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𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧
𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔

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・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

After Kyla arrived back at the Château, she tried her hardest to avoid JJ. But it was difficult when Sarah and John B were outside while Kiara and Pope were inside, and she really didn't want to barge in on any of those duos at the moment...

But she had to be with JJ once he got a call about something happening to Pope's father. "Let me know if I'm hurting you," Sarah said as she carefully placed a bandage on Heyward's head.

"No, you're doing just fine," Heyward told her before he groaned. "Thank you, darlin'."

"Pop, what happened?" Pope immediately asked.

"Oh, I should've known better. He came in just as I was about to lock up. Caught me by surprise. Once he had me down, he put his knee...in my chest, and asked me about that — that — that key from that — that drawing you showed me," Heyward explained, making Kyla's brows furrow in realization. "And in case you're wondering, I ain't tell him nothin'. Now did you track it down?"

Pope slowly reached for his back pocket before he pulled out a key, holding it out towards his father. "I found it in Mee-maw's old apartment right above the pharmacy just like you said it was," Pope told him as he sat down.

"Shit, boy, you should've gave this to me. I wouldn't had to take a beating," Heyward replied in offense, making Kyla suck in a breath. "Now what's the big deal? It ain't worth anything. Why they want it so bad?"

"I don't know. First, I get this letter telling me that I need to go to Charleston. And then I meet this rich lady who — who wants me to give her a key that I didn't even know was in my family," Pope answered.

"None of it makes any sense," Kiara said softly, shaking her head. Kyla nodded in agreement, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it. Figure it out!" Heyward directed.

"No. I'm just gonna give the key to that lady. It's just not worth—"

"No, no, no, no. Did I raise you to back down from a fight, boy?" Heyward cut him off.

Pope shook his head. "No, sir."

"Well, all right. Now, I-I didn't think about it before. I admit that. But now..." he trailed off before he pointed to his head. "Now? I'm interested. Well, did they say why they wanted it?"

"Something about...an old cross. I think it might be some kind of lost treasure," Pope told him.

"You know who you should talk to? Your great-grandmother, Mee-maw."

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

"Guys, the thing that Limbrey said, I don't think she meant to let it slip," Pope spoke up as John B drove them all to Pope's great-grandmother's place. "She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo."

"Wait. Can I see that?" JJ asked as he reached out his hand, making Pope hand him the key. The blonde glanced at Kyla, who was pretending to stare out the window so that she could avoid his gaze. JJ's jaw clenched slightly and he turned back around, key in his hand.

"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sarah questioned monotonously.

"I'm guessing it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance," Pope told her.

"Well, according to the interwebs, it was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish king," Kiara said as she looked down at her phone, making Kyla look over to read the information off of her sister's phone.

"New Spain? Is there an Old Spain?" JJ asked with a dumb smile.

"Did you seriously just ask that?" Kyla spoke up a little too harshly, and loudly, making the Pogues give her a look. "I mean..." she trailed off awkwardly.

"Shit, talk about over-gifting," Kiara continued to try and take the focus off of Kyla. "Look at that thing." Kiara then turned her phone towards all of them, showing the gigantic, golden cross. "Looks like there's a person standing next to it."

"So it's a giant-ass cross," JJ pointed out, trying to ignore Kyla's comment, even though it made him feel bad.

"It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces. It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829," Kiara recounted from the website she was on. Kyla's eyebrows shot up at the information.

"Did you just say Bermuda?" JJ said, his eyes going wide.

"Oh, no, not the triangle," John B told him.

"Yeah, it always leads back to the triangle, dude," JJ replied, hitting his arm softly. "Like every single time something's weird, it's Bermuda," he continued, making Kyla subtly roll her eyes at him.

"Okay, okay," Kiara cut in to shut JJ up. "What does a key found above your Mee-maw's pharmacy have to do with any of this?"

"Yeah," Sarah added quietly.

"Where do we come in?"

"I don't know. That's a good question," Pope answered and Kyla looked down, biting the inside of her cheek anxiously.

Then, before they knew it, they had arrived at their destination. JJ hopped out first and pulled the back door open, letting Pope out. "Hey, uh, actually, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself," Pope said once Kiara had started to climb out, making Kyla glance in between the two from inside the van.

"Are you sure?" Kiara asked.

"Yeah, I can handle it. I don't really need you, so..." Pope trailed off, making Kyla's eyes widen at his passive aggressiveness. I wonder if Kiara had told him about what she had said to me, Kyla wondered. But she had feeling that Kiara probably didn't tell the whole truth to the boy.

"Oh, we're just all one big happy family today, aren't we?" JJ commented sarcastically, looking over at Kyla.

"You could say that again," she replied with false enthusiasm before she leaned back into the van, practically hiding from JJ's gaze.

The Pogues then said goodbye to Pope for now before they drove off, stopping in front of a store so that the girls could buy something to drink. "So, I see that you and John B are barely talking. What's happening there?" Kiara asked after they bought their drinks, walking outside of the store.

Sarah sighed. "It's just after the whole Topper saving me thing, he's been, like, jealous or something. Which I don't know why because Kyla was also there, and I broke up with Topper to be with him," Sarah explained.

"Yeah, that's kinda weird. Maybe he's just stressed out?" Kyla guessed with a shrug before she sipped her drink, which was a Sprite.

Sarah shook her head and replied, "I don't know. I feel like he doesn't...trust me since my dad and brother are the ones that got us all into this mess."

"Don't say that, Sarah. Of course he trusts you," Kyla assured her, but Sarah just shrugged.

"Well, did you thank Topper for saving you or did you kind of just...brush it off?" Kiara asked. "'Cause you guys were hugging on the boat and obviously you were doing it 'cause he saved you, but he could be misreading the whole situation," she pointed out.

"Of course I thanked Topper. He saved my life, and I'd put him through so much already. And you'd think that that is the crime of the century," she replied mockingly, referring to John B.

"Tell me about it. All of this crazy shit's happening, and Pope's giving me the silent treatment for...not being in love with him," Kiara said. Kyla gave her a knowing look, and Kiara subtly shook her head, revealing that she hadn't told Pope about being a lesbian.

"And JJ's acting like nothing even happened between us and I know I said that I wouldn't let him define me, but it's making me really pissed off. He's just...acting normal, while I'm the one that has to deal with both of our shitty decisions," Kyla added, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Wait, something happened between you and JJ? You have to tell me!" Sarah exclaimed and Kyla quickly shushed her since they were nearing the Twinkie. "Please?"

"I'll tell you later, don't worry," Kyla assured her before they climbed in the back of the van.

"Hey, ladies. You ready to get Pope?" JJ asked the three of them, turning around to look at them. But, he only looked at Kyla. Kyla hummed, tearing her eyes away from JJ's face because if she looked at him too long, her face would started to heat up. "Is that a yes or...?" he trailed off.

"What do you think?" Kyla snapped, looking right back at him with an annoyed expression. One second she was hot, and the next second she was cold. It was hard being mad at JJ when she was totally head over heels for him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, sorry, Your Majesty," JJ replied teasingly, holding his hands up in defense. It may have seemed like JJ didn't even care about the events that had went down between them, but he wasn't known to share his true feelings. So, he decided to hide what he truly felt behind jokes and stupid comments, hoping things would automatically go back to normal.

But Kyla definitely seemed to still be mad at him, and he didn't know why. Was it because she liked him, or was it because she kissed him and she didn't like him? Or was it because JJ just had a horrible way with words and made it seem like no one wanted to date Kyla?

The blonde had no idea, so he decided to play it "safe" with her, even though that didn't seem to be working.

Kyla narrowed her eyes at his comment, getting even more annoyed at him. "Look—!"

"Yeah, we can go pick up Pope, let's go," Sarah quickly cut Kyla off, not wanting the two to get into a fight. "Come on," Sarah urged slowly at John B, who quickly started the car up and began to drive back that way.

Merry Christmas! (or Happy Holidays to those who don't celebrate it!). This is my Christmas present to you all! I hope to update more now that I'm on Christmas break, so hopefully I feel motivated to do it!

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