chapter two || great idea, mel
aka
episode one || pilot - part two
~
MELODY WOKE UP MIDSCREAM, waking up Kie, whose house the blonde had slept at that night.
"Shit, Melody are you okay?"
Melody panted, before nodding. "Sorry, um, just a bad dream. Thanks for letting me crash here last night."
Kie looks confused at the blue-eyed girl's behaviour, but nods as well. "Of course. You can sleepover anytime you know that."
Melody smiles, getting up to pack her things. "It's no problem. But, um, I should get going"
Kie nods again. "Are you sure? I'm heading to John B's house if you wanna come with me. The boys would love to have you over too. We might go fishing"
Melody shook her head. "No, I don't want my dad to worry. Um, so I'll see you around Kie. And I hope John B's okay."
Kie watched as the girl walked out, planning to tell the Pogues about her behaviour, so they could try to include her once again.
"RIVERS, WAIT UP"
Melody turned around to find John B running towards her. "Hey Routledge, what's up?"
"Just remembering that JJ is full of bad ideas. So I shouldn't have done what I just did"
"Course he's full of bad ideas. No one else pulled a gun yesterday. You should've learned a long time ago to stop listening to him. Speaking of, how are you? You know besides the, um", she replies, motioning to the black eye he's sporting, as the boy caught up to her.
John B laughs. "Oh yeah. I'm good, great. Thanks for helping me out last night"
"It's no problem. So, what's Maybank's bad idea this time?"
John B raises the oxygen tanks he's holding as Melody raises her eyebrows. "Stealing from my rich boss"
Melody gaped at the brunette. "You stole those from Mr Cameron's boat?"
"I did"
"Are you crazy- actually don't answer that I already know the answer. Why did you steal them?"
"For some diving"
"Diving?"
"Yes"
Melody shook her head. "Ok then. I see you managed it without getting caught, so-"
"Actually no. I got caught by Sarah Cameron"
"Sarah Cameron?"
"Are you just gonna repeat everything I say? Yes, Sarah"
Melody rolled her eyes. "And what did you tell her so she didn't go runnin' off to Daddy?"
The brunet laughed. "Just told her I was topping of these tanks"
"And she believed you?"
"If she didn't I wouldn't be here, would I? Anyway, what are you up to?"
"Oh you know, just taking a walk"
"A walk? To a friend's house?"
The blonde's face darkened. "I don't have friends, besides Kie. And she's hanging out with you today"
The boy was taken back by her brutal honesty. Melody glanced at him to see the same thing she saw everytime when people thought of the Kook with no friends. Pity.
"Stop looking at me like that"
"Like what?"
"Like you feel sorry for me"
"I wasn't-"
"Yeah you were. Everyone does. This talk was fun John B, but you should head back to your friends"
As the blonde walked away, John B felt guilty. He shouldn't have becasue it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't noticed before.
"Hey Melody, wait!"
The blonde turned around.
"Do you know how to dive?"
"Yeah, why?"
He raised the oxygen tanks. "Wanna come diving with me?"
Even from a distance, the brunet could tell she was trying the hide her smile.
"What about your friends? Won't they mind?"
"They'll just have to deal with it. Besides, they're your friends too"
Her blue eyes lit up as she smiled.
"THIS IS EMPTY. You took empty tanks"
"I-"
John B looked over at Melody for help. She shrugged in response.
"Ok, this one is a quarter full. That's enough for one of us"
"Love it when a plan comes together"
"Does anybody know how to dive?"
The Pogues all looked around.
"Anybody"
"It's kind of a Kook sport"
John B looked at Melody, who shook her head, eyes wide.
"I . . . read about it"
"Great. Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die"
"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?"
"It's actually pretty hard"
Everyone turned to look at Melody, who finally spoke for the first time since she saw John B's best friends.
Pope smiled at the girl. "She's right. If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends."
JJ snorts. "Bends like, bend over and . . ."
Melody shook her head. "The bends kill you"
JJ stares at the girl, getting up from his previous position.
John B starts speaking, saving the blond boy from anymore embarrasment. "Melody can, um, Melody can dive"
Melody glares at the boy, put in the spotlight again. "Yeah I can . . . I can dive"
"You can dive. I'm cool with that"
Kie shakes her head at JJ, sharing a look with Melody. "Are you sure you wanna dive?"
"Yeah, I can do it. It's fine"
Pope leans forward. "Let me do some calculations real quick"
Drawing on a paper, the boy explains. "That boat's about 30 feet down. So it'll take 25 mins at that depth. Which means you need to make you safety stop at about . . . ten feet. All right? For two minutes."
Melody nods, trying to remember everything the boy is saying. "Okay. Yeah , yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it."
Kiara ignores what they are talking about, pulling off here shirt and jumping into the water. They boys all stare after her, dumfounded.
"What was that all about?" Pope asks, confused.
"I don't know, but I liked it. A lot" JJ replied.
Melody snorts loudly at the boy's words. JJ turns around to look at the girl, only to be hit by the sight of her blonde hair flowing as she laughs. She seemed so happy. So different from the quiet girl she was when she stepped onto the boat. He liked making her laugh.
John B clears his throat, smirking at JJ. When the girl stops laughing, JJ explains what she needs to do.
"Uh, so when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold." He says, handing her some thing, as he continues talking, "You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?"
"Stick in, twist, pull"
JJ and Pope talk as Melody pulls off her shirt and shorts left in her bikini. She turns to pull on the equipment she needs, only to find JJ staring at her. She smirks at the boy, her blue as sparkling as he swallows hard. She was beautiful.
"Hey!"
Melody turns around to look at Kie in the water. "I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop."
"Cool" Melody says, nodding.
"Okay, keep an eye on this" Pope says, handing her the pressure gauge. "You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."
Melody nods again. "Okay, how much do I need?"
"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible"
Melody face palms as JJ speaks, offering her more advice.
"Zen. Think Zen, you know?"
Melody smiles as he imitates breathing through a mask. "Yeah. Got it"
"Hey if we get caught out here in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so . . . better get a move on"
"Copy that"
Kie walks forward to the blonde girl. "You know you don't have to go right. One of us can dive"
Melody smiles. "No it's okay. I know how to dive, I'll be fine. But an explanation as to why you guys are doing this would be great."
JJ grins at the girl. "Maybe when you're back here. You know, as long as the bend doesn't kill you"
She laughs. "Thanks for vote of confidence, JJ" She looks at Kie. "Diver down?"
"Diver down", the girl replies, smiling.
Melody jumps into the water and the Pogues wait for her return.
SWIMMING DEEPER, MELODY WONDERS why she's here. She could have said no to John B. Or pretened she couldn't dive. She swims further nearing the boat. Scooter Grubs' boat she realises. The Grady White. Nice of John B to mention this. She heads to the cargo hold like JJ instructed.
Up on the boat, JJ and Pope spot the police boat heading towards them.
"They can't find me here. Or they'll send me to foster care"
"Just jump in the water John B. Act freakin' normal"
Kie kisses John B on the cheek before he disappears in the water as the boat comes closer, hoping he'll have enough air. Down in the water, Melody finds a bag in the cargo hold and begins heading up.
While Melody's dad, Evan Rivers, one of the policemen, inspects their boat, Deputy Shoupe interrogates the group.
"Where's your friend you always hang with? He here?"
"He's working"
Shoupe nods.
When Melody reaches Kie's shirt, tied to the anchor at her safety spot. She looked expecting to see one boat, instead setting her eyes on two as well as a boy down in the water.
John B looks down from his hiding spot to find the blonde girl looking up at him. He gestures for her to wait.
Melody rolls here eyes. Of course she wasn't going to swim up while another boat was up there. She knew the Pogues valued secrecy. Melody looked at the air she had left, only to see she had two seconds left. She looked up again and noticed the second boat moving away. She swam up.
"They're defnitely out of air"
John B and Melody break the surface, both gasping and panting for air. When they spot them, the Pogues sigh in relief.
JJ walks over to the girl helping her up. "Did you find anything?"
She smiles. "Did I find anything?" she says dropping the bag into JJ's arms.
JJ pulls it up before helping the girl onto the boat, as John B climbs up too.
Kie looks at them concerned. "You guys okay?"
Melody nods as John B replies. "Yeah. Yeah, I ran out of air"
"You scared the shit out of me"
"Yeah the cops were up here but, um, we took care of them"
Melody's eyes widened. "Those were cops? Wait, was my dad there?"
JJ nodded. "Yeah"
"Hey guys? Guys?"
They turned to look at Kie. "Bogey. Two 'o' clock"
They looked at where she was staring, confused. "Do you recognise that boat?"
"I've never seen it. What're they doing back here? The marsh is closed"
"I don't know but lets not stick around to find out"
Melody nodded as John B told everyone to get the boat moving. "JJ get the bowline"
Melody helped the blond boy as the others continued their conversation.
"Should we wait on them?"
"No we're not gonna wait on them"
"Are you joking?"
"JJ, Melody hurry up"
"Don't wait for us. Go"
Pope started the boat at his words, Kie yelling at him to go.
"Act natural. Act natural"
Melody looked at the boat who seemed to be following them. Kie seemed to have the same idea, informing the boys.
"Hey guys? They're following us"
"Shit! You gotta go faster"
"I'm going"
"Gun it"
"I'm going!"
Melody watched as their pursuers took out a gun, aiming for their boat. "Guys, they have a gun!"
The men shoot at them as the Pogues hit the ground.
"John B get down"
Another shot rings out. "Oh my god. We're gonna die"
"Pope we're not gonna die okay?" Meldoy says, getting up from her position. She moves along the side of the boat, ducking as another shot rings out.
JJ grabs her hand and pulls her down. "Melody get down. What are you doing?"
She shakes her head at the boy and continues moving. Grabbing the fishing nets she moves to the back of the boat. "Kie help me out"
Realising her idea, Kie moves over to the girl, helping her spread out the net. They both throw it into the water, watching as it slows down the other boat.
As the boat moves out of their sights, the boys get up from their positions, laughing.
JJ hugs the blonde girl as she blushes. "Oh my god. Great idea Mel"
When they pull away, Melody can't seem to stop smiling. She locks eyes with John B, who smirks at her blushing face. She laughs as JJ yells "Pogue life" into the wind.
WHEN THEY STOP AT THE DOCKS, Melody is up to date with everything. She knows about them finding the Grady White, John B being threatened with foster care, all of it.
JJ helps her of the boat and they head to John B and Kie, who are opening the bag.
"What do you guys think it is?"
"It could be money or something"
JJ, John B and Kie share theories as Pope and Melody roll their eyes, sharing a look.
"Can we please just open the bag!"
"Wow Pope. That's a rare outburst of emotion"
"You guys are literally killing me. Can you just open it? We almost died for this"
Melody laughs at the boy's enthusiasm as John B opens the bag and takes out a cylinder container thing. He unscrews the lid as Melody and the Pogues wait in anticipation.
John B turns the cyclinder upside down and a compass falls into his hand.
Melody sighs in disappointment. Pope seems to agree with her as he begins ranting. "Oh my god. Yeah, that's about right. Good job everybody, we found a compass"
JJ gets up from his spot next to Melody, walking over to John B. "Dude, what? It's not worth anything"
"This was my father's"