"Aggie, I love you." While hurricane Agatha may have done severe damage to the island and homes, including the Thornton's, where pieces of their roof were now missing, tree limbs were strewn about the yard, electric poles were haphazardly laying everywhere, and their boat got more dings than Teddie liked to see, the hurricane also blessed the girl with something truly magical. While her beloved Jeep Wrangler remained unscathed, Topper's dirt bike -or motorcycle as he insists on calling it- was now laying crushed under a tree limb.
"God dammit!" Topper yelled angrily as Teddie chuckled and got into her Jeep. "Are you seriously not going to help clean up?" He shouted at his sister.
"Topper please, you're literally wearing white pants and a pink polo with the collar popped." She shouted back, flipping him off as his face turned a nice shade of red.
Teddie laughed as she drove down the long drive way and made her way through the Figure Out and towards the Cut to the Chateau.
It didn't take too long, maybe only ten minutes. And the girl knew the route like the back of her hand now and knew all the best shortcuts, so she got to her destination in no time. Although it was still long enough for her to get a good look at the damage that had been done to the island. By the time Teddie finally got to the Chateau a deep frown was set upon her face.
"What's the damage?" Teddie called out as she jumped out of her Jeep and approached JJ and John B who were cleaning tree branches and limbs out of the HMS Pogue. She's definitely seen better days.
"What isn't the damage?" John B grumbled angrily, throwing another handful of sticks and limbs out of the boat and onto the ground.
"How's the Figure 8?" JJ asked. Teddie never could tell if he actually cared about the F8 when he asked about it, or if he was just trying to be nice. She figured it was the latter.
Either way, she let out a scoff before answering, "Trust me, it'll be just fine. JB, you think DCS is making it out today?" The boy was kind of banking on Agatha to keep the social workers away.
"Nope." John B said with a shit-eating grin. "No way their getting on a Ferry. And I don't know about you guys, but I think Gods telling us to go fishing."
"You know, I think I heard that too." Teddie said, moving to grab her cooler out of the Jeep. Kie and Teddie, being the moms of the group more or less, had a system in place that the boys absolutely loved. Anytime they went out on the HMS Pogue, Teddie would pack drinks for everyone in her small cooler, while Kie packed snacks.
"You got our juice boxes?" John B asked excitedly. Only the juice boxes John B was referring to weren't exactly kid friendly.
"Bro, you know she got our juice boxes." JJ smirked.
"What would you boys do without me?" Teddie asked with a smirk of her own as the three made their way onto the boat.
"Be sober." Teddie snorted a laugh at JJ's response. He had her there.
Pope was first to be picked up, he was already on the dock cleaning up Aggie's mess when the boat approached his dock. Teddie was laid back relaxing as the boys coaxed Pope onto the boat. To say his dad was pissed would be an understatement. "You're dads a pussy, over." JJ egged on.
"I heard that, you little bastard." Heyward snapped, making Teddie laugh. As much as Heyward rode Pope's ass, the friends knew it was because he wanted more for his son than he had. And Teddie admired him for that. Pope really didn't know quite how good he had it.
"I promise I'll come help Pope clean it up tomorrow, Mr. H!" The girl called out, making the older man shake his head at her.
"Yeah, I've heard that before, Teddie. Boy you better get your ass back over here!"
"Get in the boat. Pope, get in the boat." John B said loud enough so Pope could hear him, but not his father.
"I'm sorry, dad!" Pope shouted as he ran and jumped into the boat, making it rock for a second as the teens all laughed and John B pulled away from the dock quickly. Legend says if you close your eyes and listen real close, you can still hear Heyward yelling at Pope.
"Top of the morning to ya." John B greeted Kie in a terrible British accent as the teens pulled up to their last stop, Kie's dock.
"Good morning boys, Teddie." She grinned.
"Got my carrot sticks?" Teddie asked Kie eagerly, a grin on her face.
"But of course." Kie laughed with a wink.
After a while of coasting, John B finally agreed to let Pope take the wheel, so he moved towards the rest of the friends at the front of the boat. "I don't know what I'm going to do about the leak in the roof." John B groaned.
"Seriously. You should see dad's shop, we're missing chunks of the roof. Chunks." Pope stressed.
"At least Agatha did one good thing." Teddie pointed out.
"And what would that be?"
"She crushed Topper's bike with a big branch." At the sound of her brother's misfortune, everyone immediately perked up and started smiling and laughing; JJ even let out a cheer.
"No way." John B said, a grin on his face.
Teddie laughed, "Oh yeah. It's totaled."
Everyone continued to laugh and John B lifted his beer, "To Agatha."
"To Agatha." The rest of the teens repeated. "Ya bitch." JJ added on.
"Hey Pope, will you go faster man?" JJ asked after the teens had enjoyed some snacks and were now relaxing as the sun warmed their skin.
"JJ not this again." Teddie groaned. Within seconds the girl could feel the beer splashing into her hair as JJ stood on the front of the boat and held his beer out in front of him in an effort to catch some of the liquid in his mouth.
Kie snapped at JJ as Teddie stood up to shove the boy in question, but before she could the boat was lurching forward and she was going with it.
"Pope, what the fuck?" Teddie yelled, holding onto her pounding head. Nothing like smacking it against the front of the boat where she was now sprawled out with no sigh of JJ.
"Jesus, Pope!" Kie shouted, sitting up from where she fell off the cushion.
"JJ, you okay?!" John B yelled as Teddie shouted out the blondes name. Almost immediately JJ's head broke through the surface of the water and he let out a loud groan.
"I think my heels touched the back of my head." He said breathlessly, and Teddie couldn't help but laugh in relief that he was okay. Just dramatic as ever.
"Shit Teddie, you're bleeding." Kie suddenly said, rushing over to the shorter girl.
"I am?" Teddie asked, getting a concerned nod from John B as he came over, taking off his bandana and handing it to Kie to dab the girls face with.
"Wait what?" JJ exclaimed, before suddenly he was rushing to get back onto the boat. "Shit, princess. Got your forehead good."
"No I'm so sorry, Teddie?" Teddie called up to Pope sarcastically.
"Guys, I think there's a boat down there." Was all he said.
"No way." John B denied, immediately moving to go stand where Pope was. Kiara followed, and Teddie thought JJ would too, but he surprised her by replacing Kie's hand with his and tending to her forehead. Teddie couldn't help but look over his face while he paid an insane amount of attention to his task. His eyebrows crinkled when he concentrated and she could tell he was pressing his tongue to the inside of his cheek.
"What's the verdict? Am I going to survive?" She teased, watching as his lips lifted into a grin, his blue eyes glancing down at her own before going back to her head.
"I'll admit, it's looking pretty rough. It's gonna be a long recovery." JJ said with a small smile, playing along.
"Oh yeah? Tell me, doc, what do I need to do?"
"I don't have my equipment with me. You'll need to come back to my place tonight to get the proper treatment." Teddie bit her lip as she felt heat rush to her cheeks, tinting them red.
Before she could respond, Kie was yelling at the pair. "Guys, come check this out!"
Teddie laughed and smiled up at the flirty boy before shoving him away jokingly, earning a laugh as he moved his hand to the small of her back and guided her towards the rest of the group right as they all jumped into the murky water. It's moments like these when Teddie wants to kill Kie for making up the no pogue on pogue macking rule.
"Sorry, princess. You should probably sit this one out." JJ said, tapping his forehead in indication and getting ready to jump in after their friends.
"Fuck that." Teddie scoffed as she quickly pulled her shirt up over her head and shoved the boy into the water with a laugh before jumping in right after him.
JJ stayed close to Teddie as the two swam down towards the wrecked boat after their friend. JB and Kie were already down and checking it out, Pope not far behind them, when the two approached. The water stung Teddie's eyes, and definitely stung her battle scar, but it was worth it to see the brand-spanking-new Grady White.
Teddie's head broke through the water right behind Pope, JJ coming up behind her. Kie and John B had already broken through the surface and were laughing when the rest of the group resurfaced. "Holy shit, you guys saw that right?!" John B exclaimed excitedly.
Kie and Teddie shared a laugh and nodded along with the boys. "That was a Grady White!" JJ exclaimed with an excited splash. "Brand new, those things are 500G's easy."
"This is a once in a lifetime find, man!" Pope exclaimed with a huge smile.
"That's a primo rig." JJ added as he pulled himself up onto the boat. Kie had already clambered up with the help of Pope. JJ reached his hand out as soon as he was up and helped pull Teddie onto the boat, immediately reaching out and checking her forehead once her feet were planted on the floor.
"That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge last night." John B said as he got back onto the boat and pushed some water soaked hair away from his eyes.
"You surfed the surge?" Kie asked, visibly upset.
"That's my boy." JJ grinned proudly, "Pogue style, baby!" He continued, shooting Teddie a wink as he backed up after deeming she wouldn't die again.
"Yeah, Pope and I surfed the surge last night." John B repeated. "Maybe it hit the jetty."
Kie was still visibly annoyed that John B had done that, and Teddie made a mental note to ask her more about it later. Teddie moved so she was standing next to Kie and nudged the girl with her shoulder, giving her a pointed look to which Kie stuck her tongue out. "Real mature." Teddie snorted.
"Do we know who's boat that is?" Pope asked, pulling his shirt back on over his head.
"No clue." John B said, shaking his head before grinning at his friends. "But we're about to find out."
"No way." Kie immediately said, shaking her head. "It's way too deep."
"Only for the weak and feeble, Kie." John B joked.
"Well I'm not resuscitating you, just want to make that clear right up front." Pope joked.
"That's definitely fine."
"John B." Kie said softly, taking a step towards the boy. Teddie had the same look on her face as Pope and JJ. Poor Kie was about to have a heart attack at the thought of JB doing this. But he's stubborn, hell they're all stubborn, once his mind is set he's doing it.
"What?" John B asked lightly. Teddie was sure he could tell Kie was acting way more worried than normal, but clearly didn't know what to make of it.
JJ nudged Teddie, making kissy faces as he mocked the two. Teddie stifled a laugh and shoved him away, shaking her head.
Teddie sighed and put her arm around Kie's shoulder, letting her rest her head on Teddie's shoulder while she played with her hair to attempt to give the girl some comfort. Teddie trusted that John B knows what he's doing, any of the guys do, but if it was JJ going down she'd probably be freaking out, too.
The friends watched silently as JJ handed the anchor to John B, who stood on the deck of the boat with the anchor now pressed against his chest. "Diver down, fool." Pope said, saluting John B.
John B grinned at the group for a second, his eyes lingering on Kie's. "Diver down." And then he was gone with a splash.
"He's such an idiot." Kie mumbled. "I can't believe he did that."
"He'll be fine, Kie. John B knows what he's doing." JJ said. "Besides, what are the chances of something like this ever happening again? We'd be idiots for not checking it out."
"No, we're idiots for shoving him into water with an anchor pressed against his chest." She snapped.
"Yeah, that was kind of stupid." Pope agreed. "But I'm with JJ, John B will be fine. And if he's not, I'm blaming JJ." Classic Pope.
Everyone went quiet after that, just watching the water for John B. The boys were waiting and watching in anticipation for what their friend might find, but Kie was waiting with nothing but worry.
After what was probably only about two minutes but felt like two hours, John B's head popped up out of the water with a gasp and huge grin.
"Finally!" Kie immediately exclaimed. "You were down there forever."
"So dramatic." Pope joked, earning a middle finger from Kie.
"What'd you find, JB?" Teddie asked, holding out her hand along with JJ's and helping to pull their friend onto the boat.
"Dead bodies?" Pope asked.
"Looting potential?" JJ asked.
"No, no." John B said, laughing as he shook out his hair. "Nothing like that. I uh, found this motel key." He said, holding out a key with a yellow tag attached to it.
Kie immediately rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. "A key?"
"Wow. Uh, great work. We salvaged a motel key." Pope congratulated sarcastically, clapping his hands for extra measure.
"I mean, it's definitely no gold loot, but it's something." Teddie tried, offering a shrug.
"I wanted a gold loot." JJ pouted.
Teddie snickered and wrapped her arms around JJ's shoulder. "Aw, you poor baby."
"Kiss me and make me feel better?" He joked, winking at the girl with a smirk.
"No pogue-on-pogue macking!" Kie exclaimed. There it is.
"We should probably report this." Pope said, ignoring the little side show that just happened.
"Yeah, maybe we'll get like a finders fee or something." Kie added on.
"And then I won't have to work all summer." JJ chimed in. "Thanks a lot Agatha, ya bitch."
i genuinely love writing
teddie so much. she's so
sarcastic but also so
caring and i just love
her. also love writing the
shameless flirting between
her and jj and i cannot wait
for their relationship to advance
let me know what
y'all think!!