"THAT WAS QUITE A PLAN."
The brunette followed her eye-roll with a chuckle at Sarah's comment. It was bright and early and for some reason, both teens were so energetic that their bedsheets couldn't hold them still any longer. The pontoon in the Clemont's backyard was the place of election for a morning daze lost in conversation.
A gleaming pink tonality shone upon the two girls who were now on their backs, reminiscing on last night's events with the sunrise as an illustration.
"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."
"If that's what you want to call it."
"I saved our asses!"
"Stella, you truly are such a team player." Sarah squinted her eyes ironically as their gazes met.
Once the laughing caused by last night's scandalous decoy settled down, Stella leaned in on her elbow to face the dirty-blonde. "Frank may be several things, but gullible isn't one. Words wouldn't have meant anything to him."
Re-focusing on the sun's horizon embrace, the conversation swirled around the most diverse subjects. From an outside perspective, you'd assume the two had been long-date friends by the naturalness that guided their topics and bond that had developed over the course of a week and two days.
The energy of an early dawn insomnia intwined perfectly with husky morning voices and laze. That kept them occupied for part of the morning, but soon enough they were joined by the two boys. John B, who lively chatted the teens after a morning dive, was followed by a sleepy eye-rubbing shirtless JJ which avoided any type of sass and sarcasm for the time being.
"You really didn't sleep?" John B questioned the two, as he sat behind Sarah embracing her in his arms from behind.
"How could we, after last night?" The Cameron girl turned, pecking his lips.
Stella looked down at her cuticles, avoiding the presence of the fourth member in the group, but once her eyes looked up, she met his gaze and he simply nodded, still stretching in the midst of a yawn.
"You're forgetting we still haven't actually entered the warehouse." JJ remarked when sitting down by the end of the dock and wetting his feet in the crystal blue water.
"Yes, JJ. Thank you for your early morning positivity."
"Always."
"We weren't going to go there this early but since you mentioned it, Sarah and I did brainstorm on a few tactics."
"Enlighten me." JJ mumbled, having now laid down on his back with his arm blocking his eyes from the sunlight and feet still swinging in the water.
"Well..."
The teens spent the following hour soaking in the warm sun and discussing plots that would definitely lead them towards their goal this time, having settled on using Stella as a distraction that would get most eyes away from the warehouse, where the rest would then go in.
What Stella hadn't revealed to the rest of the group was that she had gotten a call from her mother late that evening. Penelope hadn't revealed much, but the rush in her voice and the insistence for her daughter to be kept inside the house definitely hinted at something — which was mainly why the younger Clemont wanted to persuade the group to act quick, as her mother's arrival felt closer each day.
"So what do you do for fun around here?" JJ asked as the four now roamed through the mansion's basement. "No way. John B, look at this!"
"A 70's longboard."
"Remember that time we stole one from that stuck up kook near the surf shack?"
Amongst reminiscing and laughs, Stella approached the pair who stared at the two longboards that hung from the wall. "These were my grandpa's."
"Grandpa was a cool man!"
"He was" the brunette smiled, thinking back on her father-figure's memory.
"Are these still usable?"
"JJ, I don't think we should-"
"No, go ahead." Stella smiled at the two, split amongst JJ's wishful eyes and John B's hesitant expression "they're just here collecting dust, anyways."
"Yes!" JJ fist-bumped the air and picked up the young teen, spinning her around before turning to grab the boards from the wall.
"Alright, easy there-"
As the two were now entertained examining each detail of the vintage boards, Stella joined Sarah who was looking anywhere for a possible distraction that the two could hold on to.
"Thought maybe this could work" she held the snorkeling glasses and tube up to the dirty-blonde.
"Stell, totally!"
Gathering everything necessary, the clique was soon walking down the nearby road out further into the empty southern side of the island where according to Stella, a swell was forming.
It didn't take long for the two boys to run across the sand towards the shoreline just as they did during old times where surf was a part of their daily routines. Both Sarah and Stella just laughed their childish antics off and geared down to their bikinis, strolling down to the water.
For the first time in forever, the Nassau-raised was able to experience what normal teens usually did. Having grown up in an island where most teen occupancy was derived from the wealthy families that spent their holidays in the warm weather, friends was a strange concept to the teen.
Unlike the pogue friend group back in the Outer Banks, this was an unlike day for the teen and she was taking it all in. Swimming through the turquoise waters was one of her favorite hobbies up to this day, with the advantage of having a sidekick this time whom she shared the moment with.
They swam, chatted and laughed the afternoon away until their legs couldn't take them further and they laid by the sand for a break. The boys, on the other hand, didn't seem to ever get tired as each sat in their longboards talking on topics on end. It wasn't until they spotted the girls back in the sand, that they headed back to meet them.
"Who's up for a private surf lesson?" JJ flexed his free arm, as the other still held onto the board.
"Sounds amazing — are you interested, Stella?"
"Tempting. But I do have to head back, we ran out of water."
"We can all go-"
"Don't worry, JB. I'll keep her company. You guys wait up, we'll be right back."
Stella nodded, accepting the blonde boy's company without having asked for it and they got on their ways. The topics came easily and he was able to make her laugh in the first minutes.
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something in the Maybank teenager had changed her initial opinion. His sarcasm was now entertaining and even his childish comments turned situations humorous.
"Go ahead and get the water, I'll just take a minute to check on them back home." JJ waved at her, walking the opposite direction towards the burner phone that sat at the glass coffee table in the living area. The teen just nodded, while sitting on the kitchen island and waiting for his queue so both could head back to the beach.
After going through the smudged piece of paper that held his friend's emergency contacts back in the OBX, he pressed his phone to his ear, waiting enthusiastically for a response.
"Hello?"
"Pope, my brother! How's everything down there?"
"JJ, JJ is this you?"
The signal wasn't the strongest but the slightest perceptible.
"Yes. Who else?"
"JJ, listen!"
"Geez, less excitement please."
"You need to get out of there!"
- ⋆ -
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