𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 ᯓ outer banks

chapter twenty-one

"Where?" Kiara whispered.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat." They all sat in wonder, wanting to know what was next. "You see, what is code for gold. Check this out." He showed the group the small picture of the wheat symbol that was in the corner of the papers. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water." Kiara and Brooklyn laughed excitedly. "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope came through, he was actually starting to believe in this.

JJ rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around John B. "Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."

"I'm so proud of you right now."

"Thank you. That's really sweet of you." John B patted JJ's cheek and turned to Pope.

"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" He asked.

"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map-."

"Hold on." Kiara cut him off mid way through sentence. "Sarah? Wh- why Sarah?"

"This is gonna be good." Brooklyn mumbled.

"Sarah, um, she- she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter." John B gulped, dreading how Kiara would react.

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?"

"Yeah, um-."

"He was mackin' on her." JJ interrupted, not making things any better.

"I wasn't macking."

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron."

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access." John B told Kiara who was looking from the two boys with an annoyed look upon her face.

"There was access, all right." Brooklyn smirked, nudging JJ hard.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara asked.

"I was trying to get into the archives."

"Is that a yes?"

"I- I left out key details."

"Yo, what?" Kiara placed her head in her hands, growing more annoyed. "You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"

"I was just using her for information."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay of a boat, or- or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." He looked from JJ to Pope. "Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

"Yes." Brooklyn replied.

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her." Kiara yelled.

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a gold club." Pope looked up at John B. "And hurt your sister multiple times."

"Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings." Brooklyn told Pope, receiving a glare from Kiara.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked Kiara.

"She's like a- like a spotty cobra. First, she- she blinds you, and then-." Everyone gave the brunette weird looks as she rambled on.

"This is a bad analogy."

"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take." Kiara warned.

"She isn't that bad, Kie." Brooklyn whispered.

"Why are you defending her all of a sudden? Wait-." The girl burst into laughter, Brooklyn's eyebrows furrowing. "You went to Midsummers with Sarah, didn't you? You didn't sneak in. Sarah got you in and that's why you're dressed like that."

"Okay, Kie. What is the big deal?" Brooklyn raised to her feet. "Sarah is a good person, okay? At first I was nice to her because I care about my brother but I realise that she's a good person, okay? I'm not gonna sit here and let y'all argue. I'm sick of it."

"Seriously, Brooklyn, I-."

"Okay, stop, both of you." John B shut the girls up. "Now, come on. We are not dealing with this right now, okay?"

Brooklyn pushed past John B and joined JJ's side, slipping her arm around his torso and turning away from Kiara who sat herself back down.