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𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 one feeling Francine would love to feel for the rest of her life, this would be it. It made her feel like a child again, the wind blowing through her hair as she ran with her friends away from the Midsummer's party. She felt free. Free from her mother's controlling nature, from the mentally draining kooks that surrounded her, and free from trying to hide the fact that she was friends with her group again.
Sure, that feeling was mostly taken over by the fear of what would happen when she returned home but she tried to push that to the back of her mind.
The five teens had just arrived in a small clearing by Rixon's Cove, after they had walked a certain distance they took John B's van. John B and Pope were getting wood for a fire as JJ, Kiara and Francine sat on the logs surrounding the fire.
The two girls have been deep into conversation ever since the group stopped running and got into the van. The boys were really curious about what the girl was talking about, but their whispers were so low and fast that even if they caught a bit of what they were saying, it would sound like rubbish. They didn't fail to notice the way that every now and then Francine would begin to blush, or how Kiara had a teasing smile on her face.
Since the other two boys were busy, JJ was trying especially hard to listen in on what they were talking about. Every now and then he would walk behind the girls and try to hear them but came up empty handed every time. He wasn't being discreet about his curiosity either, and the girls noticed. So, whenever he would get closer to them they'd make their voices even lower because JJ was the last person they wanted to hear what they were talking about.
"Kiara, I swear to the lord, if you don't shut it I will end you," Francine sneered as she glanced away from the other girl. Kiara has been on her case about absolutely nothing for the past half hour and she was getting annoyed. She just hoped that Kiara would drop the topic before any of the boys overheard them.
"Yeah I'd like to see you try," Kiara rolled her eyes playfully, giving her friend a sarcastic smile, bopping her on the nose. "I just think that the way you guys were dancing at the party wasn't an act and deep deep down you like him, you just wait."
Francine sighed, not answering Kiara, knowing that all the girl wanted was to get a rise out of her. She doesn't like JJ that way, she can't, they literally hated each other two days ago and they were only getting along now. There was nothing more than friendship, if that's even what you want to call it. She already came to the conclusion today that she didn't like him that way. She couldn't.
Sure, she was in love with him when they were younger but that was before she moved to Figure Eight. Before everything changed. Francine narrowed her eyes at Kiara before whispering back,"All I know right now, is that deep, deep down I really think you should shut up."
Before Kiara could bounce back with the witty reply she already had in her mind, Pope and John B approached the group. They dropped the wood that they found onto the grass as JJ threw some onto the growing fire. "Hey, guys. So, like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?"
Francine nodded in agreement with the boy, she hoped that when she returned home her mother would be asleep. But the woman was always awake when Francine had done something 'wrong' so she could yell at her as soon as possible. The teen rubbed her hands together, putting them closer to the fire in order to warm them up, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure my mom will disown me when I get home."
After her statement she felt Kiara put her hand on her shoulder, sending the girl a sad smile. JJ had also wrapped his arm around her waist comfortingly. She glanced to the left and her brown eyes met the boy's blue ones. He sent her a grin, making her smile back and all the bad thoughts leave her mind. She looked back to the fire, not liking the feeling that rose in her stomach when he touched her.
They were only friends.
"Might as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed," JJ shrugged, keeping his arm around her waist. "Fill Baby in, too."
John B gave the two teens a confused look, wondering why they're so close and not clawing each other's eyes out, "Okay, I'm definitely missing something, since when did you suddenly enjoy her presence? Not that I'm complaining though, I-"
"Bro, we talked it out, now tell them," JJ interrupted quickly, his tone making it obvious that he didn't want John B to question them. He knew he was being an irrational asshole before but he understands that now, and hoped that everyone would stop talking about how bad he treated her.
"You ready for this?" John B began, getting off the topic of JJ and Francine, knowing that eventually he'll get to asking his blonde friend about it later on. He cleared his throat, glancing at Kiara, who nodded in response to his question, much like everyone else. Her, Francine and Pope were all waiting for this since JJ arrived at the Midsummer's party, wondering what could be this important.
"Yeah," Kiara spoke, a curious tone in her voice.
"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant-" The boy started his story, but before he could continue, he was cut off by both Francine and Pope.
"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this," Pope rolled his eyes, standing up from his spot around the fire, about to walk away.
Meanwhile, as Pope said this, Francine's jaw dropped. She knew there was something up with the group, but she didn't suspectthat they were going after the Royal Merchant. They seemed to be close to finding it too, John B wouldn't make that big of a deal if he wasn't sure. It was strange that four teenagers were able to find a boat that people from all around the world, of all ages, have been looking for for over one hundred years. "You guys went after the Merchant."
JJ put a hand on Pope's chest to sit him down, everyone seeming to ignore Francine's question as they focused on the boy who looked like he was about to have a fit. The blonde boy gently pushed him back down, "No, alright, wait. Hear him out."
John B put a finger over his lips as if to shush everyone as he sent Pope a smirk, "It's been here the whole time, it's on the island."
"Are you serious?" Kiara furrowed her brows, a smile making its way onto her face as she stared at John B with disbelief. The boy nodded in response to her question making her beam. "Oh my God!"
As her friends took in all of the information John B was telling them, Francine was still trying to process the fact that they were going after the damn Royal Merchant. The wreck that Big John went missing trying to find. How stupid could they be, sure its four hundred million dollars but many different people are also trying to find the money. Some people are more dangerous and ruthless than others. She also couldn't blame them for looking for it, Big John was close to finding it so they didn't have to do much more research than that to get the gold.
Francine was brought out of her thoughts when John B stood from the log he was sitting on. He stretched his arms out in Pope's direction, replying to a question the boy asked. Francine didn't hear it but assumed the boy was doubting the legitimacy of John B's statement. "I'm sure you would, Pope, but can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"
"Proceed," Pope waved his hand, gesturing for his friend to continue.
"Alright." John B grinned as he pulled his backpack from his shoulders. He unzipped it and began looking around for something inside. "So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."
Kiara furrowed her brows in confusion as the boy pulled two folded up pieces of paper out to the bag, "Who the hell's that?"
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck." John B explained as he began unfolding the paper, handing it to the girl. "Check this out."
Kiara took it from his hands as she tried reading it over, Francine glanced over to peer at the paper, finding it written in a completely different language, "What?"
"Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery." John B continued, making the girl's eyes widen. "So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom."
Kiara and Francine finished reading over the paper, one of the girls whistling at Pope to catch his attention, passing the paper to him.
"After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please..." John B smiled, making the rest of the group tap their hands on their legs. They used to do this even before Francine moved to Figure Eight, when someone in the group would tell a story of some sort. "Because that farm is...Tannyhill Plantation."
Francine sat up straighter, a confused frown making its way onto her face, "Tannyhill?"
"Yeah," John B nodded. "So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pissed off all the white planters, and then they decided to lynch him." John B stopped talking, seeing all of his friends look up at 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."
Kiara grinned, "Where?"
John B shrugged, "Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except... there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out."
He grabbed the paper out of Pope's hands putting his flashlight over it to make the things on the paper more clear. He pointed to a rectangle shape with a wheat symbol in the middle, "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."
Kiara laughed at this, glancing around at her friends to see them with the same expressions as her, "Holy shit."
John B ran his hand through his hair, "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold."
Francine looked at JJ, a wide smile on her face, watching him as he nodded his head at John B's words. She nudged him in the shoulder and whispered, "This is all true?"
JJ shrugged with a grin, "Hopefully."
"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope spoke up, a sceptical look on his face as he skimmed over the papers again.
"Dude, it's like King Tut." Kiara gleamed happily.
"I am a genius," John B held out his arms with a grin while everyone laughed. JJ got up and began walking over to the boy, wrapping his arms around his torso and lifted him off the ground. John B grunted, "Hey, whoa! Hello! Fire, Fire, you're near the fire. You're gonna burn."
JJ pulled away leaving his hands on John B's waist, "I'm so proud of you right now."
"Thank you," The boy smiled, patting the blonde's cheek. "That's really sweet of you."
Pope cleared his throat, making the two boys pull away from whatever that was. Francine didn't even know what to call it, they looked like a couple. "Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?"
"Good question," John B scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map-"
"Wait," Kiara interrupted, making Francine cringe at the girl's tone. She knew about the two girls' history and was a part of it for a while. Even though she wasn't in town for Sarah's party, Kiara still got angry with her. "Hold on, Sarah? Wh-why Sarah? Why can't we get Baby to do it?"
John B glanced around, making Francine and JJ avoid eye contact with him. The girl knew what was going on and she didn't want to be the one to break the bad news to Kiara.
"Um..." He trailed off.
"This is gonna be good," JJ stated awkwardly.
"Sarah, um, she-she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter."
Kiara's face depicted an expression of both anger and betrayal as she stared at John B, "You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?"
"Yeah, um-" John B began to explain but JJ cut him off.
"He was mackin' on her," He spoke with a smirk.
John B rolled his eyes at the blonde boy, "I wasn't macking."
"You were totally macking on Sarah Cameron," Francine spoke up, sharing a sly look with JJ which he returned with a wink.
"I wasn't macking on her, okay?" John B sighed. "I was using her for access."
"What an asshole move," Francine frowned, scowling at the boy. Sure, Sarah was a kook but she was nice and no one deserved to be used. "You were using her?"
JJ chuckled, "There was access, all right."
Kiara still wasn't having it, "Did you tell her about the treasure?"
"I was just trying to get into the archives," He argued, trying to get her to understand why he got Sarah involved.
"Is that a yes?" The girl questioned angrily.
"I-I left out key details."
"Yo, what?" Kiara yelled, becoming frustrated with the boy. "You let a kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro?"
"Well technically I'm a kook, you guys told me." Francine stated, an awkward smile on her face as she stared at Kiara.
"You're different," The girl snapped, not wanting to sound so bitchy, but she was mad.
"I was just using her for information."
"Why don't I believe you?"
"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or- or," He paused suddenly and pointed at Pope. "Send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies. Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"
"Uh.." The other teens glanced at each other, sharing a knowing look as they spoke in unison.
Pope sighed, "Do you want us to answer that, or.."
"Just- just stop." John B frowned, running his hand through his hair stressfully.
"Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her-"
Francine furrowed her brows, "Well, that's far fetched, I think she's very trustworthy."
Pope ignored Francine, nodding along with Kiara, "Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club, he also hit Baby."
John B shook his head, "Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings."
Francine nodded at his words, "Like guys, we all know Rafe is borderline psychotic."
JJ looked at Kiara, shooting her a confused look, "What did she do to you, exactly?"
"She's like a- like a spitting cobra." Kiara started. "First, she- she blinds you, and then-"
"This is a bad analogy," Pope cut her off, cringing.
"Listen to me!" The girl yelled. "Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."
Francine would've said more, but with the way Kiara was acting and the fact that everyone ignored almost every single word Francine had said since they arrived, she just kept her mouth shut. She didn't like the way Kiara was talking about Sarah, but the girl did do her wrong so she could see where she was coming from.
"Whatever guys, let's just get in the van so we could get this over with," John B sighed. "We're gonna meet up with her to get the map."
Kiara shook her head, "Does anyone listen to me?"
JJ rolled his eyes, "Kie, calm down, if this all blows up in our faces, we'll just blame it on Johnny here." He clamped a hand down on said boy's shoulder and sent him a sarcastic smile.
John B stomped off, Pope trailing behind him, leaving the remaining three teens to catch up. Kiara pouted, jumping from her seat so she could catch up with Pope.
JJ extended a hand to Francine, "Come on Baby."
She sent him a small smile, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. They began walking, straggling behind the other three when Francine broke the silence, "I'm happy you guys brought me along."
"I am too, I'm just scared of what your mom's gonna do,"JJ laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a small laugh. "Should've thought that through I guess."
"Don't say that, I'm sure that by the time I go home tonight she'll have cooled down a little," Francine tried to assure him, but JJ just shook his head.
"You could stay with one of us or something for tonight?"
Francine shook her head, thinking that she just wanted to get the argument with her mother over with, "Nah, I'll be fine."
JJ shrugged, "Okay, well if you change your mind, the offer will always be up."
The girl smiled at him, it's funny to think that just last week they hated each other's guts and now JJ was being really nice to her. She liked it this way, it made her feel like everything was getting back to normal. Well, other than the fact that her father left and she was basically rich and living on Figure Eight.
The two teens reached the van just in time for John B to call out to them, "Hurry up lovebirds, we need to get going."
Francine rolled her eyes as she flipped him off, JJ doing the same as they hopped inside the van. Little did the girl know that the boy's cheeks were flaming red as he glared at John B.
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Word Count: 3075