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๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ฟ: ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐
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Cassie slept over at the Chรขteau for the first time that night.
She didn't want to go back home to face her mother after she had been gone so long. She figured she would just wait until they actually got all the gold so she could come back and say, "Hey, Mom! I know you're mad, but look at this! Millions worth of gold!"
There was no way Savannah could continue to be mad at that, right? She was going to make them even more rich!
As Cassie slept on the pullout couch next to Kiara, she couldn't help have vivid dreams about the night she had just had. They felt so real that it was almost like the adrenaline had been pumping through her veins once more.
Cassie ran through the Crain house, this time actually dodging bullets which had caused her to scream. Once she had made it down into the area underneath the house, she had spotted all of her Pogue friends trying to lift John B out of the well.
She moved over to help, but was quick to fall back when another pang of a gunshot went off behind them. JJ quickly called for them to find hiding spots as he struggled to tie up the rope so John B wouldn't fall all the way down in the well.
Instead of hiding like the others, Cassie looked over to see Mrs. Crain aiming the gun at JJ. That's when the blonde immediately sprang up and yelled, "JJ!" She practically tackled him to the ground, landing right on top of him.
However, instead of the landing being hard, it had been surprisingly soft.
Cassie furrowed her brows before she realized that they were no longer underneath the Crain house, and that they were actually on...her bed?
JJ had been lying on her satin bedsheets as she stared down at him, his hair messed up and his shark tooth necklace lying on his chest. If Cassie hadn't hated him, she would've thought about how hot he looked underneath her like this. Especially when his azure eyes seemed to have darkened sensuously as he peered up at her.
However, all they could come out of Cassie's mouth was, "JJ?"
"Would you look at that, princess?" JJ spoke up from underneath her as she continued to straddle him, bringing his finger up to trace along her cheek that caused a chill to run down her spine. "Seems like we don't hate each other after all," he smirked.
Cassie sprang up from the pullout couch, blinking rapidly as she looked around to see that she was no longer in her bedroom and she was still at the Chรขteau. She breathed out a sigh of relief.
The dream had felt real.
Too real.
"What the fuck?" She whispered to herself, her face scrunching up in disgust.
Why was she dreaming about JJ? Why was she dreaming about being on top of JJ? Why was she dreaming about being on top of JJ on her bed?
She must have been going insane. That had to be it. All of this running around and getting shot at was causing her to go insane. Her body was just mixing up the constant adrenaline she was feeling with hormones, that had to be it.
Because there was no damn way in hell she was about to have a wet dream about JJ motherfucking Maybank.
Cassie slowly got up from the pullout couch, being careful not to wake Kiara next to her. She had to go find something to eat or drink in the kitchen, not wanting to keep thinking about whatever the fuck had just happened. If she did, she might as well just run to the toilet and throw up everywhere.
And she had already thrown up earlier this week, so that wasn't an option she wanted to entertain.
As she opened up the fridge and searched for something, finding a water bottle, she heard some noise next to her. She shut the fridge and looked over, seeing John B standing there.
She gasped a bit before she realized it was just him. Well, at least it's not JJ. "John B?" Cassie furrowed her brows.
"Couldn't sleep either?" He guessed as he walked further into the kitchen, hopping up to sit on the kitchen counter like he usually did.
"Uh, yeah, something like that," Cassie muttered as she turned her body to face him.
"Yeah. I'm just too excited to sleep. I mean, we did it. We found the gold. Everything my dad had worked for...we finished it," he gushed, shaking his head in shock.
The ends of Cassie's mouth quirked up to form a smile. "Yeah. We did. Despite getting shot at almost every day this week, it was worth it."
John B released a quiet laugh as he looked down at his swinging feet. "Yeah. Yeah, it was." He then looked up at the blonde girl, his smile faltering a bit. "Hey, you know, I should say sorry."
Cassie tilted her head. "For?"
"For including Sarah into this," he clarified. "Yeah, she's my girlfriend now but I should have asked you and Kie first before randomly bringing her in. I know how much she...ruined your life and I was just thinkingโ"
"Thinking with your dick?" Cassie finished for him, raising her brows at him.
John B chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, thinking with my dick. But also with my heart, too!"
"A sixteen year old boy thinking with his heart? I find that hard to believe," Cassie retorted with a sly grin.
"Yes, I am capable of thinking with my heart. You know why? Because you all are in my heart," he replied before he cringed. "Okay, yeah, that was corny. I think this whole girlfriend and love thing is making me turn corny."
"Careful, John B, if you keep acting like a corny dad then you're going to become one," Cassie warned him, although what he had said she actually found to be heartwarming. She was in John B's heart? She never thought those words would come out of his mouth.
John B reared his head back. "Oh, hell no. Not anytime soon," he shook his head, thinking about the prospect of being a teen dad. He already had enough on his goddamn plate. "Okay, but, seriously, Cassie...I am really sorry. You're my friend and I should've thought more about what you would have thought about it," he focused up.
The sly grin fell from her lips and instead, turned into a lopsided one as he called her his friend. Again. She would have never thought in a million years that she would truly be friends with all of the Pogues, but it seemed like a stupid treasure that turned out not to be stupid, brought them all together.
She was so glad JJ hadn't exposed her. God, stop thinking about JJ.
"John B, it's okay," she began, any feeling of animosity toward him completely gone. "Sarah and I...we talked it out on the boat."
"Aha! I knew ya'll made up!" He exclaimed before Cassie quickly shushed him, reminding him that there were other people sleeping in the house. "Oh, shit, yeah. But I fuckin' knew it."
Cassie rolled her eyes. "Don't tell Kie and Sarah. We were supposed to keep it a secret," she told him and he held his finger up to his lips, pretending to lock them up and throw away the key. "But, yeah, we talked it out. Even though I've not entirely forgiven her for what she did...I'm willing to try. I mean, I was willing to give you all a try and it worked out, right?"
John B smiled at that, glad that he wouldn't have to worry about a rift between his girlfriend and his friend. He didn't know what he would do if the Pogues had been split up. They were all he had...well, plus the gold now.
"You know, Cassie, I've always liked you," he started to say, making her arch a brow at him. "Not-not like that. Like, as a friend. JJ always yelled at me for itโ"
"Not surprising."
"โbut I did always kind of consider you a Pogue. I mean, what Kook would actually want to hang out with us?" He continued, ignoring her comment. "So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...welcome to the Pogues? Like officially?"
Cassie's heart swelled at John B's words. Although they had all seemed to consider her to be a Pogue for a while now, apart from JJ, she had never gotten any confirmation about it until now. And all it made her want to do was scream, cry, cheer, jump and down, and just...be happy.
Before she knew it, she was striding over to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to give him a hug. She usually wasn't a huge hugger, only really when it came to Kiara, but she felt like it was the appropriate response in this scenario.
"O-Oh, okay, was not expecting that," John B commented as he wrapped his own arms around her, letting out a breathless laugh. He hadn't minded it though.
Cassie had been the only one to truly understand what he was going through with his dad, and he was glad to have someone to turn to whenever he would go down one of his concoction routes. Someone who would understand.
"Thank you, John B. I'm glad to be a part of this," she voiced genuinely as she kept hugging him for a few more seconds. "But if you tell anyone about this, I will kill you," she threatened as she pulled away, but there was still a genuine smile on her face.
John B blinked, knowing that she probably wasn't kidding. "Noted."
Cassie hummed before she awkwardly looked around, thinking about her dream from earlier. "Also, weird question, but does adrenaline cause arousal?"
John B gave her a weird look. "Uhhh, I don't know? You would have to ask Pope that question. Uh, why?"
"Oh, you know, because you and Sarah couldn't stop flirting earlier even though we almost just died and you still smelled like shit," she came up with, a smirk on her face, even though that wasn't the true reason she was asking.
John B's face twinged pink. "Oh, shut up."
ยฐโโ.เณเฟ*:๏ฝฅยฐโโ.เณเฟ*:๏ฝฅ
The next day, Cassie, Kiara, and Sarah sat in the Twinkie as they examined a drawing of the well that stored the gold. "He said it looked something like this," Kiara said.
"So..." Sarah trailed off as Kiara traced her finger down the drawing of the rope.
"That's 50 feet down, and they're using a 100-feet rope," Kiara told them. "So I guess this little wagon will go...straight to the gold room." She laughed as she looked at the drawing of the wagon, and the two blondes chuckled along.
"How cute," Cassie commented with a snort.
"Who drew this?" Sarah questioned through her laughter.
"Who do you think?" Kiara replied before they all looked over at Pope through the Twinkie's back window, who was already looking at them with a smile. But Cassie could tell he was strictly looking at Kiara.
"You have him wrapped around your finger," Cassie voiced, making Kiara give her a confused look. "Pope," she clarified.
Kiara's reared her head back. "What? I do not," she denied, shaking her head.
"You totally do. Everything you say, he does," Cassie pointed out with grin.
"You're crazy," Kiara rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I am," Cassie agreed. "But that doesn't mean I'm wrong," she added, sharing a mischievous look with Sarah who also saw the way Pope had been looking at the girl.
"Kie! This better work."
Cassie felt her stomach drop at the sound of JJ's voice, thinking back to her repulsive dream from last night. If he had ever found about that, her life would be pretty much ruined. She didn't need him thinking she had a crush on him this whole time, which she didn't. It would only feed his already fat ego.
Cassie looked over to see the Maybank boy march over to the Twinkie and drop the pieces of gold down on the floor in front of the three of them. "We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it."
Cassie cleared her throat to compose herself and picked up the blowtorch next to her. "Don't worry, it's gonna work."
"Okay, no, no, no, you're not holding that," Kiara scolded her as if she were a child before she took the blowtorch from the girl, making Cassie pout.
After Kiara melted down the gold pieces, the Pogues drove over to a pawnshop to pawn the gold off. "Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ voiced sarcastically as he stepped out of the Twinkie with the gold in his hand.
"Like you could've done any better," Kiara argued.
"I could have done much better. I took a welding class," JJ told her.
"When?" Kiara challenged, giving him a look.
"What, is Cassie rubbing off on you? You gonna start yelling at me now?" JJ questioned.
Cassie scoffed as she stepped toward the boy, "Why bring me into this?" Yep, they were definitely back to hating each other. Just like they had shook on. She didn't have to worry about that dream any longer.
"Whoa, whoa. Hey. Sh, sh!" John B shushed them before they could begin to bicker, stepping towards them. "Chill out, okay?"
JJ sent Cassie a look before he turned toward John B. "It's easy for you to say that. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off," JJ pointed out as he held up the horribly melted gold. "How did I get this job anyway?" He asked as he readjusted his backpack strap.
"'Cause you're the best liar," Pope answered him right away.
They made their way inside the pawnshop, causing the shop bell to ring to alert the pawnbroker of their presence. "Afternoon, ma'am," JJ greeted once he saw the pawnbroker.
"Afternoon," the pawnbroker, who was an older lady, said with a nod behind the counter. The others separated away from JJ, pretending to be interested in the knickknacks in the shop.
"I see you buy gold," the blonde boy began.
"That's what the sign say, don't it?"
"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it, because I'm about to blow your mind," JJ told her as he placed his backpack on the counter.
"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it."
JJ placed the melted down gold in front of her. "How 'bout them gold apples?" He smugly said and Cassie rolled her eyes at his joke, looking over her shoulder at him.
The pawnbroker chuckled, "That ain't real."
Cassie narrowed her eyes at the woman before sharing a glance with Kiara, whose face had immediately blanched.
"That ain't real?"
"It can't be."
"Feel how heavy it is," JJ directed. When the pawnbroker tried lifting it up and failed to do so, her nose scrunched. "Mhm. Mhm!" JJ hummed and then she was finally able to lift it. "Yeah, let's get some light on that."
The pawnbroker grabbed the magnifying glass and turned on the light that was installed in it. "Spray-painted tungsten," she said as she examined it.
"Spray-painted tungsten? Really? Okay. Why don't you see how, uh, soft it is?" JJ suggested.
"You mind?"
"No, go for it," he said. The pawnbroker tried breaking away at the gold, but nothing had happened. "Wow. Would you look at that?"
"Hold your horses. We ain't got to the acid test yet," she told him as she reached for the small bottle of acid she had on the shelf next to her.
"Ooh! The acid test. My favorite, guys," JJ grinned as he glanced back at all of them. Cassie and Kiara shook their heads at him, making him purse his lips and look back over at the pawnbroker.
The pawnbroker poured a small drop of acid onto the gold, but again, nothing happened. "Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," she observed.
"Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long," JJ told her truthfully, which was very unlike him to do so.
"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," the pawnbroker pointed out.
"My mom," he instantly thought of, and the lady gave him a weird look. "She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to-to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it," JJ explained as he made air quotations.
"That's the best he could come up with?" Cassie whispered and Sarah grinned as she tried not to laugh, looking away. "Thought he was the best liar," she added in mutter.
The lady put the gold on the scale. "7 pounds? That's a lot of earrings," the pawnbroker sassed, not believing him. Cassie had to agree with her, the lie was unbelievable.
"Okay, to be honest, ma'am." He cleared his throat, getting into character just like he had done back at the impound yard. "Uh, it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's."
"Alzheimer's?" Kiara repeated quietly to Cassie, and the girl just rolled her eyes, used to his dumb shenanigans by now.
The pawnbroker hummed. "Give me a minute," she told them before she walked away from the counter.
"Take your time, ma'am," JJ said with fake sadness in his voice, looking down. Cassie, Kiara, and Pope quickly rushed over to JJ once she had left. "This bitch is pissing me off," he complained to them, dropping the act.
"Just keep pushing her. It's real gold, she can't deny us," Pope told him.
"Are we sure that they even have enough to give us for what the gold is worth?" Kiara brought up.
"They better or else I'm fucking someone up," JJ shook his head as he fiddled with the cap on his head.
"What, you're gonna beat up the old lady?" Cassie gave him a look as she scoffed.
"You're acting like you wouldn't either," JJ shot back at her.
"Not gonna lie, Cassie, he's got a point there," Pope said to her and JJ gave him a nod. "Like, out of everyone, you would probably challenge her to, like, a fight to the deโ"
"I know!" Cassie cut him off since she had heard enough, holding her hand up in Pope's face dramatically. JJ began to snicker quietly, watching as Pope's eyes had widened in fear since he thought the girl was about to slap him.
"Look โ Oh, she's coming out," Pope whispered to them before he backed away with the girls. JJ looked down once more, pretending to be sad again.
"So, I, uh..." The pawnbroker trailed off. "I talked to my boss."
"And?" JJ said.
"And, uh, this is what I can do," she said as she walked behind the counter and placed a piece of paper down.
JJ gave her a look, blinking at her in disbelief. "Fifty thousand?" He enunciated before he scoffed. Cassie's lips curled at the number since it been way too low. "You think I walked in here not knowin' the spot price? Ma'am, I know for a fact that is worth 140, at least," he told her, pressing his finger on the gold.
"Well, sweetie, you're in a pawn shop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?" She tilted her head at him.
"Ninety, or I walk," JJ negotiated.
"Seventy. Half price...and, um...I don't ask questions about where you got this," she told him quietly, leaning in closer to him.
JJ looked at John B to his left, who was listening in on the conversation. The blonde then looked back at the pawnbroker. "We're gonna need that in large denominations, please," he instructed, making the Pogues begin to grin excitedly from around the shop.
The pawnbroker glanced around at them with an arched brow. "Well, here's the snag. I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check."
"Cash โ No, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says," JJ said, pointing at the sign to his left. "'Cash for gold.' And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard."
"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that all right?" The pawnbroker asked.
JJ narrowed his eyes. "Where's this warehouse?"
authors note!
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