KIE GROANED AS THEY SAT IN THE BED OF TRUCK. They had stopped so that they could figure out the plan and everything and so that Pope could look at a map. "My parents are so paranoid of me being a Pogue, like it's the worst thing that could ever happen."

Needless to say, her parents were not particularly thrilled that she was skipping half of the school day, despite the fact that one of those periods was a free one. Bree was not proud of herself either because she was really trying to do well in her new school because it was really the only thing she had going for her, but everything that had happened so far had kept her from doing that.

"Hey, I hear they got good weed at boarding school, though," the Maybank boy told her, trying to look on the bright side of things. He did not even seem upset about the fact that she might leave them for the entire school year and only see them during breaks. Not to mention the fact that she might turn into some pretentious douche that eats finger sandwiches and drinks tea.

Bree nodded in agreement, remembering the time her mom and Sarah's parents made the two girls look at boarding schools and see if they liked any of them better than the Kook Academy. They both knew the answer already, but they humored their parents for a little bit. As much as she hated the other Kooks, being rich was not the worst thing in the world. She never had to worry about having food to eat or a place to sleep like she did now. "Yeah, boarding school kids are surprisingly rebellious."

"I'm not going to boarding school," Kie informed them confidently, waving off their attempts to make her feel better. "They're gonna have to kidnap me, tie me up, and throw me in a van."

"Well, I say...we just crumble some herb right now," the blonde boy suggested, standing up and passing a joint to the Carrera girl who took it gladly. She brought it to her lips immediately and inhaled. The tension in her shoulders released. Then, he sat back down next to the Callaway girl.

Pope seemed a little annoyed at their antics as he looked up at the raven-haired girl. "Hey, Kie, have you tried to hit John B back on that number yet?"

"Like, twenty million times," she answered with a defeated sigh.

JJ flipped his hat back onto his head before putting his arm behind Bree so that his bicep was touching the back of her neck, and his hand fell by her shoulder. She leaned into him a little bit because it just felt natural, and she missed the grin that crossed his face once she did that. "That's quite a few times."

"Some random lady at a hotel keeps answering," she explained, and the brunette girl nodded to confirm. She had tried calling the number multiple times, and some random person picked up. John B had said that he would stay in touch, but he had not. That made all of them really worried, and it proved the fact that no news is worse than bad news. They really needed an update.

"Well, until we hear from them again, we gotta try and clear his name," the Heyward boy told them, subtly suggesting that they stop talking about weed and boarding school and focus on what was really important — clearing John B's name. To do that, they needed to figure out who this Limbrey person was and what evidence they had that could help their friend. "Right now, this letter's our best bet."

The blonde boy smiled slightly, bobbing his head a little aggressively, his chin almost touching his neck. "Right. Stay on task. That's why I love you, Pope?"

"What Pope are you gonna be today?" the Carrera girl questioned, standing up in the bed and making her way over to stand above Pope in just a few steps. She held out her hand, offering him the joint with raised eyebrows.

He stared at it for a second, hesitating and considering it before he shook his head, denying her offer and looking down at his feet. "I'm good. I'm gonna try to focus."

"Good Pope. Boring Pope," she concluded, withdrawing her hand and plopping down on the other side of JJ as she muttered the words. The joint hung in her hands as she rested her arms on her knees.

"I'll take that," JJ told her, reaching his hand that was not around Bree to grab the joint that she handed to him. He smiled, waving it around excitedly as he glanced between the two girls on either side of him. "Um, do tricks now! Roll over, boy!"

Bree giggled and ordered playfully, "Sit."

"Sit," he repeated, looking over to her while Pope turned around and leaned his back on the car, ignoring them as they joked around. He was not in a great mood.

Kie grabbed the joint from him and held it a couple of inches above his head. "Try to catch a fish. Catch a fish." He began barking, and she lowered it to his mouth. None of them could stop laughing, and JJ kept coughing so much that they were scared he was going to choke.

As comfortable as she was being a Kook, it was really great to be a Pogue sometimes.

《✵》

THEY HAD BEEN DRIVING FOR WHAT FELT LIKE FOREVER. Bree had no clue where they were or how much time was left on their trip, but she hated being in the car for too long. She could not voice her concerns because they needed to keep driving if they were going to make it there in time.

"Guys, I've read this thing like a thousand times. It makes no sense. I mean, the Limbreys own, like, half of Charleston." Kie explained to them, looking down at the letter in her hand. "What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?"

JJ nodded along to what she was saying. "Yeah. Why you specifically? That's the other creepy thing. You know?"

"'Please come alone.' That's really weird," the Callaway girl pointed out, leaning toward Kie a little bit so that she could read the note again. Everything about it was suspicious, and Bree was a little skeptical about the whole thing. They were driving down to Charleston because of some random note that was sent by some random person. They could get kidnapped for all they knew, but they had to do what it took to save John B and let him come back to the Outer Banks.

"I was thinking the same thing. I think it's because..." he trailed off and leaned forward, squinting his eyes as the truck made a noise and smoke appeared in front of them. "Oh, come on."

Kie furrowed her eyebrows, fanning the smoke that came through the windows away from her. "What's that? Pull over. That's a lot of smoke, even for your dad's truck."

"Pope, I got sensitive lungs, man!" the Maybank boy exclaimed, coughing as he rolled up the window using the crank. It was an old and beaten down car.

They were going really fast, and the brunette girl crashed into him as she shouted, "Pope, slow down! Pull over!"

"I'm pulling over!" he yelled back, and they all kept arguing and ordering him around until finally, they slowed to a stop on the side of the road. He laughed in disbelief because the smoke was about to surround the entire car because there was so much of it.

Kie cursed, "Shit!"

"No, no, no, no," Pope muttered as they all began to climb out of the car, and he ran over to inspect it.

The Carrera girl was pulled out by the other girl when she was not moving and just yelling, "It's gonna blow up."

"It's not gonna blow up," JJ assured her. Then, he ran over to where the hubcap fell off the tire a few yards back. "You probably unhooked the radiator, Pope. I haven't seen this before. You knocked the entire hubcap off! Whoo! You might wanna reschedule your meeting tonight, Pope."

"Plan B? We could, um...public transportation. We could hitchhike. We could rent bikes," Kie suggested, counting the things she said on her fingers as she listed them.

The blonde boy made his way back and stood beside the brunette girl that had popped the hood of the truck and was now inspecting the engine. She was far from an expert on cars, but she knew a little bit from stuff she had picked up over the years and researching about her motorcycle. She informed the Heyward boy behind her, "Yeah, it's the radiator."

"My dad's gonna kill me," he mumbled under his breath, staring at the scene in shock and slight fear. So, not only did they not have a way to Charleston and back home, he was also going to get murdered by his father if they ever got back for breaking the truck.

"Yeah, he might," JJ responded, turning around to look at him after checking the car with Bree. His handkerchief was in his hand because he had been using it so that he did not get burned. "He might." The Callaway girl looked between all of them, specifically the ones that had to be home.

"Yeah, I think we can forget about getting home at a reasonable hour."