"YOU BOYS GET THESE GROCERIES OVER TO FIGURE EIGHT." Heyward told JJ and Pope as they loaded bags onto a boat. Bree was sitting in the driver's seat with her feet propped up on the side of the vehicle. She had decided to tag along with their deliveries since she had nothing better to do. "Get straight back here when you're done. No fishin'. I promised delivery by this afternoon."

Pope grabbed the bags from his dad, and he turned around to grab some more. JJ had his arms outstretched, ready to take them off his hands. "Rich folks don't wanna wait for you lazy sons of...Oh, JJ, thank you...sons of bitches."

Pope nodded. "Right."

"And who is this fine young lady?" questioned Heyward, looking at the brunette girl like he had just noticed her. She looked familiar to him, but he definitely hadn't seen her with his son and his friends before.

JJ pulled her to him and threw an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder with a smile. "This is Bree Callaway, our resident Kook friend."

"Oh, excuse me for my profanity earlier," he apologized politely before asking, "May I ask why you hang out with these idiots?"

"I've been asking myself that a lot recently, Mr. Heyward," she responded, and JJ shot her a playfully offended look.

Heyward laughed before looking to his son. "I like her."

"Doesn't even look like the storm hit there," Pope pointed out once they were on their way. He was looking at the perfectly in tact houses on Figure Eight. He looked to Bree, "Do you guys have magic or something?"

"No, 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 answered for her.

Bree shot him a glare before nodding at Pope. "Yes, we have the highest rate of evil witches and wizards of the entire country. It's crazy."

"It's nice to be a Kook," the Heyward boy sighed. The brunette girl wanted to say that he wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but she kept her mouth shut.

JJ nodded. "Lucky bastards."

Bree had decided to go with Pope for his deliveries since he had more bags to carry, and she could help out. They made small talk for a bit until she caught sight of a pretty flower and paused. He walked ahead as she tried to pick it with her arms full of bags.

"Hey, what's up, man? Hey, how much for one of those beers?" she heard a voice question. Her eyes widened because she knew the voice, and it could only mean bad things.

Rafe.

She forgot about the flower and rushed down the path that Pope had just went down just in time for him to reply, "They're not for sale."

"Shit," she whispered. She hadn't realized that this route led them past the golf courses where Rafe and Topper no doubt would be. The Cameron boy had his golf club in his hand and was using it to press on the case of beers in Pope's arms. Topper trailed behind him like a lost puppy.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait," Rafe said, stopping the Heyward boy when he tried to push past him. "You can just give us one, then, right?"

The brunette girl decided now was her time to step forward out of the shadows. "Or you can order one, like everybody else."

"Bree?" he breathed out in shock, his eyes widening. He looked between her and Pope before scoffing. "Is this the 'friend' you were helping out the other day? This dirty Pogue?"

"Don't be an asshole," she spat out, and she moved to stand beside the Heyward boy. They tried to leave, but Rafe grabbed him again.

"Listen. Wait, wait, wait, You're not listening to me. Um..." he told them, now addressing Pope like she wasn't there and referring to the beers. "You've got so many, bro, and we've got nothing."

"Got nothin', man," Topper added.

Bree glared at them as Pope informed them. "They're not mine. They're already paid for, okay?"

"Already paid for?" the older boy questioned before peeking through the bag in his hand as he pulled it away. "What the hell? You probably stole 'em, right?"

"Rafe, just let us go, okay?" the Callaway girl told him, causing his eyes to flicker over to her. In response, he just hooked his golf club into the bag and ripped it open, and all of the contents fell onto the ground, some breaking. 

Pope gaped at him. "What the hell? You owe me for that!" Rafe just hit the other bag before spinning around and hitting the one that Bree was holding, almost knicking her hand with the club.

"Dude, I don't owe you shit, Pogue," he said angrily.

The Heyward boy pushed him angrily before spinning around and doing the same to Topper. "Buy your own shit!"

"We just want one of these beers!" the Thornton boy told him, and he started to wrestle the case away from him. "Just give us one of these—"

The Cameron boy behind them tried to move toward them with his club, but Bree stepped in front of him. "Don't even fucking try. What the fuck is wrong with you?"Topper throwing Pope to the ground threw her attention away from her boyfriend. He rolled in the sand and clutched his head, and the brunette girl could see blood. "Oh, my God. Pope, are you okay?"

"Shit, my bad, man," the blonde boy apologized, but they all knew he didn't mean it.

Pope climbed to his feet, and he was about to ram into the Thornton when Rafe hit him in the stomach with his golf club. When the Heyward boy curled over, he hit him repeatedly in the back. Bree screamed, "Rafe, stop!"

"Hey! Rafe, Rafe, come on, man!" Topper said, and when the Callaway girl tried to run in and break up the fight, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground so that she didn't get hurt.

"Let go of me, Topper!" she ordered, kicking and flailing but to no avail. "Let go of me! He's gonna kill him!"

Finally, she was able to get free, and she rushed to the two as Pope fell to the ground. Rafe lifted to club up again, but as he did, he hit her straight in the eye. She cried out in pain, and her hand flew to her face.

"Shit," the Cameron boy muttered, dropping the club and facing her. "Fuck, Bree, I'm so sorry."

She just looked at him with cold eyes, dropping her hands from her eye that was already beginning to bruise and spat out, "Fuck you, Rafe."

"Hey, let's go. Let's go, man!" Topper yelled, and Rafe gave her one last look before running off with his friend while she tended to the boy on the ground.

When they got back to the boat, they were silent for a couple minutes because neither of them knew what to say in that situation. The Callaway girl was gently poking at her eye that was very swollen and all sorts of colors. It was Bree who finally spoke up. "Pope, I am so sorry."

"It's okay," he responded, turning around in his chair to look her in the eye. He could tell that she was really sorry. "It's not your fault. They're assholes."

"I should've handled it before it got to that," she insisted, and her eyes drifted to the wound on his forehead that was beginning to scab over.

He grabbed her hand that was lying on her shaky leg and lifted his hat up so that he could see the scratch better. "Hey, I'm fine, Bree. It's just a scratch. See, it's almost healed."

"You sure?" she asked, peering up at him through her eyelashes.

He assured her, "Yes, I'm sure. Now, are you okay? He hit you pretty hard with that club. You'll have a nice shiner for a couple of days."

"Don't worry about me. Let me pay for the groceries. It's the least I can do," she pleaded.

"Thanks." He nodded, shooting her a small smile, but then his eyes widened when he saw an excited blonde boy walking toward them. "Shit, JJ's coming. Please don't tell him about this. Just tell him you ran into a tree or something."

JJ laughed out, "Guys! Dude, you are not going to believe what just happened to me, man! Whoo! That was the best hundred bucks I've ever made. When I say count me in on all these grocery deliveries, Pope, I mean it. Hey, Bree."

"Hey, JJ," the girl greeted. She was facing the window in an attempt to hide her huge black eye. She knew he would see it eventually, but she needed a couple seconds to work on her story. He turned to Pope.

"What's up with you? Bro, you good? Yo, what happened to your face, dude?" He reached for Pope's hat, but the boy just pulled it down. He still saw the giant scab though. "Jesus! What happened?"

He looked to Bree for an answer, and time seemed to stop. He froze when he saw her face, and she just stared down at the ground, unable to look him in the eye. His mind was moving a mile a minute, wondering who the hell would so that to her.

"What the fuck happened?" he growled, kneeling down next to her and tilting her face up so that he could get a better look at the swelling.

"Rafe and Topper jumped me. They said no Pogues on their side of the island," Pope explained as JJ's fingers brushed over her bruise. "Bree tried to break it up, but she got hit."

JJ turned to him. "Bro, what are you gonna do?"

Pope didn't say anything. He just started the engine of the boat and began driving. He dropped Bree off at her house, and when she asked why she couldn't come, his response was this:

"You can't see this."

《✵》

"ALL RIGHT, JJ, PIN IT HERE," JOHN B TOLD HIS BEST FRIEND. They were out in the middle of the ocean at approximately where the coordinates were. Their anchor wasn't long enough, so the Maybank boy was in charge of making sure they didn't drift away.

JJ nodded. "Roger that! X marks the spot." He stopped the motion of the boat as Bree made her way to where they were getting the drone ready.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. To going full Kook," John B announced, and then he lowered the device into the water. Kie fed the tether, marking every hundred feet it went down while Pope controlled it on the computer thing. John B tracked its movement on his tablet. "All right, JJ, we're right over it. Ten seconds northwest."

The blonde boy repeated the orders before following them as Kie informed them, "A hundred feet." Pope was looking at the screen when he gasped loudly.

"What? What, what, what, what?" John B asked, jumping up and rushing toward the boy.

"It's nothing," the Heyward boy responded, causing his friend to groan in disappointment. "Sorry, I thought—"

JJ exclaimed, "Don't do that to me, man. Come on, bro."

"And to quote The Hobbit, 'Down, down, to Goblin Town. Down, down, you go my lad,'" Pope said in a weird voice after his failed attempts of defending himself.

Neither of the boys would tell Bree what they did earlier to get Topper and Rafe back for jumping them, and she was a little worried. Sure, the Kooks deserved it, but she didn't want JJ or Pope getting in trouble for it. They asked her not to mention the revenge part when she told John B and Kiara what happened.

"Four hundred feet!" Kie told them as Bree peered over Pope's shoulder. The tether began moving just as thunder rumbled above them. "The tide's turning."

John B called to his best friend. "Hey, JJ? Ten seconds easy. All right, south-southeast."

"Copy that!" the blonde boy replied. After a couple more orders from the Routledge boy, JJ yelled back to them. "Keep the tether out of the prop!"

"I'm trying!" Kie responded, and Bree went over to her to help tug on the cord so that it didn't get caught in the propellor of the boat.

The Maybank turned around. "John B, is that good?"

"We're good! We're good!" the brunette boy shouted back, giving him a thumbs up in case he couldn't hear him over the loud thunder. Bree was beginning to grow nervous because of the storm.

Another orange stripe on the tether passed by, and Kie told them, "Okay, 700 feet!"

The wind was starting to pick up, and the boat was rocking as the storm clouds got closer. Bree almost fell off the side, but John B grabbing her arm stopped her from doing so.

"JJ, keep it steady!" he yelled.

Kie turned to them. "Okay, 900!"

"JJ, we're gonna turtle in this storm, man," John B informed his friend while Kie kept yelling out measurements, keeping them up to date with the progress. "Crank it north by northwest! Ten seconds! Pope, how are we doing?"

"Almost there," the Heyward responded.

Bree grunted as her and Kie tried to keep the tether from going too fast and getting tangled or worn down on the side of the boat. They were also facing the problem of the drone floating away. "John B, there's too much current! We're gonna lose it!"

"South-southwest, JJ. Hard! Half speed. Steady at htis bearing, JJ!" The Routledge boy kept guiding his best friend before he peeked over Pope's shoulder. "What do you got, Pope? Come on, man. What do you see?"

"Nothin'. A whole lot of nothin'," the Heyward boy responded after a moment of scanning the screen.

John B groaned. "You should be right above it, brother."

"960! 970! 980!" Bree informed them, and they were getting to the end of the tether as the spool looked empty. 

After a moment, Pope exclaimed, "I'm at the bottom! I'm at the bottom!"

"Okay, steady here, JJ! Steady here. Quarter speed, all right?" the brunette boy told the blonde in the driver's seat. He turned back to Pope. "You should be seeing something, man. You should be seeing something."

"I know! I know! Wait, wait. Oh, good God," the Heyward boy replied, and the two girl rushed to his side so that they could see the screen, and Bree swore her heart stopped when she saw what was on it.

When they all went silent, JJ called to them, "See anything?"

"It's the Royal Merchant."