𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 ━ ᴶᴶ ᴹᵃʸᵇᵃⁿᵏ

𝟭𝟴. 𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙪𝙗

Sierra rolled her eyes and leaned against wooden frame of the window. "Lame, boo, corny." She muttered under her breath as the group grew quiet.

Pope sighed heavily and reluctantly spoke. "Fine, fine, go fishing."

"And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then." Kiara mumbled, looking over at Sierra's back, the brunette went back to her old spot, staring at the open water.

The rest of the group had concluded their discussion, each of them separating, John B and Sarah headed back to the Ward estate to cease any suspicion. Pope also headed back, a plan on how to get the proper tools for their treasure digging brewing in his mind. Lastly, Sierra pushed herself from the wooden pillar and announced her departure to Kiara, the curly haired girl paused from her job of placing all the chairs on top of the tables.

"Hey, Si, before you go." Sierra turned, looking at her best friend. "I..a—are you okay? Like, seriously okay?" Kiara reached over, placing both her soft hands on the girls shoulders, eyes full of genuine worry. "I know shits been hard for you."

Sierra sucked in a deep breath, releasing in a heavy sigh. "I-" It wasn't often that Sierra Ray was left without words. She usually hand a witty comeback or a sarcastic remark to hide how she truly felt but as she stared back into the eyes of her best friend she couldn't gather the words that would be truthful. She didn't want people to worry and so she always put on a mask that spoke only lies, there'a nothing to worry about. She didn't want people—even her friends—to understand how she was feeling because she should've been the first one to know, but she didn't.

Kiara squeezed the girls shoulder, give her a small smile, "It's okay if you're not, just let me know, we're Pogue's, we stick together. It's a rule."

Sierra chuckled, "Well no pogue-on-pogue mackin' was a rule too." This earned a giggle from Kiara as she rolled her eyes, dropping her arms to cross them over her chest.

"Well, you and JJ of all people are the ones I expected to break it the most, so I'll let it slide."

Sierra only grinned, a bittersweet feeling bubbling in her stomach. "I think I'll be okay."

Kiara nodded and pulled her in for a quick hug. "That's good, but if you ever don't feel like Sierra you let me know."

Sierra pulled away, giving her a tired wave as she began to walk out the restaurant. The smart thing to do would be going home, taking a nap to wash all the stress and worries away, maybe even head to the store and buy some snacks. Instead, Sierra wandered around the Outerbanks in hopes of finding JJ, she asked around and looked at every possible place she could think of. She was met with nothing, every far fetched idea she investigated, hoping to find at least something. Yet she began to give up, her legs hurt and a blanket of stars and darkness filled the sky as the night overtook. Sierra slumped her shoulders and let out a long sigh as she pushed the door to her messy home open. It was pitch black, minus the bath-and-body works candle that illuminated only a small portion of her home.

Her legs ached from the long walks across each corner of the island to find the boy she severely worried for. What if something happened to him, what if Barry had already gotten to him, hurt him, or what if his dad did something? Sierra didn't want to think about because she knew it would lead her to a pit of sadness and anxiety yet the overwhelming feeling of dread as her head raced with different thoughts made her pace in the living room. A sudden honk frightened her as she glanced out the open window, slightly moving the curtain to see the source of noise. She found Kiara and Pope waiting in Heyward's old pick up truck, a bright smile on Kiara's face as she waved towards the girl.

Sierra grinned, she needed a distraction from everything which easily influenced her into running out the door and hopping into the truck. "What's up."