XLIV.   all the faces that remind you

Bridger would admit he was slightly nervous about going back to school that day. He practically ditched his first week and never came back, and so much had happened in that time frame. The only upside was that people had finally moved on from him converting into a Pogue, so he could finally walk around without people staring at him like he was an extinct animal. The worst thing was that he had a shit ton of assignments he missed and he had no clue where they left off.

"Welcome back to the land of the affluent." Inez greeted him with a smile.

"Happy to be back," Bridger responded sarcastically. He gripped the strap of his bag. "Did I miss anything important?"

She hummed. "Oh, well, you missed the significant amount of notes that Mrs. Davidson made us take on the day you spontaneously decided to run out, thanks to my amazing performance." She explained dramatically and flicked her hair off her shoulder, making him roll his eyes. "Uhh, we had a quiz and a test in History, some kid got into a fight in the cafeteria because this guy took the last piece pretzel from the cart. . .other than that, not much."

Bridger hummed when she was finished. "Wonderful. Can't wait."

"You don't plan on running away again, right? I can only handle these dickwads for so long."

He looked at her and grinned. "I'll try not to."

They entered the school and walked down the hallway. "Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" Inez asked and the two of them walked in the direction of her locker.

Bridger scoffed. "Like I ever miss it."

"I know, but, this year's different." She glanced him quickly and put in her combination. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

The Bonfire was an Outer Banks tradition that happened the same day every year, and it was Bridger's favorite past time. He could remember him and all of the boy's pilling in Topper's Jeep and raging out until 3 am when he finally had to drag them away from the party. It was always the most memorable night of his life, just spending time with his friends and drinking until the sun came up.

But Inez was right. Things were different. Those boys Bridger once knew were his enemies, the world he lived in before was now gone. He had a new set of friends and, yes, he was slightly worried about how the night would go as he was a newly accepted Pogue. But he also tried to remember why he loved going to the Bonfire in the first place, which was to get fucked up. "Don't worry about me, Nez. I got the Pogues and they're basically a party in themselves. It'll be a fun night." Bridger responded to her while smiling. "And you can always hang with us."

Inez grinned. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He scratched the back of his ear. "And, uh, I never got to thank you for the other day. Y'know, standing up for Kie at the hearing."

She closed her locker and held her books close to her chest. "You know I'm always on your side. The right side. John B's just a kid. The people on this island have always been against him. My dad has no right to act like he knows what's going on."

Bridger would always hold a special place in his heart for Inez. They'd been through a lot together, but she was mature and kind enough to not hold it against him. She always stood for what was right. She never held grudges. What mattered to Inez was friendship and loyalty, and to her, it trumped everything else.

Having to face the teachers that day was awkward, especially Mrs. Davidson, who didn't cut him any slack and insisted that Bridger would have to copy down all of the notes he missed plus all of the ones they took today. He hadn't heard at all from Sarah and while he didn't expect at all for her to show to school, Bridger was still worried. He had no idea where she was.

"Do you think she's at her house? Maybe she'd just staying in her room." Inez suggested at lunch. They sat outside together and passed back and forth a large tray of fries. "I can't imagine how she's feeling."

"She feels like shit, believe me." He muttered and took one of the fries. Bridger chewed on it slowly. "I don't think she'd stay home, but, I don't know where else she'd go."

"She has no other friends?"

He saw Topper and Kelce come outside, laughing at about something, and his eyes met with Topper's. His laughter died down slightly and he quickly looked away, and Bridger saw him clear his throat from where he sat at his table. He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, she's got a couple." He mumbled, answering her question.

His phone started to ring and he tore his eyes away from Topper and looked down. JJ's name appeared on his screen. Bridger held his phone to his ear. "Hey, J. What's up?"

"B, B, what are you doing right now?" JJ quickly asked him, startling him slightly.

"Uhhh, I'm at lunch. Sitting with Inez." He answered and glanced at Inez.

"Oh, tell him I say hi." She whispered and shoveled more fries into her mouth.

"She says hi."

"Hey, Nez!" JJ said back, rather loudly. "Okay, baby, I've got some vital information that I needa tell you. Can you walk away?"

Bridger furrowed his brows. "Uh, okay?" He looked at Inez again. "I'll be right." He told her and stood from the table. He pointed to their fries. "Don't eat all of those."

He walked away from the eating area and went to sit down on the steps by the cafeteria where nobody walked by. "Alright, I'm alone. What's up, crazy?"

"I'm putting you on speaker," JJ told him. After a second, he talked again, "Okay, you ready for this?"

Bridger shrugged unknowingly. "Shoot."

"We have Denmark Tanney's diary."

The sentence made his eyes open widely and he stood up from the steps. "You're lying." He immediately claimed.

"We're not lying, Bridge." Pope said into the phone. "Our teacher gave us the diary along with a letter Denmark wrote. The handwriting's identical."

"Holy fucking shit." He freaked and gripped his hair. He stared walking back and forth. "Okay, okay, but w-what does this mean exactly?"

"You ready for this, Bridge?" John B's giddy voice spoke into the phone.

"I found the entry about the Cross of Santo Domingo. It was on the Royal Merchant." Pope told him.

Bridger felt like passing out. "Holy shit."

When school let out, Bridger wasted no time getting in his car and driving all the way to the Chateau. His adrenaline was high on the knowledge he'd just found out, and it made it hard for him to focus the rest of the day. When he arrived at John B's, Bridger parked his car and immediately ran inside. "I'm here. I'm here!" He huffed.

John B smiled cheekily. "Look at you, cute school boy."

"You get hotter every time I see you in that uniform." JJ flirted while eyeing his school uniform.

Bridger rolled his eyes and quickly sat down in one of the chairs. "Alright, Pope, lay it on me." He said to the brainiac.

Pope held up the papers he was holding. "These are the entries from Denmark's diary." He told him and looked at the first one. "August 15th, set sail from Port-au-Prince on calm seas. Came upon the Spanish ship San Jose on fire. The entire deck was aflame. And we could hear the screams of men trapped below. The Spanish captain cared only about one thing, his valuable cargo, the Cross of Santo Domingo and countless bars of gold." Pope read. "Once the cargo was on board, we went to help the crew, but Captain Limbrey ordered us to pull bayonets and not to let any of the Spanish crew on board. He robbed them and left them to die."

When he was done, Bridger let out a breath. "Holy fuck."

"So it didn't go down off Bermuda." JJ acknowledged.

"And it was a Limbrey stealing shit again." Kiara added after him.

Bridger scoffed. "Go figure."

"This diary proves that both the gold and the Cross of Santo Domingo were on the Royal Merchant."

"Why didn't we find it in the well then?" Asked JJ as he continued to play with his lighter. They all looked at him. He leaned up from the couch. "I mean, if Denmark was able to get this, like, bedazzled cross off of the Merchant to shore, why didn't he just hide it with the gold?"

"Because it was too big." John B realized.

Bridger quickly pointed at him, agreeing. "Yeah. Yeah."

"You're right." Pope agreed also. "He had to hide it someplace else."

"But where?" Kiara asked while looking at the entry.

"Right before he was hung, Denmark said he'd buried the treasure at the foot of the angel."

"Wait, I thought this was about the key." Said JJ.

"Right. So, what's the connection?"

"The path to the tomb begins in the island room." Pope recited while holding the key.

Kiara rolled her head. "But what is the island room?"

Bridger thought about it and narrowed his eyes. "Like. . .Like, a cemetery? Or, maybe a church?"

The other paused and raised their eyebrows. "That's a really smart guess." Said John B.

Kiara nodded. "Really smart."

Bridger smiled at them with his teeth.

"You know what helps me figure shit out?" JJ asked and rolled off the couch again.

"Oh boy. Here we go."

His partner leaned back in his chair. "Lay it on us." He crossed his arms.

"Smoking beers and drinking weed. The ideas just pour out of me. If we just sit here and try to figure this out, we're gonna get nowhere. But. . ." JJ trailed and pointed his finger to his boyfriend.

Bridger smirked. "All the best ideas come from drinking our lives away around a large bonfire," he declared and stood from his seat. "Or so I've been told."

"Well, I just got disowned by my parents, and I'm an official member of the I-Have-Nothing-To-Lose Club." Kiara said with a smile.

"Glad to have you join, Carrera." Said Bridger and he held up his hand, and she slapped it while laughing.

"Pope?"

Pope was unsure. "We're so close." He told them.

The boys surrounded him. "Look, look, think about how much you could think if you just gave your brain a rest." JJ said philosophically.

Bridger went around and stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "Think about all the beer we can drink and weed we can smoke until the sun comes up before we have to return to the real world."

They all stared at him, pressuring him with their eyes. Soon, Pope gave in. "Alright."

"Yes!" Bridger cheered and high fived JJ.

"Okay, wait. We gotta shot gun before we go. Bridge, help me." JJ announced and headed to go inside.

"Right behind you, baby."

Bridger had changed out of his school uniform into warmer clothes before they left. The Pogues arrived at the Bonfire to see it already filled with people on the island. Getting out of the van, he rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Let's fuck some shit up!"

"To the kegs we go!" JJ matched his tone of voice and grabbed his hand.

"Pope, come on!"

Bridger smiled at those who said his name and greeted him, while he tried avoiding most of the people he saw on Figure Eight at the same time. He clinked his cup filled with of beer with JJ and Pope and titled his head back, chugging the whole thing. "WHOO!" JJ cheered and wiped his mouth.

"Now this is what I call a good time." Bridger smiled big. "Refill time."

He took their cups and climbed up the rocky steps to go to the top where the keg was. When he got up there, he stopped when he saw Sarah. "Sarah." He spoke her name and smiled.

Sarah turned to him and her eyes went wide. "B-Bridge. Hey." She said and walked up to him. "I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I was hoping you'd come!" His smile widened. "I've been so worried. Where have you been?"

She looked nervous to answer. "Well, uh. . .I—"

"Sarah," Topper interrupted them and gave and stood beside her. He looked at Bridger and smirked. "What's up, Bridge? How you doin'?"

"Topper." He responded plainly. Bridger looked at Sarah again and she avoided eye contact, talking her fingers against the can of beer she was holding. He looked between her and Topper and his face fell. "Y-You've been with him?" He questioned and raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

Sarah looked at him that time and titled her head. "Bridger, please—"

"She needed somewhere to go and I was there." Topper stepped in.

"Oh, look at you. Superman coming in to save the day." Bridger spat sarcastically and glared at him.

"Bridger," Sarah stepped close to him and put her hand on his arm, causing him to flinch. "Please, can we just go somewhere and talk?"

"You could've came to me, y'know? I told you that. But you keep running back to him like he's the most important person to you." Bridger snapped at her, his feeling clearly hurt.

Topper stepped up to him again. "If you have something to say, you can say it to me."

He laughed darkly. "Oh, you really don't want that, bro—"

"Hey!" Sarah yelled and she got between them. "Topper, just, please. Let me talk to him." She begged.

Bridger rolled his eyes and looked away.

Topper, being the perfect lap dog he was, complied and walked away from them. Sarah turned to Bridger and looked at him with sad eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I felt like I had no place else to go. He saved me, B."

"You really can't see what he's doing?" He asked in disbelief. Bridger scoffed. "Sarah, Topper doesn't care about you. He wants you back and he's gonna do literally anything to make you come crawling back to him every time."

She rolled her eyes. "That's ridiculous—"

"What's ridiculous is you choosing your ex over me, your best friend, and the Pogues. We're there for you, Sarah. We care about you and we want you to be okay."

"I'm sorry, okay!" Sarah raised her voice. "I don't know what else to tell you."

Bridger stared at her, disgruntled. He tightened his jaw and poked his tongue to the corner of his mouth to keep from saying anything harsh. Instead, he scoffed out a laugh and started refilling JJ and Pope's drinks. Sarah watched him while frowning. "If you want to go back to your Kook life and your Kook friends and pretend it's okay, go for it." He grabbed the drinks and looked at her again. "But me? I'll never be okay with any of them ever again."

Bridger walked away and sucked in a deep breath to keep from screaming. Careful not to spill the drinks, he found JJ and Pope sitting down and he waked over to them.

JJ smiled at him. "Finally. You get lost up there?" He laughed. When he sat down and he saw his reddened face, JJ frowned. "Are you alright, B?"

"What happened up there?" Pope asked him and took his cup.

"It's nothing. Just saw something I didn't like." Bridger answered simply and drank half of the beer in his cup. He swallowed harshly. "Okay, I need weed. Who's got weed around here?"

Kiara stood by fire with one of her hands in the pocket of her coat while the other held a cup of beer. She pursed her lips in awkward and looked around her at the people partying while she stood there alone. "Hey. Kie." Inez greeted her while smiling.

"Hey, Nez." She said back and they stood side by side. "Where's your girl clan, or whatever?"

Inez laughed with another smile. "Oh, uh," she pointed her finger to the side. "Some of them are over. I'm kinda just passing through, y'know?"

Kiara furrowed her brows. "Why? Aren't you, like, the most popular girl on the island?" She asked and drank her beer.

She chuckled. "I mean, sure, but who cares? I have a select group of people I can actually trust. The rest just know me by name."

Inez and Kiara were friends from when Kie went to school at the Kook Academy. Her, Inez, and Sarah, the greatest girl trio there was on Figure Eight. But then Sarah ruined their friendship and Inez started dating Bridger, someone she hated at the time. So eventually, it just became Kiara. The way it was in the beginning.

But Inez was never cruel to her. She treated Kiara like a person and less about her status. "Hey, thanks for what you did the other day. Y'know, at the courthouse." She brought up.

Inez smiled again. "No problem. You were pretty badass standing up to Ward. I've never seen anyone do that before." She sipped her beer and wiped the corner of her mouth. "Bout damn time."

Kiara laughed a little. "It just got out of hand."

"Yeah, but, it's important to stand up for what's right and you did. Not a little of people are brave enough to do that, but you are." Inez spoke logically and smiled at her. "Standing up to Ward, standing up for John B, standing up for our environment. . .You're a badass, Kie."

Blinking slowly, Kiara grew another smile and she sipped her beer again.