FOUR, diver down
( episode one, pilot )
☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎
CASSIE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING, ALTHOUGH SHE HAD HARDLY SLEPT, CLINGING ONTO GRACE'S BLANKET, FROM HER BED. the blanket was a hand me down, it was actually cassie's blanket from when she was a baby. she didn't like it when grace went away, as much as she wouldn't admit it. sure, it was nice when cassie got a little break and time to be a teenager, but she found that by morning she missed her daughter more than she had ever missed anyone. not her dad, not her mom,— although she didn't really know her very well— not uncle t.
this was one of these mornings, where she found herself longing to hold her daughter, who, more times than not, climbed into her bed and cuddled up with her, instead of sleeping in her own. only this morning, she missed someone else, just as much, too. she found that eventually, after she got ready, when she emerged into the living room, the absence of a blonde boy sleeping on her couch was way more affecting than she could've ever guessed it would be.
her heart ached, wondering where he went after she kicked him out. wondering if he was okay. wondering if he had gone back to his dad's place, if his dad was drunk and angry, if they had gotten into it or not.
cassie barely even noticed the woman taking a look around in her kitchen as she went through scenarios in her head. when she did finally notice her, she jumped, gasping in surprise at sheriff peterkin's presence.
"cassie." the woman said, also surprised that someone had woken up. "don't worry, i need to talk to your brother."
cassie bit her lip, nervously, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. she nodded, turning back to point at which room was his, before blocking the walkway with her arms. "did jj get taken into the station last night, at all?" she asked, nervous for the answer.
"not that i know of." sheriff peterkin replied, shaking her head. "although i wouldn't put it past him, of course." the entire sheriff's department knew jj maybank, with how often he came in, and how much he messed around with them. the officer gave her a knowing look, which made cassie panic, because she more than likely knew that the one with the gun was jj.
the young girl let out a relieved sigh, moving her arm. "thank you," she nodded. "uh, john b's still sleeping, he, uh, had a rough night." her voice hitched in her throat thinking about it, the vision of her brother face down in the water, with topper's hand holding him down, then the gun coming out. it was all too much and she would prefer not to relive it, so she focused on the officer once again.
"so i've heard." the woman remarked, stepping past her. "you staying out of trouble, cassie?" cassie nodded, honestly, although it may not have been true, she was trying her very best to be nothing but an accomplice. "smart girl. keep it that way."
"is this about our dcs appointment getting rescheduled or... john b?" cassie questioned, making the woman stop in her tracks once again. "because, i have to go pick my daughter up and go check in on work, but if i need to stay, i will."
"no, cassie, go along, handle your business. i'm sure your brother will tell you everything i have to say when you get back." sheriff peterkin informed her, crossing her arms across her chest. "you're not the one getting into gunfights on the beach."
cassie's eyes widened, as she grew increasingly more anxious. "gunfight?" she repeated in forced surprise. "i don't know anything about a gunfight."
"cassie, i'm not stupid." sheriff peterkin said in a warning tone. "you and your brother need to stay out of trouble. i'm willing to help you two out, so long as you stay under the radar."
"thank you, so much, sheriff." the girl replied, nodding eagerly. she grabbed the keys from the table by the door and was off, without another word.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
AFTER GRABBING GRACE FROM THE JACKSON'S, HER NEXT STOP WAS THE THOMPSON'S. the thompson family was the family cassie nannied for, since before she was pregnant with grace. they were a kook family, made up of evelyn, her boss, her two young kids, miles and faith, and occasionally her eldest daughter, naomi, who was in college.
evelyn thompson was the most generous, kind hearted, wise woman cassie knew. also probably the second best kook in all of kildare, coming behind kie, of course. she used to be a world famous model, although she settled down in the outer banks four years prior, after starting a makeup brand that was very highly praised. she did a lot for cassie, even though she didn't need to.
she had thrown her a baby shower when she got pregnant, because no one else was going to. she was paying her way more than any other kook would pay a nanny, because she knew cassie's situation. the reason she was so empathetic about cassie's situation is because evelyn herself was a teen mom. she had her eldest daughter, naomi, when she was 15, and now, naomi was 19 and away at college.
she was incredibly hardworking and goal oriented, but she was not the type of mother who neglected her kids and just had the nanny raise them. she worked from home, most of the time, and she only really needed cassie to entertain the kids and keep them out of trouble. often, cassie felt like she was being paid to hang out with evelyn, and keep an eye on the kids.
it was also a good job to have with grace, since she couldn't take grace into her other job, at the diner she worked at, richie's, where she was mostly just a fill in, in case somebody wanted to drop a shift. of course she had her own shifts, a few times a week, but she was never really scheduled more than two shifts per week, since the diner was a bit overstaffed.
cassie stepped up to the front door, grace's tiny hand clutching onto her own. she knocked on the door, before a voice inside called that it was unlocked. she opened the door, walking into the house she knew almost as well as she knew her own.
"oh, cassie." naomi, who was home for the summer, said from the couch, getting up and walking over to the foyer. "what're you doing here?" cassie smiled, feeling her daughter tug at her arm and duck behind her in a shy nature. "hi grace."
"hi." the girl quietly said, peeking her head out from behind one leg.
"i'm here to check on my schedule, for this week. phone towers are down, so me and your mom haven't been texting." the girl briefly explained. she noticed miles and faith playing in the living room, so she smiled and waved to the kids.
naomi nodded, walking back into the living room, then shouting down the hall, "mom, you have a guest!"
evelyn's office door opened and she swiftly moved through the hall, before realizing who her visitor was. "oh, cassie!" she greeted, smiling. she gave her a tight hug, then ruffed up grace's hair. "oh, you must be here because you don't have a schedule!"
"yes, that's why i'm here. plus i had to get grace from her dad's, so i was close by." she informed her.
evelyn sat down on the couch, motioning for cassie to come sit. "you know, the towers being down has been a royal pain in my ass." she told her, sighing.
"honey, why don't you go play with miles and faith," cassie prompted grace, tapping her back. grace joined the kids, who were laying on the floor with various toys in their hands, and picked a toy up happily. "i would've came yesterday, but i got into deep shit with my brother."
"oh? like what?" evelyn questioned, arching her brows.
cassie hesitated saying anything to the woman, but she figured saying nothing would just make it seem like trouble, which although it was, she didn't need her boss knowing that. "well, with dcs on our case, we've been having a lot of trouble, and we were trying to get into contact with my uncle, but y'know." she explained. "plus, my brother's an idiot, so he wanted to mess around all day, which was not what i was planning to do."
"well, i know you'll figure something out." evelyn assured her.
"uh, when do you need me this week?" cassie asked, placing her hands in her lap. she fiddled with her thumbs anxiously, her leg shook vigorously.
evelyn placed a delicate hand over her bouncing leg. "is everything alright?" she queried, her voice soft and gentle.
"everything's fine, evelyn. just, the dcs called the sheriff to check on us. i woke up this morning, and she was just there." she muttered, trying to keep it down for her daughter's sake.
"oh, honey." evelyn whispered, pulling her into a hug. cassie sunk into her arms as she rubbed her back comfortingly. "you know what? you have the week off. until the towers are back up and i can text you again, take it off. you and i both know you deserve it."
the frown cassie previously wore lifted up into a smile, evelyn always managed to treat her like family, even though she didn't have to at all. "and, you know i'm gonna pay you." evelyn added, which made her laugh.
cassie knew, after three years of working for evelyn that it did not matter how much she protested on things like this, evelyn would not change her mind on matters like these. "i figured," the girl laughed, pulling away. "thank you, evelyn. for everything."
"of course!" the woman responded. "oh! and i had something i wanted to ask you." cassie furrowed her brows in confusion, leaning closer in intrigue. "well, midsummers is coming up, and i wanted to invite you and grace. naomi has plans with friends, so i was wondering if you'd fill in her spot for me?"
cassie smiled, although she wasn't sure a kook party was exactly her thing, she appreciated how evelyn did not just view her as an employee, but a part of her family, as well. "of course i will, thank you. i have absolutely nothing that nice to wear, though, that's the only thing."
"well, i'll give you a little bonus, you can buy a dress— you can buy grace a dress too." the woman said excitedly. evelyn got up suddenly and rushed over to her purse, grabbing out her wallet. "i'll just give you cash, because i can't cashapp you." she pulled out three crisp hundred dollar bills and walked back over to the couch, placing them in cassie's palms.
"evelyn, this is too much, seriously." cassie objected, putting the money back in the woman's hand.
"no, cassie, it's totally fine!" evelyn exclaimed, giving the money back to her. "they hate when you don't bring the same amount of people you rsvp'd for. i need a fill in." the woman assured her, laughing. "you'd be doing me a huge favor."
cassie sighed, nodding in defeat and accepting the money. "okay, but i'm going to give you whatever moneys leftover!" she informed her, standing up.
"whatever floats your boat kid," the woman laughed, hugging her once again.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
THE GROUP, MINUS CASSIE, SAT AROUND OUTSIDE THE CHATEAU, AFTER PETERKIN'S TALK WITH JOHN B. "where's cass?" questioned kiara, who played with some bongos, half heartedly.
john b shrugged, simply noting, "she was gone when i got up."
"probably getting grace," jj added. he still felt awful about the previous night and all he wanted to do was beg for forgiveness.
"look, i'm callin' it off. all right?" john b announced, dismissing the topic of the whereabouts of his sister. "peterkin said, if i stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with dcs."
"and you believed her?" jj questioned in disbelief.
"yes, i believe her, jj." john b replied, growing frustrated with his friend's ability to always question his decisions.
"an actual cop, john b. you believed a cop."
john b sighed, shaking his head. "look, all i gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. it doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."
"you know what i should have done, man?" questioned jj, throwing a rock into the dirt. "i should've just let topper drown your ass."
"topper was gonna drown me?" john b asked, doubtingly.
"sure looked like it." jj replied, getting up from where he sat on a patio table and stepping closer to john b.
john b chuckled, remarking, "that's really funny."
"i mean, have you looked in a mirror?" jj asked, alluding to his awful looking black eye.
"boys." cassie said in a warning tone, walking in from behind where kie was sat. "jj did save you. as stupid as his saving was, he did something when no one else did, so don't start, jb." john b rolled his eyes, although he let cassie continue without protest. "i woke up this morning and the sheriff was rummaging through our fridge. said i could run along, but she needed to talk to you. what happened?"
john b stepped closer to his sister, waving around a huge stick he was leaning on. "dcs sent her, she wanted to know about the fight. she told me that she'd be willing to stick her neck out for us if we stay out of the marsh. so, i'm calling all this off." cassie nodded, smiling.
"they always win, don't they, man?" jj questioned, leaning against a support beam. "kooks versus pogues. they always, always win!" he punched the buoy hung from the roof in exasperation and biterness. "goddamn!"
"it's okay, jj." cassie assured him, comfortingly.
"no, it's not okay!" jj cried, turning back to them. "it is not! they don't want us
to go down into the marsh. that means there's something valuable down there, and you know it, man." he pointed to john b. "i know you do. and i understand why you don't wanna go." he continued, pointing to pope. "you're the golden boy. you got way too much to risk. and you..." he motioned to kie. "i mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. why would you bother?" he spun around to look at cassie. "and cass, i know that you have grace, but other than that, me, you and john b have nothing to lose! we really don't!"
"come on, jj." john b said quietly.
"all right? and i know it didn't use to be that way for you." jj continued, which made john b and cassie tense a bit.
"i don't want to talk about this." john b told him. "i don't want to talk about it."
"so that's it?" jj asked.
john b shoved him aside, telling him, "just get out of my way, bro." punching a few buoys, he walked towards the house.
"john b, listen to me." jj called after him, making him stop. "i have a plan." he walked over to him, questioning, "you got the key to cameron's big boat, right?"
john b immediately didn't like this plan, sighing and telling him, "no, jj."
but, jj continued on, as he always did. "there's scuba gear. we borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man." he took a pause before adding, "you don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?"
john b, after a full minute of silence, finally caved. he agreed to go borrow some of ward cameron's diving equipment, and he quickly got the keys to the boat and left. cassie wasn't even going to begin to explain how she felt about this plan, since it seemed like every time she voiced her opinion, nobody really seemed to care.
"j," cassie called out, making the blonde whip around to look at her. "can i talk to you?"
he agreed and the two went over to the porch, to talk away from kiara and pope. they sat beside each other on the couch, staring out at the water as they both pondered what to say to the other.
"where'd you end up sleeping last night?" cassie asked anxiously after an uncomfortable silence. she bounced her leg, once again, biting the skin around her nails in an panic.
"i figured it out, alright," jj responded, calmly. "don't you worry your pretty little head about me, cassie bear." he sat back and she eventually sat back as well, laying her head on his chest. cassie stayed silent for a bit, bringing her legs up onto the couch, although the one didn't stop shaking. "cass, you okay?"
she nodded, putting a hand on her leg to stop it from shaking. "i'm, just— i'm really, really sorry, jj." she told him, softly. "i felt terrible this morning. it didn't feel good waking up without knowing you were safe."
jj smiled giddily, making cassie look up at him. "you missed me." he teased. "you really missed me, cass!"
"don't start, or i'll take it back." the girl warned, rolling her eyes.
the boy shook his head, informing her, "you can't take it back, princess! you said you miss me!" he reached over to tickle the girl, making her throw her head back and giggle in glee. "and, i'm gonna remember that forever!"
cassie managed to push his arms away and get free from his tickling. "but seriously, chill with the gun." she finally said, after getting herself together.
jj nodded, agreeing, "okay, i will."
then cassie's face softened, and she reached up to move jj's hair out of his face. "but, thank you for saving john b. since no one else will admit it. you did help, y'know."
jj beamed at this, nearly tackling cassie with a tight embrace. "thank you, cass." he thanked, quietly in her ear. "it means a lot. thank you."
"of course, j." she replied, smiling huge as well.
"i'm sorry too. for taking the gun, bringing it around grace. it was stupid." jj whispered into her ear.
"it's okay, just please be more careful." she whispered back, holding him tightly.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
AFTER JOHN B HAD COME BACK WITH THE SUPPLIES, THE POGUES WASTED NO TIME GETTING BACK TO THE WRECK. kiara examined all of the air tanks, before declaring, "this is empty." she turned to john b. "you took empty tanks?" she grabbed another one as john b tried to stammer out a reply. "okay, this one's a quarter full. it's enough for one of us."
"love it when a plan comes together." remarked pope sarcastically.
"does anybody know how to dive?" kie questioned. silence filled the air, as the teens all looked around awkwardly. "anybody?"
"it's kind of a kook sport." jj told her, shaking his head.
"i read about it." pope spoke up, although hesitantly.
kie sighed, slapping her hands down on her legs. "great, pope read about it,
so someone's gonna die." she retorted.
"look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. how hard could it be?"
"if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." pope knowingly corrected jj.
jj bent over and arched his back, asking, "bends like, you bend over and—"
"the bends kill you." pope interrupted, seriously.
"right..." jj muttered, standing up straight once again.
"so, i can't do it, because... y'know." cassie said, pointing down to grace, who sat in her lap. "and i don't trust you four to take care of her if i die."
"um, i thought i was her godmother!" kie protested. cassie shook her head no, in confusion of where she had even gotten that idea. she gave kie a we'll talk about that later look, before john b spoke up,
"i can— i can dive."
"you can dive. i'm cool with that." jj agreed, nodding his head.
"since when can you dive?" kie questioned.
john b got up, shaking his head, "i'll do it. it's fine."
pope stood up, telling everyone, "let me do some calculations real quick." he grabbed a piece of paper from the cup holder and clicked a pen. "that boat's about 30 feet down. so it'll take 25 minutes at most at that depth. twenty-five. which means you need to make your safety stop at about... ten feet." he worked out. "all right? for two minutes."
john b repeated it back, before kie slipped her shirt off and jumped off the boat and down into the water. "what was that all about?" pope questioned.
"i don't know, but i liked it. a lot." jj replied. cassie scoffed, looking down at grace, although she felt a little angry that jj had said that. jealousy tugged at her insides, but she pushed the feeling away because she was not supposed to feel jealous over something like that. jj noticed cassie looking angry and cleared his throat, stammering out attempts of excuses until he finally gave up and gave john b instructions.
everyone continued on with the conversation, but until kie came back up, cassie zoned out and heard none of it. when kie did emerge from the water, she told john b, "i tied my t-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. it's where you need to do your safety stop."
as john b was getting suited up, pope handed him the air gauge, telling him, "keep an eye on this. you need to make sure you have enough air to decompress."
"okay, how much do i need?" john b questioned.
"unclear. breathe as little as possible." pope told him, which made cassie chuckle.
"maybe we should've planned this out a little better." cassie pointed out, raising her eyebrows.
everyone smiled, shaking their heads and rolling their eyes, even though it was definitely true. "little too late for that now, princess." remarked jj.
"well, duh." the girl responded, rolling her eyes.
"duh," copied grace, making everyone chuckle.
"hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... better get a move on." pope reminded john b.
"copy that." replied john b. kie walked up to him, looking at him for a second before giving him a kiss on the cheek. john b was clearly surprised by that move, but he just continued, "diver down?"
"diver down."
cassie, jj, and pope shared confused and shocked looks, as john b jumped off the side of the boat and into the water. cassie stood up to look at her brother.
"diver down." he repeated, saluting to everyone. they all said farewell and john b disappeared into the water.
"kie, does the phrase, 'no pogue on pogue macking' ring a bell?" cassie questioned, crossing her arms across her chest. kie looked away, not responding to the girl.
not even five minutes later, the teens heard sirens and it's safe to say, they panicked. "oh, you gotta be kidding me." pope groaned.
"yep, that's the police." jj pointed out.
"just act frickin' normal." kie told everyone, although, she herself was not acting very normal.
"evening, officers." pope greeted.
the officers tossed them their boat's rope, which pope commanded jj to tie off. "how you kids doing? you know the marsh is closed?" deputy shoupe questioned.
the kids all nervously muttered a no. "why is it closed?" questioned pope.
"well, we're conducting a search out here. boat went down." the man explained. "seen anything?"
"no boats. no." pope answered, cooly.
deputy shoupe noticed the absence of john b, and investigated, "where's your friend you always hang with? he here?"
cassie, although terrified and trying not to shake, spoke up, "he's working, sir."
the man looked around for a second, before stepping onto the hms pogue, telling them, "i'm gonna check your little boat out."
"yeah, hop aboard." pope welcomed him. "check— check her out."
"thank you." the man said, looking around for anything incriminating that could get them into trouble. he smiled and waved to grace, saying, "hey, little lady." grace hid behind cassie's legs and she did not budge. nothing on the boat was giving him anything to work with. he picked up an orange life vest, questioning, "you got another one of these?"
"yeah, yeah. of course. it's, uh, it's in the hold." jj informed him.
kie stood up from where she sat, telling jj, "show him."
jj opened up the compartment and there were many life jackets, he pulled out one that was significantly smaller and decorated with mermaids, telling him in a joking manner, "this one's mine." deputy shoupe chuckled, because it was obviously grace's, and everybody let out nervous laughs. he stepped onto the bow of the boat, looking out into the water above him, the same area where john b was. it took him a while of staring, but eventually he stepped down and said, "all right."
"beautiful day, isn't it?" the man remarked, stepping back onto his own boat.
"sure is." jj replied.
"very." pope added.
he reached over to untie the hms pogue from their own boat, telling them, "you let us know if you see anything on your way out."
"will do." pogue informed him, saluting.
"will do. we'll be gone soon, sir." jj assured the man.
"yes, you will." shoupe replied, as his boat sped off.
as soon as the boat was far enough away, the pogues dropped to the side of the boat, worrying about how long john b was down there for. "he's definitely out of air." pope informed everyone, making cassie panic.
but, as if on cue, he popped up, making all of them let out the deep breaths they were holding in. "there he is!" jj exclaimed.
"don't scare us like that!" pope told him, smiling.
"how'd it go down there?" jj questioned. "did you find anything?"
"did i find anything?" john b repeated, throwing up the soaking wet green duffle bag.
"yeah, there we go! that's my boy!" jj cheered, pulling it up and onto the boat.
at the ladder, john b panted, not coming up. "you okay?" kie questioned, seeing how hard he was breathing.
"yeah, i ran out of air." john b revealed, casually though, like it was no big deal.
"you scared the shit out of me." kie confessed as john b pulled himself up onto the boat.
pope turned to john b, telling him, "yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... took care of 'em.
"my bad." john b apologized, sitting down on the floor.
"you're all good." pope assured him.
"yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother." jj remarked, nodding.
"hey, guys?" kie said, grabbing everyone's attention. "bogey, two o'clock." everyone turned around to see an expensive boat speeding towards them. everyone looked around confused, because they had came out of nowhere.
"do you recognize that boat?" pope questioned everyone.
"i've never seen it." kie replied, which everyone nodded in agreement.
"what are they doing here anyways? the marsh is closed." cassie pointed out.
"i don't know, but let's not stick around and find out." jj said, setting down some of the scuba gear john b had just been wearing.
"jj, get the bowline." john b instructed.
"should we wait on 'em?" asked pope.
"no, we're not gonna wait for them!" john b told him.
"are you joking?" kie questioned in disbelief.
"please don't forget there is a two year old child in the boat," cassie told everyone, before quietly telling grace to get down and hide. "we need to get the hell out of here."
as the boat got closer and closer, jj finally told everyone, "guys, don't wait for me. let's go!" he finally got the anchor out of the water just as they began to move.
"i don't like the look of this." remarked john b.
"are they coming for us?" jj questioned, putting the anchor in the hold.
"maybe they're out fishing for drum too." john b wondered aloud.
whatever it was, they didn't want to stick around and find out. "go, go, go, go!" they sped through the marsh, making a sharp turn.
"let's go!" kie shouted.
"i'm going." john b assured her. cassie was scared that the hms pogue was not fast enough to be competing with a super nice boat.
"act natural, act natural." commanded pope. cassie just tried to keep grace content, without freaking out herself.
the boat behind them sped up and easily gained on them. "hey, guys, they're following us." kie informed everyone.
"this can't be good." pope sighed, shaking his head.
"dude, you gotta go faster!" jj instructed him, although it was clear he was trying. "gun it!"
"i'm going!" john b cried. "i'm going!"
the pogue started to go faster, but the other boat stayed on their tail, not too far behind. as they turned a sharp corner, cassie heard a loud gun shot, making her drop down by grace's side, covering the girl's head with her own body.
"holy shit!" kie cried out in terror.
"john b, get down!" jj shouted.
cassie just shushed grace, who had started to cry and shake because of the loud noise and everyone's reaction. "it's okay, grace, we're okay." she assured her, although she didn't really believe it herself, so she didn't know how comforting it really was. what was comforting though, was when jj grabbed on to her arm, so tightly she thought she might lose circulation, but it wasn't bad.
"mommy, i'm scared," the young girl cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"i know, baby," cassie whispered, trying to cover grace's whole body with her own.
another gunshot was fired off and it flew above the surface of the pogue. this made pope cry out, "oh my god, we're gonna die!"
kiara stood up and the men on the boat started firing at her. "get down, kie!" john b yelled. but, kie actually had a brilliant plan. she grabbed some net and tossed it out into the water, which halted the speedboat quickly.
the pogues got away fast after that, leaving the men in their dust. cassie felt tears well up in her eyes, as she realized she could get up and she did as such, hugging onto her daughter tightly.
everyone whooped and cheered, adrenaline pumping through their veins, but cassie was just so shaken up and happy to be alive that she sat there, holding grace tight, tears streaming down her face, in utter silence, frozen.
jj looked over at her, noticing how still she was being, and he sat beside her, asking, "you okay? did you get hurt?" she shook her head no, and jj nodded, understanding why she was so frozen. he grabbed her and grace in for a tight hug, rubbing cassie's back with one hand and grace's with the other.
once they got to the dock, jj quickly tied them up and they jumped off, eager to see what was in the bag. "what do you think it is?" kie excitedly asked.
"it's gotta be money or something, right?" john b answered, hopefully, unzipping the bag. cassie was still shaken up from everything that happened, but she was definitely excited to see what was in the bag.
"that or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to mid-mils!" jj grinned, reaching his hand over to squeeze cassie's, who looked back at him with her own smile.
"can we please just open the bag?" pope loudly interjected, surprising all of his friends.
"wow, pope." john b finally said, in awe. "that's a rare outburst of emotion."
"okay. you guys are literally killing me with anticipation." pope added, which cassie nodded in agreement to. "just open the bag. we almost died over this."
john b opened the bag, which produced a smaller bag, in which he found a canister inside. he opened it up quickly, dumping the contents into his palm. instead of wads of cash like everyone was hoping, in john b's hands there was a compass.
cassie gasped, recognizing it right away. the others sighed, disappointedly, but cassie and john b shared a knowing look, then confused looks, wondering what it was doing on scooter grubbs' grady white.
"oh, wow. yup. that's about right." pope sarcastically started. "good job, everybody. we found a compass."
"pope, stop." cassie muttered, looking over at grace, then back to her brother.
"dude, what?" jj questioned john b, who hadn't taken his eyes off of the compass. "it's not worth anything."
"this was my father's." john b explained, hugging cassie tightly.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ HARPER SPEAKS
OKAY IM ACTUALLY FINALLY PROUD OF THIS CHAPTER!!!!! i think the evelyn part was a little eh but i love evelyn and i'm excited to show their relationship, plus i gave yall a little jassie content UR WELCOME. more is coming i'm so excited to write them and there's gonna be so much cutesy stuff but i def wanna write a little angst too so strap in yall.
also completely unrelated but i'm watching the bear rn and there is so much going on as i type this it's like stressing me out 😭