they don't know, that we know, that they know
how could we be so stupid?
we all scan the screen for any sign of gold, or treasure chest, or whatever. to our dismay, it was all just wreckage. "it's not there. look, just pull the drone back up." John B sighs in defeat and shakes his head.
"fuck." I snap, still watching the screen. I knew we'd all be heartbroken, but John B would take it the hardest.
"look, we can do another pass. recharge the batter." Pope offers while trying to sound hopeful. "we can... we can go back down."
John B walks away from the screen and buries his hands in his hair. I go to join JJ, who looks equally as frustrated. those two were counting on this. "we've been through it three times. there's nothing there." JJ says, anger etched across his face.
"shut up!"
"what? it's true!"
"the gold could be buried. we don't know." Kiara argues with a shaky voice.
"and how are we supposed to dig it up, Kie?" I question, making her look at me with sad eyes.
"if it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B tells us from the front of the boat. I could hear the pain in his words. "somebody beat us to it."
"or it was never there." JJ mutters before glancing on me. I grab his arm and give it a squeeze before he places a kiss on my temple. "I'm sorry, darlin'."
————
the tension on the boat is suffocating all the way back to the docks. JJ keeps a hold of my hand as the whole time, running his thumb back and forth against my skin. I can't help but watch John B as we pull up to tie the boat off. "John B, can we talk for a second?" I ask while walking over to him.
"there's nothing to talk about."
"c'mon, let's just-"
"fucking drop it, Lyv." John B snaps, throwing the remaining rope down with a thud. I want to reach out and shake the hell out of him, but I know he's just emotional right now. "do you ever know when to shut up?"
"hey!" JJ yells, coming over to us and grabbing his best friend's shirt. "watch your fucking mouth. don't ever speak to her like that again."
John B looks over at me with apologetic eyes but doesn't say anything. "It's fine." I lie to try to make him feel better and to calm JJ down. instead of standing there waiting for a half assed apology I climb off the boat and go to wait for JJ elsewhere.
after a few minutes of leaning against a tree, I feel JJ's hand on my waist so I turn to face him. in the distance, John B drives away by himself. "let's go do something." JJ says quietly, kissing my head with a small smile. "hell, maybe even a nap."
"it was an early morning." I murmur as I remember struggling to even get out of bed. "a nap sounds amazing."
JJ's place was closer, so we walk hand in hand while talking about what we should do after the nap. when we reach his house, he pokes his head inside first. "good, no one's home." he tells me before pulling me into the house behind him.
as I survey the living room, I feel nauseous about the amount of beer and pill bottles. it had been a very long time since I'd been here. "JJ-"
"it's okay." he interrupts me, grabbing both sides of my face to make me look at him instead of the room. "I'm okay, Lyv. it's just a little bit of a mess right now."
I can barely make myself nod. the idea of Luke doing anything to JJ... it made me furious, and sad at the same time. "you know you have a home with me right?"
the words sound so serious leaving my mouth, but they were true. if he ever came to my doorstep, he would always be welcome. no matter what. he didn't deserve the cards he was dealt and I always want to be his escape.
JJ doesn't say anything, but his eyes soften. before I can continue he kisses me gently. both of his hands hold my cheeks as he pulls away for a second. "you're so beautiful." he whispers. the affection behind his words just makes me want him even more.
"kiss me again. please."
"please?" and there's the teasing JJ I know. I roll my eyes and chuckle, but I'm smiling at him. while he's laughing I lean forward and run my tongue along his jaw, immediately making his laughter halt. "fuck me." he mutters, drawing out the u.
"what's the magic word?" I joke as he takes a deep breath. his hands are a little tighter on my face now, and my heart is ready to burst through my chest.
"pretty please."
————
I don't know how long we slept, or how long we slept, but I wake up to my phone pinging multiple times in a row. when I see the name on the screen I practically slam my phone back down. JJ was fast asleep next to me with an arm draped over my waist, so I turn to focus on him.
god he was handsome. all the pogue boys had some boyish charm and attractiveness, don't even get me started on my eighth grade crush on John B. JJ however, he was something else. "are you watching me sleep?" he murmurs with a groggy voice, and I smile. "kind of creepy, Lyvia."
"you look less angry when you sleep." I say as I push a strand of hair out of his face. his eyes open when he raises an eyebrow. "what? you're angry a lot of the time."
"it's all that pent up sexual frustration. you have to help me keep it in check." he tells me, and his face is dead serious. I laugh at the crazy boy in front of me. "let's get up and get out of the house. I wanna practice my shooting."
"your shooting?" I question while he climbs over me and out of the bed. when he grabs his backpack I sigh. the fucking gun again. "well, at least I can't complain that you're practicing."
"thank you!" he throws his hands in the air, and I giggle. "everyone else gets so pissy about it."
a few minutes later, I'm watching JJ as he uses a teddy bear for target practice. my phone is still buzzing in my pocket but I knew who it would be, so I don't touch it. suddenly, I hear footsteps coming from around the house. "JJ!" Pope yells as he walks up to us. I stand up from the ground when I see the terrified look on his face. "JJ! JJ!"
the blonde finally turns to see Pope standing there as I ask him, "what's going on?"
"they know." Pope tells us, and JJ removes his shooting earmuffs to listen again. "they know."
"they know what?" I question as JJ shakes his head.
"all right, chill bro. they don't know shit."
"Topper knows I sunk his boat."
"how in the hell would Topper know?" as soon I say the words, I'm reaching for my phone to check the messages from Rafe.
"how do you know they know?" JJ sits down as Pope starts to pace in front of us.
"because Rafe and Topper posted outside of Heyward's and mad dogged me." Pope explains, his voice raising slightly.
almost every text from Rafe has the same message.
"will you calm down and get a grip man? they don't know."
"JJ, they know." I say, my voice quiet. both the boys turn to look at me with confusion on their faces. I hand my phone to JJ for him to see the messages, and he curses under his breath. "they know."
"they have cameras, they must've seen me. they have generators, it's the figure eight." Pope's voice begins to become shaky as he panics more and more. JJ hands me my phone back before sliding a hand down my cheek lovingly. he knew I hated being caught between this. "they don't give out scholarships to kids who vengefully sink boats. it's not a good look on my transcript."
"enough with the regret, bro!" JJ shouts, finally shutting Pope up. "they caved your face in. they scared the shit out of Olyvia. they hit us, we hit them. it's the law of the jungle."
"an eye for an eye." I add.
JJ points to me and nods in agreement. "now, if any kooks come up to you and asks if you had anything to do with it, you walk up to 'em, look 'em right in the eye, and..."
"deny the living shit out of it." Pope finishes while JJ shakes his shoulder.
"that's right. deny, deny, deny." JJ's favorite saying, probably because he's done so much shit to deny. a good motto to follow, truly. "but just for safety, we don't go anywhere without protection."
as the blond points to the gun, I shake my head. "JJ, you're going to get yourself killed with that thing. or worse, thrown in jail." he walks over to me and grabs my waist. "just please be careful."
"it's all worth it to protect the ones I love." he says, before placing his lips on mine.
————
I'm carrying a basket of snacks across the grass, following JJ with the cooler, Pope with the chairs, and Kiara leading the charge. "I'm so glad they're still doing this. keep calm, carry on. back to the obx life." Kiara cheers as as she tries to find a spot for everyone to sit. "aren't you guys glad I made you come?"
"the summer movie fling? Kie, we can have so much more fun than this." I groan as I notice how many people have actually showed up. she turns to give me the evil eye, so I raise a hand in defense. "I'm just saying."
"oh I'm ecstatic."
"my couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest."
while Kiara is focused on setting up, I hear Pope lean over to whisper to JJ. "we're out of the green zone man. we're in the middle of kooklandia. this is the last place I wanted to be."
"shut up, Pope."
"Lyv, come help me with drinks." Kiara says, and I nod before following her to the concession stand. "what's with the guys?"
"oh, you know how they are. being out of the cut gives them the heebie jeebies." I respond, and it wasn't a full lie. the three of us were on edge while Kiara was blissfully happy. "they'll come down once the movie starts."
"hey, can I get three pepsis please?" Kiara asks the worker, fishing money out of her pocket. while she's focused on that my eyes wander around the crowd. my stomach flips when I see Rafe coming straight for us.
"hey Kie, hey Lyvia. what's up?" he questions as he stops next to us. "how are you guys?"
"we're fine." Kiara answers for the both of us. I wanted to speak up, but after the texts from earlier I didn't know if I should. we seemed to be on good terms, and I didn't want to risk it.
"good, good." Rafe mutters to himself. he smirks slightly and I know he's about to say something. "um, tell your boy that we know what he did."
fuck a duck.
"sorry, what boy are you talking about?" Kiara shrugs, before looking at me so I shrug as well. Rafe watches me closely.
"he'll know."
Kiara doesn't say anything, only calling him a douche as she walks away. I go to follow her but Rafe grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him. "what are you doing, Olyvia?" he asks, his smile dropping to a frown. "you're gonna get yourself in trouble hanging out with those pogues."
I glance over at my friends, and see JJ staring at us with a concerned look. I shake my head, trying to signal that it was okay. he doesn't stop watching but I turn back to Rafe. "what would get me in trouble? we've done nothing wrong."
"you're covering for them."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Rafe."
he sighs, and releases his grip on my wrist. "listen. I trust you but I don't trust them. whatever they do, I won't hold it against you." I roll my eyes at his tone. he acts like I'm still a child, no matter what I do he always feels the need to control my actions or protect me from the consequences.
"okay, Rafe. whatever." I mutter before turning and walking back to my seat. as soon as I sit down, JJ grabs my hand.
"what did he want?"
"he was trying to warn me, about you guys and about getting in trouble." I explain as I take a big drink from my can. "such bullshit." because Kiara was so close, we stop talking about it and go quiet as the movie starts playing.
I try to get comfortable, but I kept getting the feeling like we were in the lions den.
————