.

"What do you mean," my eyebrows narrowed. "I guess— it does look kinda like it's gonna rain,"

"Oh my god," John B had a large smile over his lips as well, when he caught onto what Sarah was doing, after taking a glance at the people on the docks. He took a strong step towards me, reaching behind my back to grab the last raincoat, bringing it towards him. I was staring at the two with confusion, as he then took off his own backpack like Sarah did.

"Put that on," John B ordered, looking down at the coat laying in my hands.

"What?" I squinted my eyes at him, eyebrows knitted together.