CHAPTER NINE:
SECOND CHANCES
(episode three: the forbidden zone)
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"DORITOS FOR BREAKFAST?" HAVEN chuckled as she watched Arden scoff down a bag of chips like her life depended on it. It was the next morning, and Haven had decided to stay the night at the Chateau with the rest of the pogues, crashing in the spare bed with Kie and herself on either side of a snoring Arden. In the past when the girls had sleepovers, Arden always ended up in a separate room after the girls eventually got annoyed with her snoring, but neither Kie or Haven cared that night as they crawled under the covers and fell asleep almost immediately. This whole Royal Merchant business was really taking a lot out of them if they could tolerate Arden Kim for the entire night.
And that lead them to now. The four pogues plus Haven and Arden were crammed into John B's tiny kitchen, the boy in question currently on the receiving end of an infamous Arden Kim glare.
"Well, someone made sure that I—"
"Ard, it's way too fucking early for this," he groaned before she could continue chewing him out. Arden's voice was naturally annoying as it was, it was too much when she went out of her way to be sassy.
In the end, she just stuffed another handful of chips into her mouth and raised an eyebrow at him, silently demanding an explanation. Now that she was wide awake and could think things over with a clear head, she wanted answers and wouldn't rest until John B or someone gave them to her. John B knew it too, for he sighed and shared a wary glance with the others, unsure where to begin.
"Ard, what do you remember about the Royal Merchant ship wreck?" he asked after a moment's contemplation. Not a bad start, Haven thought as she watched Arden shoot John B and unimpressed scowl, or not.
"It's some made up story about a pot of hidden gold," she rolled her eyes. "Kinda like the Irish and their gold after the rainbow — which is a big let down, I'll have you know."
Haven snickered, though she quickly smothered the sound as she watched John B's face scrunch up in annoyance. Right, not the time. "Okay... and what would you say if I told you the treasure was real?"
"If it were real?" she repeated in disbelief. "I'd say count me in. I need the money to emancipate myself from my mother and get the fuck out of here. But it's only a myth, John B."
All amusement was gone now as Haven discreetly placed a hand on her friend's knee. Everybody knew that Arden Kim did not get along with her mother, but only Haven knew just how far that hatred went. When Arden said she wanted to 'get the fuck out of Outer Banks' she meant it. Her mother was only holding her back, forcing her into a life she didn't want for herself or her baby, especially when JJ wasn't part of it.
"Why..."
"Well, I'm glad you asked that, my former friend," John B grinned, though the smile quickly fell as everyone glowered at his choice of words. "Uh, anyway. It turns out my dad was looking for the treasure before he went missing, Ard."
"Okay..."
"And yesterday, those men showed up to take all the evidence he had to find it."
Arden's nostrils flared like a dragon about to breathe fire. Not a good sign. "You mean to tell me that my baby and I were almost killed because of some make believe treasure?"
Before she could launch at John B, JJ looped an arm around her waist and held her back like some sort of dragon tamer. It took Arden a moment to calm down even after he stepped in and Haven had a go at soothing her, but eventually she was quiet enough for John B to talk again, seemingly unphased whereas the others were anything but.
"My father left me a recording, Arden," he said. "I know it's real."
"And let me guess," she huffed. "All you want from me is to keep my mouth shut and not demand an apology."
"Actually, I was going to ask for you to keep this a secret — but, as a form of an apology, I was going to offer you a lump sum to help you and your baby."
Now, nobody had seen that coming. Everyone bar Haven immediately began to voice their disapproval (which Haven wasn't too impressed with but she tried not to judge too harshly) whereas Arden just stood there in shock. This was her chance, her form of escape from her mother, Rafe, everyone holding her back from what she wanted.
"I'm in."
The others went silent. There was no going back now.
Haven stepped forward with a bright smile, grateful to have a comforting face by her side. Arden smiled back, a new light in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
This was her chance.
"Welcome to the G-game, Arden."
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HAVEN MADE SURE TO stay well out of the firing line as Arden curled in on herself by John B's feet, a hand clamped over her mouth as her stomach threatened to spew up its contents. The pogues had decided to take John B's boat out for a spin after officially inviting the Korean girl on their quest (if that was even the right word) to find the Royal Merchant. There was a lot on their mind from the past few days so it was nice to just relax for a while, the girls tanning before Arden started feeling queasy.
"How are you still feeling sick?" John B asked her in disbelief.
She scowled at him from where she'd rested her head on his calf. "Oh, I'm sorry that my usual sea sickness has become amplified now that I'm carrying a literal human inside me and still suffer from morning sickness."
"Got it, no more boats," he mumbled, regretting that he even asked as the others chuckled at them, though Haven had seen the way JJ's face dropped at the mention of Arden's baby. Part of her was beginning to regret not telling him the truth. It didn't bother her before, they barely knew each other then, but it was different now. They were different now.
"I don't know, I think I'm getting used to it," she hummed teasingly and peered over the rims of her prescription sunglasses at Arden's unimpressed pout. "Something wrong, Arden?"
"Shut the fuck up," she grumbled to which Haven just laughed at her. "Or I'll get sick on you."
"Can we stop talking about vomit please?" Pope sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as Haven shot him a sheepish smile.
She stopped listening as JJ began rambling about a passing boat in fascination but her attention was quickly caught when she spotted who was driving the boat in question. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Standing proudly at the wheel of his speedboat worth 200 grand was Topper Thornton with Sarah Cameron perched by his side. She'd already seen them and was staring down Kie with a hint of disgust in her eyes, the girl in question returning the glare with just as much anger, if not more. Haven hadn't asked what happened between her two friends, but she knew it was bad. Kie wasn't the type of person to hate someone, and yet every time Sarah Cameron's name was mentioned, her anger was ignited with fearsome intent.
"I hate to break it to you, guys, but that's Topper and his girlfriend," she scoffed as she lowered her glasses to judge Sarah.
Haven suppressed a snort, though failed when she caught Kie's amused grin. "Topper's Girlfriend? Is that what she's been reduced to?"
"What can I say," she shrugged with just a bit too much innocence to be trusted. "Pet snakes aren't usually given names." There we go.
The boys all whistled and chuckled to themselves while Arden blended into the background. Out of all the girls, Arden was the only one who still got along with Sarah, despite everything that had happened. Haven could see she was uncomfortable but couldn't bring herself to care as she watched Sarah stick her nose into the air like she was too good for them.
It wasn't always like that, but two could play at that game.
"You don't have to act like you don't see us, bitch," Kie raised her voice as the two boats passed, Sarah choosing to ignore the comment even though everyone knew she heard it.
Haven couldn't resist adding her own two cents, "Didn't you know, Kie? Snakes have trouble seeing."
"Damn," JJ exclaimed, waving his face in a 'it's getting hot in here' gesture. "I knew Kie had spunk, but Haven? I can see how we're related now."
Haven just shook her head at him as the others laughed, leaning back and watching as Sarah's boat disappeared out of sight. The moral part of her felt bad but her resentment had taken over. People always said that relationship breakups were hard, but friendship breakups were just as bad, if not worse. There were so many times where she wanted to reach out to Sarah, to call her when something happened or have their weekly sleepovers with Kie and Arden like they used to before. But every time she brought up the girl's contact, her finger hovering over the green dial button, she saw Sarah's face as Kelce's hands roamed and she resisted the urge to throw the phone at the wall.
And so she turned back to Kie (who fortunately hadn't noticed her face falter) and put on her most realistic smile, refusing to let Sarah Cameron plague her thoughts anymore.
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HAVEN WAS RELIEVED THAT her mother wasn't working at the Country Club that day as they pulled up in the parking lot. After returning back to the Chateau so that Arden could get a break from her sea sickness, they decided to check out the only place that had working internet on the island apart from the Figure Eight houses with generators; the Country Club. Haven hadn't been keen on the idea at first, especially since she'd visited her mother at work before and some of Melinda's colleagues definitely remembered what she looked like, but the pogues had eventually convinced her it would be okay and away they went.
That brought them to the present, where they sat in the Twinkie as JJ attempted to bring the gun in with them.
"Look," Pope sighed in frustration as he got out the back of the van to lean through the passenger window. "I predict that bringing a weapon into a four-star hotel where your aunt works will likely cause more problems than they solve."
"I agree with Pope," Haven piped up as JJ rolled his eyes at them. "I only just defended you to my mother, JJ. Don't let her prove me wrong."
"But I'm the protection—"
"JJ, I swear to god, I'm going to throw that thing in the ocean," Kie snapped, her patience running thin. They were there for a reason, and JJ was only wasting their time. If they didn't hurry up, someone would surely catch them.
"Fine," he grumbled, though his face dropped into a glare as John B carelessly grabbed the barrel of the pistol and shoved it back into the glove compartment. "Whoa, man, you can't grab a gun like that."
"Jesus, who cares?" Arden scoffed. "Can we go already? I'm hungry."
Finally, they were making their way inside, JJ proudly showing them his badge for his job as a 'professional busboy' at the club. Haven didn't know how he managed to maintain a job there, but she had a feeling he was rarely given shifts considering how much free time he had on his hands. This was only confirmed as he struggled to navigate the relatively busy lobby, the others following his lead as they eventually ended up in the kitchens.
"Oh, sweet jesus," Arden grinned at the sight of cooking food. She latched onto the nearest person's wrist — which just so happened to be Haven — and dragged her away from the others despite her protests. She just wanted to get in and out, but Arden had other plans. She smiled innocently at one of the chefs, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she asked him, "Whatcha cooking?"
"Pancakes," the man replied with a smile.
If he was confused by their presence, he didn't show it. Instead, he continued to cook with Arden and now Haven watching along in interest, the former saying hopefully, "Got any spare? I'm willing to pay top dime!"
"Of course you are," Haven rolled her eyes. "I could make you pancakes, ya know, maybe when we don't have places to be."
Arden just waved her away. "No offence, Have, but I don't trust your cooking."
Before Haven was able to reply with an indignant retort, the chef was shaking his head in amusement. "I recognise you, Arden Kim. I used to know your father, kid, it's on the house."
"You knew my father?" she beamed while her eyes lit up in surprise.
Haven wasn't as trusting, though. She refused to touch the pancakes this random man had offered her while Arden scoffed them down like she hadn't eaten for weeks. They'd never seen this man before, and yet he was claiming to have known Arden's father? Haven didn't know how she wasn't questioning him incessantly.
"I don't lie, kid." And how were they supposed to know that?
"It's just, no one speaks to me about him anymore. It's nice knowing someone knew him."
Haven's face dropped. Arden's dad had died way before she even arrived in Outer Banks, and she'd never thought to ask her how she coped with it. Arden was always smiling, always bouncing around with energy. Haven wasn't used to seeing the side of her that mourned, retreated into herself defensively.
The chef, who they still didn't know the name of, sighed and leaned against the counter. "I met your father when he and your mother first moved to Outer Banks. He was a great man, always willing to offer a hand to those in need. At the first peak after a storm, your father would be out helping those from The Cut who needed assistance recovering from the storm. He was a good man, Seojun Kim, my closest friend."
Arden's face lit up again as she rested her chin on her hand, reaching out with the other one to hold onto Haven's wrist. "What's your name?"
At that, he hesitated. Arden didn't notice but Haven did. "Liam Powers." All warmth was gone now as his expression went grim. "I'll see you around, kid. I can see your friend is impatient and your boyfriend's getting fed up waiting for you."
"Boyfriend?" Arden questioned in confusion.
Haven allowed a laugh to slip past her lips, though she was still tense as Liam wandered away. "Who else would he be referring to, Ard?"
Behind them stood JJ with an unimpressed glare on his face. They'd been gone for several minutes already but it was clear the others had only just noticed their absence, JJ the unlucky one who had to go and collect them from wherever they'd wandered off too. And of course it was Arden who was the culprit. Haven just wanted to leave.
"What were you two doing?" he hissed in their ears as Arden called out a 'later, Liam' and dragged Haven over to him. "I thought I told you to stick with me."
"I'm not a toddler," she huffed. "Besides, I had Haven with me."
"Against my will," she piped up though Arden ignored her as she stared down JJ challengingly.
"You know what," he sighed and shook his head. "I'm not doing this right now. We're leaving now."
"Thank god," Haven cheered, quickly shaking Arden's hold off her wrist so she could rush ahead of them. On one hand, she was glad she didn't have to sit through the mind-numbing experience of a Google Maps search, but the other part of her was still reeling from the interaction with this 'Liam' bloke. Arden really had no recollection of stranger danger and it showed.
"Oh, is it nap time?" she heard her asking JJ happily, still no traces of suspicion evident.
JJ made an audible sound of disbelief. "Is it what time?"
Yeah, Haven was definitely done for the day.