CHAPTER FOUR: MY APOLOGIES, PRINCESS

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i woke up the following morning, not initially remembering what went down. it wasn't until i noticed the mop of blonde hair that belonged to the boy holding me that i remembered everything that happened the previous night. never in my life did i suffer an episode that bad. maybe medication or therapy was a logical answer, but that is the opposite of what i'd ever do.

"hi," i heard jj's voice in my ear.

"hey," i rubbed my eyes, "i don't even know how to apologize for everything. you were looking out for john b, and the only way to get through to topper is what you did," i sputtered.

"hey, hey, hey, baby. shhhh," jj put his finger over my mouth gently.

"what did it look like last night, the episode? i was so incoherent, and i just remember you carrying me home. and it wasn't because i was drunk," i chuckled, thinking of all the times jj would look out for me when i got trashed, which was quite often.

"elsie, it was scary. it was like, you were there and conscious right? but i couldn't get through to you. nobody could," jj opened up to me, "i've never seen you like that, and to know i caused it just made me feel like shit."

"how about we both just forget it happened all together?" i asked seriously.

"i will, but the other pogues might not," jj stated, "on another note, why don't we keep this on the down-low for a bit?"

"that's shocking," i said a bit bitterly. he always was so daring, but he didn't want to admit to the other pogues that there was a spark between the two of us.

"let's just allow things to settle down a bit. when they do, we can accompany one another to midsummers," he hesitated, seeming like he was serious at the beginning, but he was kidding about the stupid kook party.

"jj, you know i'd do anything if it meant not going with kie to midsummers for another year in a row," i rolled my eyes just thinking about that goddamn kook event i somehow always got dragged into.

"does that include fucking me?" jj blurted, unable to hold the thought back. back to his normal self, thank god. it wasn't like jj to be all sensitive with me. maybe that's what it's like having a thing with him?

"jj-" i started.

"my apologies angel," he rubbed his forehead, "it's just challenging keeping it in my pants when you look like, that hot."

"you don't have to try and talk up my body every five seconds, dude," i got out of my bed and began to gather some things together to head over to john b's.

"it baffles me that you think i'm screwing with you. damn," he sat up, and his eyes followed my every move, like there was a magnet connecting the two.

"let's get ready to go to john b's," i ignored what he said entirely.

"whatever the lady wants," jj raised his hands in defeat, realizing that i turned my vulnerable switch off. back to normal elsie. the insensitive one that's tough, drinks, and smokes. mentally, i made a note to never go back to emotional elsie. i came to the conclusion that the entire scenario happened due to the fact that i was sober; alcohol and drugs save everything. i wasn't going to admit that to anybody though.

-

-

"we're here," i announced gleefully, seeing the fellow three pogues doing not much of anything.

"elsie..." kie began.

"shh, shh, shh. i'm allll good. sober elsie equals sad. you'll never see that bitch again," i fabricated an entire lie.

"jj, did you stay over elsie's last night?" pope raised an eyebrow at us.

"yes, her couch is mediocre though. i'd say 6/10," he shrugged. i noticed john b eyeing him oddly.

"seriously guys? do we need to hire lawyers or something? i feel like i'm on true crime," i added levity to the situation.

"sorry," pope mumbled.

"look, i'm callin' it off. all right? peterkin said, if i stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with the dcs," john b declared.

"and you believed her?" jj wondered.

"yes, i believe her," john b answered.

"an actual cop, john b. you believed a cop," jj scoffed.

"all i gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a few days, and she'll help me out. it doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting the gun," john b threw a branch.

"you were drowning," i chimed in, "maybe it wasn't the most logical thing to do, but it got the job done. nobody else was gonna do anything about it."

"yeah, and you looked like you should've ended up in a psych ward," he fumed.

"john b, cut it out," kie stood up. jj put a comforting arm around me, which i didn't really need, but i didn't mind him doing so. 

"you know what i should've done? just let topper drown your ass," jj continued to throw rocks into the yard.

"topper was gonna drown me?" john b looked at the two of us with an aggravated expression.

"sure looked like it," i nodded.

"funny," john b replied.

"i mean, have you looked in a mirror?" jj stood up and started to walk towards him.

"tell me some more, come on."

"they always win, don't they man? kooks vs. pogues, they always, always win! goddamn," jj began to get riled up.

"look, it's okay!" kie attempted to calm the two down.

"no, it's not okay! it is not! they don't want us to go down to the marsh. that means there's something valuable down there, and you know it. i know you do. and i understand why you don't wanna go. you're the golden boy. you got too much at risk. and you, i mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. why would you bother? but the three of us, man, we got nothing to lose! we really don't, alright?" jj motioned towards john b and i, "and i know it didn't use to be that way for you."

"i don't wanna talk about this. i don't wanna talk about it," john b muttered, standing up and beginning to walk away.

"so that's it?"

"just get out of my way bro."

"john b, listen to me, i have a plan."

he paused as jj walked up to him. he explained the plan. get some scuba gear from ward's boat, and go back down there. and john b listened. easy as that.

-

-

"this is empty," kie noted, "you took empty tanks? okay this one's a quarter full. it's enough for one of us."

"love it when a plan comes together," pope said.

"does anybody know how to dive?"

"uh, it's kind of a kook sport," jj mentioned.

"i read about it."

"great, pope read about it, so someone's gonna die," kie uttered sarcastically.

"look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. how hard can it be?" jj asked.

"yeah seriously, if y'all are pussies or something, i'll do it," i volunteered.

"wasn't referring to you, princess," he winked at me as secretly as possible.

"if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends," pope educated us.

"bends, like bend over and-" jj bent over as i cracked up at his foolishness.

"the bends kill you."

i'm sure this is a surprise; it was decided john b was going to dive. our savior.

"zen, think zen, you know?" jj breathed heavily.

"yeah, got it," john b clarified.

"hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed so, better get a move on," pope stated.

"copy that." then, kie did something strange. she went up to john b, and kissed him on the cheek, in front of all of us. "diver down?"

"diver down," kiara repeated. pope, jj, and i all looked at each other with bewilderment. what was that kiss for? was it really necessary? perhaps jj and i could sneak a lil makeout sesh and it wouldn't be a big deal.

just moments later, the fucking police showed up. great. "just act fricken normal," kie adjusted herself.

"evening officers."

"evening."

"here, jj, tie this off," pope said to him.

"how you kids doin? you know the marsh is closed?" officer shoupe noted.

"no."

"no, wow, i didn't know that."

"why so?" i asked, pretending to be unaware.

"well, we're conducting a search out here. boat went down. seen anything?" he continued.

"no boats, no," pope shook his head. quite ironic actually. we were right above the one they had been searching for.

"where's your friend you always hang out with? he here?" the sheriff poked at us.

"he's working," kie came up with a quick excuse.

"i'm gonna check your lil boat out," the officer said to all of us.

"she might be little, but she's a beaut," i admitted. jj nudged me in the side, silently telling me to quit while i was ahead. "sorry," i mouthed to him. he just tried to keep a straight face, but i could see the glimmer in his eyes.

"hop aboard, you wanna check her out."

the two officers spent a few minutes looking around and doing whatever it is that they do. i was almost certain they saw john b, but apparently not.

"he's definitely out of air," pope observed the water, not seeing john b anywhere.

"there he is!" jj exclaimed, seeing john b finally emerge from the water, "oh god, jesus christ. don't scare us like that! how'd it go down there? did you find anything?"

"did i find anything?" john b smiled widely, throwing a bag onto the hms pogue.

"yeah, there we go! that's my boy!" jj grabbed it happily.

"jeez dude," pope added.

kie looked at john b, who was now getting back into the boat, "you okay?"

"yeah, i ran out of air."

"you scared the shit out of me," she revealed.

"yeah, the cops were here, but uh, took care of em," pope told john b.

"my bad."

"you're all good."

"yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother," jj commented.

"hey guys? guys, bogey 2 o' clock," kie spoke over us.

"do you recognize that boat?" pope inquired.

"i've never seen it. what are they doing here, the marsh is closed," kie wondered.

"i don't know. but let's not stick around and find out," jj determined and we all agreed.

"should we wait on em or not?" pope turned to all of us. that was a dumb question. we all got the shit ready to ride away. these people looked sketchy.

"guys, don't wait for me, go!" jj yelled.

"go!" kie agreed.

"pull out the stern," pope instructed.

"i don't like the look of this," john b said to all of us.

"are they coming for us?" jj grumbled.

"maybe they're fishing?" pope suggested.

"bullshit," i doubted.

"go,go,go! go into the marsh!" jj cautioned.

"let's go!"

"i'm going, act natural," john b continued to drive the boat. we sped up a bit, but before we knew it, the two men were following us.

"you've gotta be shitting me," i gulped.

"hey guys, they're following us."

"this can't be good, shit."

"dude, you gotta go faster," jj urged john b. we needed to lose them.

"i'm going, i'm going," john b responded.

"gun it!"

we continued to drive through the marsh in hopes of losing the men that wouldn't leave us alone. suddenly, we heard gunshots coming at us.

"what the.."

"holy shit!" kie shouted.

"oh my god," i ducked immediately. jj was right next to me, and he seemed nervous.

"come here," he whispered. he took his hands and covered them over my ears so that i wouldn't hear any more of the shots. it helped a decent amount, but i still heard the noise slightly, and i shuddered every time. if i knew today would result in us getting shot at, i would've prepped myself with something to numb me. i noticed kiara standing up. she threw something into the water, which resulted in the other boat stopping. thank god. the five of us stood up, finally losing the guys that had been trailing behind.

"you alright gorgeous?" jj whispered to me, moving his hands from my ears. i nodded. i actually was okay. i was shaking a bit, but nothing too bad. "good."

-

-

"what do you guys think it is?" kie asked. we were about to open the bag john b discovered in the wreck.

"gotta be money, right?" john b looked up at the four of us.

"that or a couple of keys with street value to the low-to-mid malls!" jj grinned.

"can we please just open the bag?" pope barked, a sudden shift in tone.

"wow pope. that's a rare outburst of emotion," john b stopped for a second.

"okay, you guys are literally killing me with anticipation. open the bag," pope explained himself.

"jeez."

"we almost died over this."

inside of the bag was a metal canister. i was certain there'd be a wad of cash in there. but no, a fucking compass.

"oh wow, yup, that's about right. good job everybody, we found a compass," pope looked away.

"was getting shot at worth it? for that hunk of metal? or is it plastic?" i criticized.

jj took notice to john b's lingering eyes on it. "dude, what? it's not worth anything."

"this was my father's," was his response.

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