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𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘅𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿: 𝗽𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮

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It had been a month or so since the Pogues had crash landed on the deserted island that JJ had decided to nickname Poguelandia.

Cassie was still having a hard time adjusting to her new life. Although the Outer Banks hadn't treated her very kindly recently, she still missed it. She didn't know what she wanted to do with her life there, but at least she felt somewhat sheltered to an extent.

Whereas here, she felt like any second a venomous bug would bite her or one of her friends, killing them. Or that a giant wave would come crashing down and bring them out to sea. Or Ward and Savannah would somehow find and imprison her once more. She didn't feel safe. At all.

Nonetheless, JJ had helped her every step of the way as they survived on the deserted island unbeknownst to the others. Honestly, the Pogues were all kind of stupid for not knowing they were a thing at this point.

But neither of them were complaining.

Well, Cassie wasn't.

JJ kept on begging her to tell the others about their relationship and she kept insisting to hide it for "just a little longer." And by that, she meant until an undetermined time she would probably never figure out.

First of all, they weren't even actually boyfriend and girlfriend yet. They were "exclusive, secret partners." And second of all, Cassie just wasn't ready to open up like that.

JJ was beginning to think that she may have been embarrassed by their relationship even though she told him that wasn't the case when their first kiss happened. But he still couldn't help but think that since she never seemed to explain why she wanted to keep it a secret for so long.

He knew she was new to this. Hell, he was new to this too. But if she wasn't fully communicating to him why she wanted to keep their relationship a secret so bad, then what else was he supposed to think?

He tried not to dwell on it. He tried to do other things to distract himself from those thoughts. And one of those was making a flag deeming the island "Poguelandia" with a chicken on it in a coconut bra, smoking a J with Crocs.

Cassie was helping him etch the picture onto the cloth they weaved to make the flag. She wasn't the best drawer, but JJ had a feeling that anything she did would be ten times better than him so he forced her to to do it.

"Here's the J..." She trailed off as she drew the joint on the flag with the stick JJ somehow made into some kind of pencil.

"Man, I would kill to have a J right now. Buddy is lucky," JJ commented and Cassie raised her brows, nodding along.

Surprisingly, she hadn't felt the urge to drink alcohol since landing on the island. Sure, she missed the feeling that came with it, but being on the island proved to be a good, little detox for her. And even though she did not like living the island life, she did feel a bit happier without the constant craving for the burning sensation in the back of her throat.

So maybe that was one good thing that came out of island life.

As the two sat next to each other, they had no idea John B had brought Sarah over to spy on them behind some shrubbery. "John B, what the hell are we doing?"

"Shhhh, look." John B pointed at Cassie and JJ through the shrubs.

Sarah glanced at them before back at John B. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Uh, hello? Them?"

"What about them?"

John B groaned. "Don't you think it's weird how they're spending time together?"

"Well, we are stuck on this island for God knows how long. I would hope they would find time to get along so they don't blow it up," Sarah pointed out, crossing her arms. "And besides, they've been getting kinda along for a while now anyway."

"Okay, no. You're not getting it. I think they...I think they might be together," John B expressed. He had been keeping this held within for some time but he just had to tell somebody his thoughts. He was obsessing over with nothing much else to do on the island to keep him busy.

Sarah stared at him for a few seconds before she bursted out laughing. "Did you-did you eat a rotten coconut or something?"

"No, Sarah, I didn't eat a rotten coconut," he shook his head, getting frustrated.

"Well something must be wrong in your head," she tapped his forehead with her finger, "if you think Cassie Blake and JJ Maybank are together. You know how long they've hated each other for? Even when I was best friends with her, I remember her complaining about him being a manwhore or something like that," Sarah told him.

John B groaned. "But you don't understand. You didn't see the way he was tweaking out when you guys got taken by your parents. He even forgot that you were taken for a second because he was so focused on Cassie!"

"Wait, he forgot about me?" Sarah asked, narrowing her eyes at the Maybank boy they were spying on.

"Yeah, see!"

"Okay, but JJ is kinda stupid at times," Sarah shrugged, flitting her eyes back to John B. "Well, most times actually, but I think you're just reading into it too much because they're finally getting along. And now that we're trapped here, you're trying to come up with ways to entertain yourself."

John B huffed in annoyance. "Fine. I don't know, it's just...weird."

"I think you're experiencing delusions, baby," Sarah chuckled before she grabbed the boy's hand, not wanting to peep on Cassie and JJ any longer. She had been experiencing delusions of her own by seeing ships on the horizons, thinking it may have been her dad, so she could understand that John B may have been doing that too.

The two walked away, leaving Cassie and JJ to finish the flag without being spied on. Thankfully, they hadn't done anything that would have exposed them to the already suspicious John B.

Once Cassie was done with the flag, JJ took it and climbed up on one of the palm trees to attach it to the trunk. Cassie watched as he climbed, a smile making its way onto her face once JJ was able to tie the flag onto the tree with the wind whipping at it.

She cheered him on from the ground since the Pogues were elsewhere. "You did it, Jay! Poguelandiaaaaa!" She screamed from the ground and the blonde boy whooped. "It's perfect!"

"Hell yeah, it is!" JJ agreed before he carefully made his way back down the palm tree, hopping onto the sand beneath his feet. Cassie ran toward him and he picked her up, spinning her around as he hugged her. "We did it, baby!"

"Baby?" She repeated with a slight laugh once he set her down.

"Can I...not call you that?" He slowly asked, growing a bit anxious.

She shrugged, getting a bit shy. That had been a step in their exclusive, secret partnership. "I mean, you can call me that, yeah," she answered nonchalantly.

JJ smiled joyfully, the anxiety receding. "Then let's get to work on those spears for the fish, baby!"

The two set off to make the spears to hunt for the fish. Cassie hadn't done it yet, but she was excited to learn. Well, she wasn't excited to kill fish. She was just excited to be doing it with JJ.

As she worked on creating the spear, she glanced up at JJ. "Do you think Ward and Savannah will find us here?" She questioned. Although she didn't want to stay here forever, she would rather do that than have Ward and Savannah finding them. That would have been the worst case scenario.

She hadn't seen her mother since their last conversation where she said she wished her father would have killed her mother. She wondered if her mother was even worried about her or she just wanted to get her back to make sure she didn't spill their all of their secrets.

To the fish, apparently, since no one else was on this damn island.

"Nah. Now that they got the cross anyway, what would make them come search for us?" JJ responded.

"Hm, I don't know, maybe because their daughters are missing?" She raised her brows at him. "I mean, yeah, they are terrible parents, but every time they do some fucked up shit, they never forget to tell Sarah and I how much they love us. It's manipulative as fuck, but..."

JJ clicked his tongue. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. But...I don't know. Somethin' tells me they aren't looking. Not yet anyway. I mean, John B did tell us the last time he saw Ward, he fucked him up pretty badly. He might not even be capable for searching for us right now."

"True," Cassie shrugged. "So then if not Ward or Savannah, do you think anyone will come find and rescue us?"

"Rescue?" JJ repeated before he started to chuckle. "From what? From...from paradise?"

They apparently had two different versions of paradise.

But Cassie didn't express that as much he expressed loving it here. She didn't want to ruin his spirits by being a Debbie downer. She liked being here with him but everything else? She would be happy leaving behind.

"Yeah, I'm not going back. Ever. I mean, look around. We got everything we need...right here."

Cassie's heart twinged a bit. That really made her not want her to tell him how she truly felt about this place. She didn't think she would be able to handle seeing the hurt look on his face if she did.

Damn, I really do like him. A lot.

"So, when you said you wanted to take me on a surf trip, is this what you meant?" She inquired, trying to think of the positive things about this place.

"Exactly what I meant," he smiled. "But I still gotta teach you to surf. Can't really do that with no boards though..."

"We'll make them. Eventually," she shrugged.

JJ nodded. "How's yours looking? You ready to provide for the family?" He asked.

"Yep."

The two of them got up before someone called out, "Hey!"

They turned around, seeing Kiara making her way towards them. "Hey, Kiki."

She waved. "Uh, JJ told me that we were gonna fish today," Kiara brought up, gesturing between herself and JJ.

"Oh. You did?" Cassie said, looking at JJ.

"I said that. I did say that," JJ confirmed awkwardly and Cassie hummed. "I can teach you some other time, Cassie. And besides, you've been pissing me off too much today anyway," he said.

"Jayj!" Kiara scolded although Cassie knew not to take offense to it. It was all a part of their exclusive, secret partnership.

"Have fun with him, Kie. He's been a whiny bitch today," she said to the girl, handing Kiara her spear she made.

JJ forced an eye roll before he looked at Kiara. "Let's go kill something."

"You don't have to say it like that," the Carrera girl replied as the two walked off, Cassie watching behind them.

"Yeah. That's exactly what we're gonna do."

"It sounds so barbaric, like..."

Cassie watched them walk off, pursing her lips together. After spending almost a month on the island, she seemed to notice how much Kiara wanted to spend time with JJ.

But she didn't think too much of it. She couldn't think too much of it.

The two had been best friends for years and now they were cooped up on an island together. It was like an endless sleepover for them.

Just two best friends hanging out with all the time they had.

Right?

Cassie trekked away once JJ and Kiara walked further down the beach, going back to their designated sleeping area under huge rock to find Cleo already there. Although she was the newest addition to the group and hadn't even been from the Outer Banks, she fit in pretty nicely amongst the Pogues.

"Hey, girl," Cleo greeted. "Whatchu up to?"

Cassie shrugged. "Nothin' really. Kie and JJ went to go fish for food later."

"Bless them. We're running a bit low," she noticed and Cassie nodded. Cleo narrowed her eyes a bit at the girl, noticing her demeanor. "So, Cassie, somethin' tells me you ain't been a Pogue for that long. Is that right?"

Cassie laughed a bit, almost nervously. "Am I that easy to read?" Please say no.

Cleo shrugged. "Not particularly." Thank God. "But I can tell you don't really like it here."

"You can?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell the others," Cleo assured her, bringing a finger up to her lips.

Cassie gave her a half smile. "Thanks, Cleo. And yeah, I don't really like it here too much. You see, I grew up different from some of the people here. I was a...Kook, which is what they call rich people back in the Outer Banks. I haven't always lived in the OBX, but I've always had money. So, I'll admit, living here hasn't been too easy for me. I sound so privileged and bratty, but..." She explained, shrugging at the end.

"Coming from someone who hasn't lived the same, yeah, you do," Cleo kept it real and Cassie pursed her lips. "But that don't mean it's a bad thing. We've only been here a month, there's still more learning to go. And I'll be glad to help. I've been helping Pope a bit."

Cassie smiled a bit. "Yeah, you have been helping Pope," she agreed and Cleo nodded, crossing her arms. "You know, something tells me we're gonna be good friends."

Cleo arched a brow. "Really? And why is that?"

"'Cause we both don't seem take shit from people. We may come from two opposite ends of the world, but...that doesn't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Especially since we're stranded on this island now, it's made me realize a lot of things that I thought mattered don't really matter as much," Cassie went on. Who knew island life would make her so philosophical?

Cassie sort of saw herself in Cleo. It seemed like Cleo put up this cold exterior to protect herself from putting trust in others. Cassie had done the same for a while, but that shell had slowly been cracking ever since putting her whole trust in the Pogues. Perhaps the same would happen to Cleo.

Cleo hummed, nodding a bit. "What's that Pogue handshake Pope taught me?" She suddenly said, raising her hand up. Cassie grinned. Kiara had taught her, but she actually hadn't done it for real with one of the Pogues before.

Cassie brought her own hand up, doing the Pogue handshake with Cleo.

Two girls from opposite ends of the world who came together because they were both Pogues.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

After JJ and Kiara brought back skate for them all to eat later on, the Pogues decided to play truth or dare. It had been one of the many games they played to make things less boring. It was either truth or dare, charades, or some kind of other group game one of them thought of.

"Okay, John B, your turn. Truth or dare?" Sarah asked her boyfriend, taking off the designated hat made out of palm leaves they created for the game.

"Alright, alright. Truth," he answered, standing up from where he sat.

"Truth?" Sarah repeated as she tossed him the hat.

"Truth!"

"This is exciting," Cleo commented with a smile.

John B placed the hat on his head with a grin as he sat back down. Sarah pondered her question for a moment before she asked, "If you could do it all again...what would you do different?"

"Ooh—"

"Uhhh, get the gold out before Ward did," JJ responded even though it wasn't his turn.

"Maybe hide the cross a little better," Pope added.

"Not yell 'murderers' at Ward and Savannah, maybe..." Kiara trailed off embarrassedly.

"Not sleep with Rafe," Cassie deadpanned and some of them winced at that, nodding in agreement.

"Uhh, steal a couple bottles of rum before we jumped off the boat?" John B joked.

"Yeah, why didn't you do that actually?" JJ questioned him seriously and Kiara laughed out loud.

"I don't know. Maybe because I had to fight to the death," John B replied nonchalantly.

"I would look both ways before crossing the street," Cleo spoke up, looking directly at John B.

The girls started chuckling as John B pursed his lips together awkwardly. "Yeah, my bad. My bad."

"Your turn, chief," Cleo said to Cassie.

"Cassie, truth or dare?" John B asked his friend, placing the hat on her head.

Normally, she would have picked dare. But she didn't really feel like seeing what dare her friend could come up with when they were stuck on an island filled with a million different foreign things.

"Truth," Cassie shrugged.

"Boring!" JJ piped up and she flipped him off, making him snicker.

John B didn't even waste a second before he asked, "What's something you've done in secret no one knows about?"

Cassie gaped at him, not even daring to glance over at JJ. What was John B trying to get at? Was he hinting that he knew about her and JJ? Did JJ tell him about it without her knowing? There was no way.

She hummed, nodding her head. "That's, uh, that's a good one. Let me think."

"Yeah, take your time," John B told her, a smugness to his tone.

"I will," she replied, narrowing her eyes a bit. She began to wrack her brain for something that was not about her relationship with JJ. Most things she's done had been outed by now, like the Rafe thing, so she was having a bit of trouble.

JJ watched as she contemplated, knowing that the first thing to come to her mind had to have been her relationship with him. And he kind of wanted her to say it, but he knew she wouldn't. Unfortunately.

"Oh, okay, um...sorry Sarah, but remember when you went into the locker room during freshman year and put on your gym outfit and there had been holes cut in the boob and ass area?" Cassie spoke.

"...Yeah."

"Yeah, well, that was me," she confessed. "Sorry."

Sarah scoffed at her as the others laughed around them. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope, sorry girl. I really didn't like you back then."

Sarah scoffed again, but she shrugged. "You know what? I deserved it though, so I can't really be mad," she admitted and Cassie nodded in agreement, making some of them chuckle.

"That's all you could come up with? Nothing better?" John B asked, raising his brows.

"Hey, I answered. My turn's done," she shut him down and John B clicked his tongue, nodding. "Alright, Kie, truth or dare?" Cassie asked before she placed the hat on Kiara's head.

Kiara looked unamused, rolling her eyes. "Truth."

"Alright, um...if you could go home, to your parents house on Figure Eight this instant," Sarah hummed intriguedly, "...would you do it?" Cassie came up with. She wondered if her best friend had been aching to go back home like she had been.

Not home with her mother, but home as in the Outer Banks in general. Although the people there hated her, it was definitely better than being stranded for God knows how long.

Kiara seemed to debate it for a moment, but only to increase the anticipation of them waiting for her answer. "No chance," she shook her head with a smile and Cassie hummed, a bit bummed by her answer since she didn't share her same ideology about this place.

"Seconded!" Sarah pointed at her.

"No chance," John B repeated slowly.

"Here, here!" JJ raised a rock as they all giggled. "To no chance!"

"The shower is tempting, though," Kiara quickly added teasingly.

"Ooh, I could use a fat shower right now," John B agreed.

"Yeah, we know," Cassie deadpanned and John B shoved her over on the sand. "Hey!" She exclaimed and John B snickered.

She got up and pushed him over on the sand. "Hey, yo!"

"You did it first," she said with narrowed eyes.

"Guys, guys! We have a game here, hello?" Sarah cut in and Cassie and John B sent each other a quick glare before they closed their mouths.

"JJ. Truth or dare?" Kiara asked the blonde, tossing the hat to him.

He easily caught it. "I mean, do you even need to ask?" He replied, placing the hat on his head.

Kiara pointed at the cliff with her knife. "Big jump? Nobody's done it yet. Dare."

JJ began to smirk before they all rushed up, watching as JJ ran to get on top of the cliff. They all waited anxiously below until they saw him make it to the top.

"There he is, there he is."

"WHOO!" They all began to cheer at him encouragingly.

"SEND IT!"

"YEAH!"

"He's not gonna do it! He's not gonna do it!" Cleo repeated, shaking her head with an entertained smile on her face.

"Oh, I won't, huh?" JJ challenged, a little offended by her words, gesturing to the water down below.

"No way," John B laughed.

"He's gonna do it," Pope assumed. "It's highly dangerous, uh, zero reward? Yeah, he's doing it."

"Duh," Cassie added.

"WHOO!" JJ screamed excitedly and they all began to chime in.

He took a few steps back, wanting to take a running start. He then ran and jumped off the cliff, flipping into the glistening water down below successfully.

They all cheered for him, rushing toward him into the water as he rose back up and swam back toward them. John B and Pope were the first to reach him, practically jumping into his arms as hyper as they could get.

The girls all waited behind them, watching them walk back over to shore. "I actually thought I was gonna die, I'll be honest," JJ admitted.

"You looked like you were gonna die," Pope told him. "I thought you were gonna die."

JJ shoved the boy's arm before he made eye contact with Cassie, who was giving him a warm smile. He licked his lips, tasting the salt on them from the water, and nodded at her. She looked down and laughed giddily before she turned around so the others wouldn't notice the small interaction.

Once night had fallen, the Pogues started up a fire for them to cook the skate Kiara and JJ had caught. They all sat around it wordlessly, watching the flames pop and crackle.

"Mm-mm," JJ suddenly hummed. "That's what I'm talking' about now. Freshly caught." He looked over at Kiara, who gave him a warm smile. Something inside Cassie's stomach twisted when she noticed, but she pushed the feeling away.

The wind howled around them as they sat by the fire, under the little cave area. It was quiet, but a peaceful quiet. Nothing to bother them but the sound of the crashing waves behind them and some bugs nipping at their skin here and there.

It was just seven Pogues, living life.

It had gotten pretty late and they put the fire out, falling asleep around each other. Cassie found it quite hard to sleep some days, but this was one of those days where it came easy for her.

However, once the sun had barely risen, she felt someone start to shake her awake. "What?" She whined.

"Cass, wake up. Wake up," JJ whispered and she groggily opened her eyes, seeing the boy's pretty face looming over her's.

"What?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"There's a plane."

authors note!
john b wants the tea so badly but
also cleo and cassie 🫶 two girly
pogues with a touch of anger issues
hehehe