hannah rested her head on jj's shoulder, watching as pope anxiously paced back and forth. a small sigh escaped jj's lips, causing hannah to look at him.
"what?" she giggled when she caught jj staring at her.
"you're just really beautiful," jj whispered softly, admiring the way the warm light of the fire complimented her features, the curve of her lips and the dusting of freckles on her cheeks.
"hey, guys," pope spoke up, causing the two to return their attention to the group. "so, like, my dad's already gonna kill me, so what's this mandatory meeting about?"
john b looked to jj for advice.
"might as well tell him, man, before we're gaffed."
john b nodded. "you ready for this?"
"yeah," kie responded.
"the gold never went down on the royal merchant."
"oh my god," pope groaned, "here we go again."
"this conversation is already giving me a headache, and we're not even five minutes in." hannah rubbed her temples.
"no, wait," jj said, "hear him out, alright?"
"it's been here the whole time."
"swear to god, jb, if you say 'the gold was inside us the whole time', i'm gonna take jj's gun and shoot you in the head."
"no, no, it's on the island."
"are you serious?" kie asked in disbelief. "oh my god."
"i'd like to voice my skepticism," pope interjected.
jj rolled his eyes. "i'm sure you would, pope," causing hannah to elbow him in the ribs.
"hey! don't be rude to my friend."
"he's my friend too!"
"can i please present you with my evidence, sir?" john b sassed.
hannah raised a brow at the boy. "why ask if you're gonna do it anyway?"
"someone's being especially sarcastic tonight," jj teased.
"i'm too sober right now to be let down again, forgive me for not wanting to get my hopes up."
"you don't have to. see, in my backpack, i have a letter from denmark tanny."
"am i supposed to know who that is?"
"yeah, who the hell is that?" kie asked.
"denmark tanny was a slave that survived the royal merchant wreck," john b said. "check this out." he handed kie a piece of paper. "okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. 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..."
hannah smirked at kie who was eagerly hitting her knees as a mock drum. she's so into him.
"tannyhill plantation."
kie gawked at the boy. "tannyhill?"
"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."
kie waited for him to answer. "where?"
"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 got up to point to something on the letter in pope's hands. "the gold is in parcel nine, near the water."
"holy shit," pope muttered.
"all we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold!"
"johnny b, if i was any less sober and any more psychotic, i would kiss you right now," hannah laughed as jj glared at her before getting up and walking over to john b.
"uh, thanks?"
"okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true."
"i'm a genius. hey, woah!" john b exclaimed as jj scooped him up into a hug. "hello! fire! you're near the fire! you're gonna burn!"
jj set the boy down. "i'm so proud of you right now."
"thank you. that's really sweet of you."
"kiss already!" hannah yelled at the two.
jj shrugged, leaning in to place his lips on john b's, causing the boy to push him away. "come on, john b, you know you've missed these lips."
"jj, i've spent the last two years trying to erase that kiss from my memory, do not kiss me."
"wait, you two have kis-?" kie gaped.
"i hate to break this up, but, guys, what's the plan?" pope asked.
"good question," john b said. "sarah cameron's coming tonight. she'll bring an original survey map-"
"hold on," kie cut him off.
"oh god," hannah mumbled.
"sarah? why sarah?"
"this is gonna be good," jj muttered, reclaiming his seat beside hannah.
"he's macking her, isn't he?" hannah whispered to jj.
"he's definitely macking her."
"sarah, she, um, she helped me get into the archives in chapel hill yesterday, and that's where i got the letter."
"you were in chapel hill with sarah cameron?" kie felt her heart clench as the feeling of betrayal washed over her.
"jj, if i don't make it out of this, i want you to have pogie."
"i'll take good care of him, babydoll."
"would you two shut up?" pope hissed.
"yeah, uhm-" john b struggled to come up with a convincing lie.
"he was mackin' on her," jj deadpanned.
"i wasn't macking," john b denied.
hannah scoffed. "you are totally macking sarah cameron."
"i wasn't macking on her, okay? i was using her for access."
"there was access, alright," hannah and jj said in sync making the two to grin at each other.
"did you tell her about the treasure?" kie asked.
"i was trying to get into the archives!"
"is that a yes?"
"i hate when mom and dad fight," hannah sighed dramatically, causing jj to let out a small chuckle.
"i-i left out key details."
"yo, what?" kie exclaimed. "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!"
hannah grimaced. "it's embarrassing watching him try to lie."
"agreed," jj nodded.
"why don't i believe you?" kie mocked john b.
john b scoffed. "i'm trying to make us filthy rich here. okay, so that we can pay of a boat, or-or send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." john b pointed to pope. "look, you guys know me. do i look like the type of person to fall for sarah cameron?"
"uh," jj began.
"do you really want us to answer that, or?" pope asked.
"john b, if this were a netflix coming of age film, you'd be the nerdy, quiet girl and sarah would be the star football quarterback who are forced to work together to help him pass biology and you to get the boy you like, a quiet, misunderstood musician, to like you back, but in the end you two fall for each other."
"stop, just stop," john b muttered.
jj patted her shoulder. "i thought it was good."
"look, you don't know her yet, i do!" kie yelled. "you can't trust her."
"her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club," pope added.
"rafe and sarah are different human beings."
"what did she do to you, exactly?" jj asked kie.
"she's like a-a spitting cobra-"
"oh god."
"first she blinds you, and then-"
"this is a bad analogy," pope stated.
"listen to me!" the group went silent. "whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."
...
"hit it, boys!" jj slid the bus door open. "we're going. recon mission."
john b's head jerked. "yo, uh, i think i'm gonna do this one by myself. tonight."
hannah snickered. "and by 'this one' you mean sarah cameron, right?"
"look, i just don't wanna spook sarah with the peanut gallery."
kie rolled her eyes. "i just don't understand why we're involving her at all."
"kie, we're not involving her, okay?" john b groaned, causing kie to glare at him. "it's just like, uh, a business meeting, thing."
hannah laughed as jj pretended to deep throat his joint. "ah, yes, prostitution. the classic exchange of goods for services-"
"shut it," john b snapped. "look, once we get what we need, we cut her loose, alright? plus, we need the map."
"promise me nothing's happening between you two."
john b looked away for a split second before turning his gaze back to kie. "nothing is happening, kie."
"i'm being serious."
"okay!"
"this isn't about you, and this isn't about us. this is about her." kie stated. "dude, she's gonna get inside your head. just promise me nothing's happening between you guys."
hannah's heart ached with empathy for her friend. the pleading in her voice was painful to hear, and hearing john b lie to her only worsened this feeling.
"i promise."
the bus was silent for a few moments before jj spoke up. "that was really believable," jj said sarcastically.
"a hundred percent believable," pope nodded.
"you want an oscar for that performance?"
john b glared at the three. "anyways, um, i'm gonna go take care of business."
jj shook his head. "you're gonna take care of it."
"more like sarah's gonna take care of it," hannah smirked, earning her a high five from jj and a smack to the head from john b.
"fuck you," john b said as he exited the car.
"that's what sarah's for!"
"we'll just sit here," pope called out, "in the hot-ass car. while it's lightening."
hannah watched john b slam the door shut before turning back to the group. "he's totally macking on her."
"yup," jj nodded.
pope shook his head. "no question."
kie looked down at her feet, feeling tears sting her eyes. don't cry. don't cry. don't cry.
hannah, noticing kie's defeated state, silently went to wrap her arms around her friend.
kie sniffled, but hugged her back. "she's gonna get into his head," kie whispered, "just like she did to me."
"hey," hannah forced kie to look at her, "no, she's not. we're not gonna let that happen. right, guys?"
jj and pope nodded.
"bros before hoes," jj added.
"exactly. if you don't trust sarah, neither do we. and don't worry, we're not going anywhere."
kie managed a sad smile. "thanks," she whispered. "wait, do you guys hear that?"
"hear what?" hannah asked.
kie shushed her. the bus was silent as the four teens listened intently, barely making out the soft cries for help in the distance.
"please, somebody help!"
"oh, wait, no, i hear that!" jj shot up.
"shit," hannah muttered, sprinting out of the van and towards the source of the cries.
"sarah, what happened?" pope yelled, dropping down beside john b's still form.
broken sobs wracked sarah's body. "i don't know what to do. he needs help. topper shoved him."
kie stood there in shock, staring down at the unmoving boy.
"where the hell is he?" jj snarled.
sarah shook her head. "oh, please, please, please get help. i don't care who. just call someone."
"go! go!" jj commanded as pope went to go find help.
"topper," hannah yelled into the night, "i know you hear me! you're gonna pay for this, you sick fuck!"
"forget him!" kie screamed. "pope, hurry!" her eyes met sarah's, both rimmed with red from crying.
"john b, stay with me!" sarah sobbed, gently placing her lips on his. "please don't leave me."
and just like that, kie felt her heart break for the second time in one night.