After their failed attempt to find the gold, Slater left the pogues and headed home, dreading the conversation she was about to have with her parents. Her dad was most likely home already, and he'd probably filled her mother's ears with lies about JJ and the pogues, and spun a wicked story about how Slater was on the road to becoming a delinquent.

She pulled into the driveway and got out of her car, nervously looking at the kitchen window, where she could see the kitchen light was on. She was just in time for dinner, and just in time to get yelled at.

Whatever pleasant family chatter that the Shoupe-Cambry family had been partaking in immediately stopped as Slater walked in the door, dripping wet after catching the storm on the way back in from the water.

"Hey, Slate," Maeve said, offering a sympathetic smile to her sister as she entered the room.

"You're just in time for dinner," Leanore said as she patted Slater's place at the table.

"Great, I'm starving," she said, offering her mom a smile. "I'm going to change first."

Her father said nothing as she brushed past him and headed upstairs. She dried off and dressed in dry clothes as slowly as she possibly could, but she knew the longer she waited, the angrier her parents would be.

Slater went downstairs, taking her spot beside Maeve. She silently scooped some food on her plate, not meeting her parents' eyes as they bore into her.

"Where were you this afternoon, Slater?" her father began, drilling into her like the way he interrogated suspects at work.

"With my friends," Slater replied.

"I told you to go home," Vic said, setting down his fork. "I told you not to hang around those people."

"'Those people?'" Slater mocked. "Do you hear yourself, Dad?"

"Slater," he hissed, shaking his head. "They're dangerous. They're criminals. I will not have my daughter hanging around those kinds of individuals."

Slater looked to her mother, hoping to find sympathy. She found none.

"You can't afford to get in trouble, sweetie," Leanore said. "You've got college to think about."

Slater laughed, slamming her fork and knife down. "They're not dangerous. They're not criminals. They're kids, Dad. They're my friends."

"They're not your friends!" Vic shouted. "You barely know them!"

She sighed and pushed away her plate. "You know what? I'm not hungry," she said. "May I be excused?"

"Yeah, go on up to your room," Vic said. "You'll be seeing a lot of it in the near future. You're grounded."

Slater's mouth fell open. "Grounded? You've never grounded me in my entire life!"

"Well, now we are," Leanore said. "Slater, you're sixteen years old. You need to respect our boundaries."

Slater wiped her face off before pushing the chair back loudly, enjoying how it loudly squeaked against the floor. Maybe it was immature, but she was angry. Her parents had always treated her like a child, but this was going too far.

"Grounded for how long?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Keep talking to us like that, and we'll keep adding days to your sentence," Vic replied.

"My sentence? Are you serious?" Slater laughed angrily. "Don't treat me like one of your inmates, Dad."

"Then don't act like one," Vic replied. "Oh, and hand over your keys," he said, holding out his hand.

"I need my car to get to work," she replied, reaching into her pocket where the keys were.

"And you'll use it to get to work, but work only," Leanore replied. "Until then, your father or I will hang onto them."

"What am I supposed to do when you're both at work?" Slater asked.

Vic gestured to Maeve. "They'll be in a lockbox on my desk. Your sister knows the code, and she'll get them for you in that case."

Slater's face fell, and her eyes shifted to Maeve. "Traitor," she mumbled before heading upstairs, locking the door behind her.

Tears fell as she collapsed on her bed, squeezing her pillow to her chest as she cried. Her father had humiliated her in front of JJ, and then had the audacity to treat her like a six-year-old. And Maeve! Slater couldn't believe that her beloved little sister had agreed to be part of her punishment.

She took out her phone, seeing that there was a message from Kiara asking if everything was okay with her parents. Slater replied back that she was grounded, and asked her to tell the others. She slammed the phone down on her side table before pressing her face into her sheets and falling asleep.

----------

Slater woke up the following morning to a knock on her door.

"Go away," she mumbled.

"It's me," Maeve called out from the other side.

Slater groaned. "Go away, traitor."

"Slater, please," Maeve said, and Slater could hear the guilt in her voice. "Let me in."

She sighed and stood up, unlocking the door and letting her sister in. "What do you want, traitor?"

"Stop calling me traitor," Maeve said, taking a seat on her sister's bed.

"Well, what else should I call you? Do you prefer Brutus? Judas?" Slater asked, sitting down beside the girl.

"I prefer Maeve, actually," Maeve replied. "I just wanted to apologize. I didn't want to be a part of your punishment, but Mom and Dad found out about me trespassing on the private beach to go surfing, so they worked out a lesser sentence for me."

Slater laughed and rolled her eyes. "Lesser sentence," she repeated. "God, is this what all children of cops go through?"

"I don't know," Maeve replied, laying back on her sister's bed. "But it sucks, and I'm sorry. I like Kiara and her friends."

"Me too," Slater replied before smiling at her sister. "Well, look at it this way. At least we'll get to spend some time together at home."

"Yeah," Maeve smiled.

There was a loud knock on Slater's window, causing both girls to jump.

"What is that?" Maeve said, a horrified look on her face as she glanced at the window. "Should we call Dad?"

Slater walked over to the window and peaked behind the curtain. Her face furrowed in confusion as she recognized the person on the other side. "No, don't call Dad. Not yet, anyways," she said, prying the window open. "JJ?"

"Hey, prisoner," JJ said, smirking. "Care for a jailbreak?"

"You're here to break me out of my house?" Slater asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why?"

"Figured I owe you, after the other day," he said. "Can I please get off of your roof? We don't need your neighbors calling your dad. I'd rather not get shot today."

"Yeah, come in, I guess," Slater said, backing away so JJ could crawl in. She looked back at Maeve, who was watching the boy with wide eyes.

"Hey," JJ said, nodding at her younger sister. "Maeve, right?"

Maeve nodded. "JJ, right? Also known as the drunk we picked up on the side of the road?"

JJ grinned. "That's me."

"Maeve, please don't tell Mom and Dad," Slater said, turning towards her sister.

"I'm no traitor," Maeve said, smirking as she stood and left the room.

JJ turned to Slater with a grin. "She's a G."

"Don't talk about my sister, JJ," Slater said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why are you at my house?"

"I told you, I came to break you out of jail," he said, leaning against her bookshelf. "Don't take this as an act of kindness. I'm just repaying you for collecting my drunk ass the other night. Now come on, get ready. Pope and Kie are waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Slater replied as she dug through her closet for something to wear.

"For you, so we can go do something. John B's got something going on, so the rest of us are hanging out," JJ said.

"Wow," Slater said as she picked out a white sundress. "I'm surprised you even wanted to include me."

"Like I said, I owe you," JJ said.

Slater laughed and disappeared into the bathroom, where she got dressed and braided her hair back. She spritzed on a bit of perfume before returning to her room, where she found JJ digging through her bookshelf.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she asked.

"You have a lot of books," he said.

"Yeah, I like to read," she said, grabbing her backpack and slipping on her sandals. "Ready?"

JJ nodded and opened up her window, ready to slip out again.

"My parents are gone, JJ. We can use the front door," she said, though it would have brought her a lot of joy to see him struggle through the window again.

They headed downstairs after saying a quick goodbye to Maeve.

"You smell like flowers," JJ commented as they walked down the driveway.

"So you told me the other night," Slater said, rolling her eyes. "It's perfume, JJ. Look into it."

"I'm good," JJ replied.

"How far away did you park?" Slater asked.

"Down the road. Didn't want anyone getting suspicious," he said, pointing down the street to his motorcycle.

Slater stopped immediately and shook her head. "No way in hell am I getting on that thing."

JJ laughed. "You are, unless you want to walk all the way to Pope's house."

"I'm not getting on that thing," Slater repeated, shaking her head furiously. "It's a death trap."

"It's not a death trap if you drive it correctly," JJ replied as he hopped onto the motorcycle. "Which I will." He patted the back of the bike, then offered her his hand. "Come on Slater. Don't you trust me?"

"Not in the slightest," Slater retorted as she begrudgingly took JJ's hand and hopped on behind him.

"Hold on to me," JJ instructed, placing his hands on the bike. "And hold on tight."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Slater muttered, wrapping her arms around JJ's waist. The last thing she wanted was to fall off the stupid thing.

"Okay, ready?" JJ asked, looking back at Slater with a grin.

"No," she replied, squeezing him even tighter.

"Right then," he said before taking off.

Slater let out a shrill scream as the bike roared down the street, and she buried her face into JJ's back. His shirt was soft against her face, and he smelled good, much to Slater's surprise. He smelled fresh, like soap and the ocean.

"Are you sure there's not a different means of transportation we could take?" Slater asked.

"With you grounded, the Subaru is out of commission, so I don't think so!" JJ answered.

Slater mumbled a curse as she slowly moved her face away from JJ and looked out.

The wind whistled past them, and she felt a nervous twinge in her stomach. It was like riding a rollercoaster. A smile filled her face and she loosened her death-grip on JJ.

"Finally, I can breathe," he joked. He looked over his shoulder at her, a smile on his face. "Having fun?"

"Maybe," she said, letting a smile slip out.

"Told you," JJ said.

They pulled up to Pope's house and got off the bike. Slater's legs were a bit wobbly from the bike ride, and she was thankful to be on unmoving ground. The motorcycle was fun, but she still preferred her Subaru.

They headed inside, finding Kiara and Pope in the latter's room.

"Hey guys," Kiara said, smiling as she waved at the two. "I can't believe JJ's jailbreak plan worked," she laughed.

"Me either," Slater said, rolling her eyes. "Though next time, maybe you could let a girl know before you go around climbing on her roof."

"Where's the excitement in that?" JJ replied.

"Thanks for including me," Slater said, taking a seat beside Kiara. "You could have just let me rot in my room."

"We wouldn't do that to you, Slater," Pope said, smiling. "Besides, JJ owes you. With the lighter and all."

"Right," Slater said, glancing at JJ. "The lighter."

To be honest, she'd completely forgotten about the lighter. It seemed that JJ didn't want the others knowing about the other night when he'd stayed over, so she wasn't going to say anything.

"So what are we doing today?" Slater asked. It would be nice to hang out with the pogues without having the Royal Merchant search hanging over their heads.

"We were thinking of a beach day," Kiara said. "And don't worry, we have an extra board you can borrow, since JJ didn't think to tell you to bring yours."

"That's okay," Slater said, smiling. "I wouldn't trust my baby on his rope-bike concoction anyways."

"Hey, I'll have you know that is one-hundred-percent well-crafted pogue engineering," JJ said, smirking. "Far better than that board rack on your Subaru."

Slater rolled her eyes and turned to Pope. "So, what was that about some extra boards?"

They grabbed boards from Pope's garage and loaded them onto Kiara's car, then headed for the beach. As she settled in the back seat beside JJ, part of her was glad to not have to ride on the back of his motorcycle again -- but part of her had also enjoyed the ride.

It felt good to have some carefree time with the pogues. Most of the time she'd spent with them had been focused on finding the Royal Merchant. They were finally having the chance to act like kids again. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

hi, i'm so sorry for abandoning this story! i left wattpad for a while, and wasn't sure if i'd even come back, but i did! i was having major writer's block on this story, but then i realized that i hadn't actually published all of the chapters i wrote before my hiatus, so i actually have a bunch of content for this book!

i don't want to post them all at once, so i'll probably spread them out a bit. expect a new chapter, maybe next week?

thanks for reading! what did you think of this chapter? do you think vic and leanore are being too harsh? also, what's going on with jj's jailbreak?

anyway, i love you all, thanks for reading, and please vote and comment if you don't mind. i love to hear from readers!

xx,
madi