I did not know my way around the island well, or even at all. So when I thought about how to get to the motel I of course ended up in the wrong place. Specifically, I ended up heading toward the coast guard which seemed to be packed with people. I didn't stay for long, trying to figure out how to get to the motel on my own.
"Need help?" Someone asked, and I turned to look at the boy I had punched 2 days before. He smirked at me and looked down at my hand to the note. "Need directions, princess?" He asked, his hand leaning on a post behind me, partially blocking me in.
"No, I'm good, thanks," I said, rolling her eyes, placing my hand under his arm and aggressively pushing up, catching the boy off guard. He laughed slightly and kept his pace behind mine. "Listen, I'm really not interested." I stared, noticing the light bruise that lay perfectly on his face, exactly where my fist had hit him.
"But, I could darken that bruise for ya," I said, pointing at his face. I almost couldn't contain my laughter as he got flustered, turning and storming off with a huff. Bitch was murmured under his breath.
It took a little longer to get to the motel than I would like to admit but eventually, I got there. I slowed the board down, my eyes taking in the excessive damage. It was way worse than what was in Sam's backyard. I carefully stepped over the large piles of debris, ignoring the foul smell that came off of some of the dirty mattresses that laid out on the ground.
I tried looking for Sam, scanning the area. Ultimately though I only found a woman who stood by the office, a clipboard in her hand. "um hello" I said, clearing my throat to get the women's attention.
"Can I help you?" She asked, I was taken slightly aback at how annoyed the woman seemed to be. "I'm looking for my brother Sam, he left me a note saying he'd be he-"
"oh, yeah your brother is just up in the rooms helping clear stuff out, you're welcome to go look for him up there. He's the only one in that section" The woman said, cutting me off while pointing up to the far section of the motel. The woman turned, going back to looking at the clipboard she held.
"Thanks," I said, walking away from the women and heading up the stairs to the second floor. I checked a few rooms through the window, continuing my walk until I landed on one of the last rooms. Room 29.
I could hear some noise coming from the room, and I remembered the woman said no one else was up there but my brother. I laughed to myself, peeking through the window to see if he was there. I slowly turned the door handle, ready to scare Sam but when I opened the door I was met with two screaming teenage boys.
"what the fuck" I shouted, looking between them as they both stared at me. I opened my mouth to speak a few times but quickly shut it, not sure what was even happening. "What are you guys doing here?" I finally said, neither of the boys saying anything either.
"um hello?" I asked, waving my hand in front of their dazed faces. "uh-uh" One of the boys started, and when I focused on him I noticed it was the boy who gave me directions to Sam's the day I got to the island.
I impatiently stared at the boys before turning, I went to reach for the door that had shut behind me and I felt a hand grab onto my arm and yank me from the door.
"what the fuck, get off of me" I yelled, pushing myself from the boy's grasp, and when I tried to walk to the door again the brunette boy stepped in front of it, blocking my exit. "sorry just you can't leave"
The three of us stood in silence, I stared bewildered at both boys, waiting for some sort of explanation. "move" I said, grabbing the brunette's arm, trying to push him out of the way.
"Listen, you can't tell anyone we were here" I stared at the boy who was still in front of the door. "seriously? Why?" I let out, taking a step back from him. "Listen, we found these keys in a sunken boat in the marsh, we're just checking out the room" The brunette told me and I shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, in that case, I'm no tattletale. You find anything interesting yet?" I asked, turning and walking further into the room. Leaving the two boys confused
"hey, John B and uh whoever you are. look at this!" The blonde boy let out, holding up a gun he had pulled from the safe. "Laney," I said, the blonde nodded and ignored John B's protests.
"shit" I let out as I looked at the gun in his hand as he showed it off to me.
"put the gun down JJ" I turned and watched amusedly as the boy, JJ played with the gun as John B tried to stop him. "We are not stealing anything," The brunette told him, looking him dead in the eyes.
I crossed the room, crouching down and looking inside the safe where JJ had found the gun. My eyes widened as I pulled out a wad of money. "I don't know, this looks pretty worth it to take"
The boys both turned to face me, JJ's face lighting up at the sight of the money in my hand. John B was very quick to shut it down. "We are not stealing anything" He lectured, and my face dropped. He was no fun. I tossed the money onto the bed behind me and kept looking through the safe.
"So a sunken boat huh?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
"Yeah, we saw the boat out when I surfed last night, and then we went on the marsh and saw it in the water" John B said and I turned with wide eyes.
"That was you? Shit" I said almost in awe of the balls this kid had. Which made the fact that he was currently shitting on mine and JJ's fun all the more disappointing.
"you saw us?" John B asked and I shrugged. "right after I almost hit a raccoon" John B looked like he wanted to ask some questions about that but JJ stole his attention.
"C'mon John B, take a picture of me. right here" JJ said, posing. "You want me to take a picture of you? You wanna make our own incriminating evidence. Is that what you're talking about?" John B asked, and the comment made me roll my eyes.
I walked over to the bathroom, looking behind the mirror. "I already did that," JJ said, his reflection popping up behind mine. I nodded slightly but my attention focused back on John B when he rushed towards the window. "uh guys" He let out, quickly looking out the front window before jumping back.
"cops" John B mouthed at us and my eyes quickly widened as I tried to think of a way out. Although I technically had an excuse to be here, I did not have an excuse as to why I went through this person's things. Besides, cops were never on my good side.
The three of us panicked, John B closing the safe and the door that covered the safe, JJ fixing some of the papers while I pried the window open.
By the time the door opened to the room, the three of us were on the roof. My heartbeat was rapid. My gaze fell on the two teenagers who were sitting in a boat staring over at us. The boys and I were pressed against the wall, on either side of the window.
I didn't waste much time, slowly side stepping away from the boys and sitting down, allowing my body to slide down the roof. I looked back up at JJ who was looking at me like I was crazy.
I had almost made it but the gun JJ had taken, slipped from his pocket and slid down the roof. Panic set through my body like a fire. John B quickly looked over at me, and he seemed to know this would be how we got caught but I swung my body over the edge of the roof. Tucking my knees up to my chest as I held on.
My heart was pounding but once I heard John B let out a relieved breath I dropped from the roof. As I landed, I turned to look at the two in the boat who were now motioning for me to run over. I gave it a half-second thought and after looking up at the boys I booked it.
"hi," I said in an out of breath tone, leaning over slightly. "hi" The boy who looked beyond nervous said. The girl in the boat was eyeing me weirdly and it clicked in my brain that they didn't know who I was and I didn't know them.
"I'm Laney, nice to meet ya" I let out, and the two shared a look. "I'm Kie and this is Pope," The girl said and I nodded. I looked back to the roof and the boys were making their way to the edge and getting ready to jump off.
"oh my god" John B ran over with JJ right behind.
"shit, we should have taken that damn money" I sighed and without showing anyone else, JJ grabbed the wad of money from his pocket and flashed it to me. As well as the gun, which he had picked up off the ground after he jumped from the roof.
I laughed slightly, all of this was definitely not what I pictured when I thought about coming to the motel earlier. I didn't know it at the time but that day really was the start of my summer. And you know what they say,
There's nothing quite like almost getting caught robbing a motel room to make some new friends.