favourite worst nightmare [JJ MAYBANK]

iv. the royal merchant

CHAPTER FOUR:
THE ROYAL MERCHANT

[EPISODE THREE: THE FORBIDDEN ZONE]

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Rita sits at the back of the white boat, watching land recede from them as they move swiftly out to sea, JJ driving from inside the cabin and the other three gathered at the bow. Loud in the wind, a US flag flaps beside her. She's been on boats before, and never been seasick -- but something about this trip makes her feel uneasy, despite the jovial yelling coming from up the boat.

Her phone has an unread message from Rafe -- 'your dad's visiting, shame you aren't with him :)' -- that she purses her lips at. Being with the Pogues feels like betrayal, despite how little she knows Rafe or any of the kids who inhabit the Figure 8. Her stomach is heavy with guilt at how annoyed she knows he's going to be if he finds out about her whereabouts -- but her chest flutters with not just guilt, but fear. Maybe, deep down, his resentment of the Pogues is more than a funny cliche. Maybe, when he turned red from anger in her hallway two days ago, it had scared her.

Maybe.

But she doesn't like to think about it. Rafe is the closest thing she has to a friend on this island, aside from maybe Sarah, but she's only nice to Rita out of curtesy.

Besides, she can blame the feeling of guilt on the fact her dad wouldn't be pleased if he knew she was out here. Not just for the stolen drone that sits in her lap, but for the fact that these kids are bad kids, and everyone beyond the Cut knows it. They radiate it -- the way they dress, the way they talk, the fact there's a gun on this boat as they drive out to the middle of nowhere. Oh, yeah, Rita hasn't forgotten about that gun; the thought of it makes her feel sick with anxiety. Hell, they could be taking her out to sea to murder her.

Christ.

The more she thinks about it, the more certain she is that her dad would lose his shit with her if he knew about this -- would start comparing her to her mum, start worrying about their reputation, his friends, everything -- and she wouldn't blame him one bit. This was a stupid decision.

"Hey, you good?" a voice asks, and she looks up to see Pope, dropping next to her on the bench by the stern, a blue cap on backwards that's the same colour as his open flannel shirt, flapping in the wind.

Well, let's see. She's constantly monitoring JJ, waiting for the appearance of that gun, and she's worried about her dad finding out, and she doesn't care about the money anymore because she's on a boat in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of strange, delinquent kids, and she'd be happy to just go home.