THE POGUES GLANCE over the side of the boat upon hearing Pope say, "Guys, I think there's a boat down there." They, of course, didn't believe him at first but after the four of them peer down into the waters, they spot a boat.
"Let's go," Brooklyn prompts. It's not everyday you see a boat sunken under the water.
The five of them begin to strip down to their swimsuits before diving into the water, one after the other, to explore the wreckage underwater.
Brooklyn remembers when she was a child and how she would sometimes run out to the marsh, jump into the water and throw herself underneath. She was once terrified of the water. Once terrified that she would drown and have the water take her away where she'd never be found. From a young age, when she found herself to be losing all hope, she would bury her head under the water and let all her worries wash away with her in the water. Her brother was always there to pull her back up, afraid she would actually drown if he assist. However, now she isn't so afraid of drowning, isn't so afraid of losing herself to the waves, and isn't so afraid of letting herself go.
She gently touches the boat, her fingers tracing over the metal railing as she swims around, her eyes stinging as she observes the beauty of the boat. After circling a few times she begins to bring herself back up for air. She places her foot on the boat and kicks herself upwards, swimming back to safety.
"Did you guys see that?"
"Yeah. Holy shit." Brooklyn splutters.
After coughing and spluttering to get air back into their lungs, they begin to erupt into a pitiful of laughter while kicking their way back to their own boat that is safely above the water.
"That's a Grady-White. A new one of those is like five hundred Gs, easy." JJ swims back, his hand stretched outwards to take Brooklyn's. Brooklyn snatches his hand, uses the little strength she has and helps him pull himself safely onto the boat.
He tumbles slightly when he stands on his feet, nearly falling into Brooklyn but all he does is smile and shake her hand to thank her.
"Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit the jetty or something," John B says, and Brooklyn's attention is snatched from JJ to her idiotic brother.
If John B is allowed to be worried about her constantly, Brooklyn is allowed to be worried about him just as much. He's irrational at times, often doing crazy, adventurous that would get any sane person killed. She's allowed to be concerned when he decides to throw himself head first into a wilding storm.
As well as Brooklyn, Kiara looks just as concerned. "You surfed the surge?" Kiara asks.
"That's my boy. Pogue style," JJ laughs, his hand meeting John B's for a high five. Brooklyn scrunches her face up, confused as to why he should be applauded for his silly behaviour when he could've ended up dead in the water along with this boat.
"Wait, wait. Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asks, looking back down at the water.
John B steps past his friends to the hold. He bends down and opens up the hold of the boat to pull out an anchor which only means one thing... He wants to go down there and check it out further. "No, but we're about to find out," John B says, holding the anchor close to his chest.
JJ looks over the bow of the boat and peers down at the Grady-White below. "Dude, it's too deep," JJ warns, and Brooklyn finds herself peering over to double check the depth. She can't exactly tell from this high up but she's certain that John B will struggle to breathe down there for too long.
"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ," John B says.
"Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front." That's not surprising.
"That's fine," he says, shrugging his shoulders.
"John B." Kiara's tone is strict, acting as a subtle warning that he shouldn't go down there. She, like Brooklyn, doesn't need him jumping down there and being irrational.
"What?" He laughs, not understanding why she was so concerned.
Brooklyn shrugs, knowing nothing would stop him now. She steps towards him to say, "Diver down, fool," she says, reaching her hand up to salute him.
He looks from his sister to JJ, saluting. "Diver down."
"Yeah, he is," JJ laughs, his hands reaching up towards his chest to push him back into the water, catching everyone off guard. His back hits the water and he sinks below the water quicker than he did earlier.
Brooklyn hits the boy's arm lightly, pushing past him to lean over the side of the boat to see if she could see the silhouette of her brother moving in the water. She'd kill JJ if he didn't make it out of this alive.
Minutes seem to pass. Hours seem to pass (not literally) but it feels like it, and Brooklyn is growing more anxious by the minute as she waits for her brother's head to appear above the water. "Should we go get him?" Pope asks, looking amongst his friends who haven't taken their eyes off the water since he submerged.
But then a ripple of water appears just as John B's head shoots up. He sways his head back and forth to get his hair away from his eyes before pushing his hair back. Brooklyn lets out a breath, relieved that he's here and he's alive, and it's not his unconscious body floating back up.
"Any dead bodies?" Pope asks, a little too intrigued to know.
"Looting potential?" JJ asks. Obviously.
"No. No." John B coughs, shaking his head. "I found this motel key," he declares, lifting his hand up from the water to reveal a motel key with a yellow keychain.
"A key," Pope repeats, obviously disappointed.
"Yes, a key, Pope," John B repeats.
JJ pulls up the anchor as John B pulls himself back up onto the boat. "Great! We salvaged a motel key," he says, not a hint of excitement in his tone.
After the disappointing find, the crew set back off along the waters, trying to figure out what they should do next. It's clear they aren't going to fish anymore, not after finding that boat, and all John B really wanted to do was discover where this motel key belonged.
"Guys, we should report the wreck to the coast guard." Kiara suggests. "Maybe we'll get a finder's fee."
"Yeah, and not work all summer. That's, Agatha, ya batch," JJ scoffs.
Brooklyn runs her fingers through her hair, hating that it's wet right now because she knows it'll tangle and it'll be a bitch to untangle later tonight. She then leans down, retrieving her t-shirt that had taken off earlier. Earlier, she thought this shirt was hers but upon closer inspection, it's clear it belongs to somebody else.
JJ.
"You look hot in my shirt," JJ says, making her roll her eyes as pulls her shorts on, shorts that actually do belong to her. JJ continues to stare, watching with greedy eyes as Brooklyn moves around the boat, and slipping her shoes back on before she sits back down next to him.
"It's rude to stare," she remarks, her eyes refusing to meet his.
"But you like it when I do," he says, his tone teasing and irritating. "Don't you?"
She turns to look at him. "No."
Over the years, Brooklyn has grown to suppress any feelings JJ may make her feel by simply ignoring that gnawing feeling in her stomach whenever he speaks to her, looks at her, or touches her. Sure, there's a hint of excitement bubbling inside her whenever he speaks to her but she never does act on it. She refuses to let her guard down in front of him.
"You're a liar, Sunshine."
Not another word is shed between them as they arrive at the docks. Brooklyn is quick to get off the boat, following pursuit behind her brother who heads towards the coast guard's office.
JJ follows behind, rushing after the girl who couldn't be walking fast enough to get away from him. When they step in, there's dozens of people surrounding the desk, wishing to get the attention of the guard who is busy talking to a couple about some dog. "Excuse me!"
"Hey, man, we- we found a boat."
Brooklyn tries to squeeze her body through the two people who continue to argue with the guard about a diabetic dog. How is that important right now?
"You're gonna wanna hear this."
"Hey! Calm down." The guard raises his tone, snapping his fingers towards John B before he turns his head back to the diabetic dog couple.
JJ fiddles around with a pen, spinning it with his fingers before it is abruptly pried away from his hands by John B. JJ and Brooklyn share a glance before they step away and meet Kiara and Pope outside.
"Well, that went well."
"So, what's the plan?" JJ asks, pressing his elbow against John B's shoulder.
"I think I know how we're gonna find the guy who owns the boat." John B raises the motel key, a grin playing on his lips.
"No, no. We don't know whose room that is. It could be anyone." Pope reaches forward in an attempt to snatch the key away from JJ who had yanked it from John B's hands.
"I'm in." He throws the key Brooklyn which she catches easily. "You in, Brooke?"
"I'm in." She throws the key over Pope's head, allowing Kiara to capture it.
"Come on. We'll be on lookout." Kiara toys, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
"Finder's fee. Just sayin'." John B pats Pope's chest lightly, hoping he'll follow them and be in on this "adventure," if it can even be called one. "And, hey, at least you'll only be an accomplice. Come on, bubba."
Of course, Pope follows.
author speaks
lol sorry this chapter is SO crap but it's only short because i'm trying to separate the episode lol : )
hope u enjoyed <3
EDITED