"That's a what? Three story fall to the deck? I'll give you about a 1 in 3 chance of survival" pope shouted up to John B who was balancing on the top of the house that was currently being refurbished. The pogues went there to hang out often, to see what it's like where the other half live.
"Hey John B please don't jump, I need a lift home remember?" Riley shouted up to John B. She went over to JJ who was sat on the scaffolding, and swung her legs over to dangle them over the ledge.
Riley Johnson was unarguably pretty, with dark blonde hair that fell to her shoulders. She had a glimmer in her eyes, that were wide and brown, and the same mischievous grin always on her face. She held onto so many secrets that she didn't tell the pogues, but they were her best friends. And she would do anything for them. Absolutely anything.
"You think I should do it?" John B shouted back, a smirk present on his lips.
"Yeah go, I'll shoot you on the way down" pope had found some of the tools the builders had left and was messing around with a drill as riley and JJ sat side by side still on the scaffolding. Kie suddenly appeared out from exploring the house.
"This used to be a turtle habitat but who cares about the turtles, I guess" She scoffed sarcastically "they're gonna have Japanese towel warmers and everything"
"I can't have cold towels" John B shouted down. As he said it, He started showing off standing on one leg on the edge. Riley rolled her eyes at the boy.
"I'm being serious John B please be careful" Riley shouted up, squinting through the evening sun to watch his Tom foolery.
"You worried about me Riley? Really, if you have a crush on me just say" John B teased the girl.
"Oh you wish John B, it would be the perfect opportunity to confess your undying love for me" Riley joked back at him. They both knew their relationship was completely platonic but they both flirted relentlessly anyway.
"If you drop that beer I'm not giving you another one" JJ changed the topic from Riley's and John B's love confession. Right as he said it, John B slipped but saved himself, as his beer went flying down to the deck, splashing the small girls tanned legs, as Riley squealed and shielded her face from the splash.
"Of course you did right as I said not to, you drop it" jj shouted up as John B face Palmed.
"Hey guys time to wrap up, securities here" Pope shouted down to the rest of the group, looking over the fence, Riley saw around 3 guards approaching their hangout spot.
"Boys are early today" JJ laughed, casually getting up.
"Time to wrap up guys" kie told them, all laughing As she began running.
JJ grabbed Riley's hand and pulled her up from the scaffolding. "Time to run Ry, you ready?" he smirked at the small pretty girl, with a look She knew and loved, the one that meant they were about to cause trouble.
"Hey look!! JJ I think that's Gary!!" Riley shouted as She giggled and ran, still holding onto JJs hand.
"It is Gary!! Gary how you doing man!!" JJ shouted trying to anger security even more.
"COME HERE JJ" the security guard shouted. They'd grown to learn his name pretty fast over the years.
The teens ran through the building as JJ escaped Gary's grip, "hey I'm not much of a hugger man".
Riley laughed at his bad joke and carried on running. Riley made a mental note that she either needed to stop getting into trouble, or improve her fitness, as she struggled for breath as they continued through the building site.
JJ lifted Riley over the fence as he knew She wouldn't quite make the jump, being about 5 foot 2 with no athletic ability apart from surfing. The two helped Pope up off the floor before the guard had chance to grab him, then clambered into the van, as Kie Whooped them, and the pogues all began cheering at their escape.
"Wait slow down slow down" JJ called to John B who was driving. JJ opened the door to the van, and shouted out the door to Gary, who was somehow still chasing them. Riley leaned out with him, a huge grin on her face, and started cheering Gary on.
"Come on Gary you almost got us, you almost got us!" jj shouted at the man, whilst Riley sat next to him in hysterics.
" JJ you'll give him a heart attack!" Kie yelled at JJ, but a smirk was appearing on her face. At that, JJ threw Gary a beer as Riley shouted to the man, "they don't pay you enough Gary, go home, have a rest we'll see you same time tomorrow!"
JJ turned and smirked at the pretty girl as he closed the door and high fived her on another successful day avoiding the law.
As the pogues drove through the outer banks, JJ started rolling a blunt, as John B and Kie debated about whether star signs are actually real. Pope was talking to Riley about dead bodies, as she tried to take an interest In what he was saying, but had absolutely no idea what he was going on about.
JJ watched the pair closely, picking up on Riley's giggles, her big brown eyes glistening as she listens closely to pope. Her hands cupping her perfectly freckles face, as her petite figure sat cross legged on the floor of the van. His jaw clenched when he watched her hand graze Popes shoulder, when she laughed at his awful jokes and when her head rested on Popes shoulder when she'd finally grown tired of all the dead body talk. Because although JJ would never admit it, or show it, he was deeply and madly in love with Riley Johnson, and had been since the day he met her.
* * *
The day of the storm, John B, JJ and Riley spent at the Chateau, drinking and talking, waiting for the storm to pass through the night. John B and JJ knew how frightened Riley got in storms, and had been since she was little. Only then, she would crawl into the comfort of her mom and dads bed, cuddled close to her parents as they wiped her tears, waiting for the storm to pass. Now they were gone, and the closest thing to family Riley had left was John B and JJ. Although she didn't show it around her friends, Riley was deeply effected by the sudden death of her parents, when they died in a boating accident when she was 12. She slowly slipped into a depression, And hasn't come out of it since. She coped badly too, relying on alcohol, weed, and self harm to deal with her sadness. She would never tell any of the Pogues how she struggled though, they already treated her like a baby, and she didn't want to be smothered anymore than she already was, and she especially didn't want them to worry about her, or be a burden on her friends.
As the night went on, The three friends had slowly gotten more and more intoxicated.
"You know what we need, we need a game of truth or dare" Riley announced to the group, whilst sipping on a bottle of vodka, her words slurring slightly.
"Great idea Ry! I'll start. John B, truth or dare" JJ asked chirpily.
"Dare" John B grinned, his words also slurring.
"Okay I dare you to down the last of that vodka that Ry is drinking" JJ had his usual mischievous glimmer in his eyes.
"Okay not fair, I want that dare!!" Riley complained but the boys ignored her as John B grabbed the vodka and starts to down the rest of the contents, gagging every few mouthfuls and wincing as the taste hit the back of his throat. But he did it.
"Oh I already know your heads gonna hurt tomorrow" Riley laughed as John B still pulled faces at the taste.
He finally composed himself.
"Okay Riley, truth or dare" John B asked.
"She hesitated before answering, Truth"
" kiss marry kill, me JJ and Pope" John B asked, leaning forward, curious to hear the answer.
"Okay that is an easy one." Riley grinned at John B "I'd marry Pope, because he's an absolute sweetheart. I'd kiss JJ, and I'd kill you John B"
"Woah!! Why'd you kill me??" John B pretended to clutch his heart, offended.
"Because you drank my vodka" Riley smiled back innocently.
JJ grinned at the result of the question, loving knowing that Riley would kiss him.
"Fair enough" John B shrugged.
"Okay JJ your go. Truth or dare?" Riley turned to the boy and asked.
"Dare" he smirked back at her.
"I dare you to kiss John B" Riley giggled, amused at her dare.
"Let me guess, punishment for drinking your vodka?" John B asked Riley, his face expressionless as he lightly pushed the girl, and rolled his eyes.
"Exactly" she smiled mischievously
and without saying a word, JJ stood up, grabbed John bs face between his hands, and smacked a kiss on his lips, before turning around and wiping it off, a disgusted look on both their faces as Riley laughed and laughed and laughed.
* * *
The next morning, Riley woke up, curled up on the spare room bed in one of JJs t shirts and a pair of her shorts, with absolutely no idea how she got there. She went outside to see the damage Agatha had caused, wincing as the sunlight hit her eyes.
"Oh that does not look good" she announced to JJ and John B who were already outside, admiring Agathas handy work on the huge tree that was now uprooted.
"Oh nice of you to join us sleeping beauty" JJ smiled and slung an arm over Riley's shoulder. The pair walked over to John B who was pulling out tree branches from the HMS pogue.
"You know, the storms gonna have pushed all the drum out into the marsh" John B announced to the 2 of them.
"What about the DCS wasn't that today? JJ asked.
"Nah they ain't getting on a ferry today. This is god telling us to fish" Riley smiled.
And with that the three pogues cleared the last few branches from the boat and set out on the marsh for Pope and Kies house. Riley lay back on the front of the boat, a few drops of water that had splashed up from the water onto her yellow bikini were quickly drying in the hot weather. The sun beat down on her, the heat being so overbearing that day she was tempted to pull off the fabric shorts covering her bikini and jump into the water, however, deciding splashing more water onto her legs would be the more sensible option. Riley pushed her sunglasses down her nose slightly, as they approached Popes house.
"Emergency meeting, attendance mandatory, over" John B said into his hand as if it were a walkie talkie.
"I can't my pops got me on lockdown" pope said back, his face looking desperate to come out with his friends.
"Your dads a pussy over" JJ also mimicking a walkie talkie as Riley looked on, rolling her eyes, then giggling at them.
"Oh I heard that you little bastard" Heyward appeared onto the jetty next to pope.
Day after hurricane is a free day" Riley announced to Heyward, smiling sweetly.
"Who made that rule?" Heyward gave her a knowing look.
"Pentagon, I think, I've got a card" JJ said going with Riley's story, turning and winking at her.
"You kids must think I'm stupid" Heyward shook his head.
"Pope get on the boat" Riley whispered to her friend as he looked at them, clearly going through the pros and cons in his head.
"Make a run for it brother" JJ agreed
And with that pope was running off the jetty and jumping into the boat.
"GET BACK HERE POPE!!" His father yelled after the boat.
"I'll do it tomorrow dad I promise" pope winced at his dad shouts, already feeling guilty.
"You'll clean up, you'll clean shrimp, you'll clean your messy ass room!!! And I don't like your friends" Heyward shouted after them.
"That's a lie Mr Heyward and we know it!" Ryley shouted back to him, laughing. She sighed and resumed her previous position.
Next they approached Kies, she walked down the pier with a cooler, and JJ put out his hand for her to get in the boat, Riley couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, with no idea why. with that she moved from her seat by JJ to stand next to John B, who was steering the boat.
The HMS pogue carried on through the marsh, and Ryley had gone back to sunbathing on the front of the boat, drinking a beer with Kie, as JJ stepped up.
"Hey Ry I got a party trick to show you" he winked at her.
Riley quickly covered her eyes and she squealed "HEY JJ I DO NOT NEED TO SEE"
"Not that kind of party trick you idiot watch" he laughed at the girl and pulled her hands away from her eyes as he climbed onto the front of the boat, but firstly pulled her away from the aim of the beer.
"JJ this doesn't work you've tried it like 400 million times" kie moaned.
"No watch it will work this time see" JJ put the beer in front of his face and let the wind blow it into his mouth, but most seemed to be landing in Kies hair. As this happened, Ryley felt a sudden jolt and went flying forward from her standing position, into a heap onto the floor, hitting her head off the side of the boat. JJ flipped into the water.
"Pope what did you do!" John B yelled.
" the channel changed" pope replied, holding his hands up to show he hand no control over the crash.
"No shit" kie mumbled as she picked herself up from where she'd fallen.
"You good kie? Ryley?" John b asked both the girls.
"Yeah yeah we're fine, just a slight concussion but you know, minor details" Riley sighed, rubbing her head.
"JJ you good?" John B shouted into the water.
"I think my heels touched the back of my head" jj moaned dramatically.
"Guys I think there's a boat down there!" pope announced suddenly to the group, they all shot up, and looked at pope in disbelief.