lost at sea - act one 

season one; episode six (part one) 

The bright afternoon sun turned the Kildare skies a beautiful shade of gold as the Routledge twins rode in the back of Ward Cameron's convertible as it made its way up the cobblestone driveway leading to the front door of a mansion that Julianna couldn't even dream of living in. "Well shit..." She said under her breath and John B turned to look at his sister, "Welcome home I guess."

"Welcome home, kiddos." Ward says as the car comes to a creeping stop, right in front of the garage, like the small building in front of them was just for show and now for the multiple-hundred thousand dollar car they had just spent the last thirteen minutes in; yes Julianna counted every second.

As the sound of seat belts clicking filled the air the front door opened and Sarah- who was now changed into a red and white pinstriped halter dress with buttons down the front- came frolicking down the small set of concrete stairs that separated the house from the driveway. "Hi daddy!" She said in a cheerful tone as she approached the group of three, encapsulating her father into a hug.

"Look at this welcome home... Haven't had one of these in years." He says with a chuckle escaping his lips and as they parted Sarah's face lit up as she smiled up at him, nodding her head excitedly. "I'm just happy you're home!" She explained and Ward muttered an uh-huh as he stepped to the side to reveal the Routledge twins, "Yeah right... Here are who you were waiting for."

Sarah let an excited squeal escape her lips as she looped her arm with John B. "Hi..." She says sweetly and Julianna- who was still wearing the green silk dress Anna had bought her for Midsummers- watched as her brother smiled at his girlfriend, "Hey..."

Holding back the urge to run for the hills or make any sort of degrading comment, Julianna just let an audible sigh escape her lips, causing Sarah and John B to break their staring contest and both turn to look at the girl. "Why don't I show you guys your rooms?!" She exclaimed and both Routledge twins nod in unison- Julianna's nod was more forced than anything but she pushed through.

"Okay let's go!" She said, leading the way towards the house, pulling John B behind her as she held his hand and Julianna followed hesitantly behind them, the sound of her heels that echoed the memories of the night before clicked against the cobblestone.

As they made their way through the large doorway of the Cameron residence Julianna could feel her heart make its way into the pit of her stomach. In her mind, this is how David felt when he was going into the lion's den. "Your guys' rooms are right down here! Follow me." She says sweetly and the tone of her voice made something within the Routledge girl go off kilter, twisting her stomach into all sorts of knots as she followed after.

The house was completely silent as the three teenagers made their way up the stairs that curved with the wall they were built into. "This house is massive..." Julianna said in disbelief as she let her eyes scan the surrounding area, not caring about the volume of her voice, and a chuckle escaped Sarah's lips. "We make it work..." She said and instantly Julianna rolled her eyes discouragingly, letting her words dig into her skin like a dagger.

"So John B, this is your room!" She explained as they made their way down the hallway, stopping at the first door to their right. "Whoa." John B said with a gasp escaping his lips as he took a step into the bedroom that was almost the size of the Chateau's living room. Sarah couldn't help but smile as she watched the boy take in the room, "It's not too shabby, huh?"

The Routledge twins nodded in unison. "Yeah. Not too shabby at all." John B said as he made his way over to the king-sized bed in the middle of the room while Julianna stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the two pace around the room.

"And my room is just upstairs, in case you were wondering." Sarah said slyly as she let her finger drag across the hardwood dresser that lined the furthest wall while John B plopped on the bed in the most awkward way possible, groans escaping his mouth as he did so which raised alarm within both Julianna and Sarah.

Julianna took a step into the room, looking at her brother with an enthused look. "Are you okay, dude?" She asked and John B nodded, "Yeah. No, I'm good. I'm good. I got it." He said, shooting finger guns at his sister as a nervous chuckle escaped the blonde's lips. "But I have to warn you..." Sarah said, lowering herself on the edge of John B's new bed and John B's face quirked up the slightest bit, "Uh-oh."

"I sleepwalk." She explained and both John B and Julianna sighed, with the Routledge boy chuckling as he nodded, looking at his new girlfriend like a little boy getting giddy about a new toy as she continued to talk. "So if I show up in your room in the middle of the night..." She said and John B shrugged, "You just want me to roll with it?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, maybe."

The two lean in towards each other and press their lips together in a kiss which makes Julianna shake her head in disbelief. "Yeah... This is gonna be fun." She said as she rolled her eyes and the sound of heavy footsteps filled the air as a male voice boomed from behind the Routledge girl which made Julianna jump slightly, "Sarah Elizabeth Cameron!"

Sarah and John B parted quickly before the three turned to look at who the voice belonged to seeing Ward Cameron standing in the doorway. "You've already broken the first rule." He explained and John B looked at the man, "What is the first rule?"

Julianna scoffed, looking at her brother, and John B turned to look at her. "What? I just want to know the lay of the land..." He said and Julianna tried her best to hide the smirk that was making its way onto her face as Ward answered the Routledge boy's question, "Rule number one; Stay out of each other's rooms."

"All right, in all seriousness. Picture that as a boundary." Ward said as he motioned towards the doorway, signaling that it is a line that shouldn't be crossed, "This is like a minefield... Right?" He asked looking at the young couple and the Routledge girl and all three of them looked at him with varying emotions painted across their faces.

Ward chuckled. "This is where you say 'Yes, sir'..." he egged on turning to look at his daughter and she just stared back at him, "Yes, sir?" He asked and the girl nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir, John B?" He asked the teen standing next to his daughter and the Routledge boy nodded, "Uh, yes, sir. Yeah." He said and the Cameron man let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the couple, nodding a small nod as he cracked his knuckles. "All right." He said and Julianna raised her hand silently, catching the man's attention.

He turned to look at the girl and Ward chuckled. "You know you don't have to raise your hand to speak here, right Julianna?" He asked and the Routledge girl nodded, lowering her hand slowly as she nervously flashed him a smile, "I know. Just wanted you to know that I understand the no crossing into the minefield rule too, sir." She said with a chuckle lacing her voice and Ward nodded. "Alrighty then."

"Sarah, can you show Julianna to her room so that I can have a quick minute with the new inmate here?" He asked with a sense of humor lacing his voice and Sarah rolled her eyes playfully as she made her way over to her father, "Please be nice."

Ward nodded. "I'll be nice."

Sarah made her way around her father and hooked her arm around the Routledge girl's arm. "Let me show you your room!" She said excitedly, pulling Julianna out of the doorway and down the hall towards a second room that had the door opened to reveal that the walls were decked out with light yellow wallpaper printed with small blue flowers all over it. "Hope this is okay..." She says as the two make their way into the room and Julianna is taken aback by how pristine the room looked.

"Yeah... thank you." Julianna said with a nod as she made her way into the room, the sound of her heels clicking on the hardwood floor filled the silence that was consuming the area. She took in every detail of the room and made notes of every detail that was nicer than her childhood room back within the four walls of the Chateau.

Just when she thought the footsteps that she heard behind her were leaving the room they started growing louder which meant they were getting closer to the girl. "Hey..." Sarah called out and Julianna slowly turned towards the girl, "What do you want Sarah?"

"You're still wearing your dress..." She said innocently, pointing at the sage green dress that Julianna was still sporting, and the Routledge girl sighed as she eyed the girl standing in front of her. Sarah Cameron — a girl Kiara had described with a scowl instead showed her a soft smile- sounded like she was worried about her choice of fashion.

Julianna chuckled sarcastically as she made her way over to the window. "Thanks for stating the obvious." She barked back, becoming defensive over the smallest comment, stealing glances at the blonde who still stood off to the side. She stood with her arms folded against the sweater that even if Julianna glanced at the designer label and made an educated guess on the price would not do the price that Sarah had paid for it justice.

"You look pretty uncomfortable..." The Cameron girl's soft voice didn't drip venom off the tip of her tongue as she spoke to her like Kiara had told her it would. Julianna turned slightly to look at the blonde with an unenthused expression painting her face, "Yeah this isn't really my cup of tea." She explained and the Cameron girl nodded; taking a step closer to the girl.

An exaggerated sigh escaped Sarah's lips as she let her shoulders sag. "I understand that... So I ask again, you're still in your dress?" she could hear the soft chuckle in her voice. The brunette turning her head around to look at her, her facial expression uninterested as she shrugged her shoulders, "Well seeing your dad didn't take us home before coming here, I haven't had a chance to change"

Watching the way Sarah's face slightly falters at the hostility Julianna seemingly held towards her, the Routledge girl knew that she probably had been going too deep with the flippant comments she was making. Sarah knew Kiara would have said something, she knew it in the way Julianna was around her normally.

Mostly because the Routledge girl was always usually by Kiara's side on the rare occasions that their paths crossed. She knew the images the girl painted in her head, especially after their conversation at the hospital earlier in the day.

Sarah knew that whatever was happening or could happen between her and Julianna during this time of the Routledge twins living in the Cameron family home would be slow to warm at first. She knew that she would be walking on thin ice with the brunette, but something within her didn't want to let up.

"You can borrow something of mine if you want... take a shower even?" She offered and then was quick to add more to her statement just in case what she said ruffled any feathers, "I mean you don't have to, not trying to control your life or anything but if you want to, you can" Sarah rambled, and Julianna felt her chest grow tight.

The girl in front of her didn't speak with a tone coated with confidence that bordered rudeness like Kiara had recounted to Julianna. She was just a young girl that exuded the same energy of the fairytale princess Rapunzel; light-hearted and full of this overwhelming sense of joy. Sarah lifts her lips into a soft smile once again, another attempt at reaching out to the girl who stood in front of her, staring into her soul, as if she were trying to burn holes into it.

Sarah could see that despite having splashed water on her face at the hospital the night before, the tear tracks were still evident on the Routledge girl's face. Be it through the smudge of her eye makeup or the bloodshot look of her eyes themselves, Sarah knew that Julianna needed someone to help her in that moment.

"You would let me borrow your clothes?" Julianna asked sheepishly, trying hard to not let her walls crumble at the slightest bit of niceness thrown her way, and Sarah nodded, offering an empathetic smile and nod. "Of course... I'm not a monster." She explained and her comment about herself earned a soft chuckle from the brunette, who instantly covered her mouth in regret, "I am so sorry, that was rude."

Sarah shook her head. "Nothing I haven't had happen to me before. You don't have to apologize." She informed with a sigh and Julianna flashed a small saddened look, not saying anything else to the blonde. "So are we a yay or a nay on the clothes and shower offer?" Sarah asked with a sense of hesitation as a small chuckle escaped her lips and Julianna smiled slightly, letting a small piece of wall crumble as she nodded.

"It's a yay, definitely a yay!" She confirmed and Sarah nodded, "Okay, just wanted to make sure."

As the blonde made her way to the door she stopped in the doorway and turned to look at the brunette who still stood in the middle of the bedroom. "You go hop in the shower and I'll lay the clothes out on the bed." She said sweetly and Julianna nodded, "Sounds like a plan... but where exactly is the bathroom?" She asked and Sarah chuckled softly.

"It's right next door, there are extra towels set out on the sink for you and your brother and I brought down some of my shower stuff from my bathroom for you to use if you want... I didn't know what you liked so I made sure to give you options." Sarah explained with a small smile on her face and Julianna made a mental note, "Alright... next door, thank you." She said whole-heartedly and Sarah just gave her a small nod, "You're welcome... and hey, welcome home."

Julianna felt that she was not just giving a courtesy smirk now, that had been exchanged for a full-on smile and it felt pretty good. She sat on the bed with a sigh and pulled her cell phone which had a very low battery percentage out of the small clutch she had borrowed from Kie the night before and opened her messages app.

Opening the thread she had with JJ she sent him a quick message: "Things are absolutely crazy, I'll fill you in when I see you. Can't wait to kiss you." After hitting send she held the phone in the palm of her hand and just looked at it for a moment before letting her eyes float back to look at the room she was in realizing how easy it was to live on the faltering line between two factions now that she was there.

With a sigh, Julianna stood back up and made her way to the bathroom so that she could finally wash the last twelve to fourteen hours off of her. Closing and locking the door behind her the Routledge girl finally felt like she had a second to take a breath and fully consume everything that had happened leading up to this moment- her staring at her reflection in the mirror that belonged to a Kook.

"It's now or never..." She told herself as she began to get undressed and ready for her shower. Slowly pulling the dress over her head and tossing it to the side she then focussed on her heels, unbuckling the straps around her ankles and slipping her feet out of them, letting them feel the cold tile that riddled the bathroom. She then took out all of the bobby pins holding her pinned-up hairstyle in place and placed them on the porcelain basin.

Once there was no trace of Midsummers left on her body the girl turned the shower water to warm and stepped in, letting the water wash over her and consume her; letting her feel as if she were in a trance that took her back to her regular self.

—

When Julianna walked into the bedroom with the white towel wrapped around her she was greeted by an outfit laid out for her on the bed; a white flowy tube top with lace detailing on the bottom half, a pair of high-waisted jean shorts, and a tan tied bikini were laid over the light yellow comforter and a pair of sandals laid on the floor next to the bed. "Sarah Cameron, you are a lifesaver..." She said with a smile lacing her voice, shutting the door behind her so that she could get dressed.

She let the towel fall to the floor as she scampered to the bed, eager to finally be in something other than that constrictive dress that made her feel more like herself, and once she had the bikini on her body she felt as if she were back to the person she knew.

After the bikini came the shorts and the top and to finish it off she slid the sandals onto her feet. Making her way over to the floor-length mirror she took in her reflection and for a moment couldn't accept that it was her wearing those clothes. As she stared at herself in the mirror knuckles rattled on the other side of the door, bringing the girl back to reality.

"Who is it?!" She called out nervously, not wanting to be caught admiring herself, and a familiar male voice called out from the other side of the door, "It's me! Just got a text from Pope, we're meeting up at the Wreck to talk business." John B said and Julianna quickly rushed over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it to reveal her new look to her brother.

John B's eyes grew wide. "Woah..." He said in a surprised tone and Julianna instantly began to regret letting Sarah push her into borrowing her clothes, "Is it bad?" She asked and her twin brother simply shook his head.

"Not at all, you ready to blow this popsicle stand?" He asked and Julianna's face lit up, "I thought you would never ask!"

𖤓𖤓𖤓

The tensions in The Wreck were thick enough to be cut by a knife as the five teens gathered around one of the many empty tables that riddle the abnormally empty restaurant; it was twenty minutes til lunch and there was no one in sight. "I'm sorry. You're staying where?" Kiara asked in a confused tone as she made her way towards the table and John B sighed as he answered her question as nonchalantly as he could, "Tannyhill."

"So you two are like living with Sarah Cameron, now... That's so fun..." Sarcasm drenched Kiara's voice as she placed five water cups out on the table that Pope, JJ, and Julianna had taken claim of and John B followed after the Carerra girl. "Okay, look, the only reason we're living there is because her dad bailed me us, right?" He suggested and Julianna took over from her spot sitting on JJ's knee, "And it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where we were about to go if Ward didn't..."

The brunette was quickly cut off by Pope who was leaning back in his chair and pointing at her brother. "Hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?" He asked and John B sighed as he looked at the Heyward boy, "I don't know, Pope."

"What about those golf carts they drive around? You get one of them?" JJ asked as he reached for one of the cups of water and Julianna quickly turned to look at her boyfriend with a furrowed brow as if to ask him what the hell he was doing. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest, dipping his head down so that he could whisper in her ear; "I promise this is all to get a rise out of John B..."

She felt her heart settle as she stayed pressed against JJ's chest and Pope just kept poking the bear as he spoke. "Does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to buy one on your own?" He asked but before John B could respond to his sarcastic question Kiara spoke up and her voice was laced with this sense of pain.

"Look, you promised. You said you weren't with her. And now you two are living in her house and she has turned her..." She said, pausing for a moment as she pointed at Julianna, "... into her own personal barbie doll."

Julianna looked at her with furrowed brows. "Hey, I thought I looked nice." she hummed, lifting her eyes from the outfit she had on back to the black-haired girl, when she heard a laugh exit the Carerra girl's mouth. "You look like Sarah..." Kiara scoffed and instantly Julianna's skin began to feel as if it were on fire, becoming uncomfortable in every way.

That comment, which if anyone said would be taken as a compliment was just Kiara was being spiteful. "Yo... Kie..." JJ said, trying to keep the peace, holding Julianna close to his own chest as she shook her head. "Kiara, I had nothing else to wear. I was in a dress covered in mud and dirt, my feet were riddled with blisters, and I had makeup smudged all over my face. She offered me clothes and I jumped at the offer." Julianna explained and Kiara just rolled her eyes, "Of course, because she's the all-time superhero. All hail queen Sarah!"

"Kie, Sarah was being really nice to me. And, if you don't remember, Johnny just spent the night in hospital!" she emphasised, "racking up however many hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills that we can't pay." She exclaimed, the entire group falling silent, "Of course I remember-" Kiara started before being cut off. "Really? Because right now you're acting like John B and I had a choice in the matter, Kiara." Julianna huffed, "You're acting like Sarah being nice and offering me clothes is some sort of plot to annoy you."

Tensions grew as Kiara rolled her eyes. "Jules you know she is doing all this because she would have known it would piss me off—" The laugh Julianna let out as she shook her head again cut the air like a knife and JJ just let his hold on the Routledge girl grow a little bit tighter, just in case she decided she wanted to jump into some sort of action.

"Actually, no I don't think she did, because believe it or not Kiara, this isn't about you and Sarah." She started, "Hell, this isn't even about me and Sarah, or John B and Sarah... This is about us trying to find the treasure my dad went missing trying to find..."

The room falls silent as the two girls stare at one another. "Fine... I don't want to fight anymore... Just want you to know, that this whole Kook aura you have going on, it's not cute and I know JJ won't keep what's going on between you two going for much longer if you keep it up."

Kiara's words made all the air get sucked out of the room. She had just exposed the biggest secret within the group to the only person in the group who they had been keeping it from. "Wait what?" John B asked but his question was overshadowed by Julianna's response to the Carerra girl, "Well, Kie...you've done just fine with us keeping you around... so I don't see a difference with JJ and I."

The Carerra girl let her arms organically make their way up to a crossed position over her chest, dropping the disagreement between her and Julianna as she addressed the blanket statement of Sarah Cameron in general. "Look, if you two wanna hang out with her, that's fine. But I'm letting you know now that I'm not doing anything with Sarah." She said, directing that diss to the Routledge girl and John B finally circled back to the comment made about his sister and his best friend.

"Okay hold on, stick a pin in this whole Sarah mess for one minute." He said and the group fell silent, watching as he turned to look at the couple who shared a chair, "Are you and JJ dating?" he asked his sister and Julianna turned to look at him with empathetic eyes as she nodded. "I wanted to wait til you were better to tell you..." She hesitated and John B turned to look at JJ, "You're dating my sister?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, JB... I am, and if we're being honest I am loving every single second of it. It's new, like really new, but it's been a dream of mine since I was twelve and I really hope that you can be okay with it." He said in a soft manner and all John B could do was smirk at him, "I knew it would be you two to break the no pogue on pogue macking rule... I just didn't know when..." He said with a chuckle lacing his voice and a wave of relief washed over both JJ and Julianna as they looked at John B.

"So you're okay with this?" Julianna asked and her twin brother nodded, "I have been waiting for it actually." He said sweetly and the brunette felt as if she could finally take a deep breath without wanting to curl into a ball and hyperventilate. "Good, now that all of our private information is out in the open can we circle back to the whole Sarah Cameron situation?" JJ asked and an audible scoff escaped the Carerra girl's lips as John B nodded, "Absolutely."

He let his eyes scan the table, taking a moment to look deeply into each of his friends eyes, offering them a look of reassurance. "Sarah is not a part of this, she hasn't been and she'll never be..." He said and Kiara rolled her eyes, "Right..."

"Do you guys see her here? No, right. Okay. A little focus would be fantastic."

A sigh escaped the Routledge boy's lips. "We've got the map, right?" He asked and JJ shrugged, "Yeah, but It's out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." He said and Julianna turned to look at her boyfriend with a small smirk painting her face. "It's all out of whack because the coast has changed, bub. But good effort..."

Pope nodded as he looked at the map that was placed in the middle of the table, holding a pencil between his fingers as he studied the piece of parchment. "So we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed."

Julianna's face lit up as she leaned forward towards the table, adjusting the way she was seated on her boyfriend's knee, "What about the old forts?" She asked and Kiara slowly made her way to the table, finally including herself in the moment instead of holding the Sarah Cameron issue over the Routledge twins heads.

"Battery Jasper." She says pointing to the spot on the map and Pope smiled at the girl, "Kiara you're a genius!"

—

There was a subtle summer breeze filling the air as the teenagers stood on the top of a small lookout over the island. "We're in Battery, right here." Julianna explained as she stood next to Pope and the two examined the map, and the Heyward boy nodded, "So if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here." He pointed and Kiara followed his finger and looked in the same direction.

"Somewhere there." She suggested and Julianna nodded, "Right."

JJ looked down at the group from his spot on one of the rocks bordering the lookout as he pointed in the general area of where the group was suggesting. "Over there? Guys hate to break it to you but, that's not Tannyhill, that's a subdivision." He explained and John B turned to look at his sister's boyfriend, "Tannyhill Plantation was the entire island. It got sold into smaller pieces over time."

"Okay, so we're just looking for an old stone wall." Pope said as he traced an invisible line from Parcel Nine to an old stone wall illustration and Julianna chuckled. "That won't be hard at all... Seeing that this entire island was built out of old stone walls." 

The Pogues were not a group that strayed away from a challenge but something within Julianna told her that this challenge would push the limits of the group to a new high. The group looked at one another and JJ hopped off of the rock, "So are we going to find this old stone wall?"

"We're going to find this old stone wall!" John B exclaimed and the two wrapped their arms around each other, "To going full Kook!" They cheered and Julianna just smiled as she watched the two boys. 

a note from the author!!

so kiara is kind of bitchy in this one but hey that's the epitome of high school girl friendships sometimes right?! 

i'd like to shout out my baby -illicitaffairss- for helping me come up and building/drafting the scenes between Sarah and Julianna along with the scene between Kiara and Julianna!! you were literally a lifesaver!! 

also the cat is out of the bag and John B is happy about it?! who would have thought !!