"Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks as we are all sitting in logs around a fire in the woods.
"Might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed." JJ says. He puts his hand on my thighs drawing little designs.
"You ready for this?" John B asks.
"Yeah." Kie and Pope say.
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant."
"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this." Pope says.
"No.All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" I say as John B looks at me weird.
"How do you?" He asks.
"Lil birdie told me Vlad." I say smiling. He quickly ignored me going back to what he was talking about.
"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island."
"Are you serious?" Kie asks in shock. "Oh, my God."
"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says.
"I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?" John B asks.
"Proceed." Pope says listening.
"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."
"Who the hell's that?" Kie asks no one in particular.
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck." John B explains. He gives the map to Kie. "Check this out." "Here you go."
"Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad he found the complete manifest." John B explains. "That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold
from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is... Tannyhill Plantation."
"Tannyhill?" Kie asks. She gives the map to JJ who hands it to Pope.
"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him. So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."
"Where?" Pope asks.
"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B shows something to Pope on the paper. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."
"Holy shit." Kie says.
"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."
"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says.
"Dude, it's like King Tut." Kie says as JJ warps John B up in a hug.
"I am a genius. Hey, whoa!" John B says as JJ gets close to the fire. "Hello! Fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn."
"I'm so proud of you right now." JJ says putting him down.
"Thank you. That's really sweet of you." I smile at the interaction.
"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asks.
"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map..."
"Hold on." Kie says cutting John B off. "Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?"
"Um..." John B freezes.
"This is gonna be good." JJ whispers to me.
"Sarah, um, she... she got me into the archives
in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter."
"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?"
"Yeah, um..."
"He was mackin' on her." JJ says.
"I wasn't macking." John B says.
"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron."
"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access."
"There was access, all right." JJ says laughing. I realize what John B just said.
"She cheated on Topper for you! And you're using her?!" I yell at him.
"I-" John B gets cut off by Kie.
"Did you tell her about the treasure?"
"I was trying to get into the archives."
"Is that a yes?"
"I... I left out key details."
"No you didn't! She said she was in on this now!" I yell.
"Yo, what?" Kie says. "You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"
"I was just using her for information." John B states.
"That's so fucked up!" I yell.
"I thought you hated Sarah!" John B yells at me.
"Look. Sorry for you all but we all know Sarah is my bestfriend!" I say.
"Look I'm trying to make us filthy rich." John B says.
"You can't be using her!" I yell.
"Okay, so that we can pay off a boat," John B says ignoring me. "or... or, uh... send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies. Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person
to fall for Sarah Cameron?"
"You already did." I say.
"Do you want us to answer that, or..." JJ asks.
"Just... just stop."
"Look, you don't know her yet. I do!" Kie yells. "You can't trust her."
"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club." Pope states.
"Rafe and Sarah are different human beings. And Rafe can't help when he looses himself! He's getting help. And you can trust Sarah! She's lying to everyone just to protect John B and she's giving away being a perfect Kook."
"What did she do to you, exactly?" Pope asks Kie.
"She's like a... like a spitting cobra. First, she... she blinds you, and then..."
"This is a bad analogy." Pope states.
"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."
"No she isn't!" I yell at Kie.
"Then maybe you're a liar just like her." Kie says to me.
"What?! Look I get you're mad at me and I know why! But I can't help how I feel!" I yell at Kie.
"You knew!" She yells at me.
"I know! I get it. I fucked up! I'm just a big fuck up who can't do shit right!" I yell.
"I saw you, Eve." Kie says as I look at her confused.
"What? Saw me what." I say.
"You went into the room with him and then completely lied to me. I don't care if you're fucking him!" She says.
"You saw?" I ask. "Look. It didn't mean anything. I was drunk! I am still drunk!" I say. I can't let her know I'm a virgin. Only Jj knows.
"I thought you loved him and then you went and had sex with someone else." Kie says upset with me.
"I get it. You love him and I knew that and I told you I loved him and then it messed every thing up so I thought if I could get with someone else you could have him." I say not using names to tell anything to the boys.
"You guys love the same person?" Pope asks.
"I don't love him." Kie says.
"Oh bullshit!" I say.
"Okay fine! I started liking him! We all know that you love him though! That's why you broke up with Rafe!" She says.
"You broke up with Rafe?" John B asks.
"Whatever. Have fun on you're mission. I'm going home and getting high." I say as I walk away tears going down my face.
"Let's just get this over with." Kie says walking towards the van. All the boys go to follow her.
•
"You good?" Barry asks as I walk through the door falling over. "Woah!" He says as he gets up and catches me.
"I'm a fuck up Barry." I say crying in his arms. "I had sex with Kelce and lied and I'm in love with JJ but so is Kie." I say sobbing.
"It's okay. You're not a fuck up." Barry says as I hear him start to cry a little. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me."
"I am?"
"Yes! When I saw you outside crying trying to get off the island. I was on my way to go jump off a building. I saw that you needed help. And I realized I needed help to. You saved me Eve."
"You saved me to." I say as we both sit in the kitchen crying in each others arms.
1374 words. I love Eve and Barry's sibling love so much.