CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Sarah Cameron
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(PRESENT)
Avery's face appeared on the monitor, scrunching up as bubbles erupted from her nose.
Putting the drone to the test, Pope had set it up and was trying to tolerate JJ who wanted to press and know everything. John B pushed Avery out the way, tapping on the device and pulled a face. Once he swam away from it, Kiara appeared, dancing her way towards it. Nearly running out of breathe, Avery pushed herself up to the surface until her head broke through and she gasped for air.
"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly man" JJ's voice was the first thing she heard when her ears unpopped. He stood up straight, his blue eyes gazing down at the water to notice Avery bopping around. "What would we do without you to control the drones?"
"Technically, It's not a drone. It's a ROV" Pope corrected him.
"Shut up, it's too early for that right now" JJ resorted. He stepped over towards the banister and leaned against it, resting on his elbows as he looked back out to the open waters.
"Hey look, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim" John B spoke up, bobbing in the water besides Avery.
"It's such bullshit, why we have to do that?" JJ complained, anything that involved the law bothered him, he simply didn't believe in it.
"Isn't there such thing as a maritime salvage law?" Avery butted in, squinting her eyes as she looked up at the pair on the platform.
"Yeah. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up" Pope continued from what Avery said.
"I know, I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro" JJ defended, proving a good point.
"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp" John B said. Avery glanced over at him with a frown, unsure what he meant exactly but assumed that it would work it their favour nevertheless.
"How do you know all of that?" Kiara let out a chuckle.
"Cause my dad said it, like, a million times" John B replied.
The conversation moved on, Pope talking about the tether and how the wrong weather would ruin their plan. JJ peered down at his feet to see the blonde grasp the ladder, pulling herself up. She was wearing a white suit with tiny cherries and red seams, the one piece hugged her perfectly. Her usual waves were slick back, already slowly crimping her wet hair. She looked gorgeous and JJ had to force his eyes away from her.
"And today is not that day" She mumbled, glancing up at the big grey cloud coming overhead. As if on cue, thunder rolled in.
"Nope, today isn't the day" Pope agreed, shaking his head a little.
Returning back to the Chateau, John B and Avery were left alone. JJ and Pope had agreed to help Heyward with delivering groceries, and Kiara was on a shift. The blonde had just sat up from her spot opposite her friend to grab a beer, all this working out and staring at a map made her crave one.
"What are you doing here?" John B's voice spoke up. Avery froze in her steps, spotting the Kook Princess standing besides the chair she just abandoned.
"I realised I didn't get a chance to respond the other day after you spat in my face and yelled at me, and you stormed off like a child," Sarah Cameron stated, causing John B to frown softly and blink cluelessly at her. "So, first of all, I'm not a liar. I don't know how Ward found out about the scuba gear, but I swear it was not me. I'm not the reason you got fired"
"Okay" The brunet shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't sure what she wanted from him, or why she was here exactly, but he chose to tolerate it and not start anything again.
"That's all. Good talk" Sarah simply said and started to walk away. She haltered in her trek and dug into her bag, tossing a bag of chips his way, "Oh. Your favourite. Good catch"
With that she turned back around and continued walking. Avery choked on her giggle at the expression on John B's face as he hugged the packet of chips. She peered around the wall to ensure that the Kook was out of sight before re-emerging, holding two beers in hand.
"What the hell?" The boy whispered to himself. His body jolted in surprise when Avery spoke up.
"Yeah, what the hell? Spill it, John B" She tried her best to bite back the smile itching to spread across her face. Avery plonked herself back down into her previous seat and set the beers on the small table in between them.
"How much of that did you hear?" John B stared at her like a deer in headlights, only making it harder for her to keep a straight face.
"All of it," She shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in the chair she sat on. "When were you going to tell me that Sarah Cameron was an friend of yours?"
"More like acquaintance. She caught me stealing her dad's scuba gear, promised me she wouldn't say anything. But then, I got fired and accused her" He explained, narrowing his eyes at the grin tugging at his friend's lips as she raised her eyebrows at him.
"She is definitely crushing on you" Avery causally stated. He spat out a short laugh of disbelief. She gushed dramatically and leaned forwards, "oh, come on! I know what it's like to crush on you–"
"You had a crush on me?" He smirked, making her roll her eyes at him.
"Yeah, you already know that," She scoffed and waved him off, fully aware that she told him about her very short lived, childish crush on him. "My point is, I can tell. Princess came to the Cut to talk to you unnecessarily, and then gives you a packet of your favourite chips. Come on!"
"What have these got to do with anything?" John B snickered and waved the packet at her.
"Duh, she's noticing the small things and using them against you. It's what girls do. It's like a subtle way of flirting!" Avery stated. She snatched the packet from his hand and pinched them open, dig her hand in before he could think about stopping her.
"You always get JJ his juice boxes and that peanut butter he likes" John B teasingly pointed out. She glared at him, knowing exactly what he was doing. "Exactly!"
"This isn't about me" She huffed, failing to completely suppress her smile, and tossed a chip at him.
AUTHORS NOTE!
avery and sarah's dynamic is going to be way different to what you might think. the main reason avery probably doesn't like sarah is because she's a kook, she doesn't know about kie's past and the drama during her kook year yet. not sure what i'm going to do with our two blonde queens yet though??
also, for those that celebrate, merry christmas! hope you all have a good time and stay safe, all the love from me to you!