Nineteen. shining just for you
Dylan Jennings was a mirrorball. She shined for other people no matter what the price was. She was beautiful and her beauty reflected on other people, seemingly making them appear more beautiful. But she was also sensitive; fragile, if you must say. When she broke, it was in a million pieces. She often tried to change everything about her to fit in. She wanted people to like her and they did. Everyone on the island loved Dylan. That's why when the people she loved most were mad at her, it made her feel insecure about herself.
She was unusually quiet in the Twinkie. Kiara didn't speak a word. Their silence made the boys feel awkward. Kiara and Dylan were like two peas in a pod. They were sisters. It was extremely rare that they ever fought.
Pope noticed the way she was picking at her nails, peeling the skin around her cuticles. He grabbed her hand and she looked at him. One of the special things about Dylan and Pope was hair ability to comfort each other without words. She knew and felt everything with just one touch. She squeezed his hand.
When they arrived at the state park, Pope climbed over and slid the door open. "All right, hit it boys! Recon mission!" JJ hollered.
John B turned around in his seat. "Yo, uh. . . So, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself. . ." He stuttered.
His face fell. "Really?"
"What? I-I just don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery!"
Dylan scoffed. "Well that's hurtful."
"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all!" Kiara voiced her annoyance.
"Kie, we're not involving her, okay?" John B assured. "It's just, uh, like a-a business meeting thing,"
JJ made a blow job motion with his mouth and Dylan rolled her lips back to keep from making a sound. Pope had no shame in laughing.
"Look once we get what we need, we cut her loose, all right?"
"No offense, JB, but you sound like an asshole." Dylan admonished.
Kiara scoffed. "There you go again with defending her,"
She glared. "It's called being nice, Kiara."
"Oh, and I'm not nice?"
"You're all about girls supporting girls until it's a girl you don't like."
"Here we go again." JJ muttered and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Okay, okay!" John B quickly interrupted them. He looked at Kiara. "I promise that nothing is going on between me and Sarah."
"I'm being serious. This isn't about you, and it's not about us. It's about her," Kiara emphasized. "Dude, she's going to get inside your head. Just promise me nothings happening between you guys."
"I promise." He mumbled.
Dylan eyed him. She knew John B better than anyone. There was definitely something going on between him and Sarah.
"That was really believable." JJ said sarcastically.
"A hundred percent believable." Pope added with a nod. "What do you think, Dyl."
She hummed. "A solid 8 out of 10."
The boys ooed.
John B shook his head. "Anyways um. . . I'm gonna take care of business."
He started to climb out of the van. "Don't do anything stupid." Dylan warned him.
"You're gonna take care of that so well."
"We'll just sit here. . . in the hot ass car."
It left the remaining four sitting in the van. An awkwardness crept inside the Jennings girl and she picked at her nails again. Kiara rested her chin in her hand.
Pope and JJ shared a look. "Okay!" Pope announced and clapped his hands once. "Little intervention time."
"What?" Kiara asked weirdly.
JJ sat up and looked between the girls. "Kie, DJ, you know how much we love you," he started.
"And we know how much you love each other," Pope added.
"Which is why it feels like an alternate universe when you guys don't talk to each other. Now fix it."
The two girls looked at each other.
"You're best friends. Don't let a Kook get in between you guys," said JJ.
Dylan glared at him. "She's not just a Kook, JJ. She's a person."
"A person who almost ruined my life," Kiara bleated in anger.
"How can I know that if you've never told me what happened?"
"The point is that you're my best friend. Not hers. You should be on my side." She said with a huff.
"We're not in middle school, Kie," Dylan argued. "I love you but I moved to Figure Eight when I was twelve. I had to make friends and I just so happened to make friends with Sarah. That doesn't make me love you any less!" She raised her voice.
"But it hurts me!" Kiara argued back.
"And I'm sorry! But who I'm friends with shouldn't impact us. I'm a Pogue, Kiara! I will always put you first. If you don't know that, then you don't know me at all." Dylan belted and it was the angriest any of the Pogues had seen her.
Kiara went quiet. Her words sunk into her. She and Dylan were practically the same person. They balanced on a tight rope between the Pogues and the Kooks. They both had points in their lives where they had to choose. Through it all, Dylan was Kiara's best friend, even at the lowest stage of her life. She would always choose her first. "You're right. I'm sorry, DJ. I feel like a jerk."
"You are a jerk," Dylan nodded, making her kick her in the leg. She giggled. "But you're my jerk."
They grabbed each other's hands and the boys awed. "Our girls are back!" JJ bellowed happily.
Pope wiped a fake tear. "I'm so happy right now."
Dylan chuckled and bumped his shoulder with here, making him smile at her.
They suddenly heard a voice shouting for help. Kiara furrowed her brows. "Wait, do you guys hear that?"
"Someone help!"
"Is that Sarah?" Dylan voiced.
"That's definitely Sarah." JJ replied and the group quickly sprinted out of the van.
Dylan gathered the end of her dress and ran as fast as she could towards Sarah's voice. When they reached the bird watching post, she let out a shaky gasp when she saw Sarah hovering over John B, who was groaning in pain. "Sarah, what the hell happened!" She shouted.
"I don't know what to do. He needs help. Topper shoved him." Sarah sobbed.
Dylan dropped to her knees beside John B, not caring about dirtying her dress, and pressed her ear to his chest. He was breathing but he was struggling. She looked up at the tall perch and tried to imagine how hard he hit the ground. He most definitely had a concussion.
"Please, please, get help. I don't care who. Just call someone." Sarah cried out again.
She immediately turned her head around to Pope. "Pope, go call 911!" She ordered.
"Go, go!" JJ urged him and Pope immediately sprinted back to the van.
"Pope, hurry!" Yelled Kiara in completely dead.
Dylan stood up again and backed up as Sarah continued to lean over John B. "John B, stay with me." She cried and she leaned down, pressing her lips to his.
Kiara's face visibly fell and Dylan looked at her. She squeezed her arm and laid her head on her shoulder.
John B was taken to the hospital. Sarah texted her the next morning and let her know that he was okay. Dylan dreaded walking downstairs to face her parents after what happened at Midsummers. When she saw them in the kitchen, she immediately turned around again.
"Dylan Celeste."
She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. She slowly turned back around and smiled. "Good morning, daddy."
Logan smiled sarcastically. "How are you this morning?"
"You must be pretty tried after than scene your friends pulled last night." Her mother added, but Ainsley wasn't as mad as her husband was.
Dylan groaned and walked further into the kitchen. "I'm sorry. I didn't know JJ was going to do that."
"I take it he's doing pretty well then. Considering he still had to pay restitution?" Logan questioned with a hint of bitterness.
"Well, you know JJ. He's always trying to make the best of things," she excused. She looked around. "Where's Braxton?"
"He's playing with Wheezie." Said Ainsley.
Dylan grinned. "He's been spending more time with her lately." She brought up.
The woman leaned forward. "Don't tell him I told you this, but I saw them dancing together at Midsummers. It was the cutest thing ever."
Dylan awed and Logan stepped forward. "Okay, let's stop changing the subject." He pointed to his daughter. "You know I love you. I somewhat like your friends, but you cannot do that again. Not because it was embarrassing but because you were gone all night and I didn't know where you were."
Dylan wasn't going to tell them what happened to John B because she knew they would want to keep her inside the house. They were one step closer to finding the gold. She couldn't afford to be grounded. She smiled again. "Got it. I'm sorry, daddy."
He nodded and turned around to look in the refrigerator. Ainsley looked at her daughter and sarcastically rolled her eyes, making Dylan laugh.
Dylan met with the other pogues at The Wreck after she left her house. She was thumb wresting with JJ out of boredom. "I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Kiara said to John B as she angrily walked around the restaurant working.
"Tanyhill." He answered.
"So you're living with Sarah Cameron?"
Dylan shook her head. "Sounds very suspicious. Ow, JJ!"
"Ha, that's three in a row!" He cheered of victory.
"Okay, look, the only reason I'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right?" John B tried to reason. "And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where I was about to go if Ward didn't—"
"Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" Pope teased him.
"I don't know, Pope."
Dylan and JJ grinned. "What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" He asked.
"Does it come with a sweater vest, or do you have to buy one of your own?" Pope continued and smirked.
Dylan gasped. "My dad'll let you borrow his golf clubs!"
Kiara didn't find them funny and was still focused on the news John B told her. "Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her."
John B only shrugged, not knowing what to say.
"Bro, just own it. She got you." JJ stated.
"Look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah." Kiara jeered.
Things with Dylan and Kiara were better since their fight after Midsummer, but Dylan still felt bad that she wanted to be friends with Sarah. She knew Kiara wasn't Sarah's biggest fan but she liked the girl. She hated having to choose between them.
"Do you guys see her here?" John B questioned. When they didn't respond, he nodded. "No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic. We've got the map, right?"
Dylan nodded. "Right."
"Well, it's all out of whack cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." Said JJ.
"It's cause the coast has changed." Kiara clarified.
Dylan scooted her chair closer to Pope and examined the map that was in front of him. "So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." He explained.
"What about the old forts?" John B asked, the idea popping into his head
She examined the map and her eyes widened. "Battery Jasper?"
Kiara pointed to the spot on the map. "She's right." She confirmed.
The group of friends shared the same look.
The group of friends stood in battery and overlooked the marsh. It was a quiet day, the sound of the cicadas being the only sound."We're in Battery right here," Pope pointed out. "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
Kiara followed where he was pointing. "Somewhere over there?"
"Yeah."
JJ shook his head. "Guys, that's not Tannyhill. That's a subdivision."
"It used to be the entire island. It got sold into smaller parts over time." Dylan educated.
John B smiled at her. "Look at you, smarty pants."
Pope pointed at the map again. "So we're just looking for an old stone wall." He told them.
They gathered back in the Twinkie and John B drove to where Pope instructed him to. "Okay, so the road should split up here. Then you're gonna take a left."
John B took a sharp left down a dirt road and to the right of them was a stone was covered in ivy and moss.
"That looks like a stone wall to me." JJ declared.
"This is it."
John B groaned when he saw where the destination was. "Not the Crain house."
Dylan let out a gasp and climbed to the front of the Twinkie. She looked out the window and her eyes widened when she indeed saw the Crain house. "The Crain house!" She squealed.
She happily climbed out of the Twinkie and the others reluctantly followed her. "Are you kidding me?" Kiara voiced.
"Worst case scenario." Said JJ.
"Why'd it have to be here. . . of all places." Pope complained.
Dylan looked at them like they were crazy. "How can you guys not be excited?"
"Because not everybody is obsessed with murder cases, DJ." Answered Kiara.
"I heard that Mrs. Crain buried her husband's head on the property," JJ began to explain.
"And hid the body under the house." Dylan added in with excitement, rocking back and forth on her heels.
They looked at her with creeped out expressions on their faces.