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"Hey. We gotta go to school, man." Pope says as he hits John B with a can, "We have a geometry test in 30 minutes."

John B groans as Estrella exits the bathroom. She passes by Kie in the kitchen, "There's nothing in there, Kie. Trust me."

The girl sighs as Pope slaps JJ, "Get up! JJ! Is he alive?"

"I don't know." John B mutters

"JJ. Get your shoes." Pope tries

"Jay. Up." Estrella says as she grabs her bag. The boy's eyes were barely open as he sits up.

"What are you doing today?" John B asks Kie as he walks past her. Her brows furrow as he walks in the kitchen.

"Hey, Kie." Pope says before grabbing John B, "We're going this way."

"Um... I will meet up with you guys later."

"I'm starving. I need some pizza." JJ mumbles

"Let's go." Estrella says standing by the door, "You're driving, Pope."

"No, you missed breakfast." He says as JJ reaches for a piece of pizza.

"Okay. I got it. I got it!" JJ exclaims before biting his pizza as Pope pushes him out the door.

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As Pope comes to a stop in the parking lot, Estrella can feel something hit the back of her seat. She turns to find JJ smushed up against the back of her seat. His eyes still shut. She looks up toward Pope who shrugs as he exits the car. She shakes her head before grabbing her bag and exiting the car.

"Come on." Pope says as the bell rings, "Let's go. Up and at 'em, boys."

Estrella yanks the back door open as Pope rounds the car. John B exits first climbing over JJ. Estrella reaches down and shakes his shoulder roughly, "Come on, Jay."

JJ opens his eyes slowly before immediately closing them. His hand slapping over his eyes as he turns away. Estrella steps over to block the sun from shining down on him.

"Come on, Jay." She repeats with a small smile

JJ sluggishly sits up as Estrella grabs his backpack. He stands up and turns to her as she hands his bag to him. He takes it from her before she turns and reaches into the car again. He throws his bag over his shoulder as she turns to him. She grabs his hand and places a pair of his glasses that had been tossed into the back. She gently pushes him aside to yank the door closed again.

"Let's go."

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"Glad you could join us." The teacher says as she walks down the aisle toward John B

"It's good to be back."

"Just in time for your first quiz." She says handing him his paper as she walks into the next aisle. John B and JJ turn to Pope and Estrella wide eyed.

"A test?"

"I told you we had a test." Pope whispers back. Estrella chuckles as JJ's eyes narrow.

"No, you didn't."

"The first thing I said to you-"

"Psst. John B." A girl interrupts as she passes a note to John B. Estrella turns back in her seat as the teacher makes her way back to the front of the class.

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JJ reads over the note that was handed to John B as the four teens make their way up the stairs.

"Bonfire? Well, I think she meant to give it to me, so we're all good there. We're going." JJ says. Estrella rolls her eyes as Mr. Sunn stands by the door.

"Mr. Heyward, Mr. Routledge, Ms. Cruz, Mr. Maybank, just the men, and woman,  I wanted to see."

"Wish I could say the same." JJ says as Mr. Sunn places his hands on his shoulders

"I have a question of an historical nature for you kids." He says leading them to his class, "I digitize documents for the Maritime Museum, and in return, I've been given access to the archives. And I found... this."

The teens watch as he opens his closet and pulls out a box. Pope frowns, "A box."

"More than a box." He says walking to his desk

"That's a good start." Pope mutters as Mr. Sunn opens the box

"Go ahead, Mr. Heyward." Mr. Sunn says. Pope pulls out some documents.

"Uh... careful with that." John B says as the other teens gather around Pope

"Whoa."

"It's a diary." Mr. Sunn says, "The author's unknown."

"Whoa." John B mutters as Pope opens the book. The pages were tattered and torn. Mr. Sunn steps between JJ and Estrella to place more documents on the desk.

"And this is a sample of a Denmark Tanny letter. Compare the handwriting."

John B takes the paper, "No way."

"It's nearly identical."

"This is Denmark Tanny's diary." Pope mutters before flipping the page and pointing to a drawing, "Guys, it's Captain Limbrey."

As Pope steps back and sits on a desk, Estrella stands beside him to look over his shoulder. He begins reading the diary, "August 6th, 1829.

"That's the year the Royal Merchant went down." John B says

"I thought you might find it interesting." Mr. Sunn says

"Thank you so much for this." Pope says

"It's important to know your own history." Mr. Sunn says before walking away. Pope's eyes follow him before looking back down at the book.

"Oh my God. It's the Cross of Santo Domingo."

JJ and John B gather around the two. Estrella's eyes jump around the page, "Holy shit."

"It was on the Royal Merchant." Pope says looking toward John B.

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School had ended a little while ago and now the teens were gathered on the Chateau porch listening to Pope read the diary.

"Guys, this is from Denmark's diary." He says, "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 about only one thing, his valuable cargo, the Cross of Santo Domingo and countless bars of gold. 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."

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

"And it was a Limbrey stealing shit again." Kie snaps looking toward Charlotte. The blonde sheepishly looks down.

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

"Why didn't we find it in the well then?" JJ asks as he sits up, "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." Estrells shrugs

"You're right." Pope nods, "He had to hide it someplace else."

"But where?" Kie says

"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." JJ says

"Right. So what's the connection?" Estrella asks

"The path to the tomb begins in the island room." Pope says holding up the key

"But what is the island room?" Kie asks as she throws her head back

"You know what helps me figure shit out?" JJ says standing up

"Oh boy. Here we go." John B sighs

"Smoking beers and drinking weed." JJ nods. Charlotte turns to Estrella confused, but the girl just holds her hand up shaking her head, "The ideas just pour out of me. If we just sit here and try to figure this out, we're gonna get nowhere. But if we get creative and go to this bonfire tonight, maybe we get somewhere."

"Well, I just got disowned by my parents, and I'm an official member of the I-have-nothing-to-lose club." Kie smirks

"Not something to brag about, Kie." Estrella sighs to herself

"Pope?" JJ asks

"We're so close."

"Look, look, think about how much you could think if you just gave your brain a rest." JJ says with raised brows. The teens wait in anticipation as Pope looks around at them.

"Okay, fine." He sighs

"Okay, great!"

"Okay, wait. We gotta shotgun before we go." JJ says as the teens begin to disperse. He stops as he notices Estrella hasn't moved, "Come on, Estrella. Need my shotgun partner."

Estrella rubs her hands on her jeans as Charlotte excuses herself, "I actually think I'm gonna stay back. There's too much going on."

"What? No." He says sitting beside her, "I know there's a shit ton going on, but just like I told Pope. You'll think better if you give yourself a rest."

"All I do is think, JJ. I'm gonna be thinking about how I'm not supposed to be thinking." She sighs, "And truthfully, the last thing I wanna do right now is go to a party when I'm homeless. I'm not like Kie, I can't just push that shit to the side when it's my reality."

JJ looks her over before adjusting his seating to catch her eyes, "I get it. I know it's shitty, but you're a teenager. You deserve to have fun. John B isn't gonna kick you out anytime soon and even if he did, Pope and I wouldn't let you be out on the street."

Estrella sighs as he stands up in front of her, "Come on, Star."

A smile uncontrollably takes over her face as she takes his hand. JJ smiles wide as he pulls her up and walks toward the door.

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