CHAPTER NINE: GIVE ME A BEER!

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"what's this right here?" jj asked, attempting to touch a button on the monitor, only to be slapped away by pope. we collectively decided that testing out the drone was the logical way to go. john b and kie were in the water as we navigated the drone around. i sat back and observed, a beer in my hand.

"don't touch that. i'm trying to work out this thing," pope retorted.

"cmon jj, leave pope to the technicality of this shit," i pushed my sunglasses onto my head.

"god bless geeks, pope. truly, man. what would we do without you to control the drones?" jj took his eyes off of the screen and looked out into the water.

"technically, it's not a drone. it's an rov," he stated.

"shut up, shut up. it's too early for that right now. and it's too early for a beer, elsie," he turned to look at me as he snatched the beer out of my hands.

"asshole," i snickered.

"hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim," john b poked his head out of the water.

"it's such bullshit. why do we have to do that?"

"well, there is a maritime salvage law. you can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up," pope explained.

"i know, i know. it's just, lawyers aren't cheap bro," jj threw a pebble into the water.

"we won't need to worry about how much a lawyer costs once we're sitting on gold! 400 mil, that's right baby!" i stood up and tried to lighten the mood.

"elsie, you're missing the point," pope rolled his eyes as i scoffed.

"well, as soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp," john b considered.

kie looked at john b who was spitting out all these facts, "how do you know all of that?"

"cause my dad said it, like a million times," he answered simply.

"yeah, that's fair."

"this tether is like, really long. in the wrong weather, it could get pushed around," pope analyzed.

"then we'll go at dead calm," john b attempted to compromise, just as thunder rumbled in the distance.

"at slack tide?" kie climbed out of the water.

"so now, we just gotta wait for the right weather. and today is not that day," we all looked up at the sky, that was giving signs a storm approaching.

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"you kids these groceries over to figure eight," pope's dad said, handing us bags to load into the boat. i decided to accompany jj and pope on the shenanigans for the simple fact that i had nowhere better to be. "get straight back here when you're done. no fishin'. i promised delivery by this afternoon. and elsie, please keep these boys in check," he added as i nodded understandingly.

"yes, sir," i gave a friendly smile, taking the last of the groceries out of heyward's hands.

"it doesn't even look like the storm hit there," pope said as we all looked over at the rich homes on figure eight.

"that's because they got generators, bro. get used to it. and then they say the juice will be out all summer at the cut," jj, who was sitting across from me, responded. we didn't want to be all romantic in front of pope because we didn't want to make our best friend uncomfortable. besides, he was the one keeping our thing a secret.

"it's nice to be a kook," pope sighed as we all nodded in agreement.

"lucky bastards."

"i need one of you to help me with these," pope began to gather some of the bags when we reached our stop.

"i'll go," i volunteered, grabbing the remaining three bags that pope hadn't picked up. the two of us walked through the sand, "hate to admit it pope, but this place looks like luxury, even after agatha."

"tell me about it," pope groaned.

"hey, what's up guys?" we heard a voice coming near us. rafe. this bitch. "hey, how much for one of those beers?"

"they're not for sale," pope muttered, stepping back from rafe and his golf club.

"oh, wait, wait, wait. you can just give us one then, right?" rafe tried to reason.

"if you bought one, then yes. but these are for someone else," i clarified, not scared of either of them. they were just privileged kooks.

"listen. wait, wait, wait. you two aren't listening to me. um, you've got so many bro, and we've got nothing," he persisted.

"rafe, just buy your own. we'll gladly deliver it to you. you can surely afford it, can't you?" i smirked angrily, not the least bit intimidated.

"they aren't even ours. they're already paid for."

"already paid for? what the hell? you probably stole em, right?" rafe looked in the bag, and then hit it with his golf club, making everything fall out and break.

"what the hell! you owe me for that!" pope's voice raised. but rafe took the golf club again and clubbed the remainder of the goods from his hands.

"dude, i don't owe you shit, pogue," rafe said, coming closer before pope forcefully pushed him away.

"we just want one of these beers! just give us one of these beers!" topper begged in a slightly less menacing tone.

"what the fuck, topper!" i yelled as him and pope started fighting over the last case of beer.

"give us a beer man!"

"leave him alone!" i carefully placed the items in my hand on the ground and stomped up to topper. before i reached him, rafe grabbed my waist from behind. topper pushed pope onto the ground, causing him to roll down the small hill. rafe kept a harsh grasp on me, pulling me back from the situation.

"you're not going anywhere, princess," he whispered into my ear. i used my feet to try and stomp on his feet, but he wouldn't budge. his hands traveled up from my waist to my chest as he started to feel all different parts of my body.

"rafe, stop," i kept as calm of a tone as i could, considering the situation. i wasn't scared of rafe. he was a loser.

"no, no, shhh," he stroked my hair as he started leaving harsh kisses down my neck, slightly biting.

pope got up from the ground and went to throw a punch at topper. rafe let go of my now trembling body and hit pope with the golf club multiple times. i ran up at fast as i could and punched rafe in the back of the head as hard as possible. topper grabbed me and i struggled to get free from his grasp.

"don't mess with him, elsie," topper said lowly into my ear. was he.. trying to help me?

we don't want you here," rafe stooped down to a barely conscious pope, "got that?" i finally got free of topper's hold and swiftly grabbed rafe's golf club, which he left behind him on the ground. i took my hardest swing, and hit him in the head, making him fall back.

"no, rafe. you leave US alone. okay? i'm not scared of you, no matter what y-your sick mind does to me," i held the golf club over him again threateningly as he nodded.

"let's go," topper badgered rafe, helping him get up. just as the two kooks were about to leave, rafe tripped me, causing me to fall into the sand next to pope. my ankle twisted as i heard it snap. i yelped in pain, but tried to shield it so the kooks wouldn't get that satisfaction.

"classy," i scoffed and spat at rafe's feet, causing him to look back at me.

"leave em be, let's go," topper patted rafe's back, leaving the two of us in the sand.

"pope, you're bleeding, we've gotta go," i lightly tapped his cheek as he sat up.

"let's not tell jj," he looked me in the eye, full of seriousness.

"i agree," i gave a weak smile, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. i stood up and fumbled on my bum foot.

"elsie, can you walk?" he asked me, concerned.

"yeah, it's fine. let's not tell anybody about this," i groaned at the sharp pain as i limped.

the two of us returned to the boat and waited for jj, who must've went somewhere real quick. we both sat in silence, unsure of what to talk about after the encounter.

"pope! elsie!" we heard jj enthusiastically running towards us. you are not going to believe what just happened to me man! whoo, that was the best 100 bucks i've ever made! when i say count me in on all of these grocery deliveries, i mean it," he hopped on the boat happily as the two of us sat in silence. he took immediate notice to me, and his expression changed drastically.

"elsie, what's that?" he lightly touched my neck as i flinched at his touch. i shifted around to look in a small mirror on the boat, only to see bruises going down my neck.

"i-" i started, but then remembered how pope and i decided to keep it a secret. my hands began trembling again, remembering rafe's hands on me and the blood that filled up pope's mouth.

"elsie, what happened?" pope looked surprised. i then remembered that pope was busy that he didn't even see what happened with rafe and i. it was hard to find the words, but then jj's attention turned to pope.

"yo, what happened to your face, dude?" jj stood up, alarmed. he took off pope's hat to reveal the big mark that rafe made.

"rafe and topper happened," i spoke out, earning both of the boys to look at me.

"what happened to you?" jj rested his hands on my knees, his bright blue eyes meeting mine.

"when topper was hitting pope with the golf club, i tried to help him. but rafe grabbed me, and he-"

"he what, elsie?" pope rested his hand on my shoulder.

"he t-touched me," i put my head down, ashamed, "and then he was grabbing me and kissing me and all this filthy shit. i tried getting away to help pope, i did. i couldn't though, he was too strong," i admitted as the both of them looked at each other, baffled.

"where did he touch you, elsie?" jj questioned as his teeth gritted. i pointed to all of the places i remembered rafe touching me as i kept back tears, and my hands continued to shake.

"i'm sorry pope, i tried helping you. i couldn't get to you though," my fists clenched as jj slammed his fists against the counter.

"but you did elsie. you clubbed rafe in the head and scared the living shit out of him. god, i thought it was just your foot," pope tried hyping me up before letting the last statement slip.

"pope-"

"your foot? are you fucking serious? can you get up and walk for me?" jj's looked at me again. i stood up and wobbled, cringing at the pain.

"yeah, that's gonna need to get checked out," pope laid his head back.

"i'm gonna fucking kill them!" jj shouted before hugging me tightly, "i'm sorry. i'm so sorry i wasn't there for you two."

"pope, are you okay?" i changed the topic instantly, "they got some good swings on you."

"elsie, i'm fine. you gotta stop worryin' about everyone else all the time," he blurted.

"okay, but it isn't all about me. they came after you first," i didn't drop the topic.

"yeah, but you wouldn't have gotten yourself into the situation if you didn't try to help me."

"pope, i'm not just gonna stand there and watch those privileged kooks push my friends around! they act like they're so much better than us, when it's just their parents that have provided a good life for them. them, on their own, are dirtbags. they're teenagers, just like us. i'm not scared of them, you hear me? i'm not scared of those goddamn kooks that hide behind money, and golf, and elegant parties, and drugs, and their parents, and lawyers!" i raged, finally letting my hatred out towards them.

pope and jj just sat in silence. they had nothing to say, nothing to disagree with; i was right.

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{2081 words}

ally <3