"NO EFFING WAY," KIE YELLED, GLARING AT THE GIRL ON THE COUCH. Bree, who was sitting next to JJ and Pope, winced, knowing this was a horrible idea. "You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?"

John B looked over to the three people not as involved for help. Pope just shrugged. "I dunno."

"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share," the Maybank boy told them, and the brunette girl behind him was about to take the hat off of Pope's head and hit both of them with it, even though she didn't have a better answer herself.

She raised her hands in surrender when the Routledge boy's eyes landed on her. "I plead the fifth."

"You know, I don't remember taking a vote," the Carrera girl exclaimed after shooting a look their way because they weren't exactly helping her. "This is our thing. A Pogue thing."

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this," Pope voiced, raising a hand as the attention shifted over to him.

The brunette boy groaned, rolling his eyes. "When are you not uncomfortable."

"Well, I don't know. I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably," the Heyward boy informed him.

"It's true," the blonde boy confirmed with a nod of his head, staring down at the ground as he spoke. Bree stared at him with a confused expression as he continued. "Most relaxed I've ever seen him."

John B nodded, "That's cute, guys."

"You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her," the raven-haired girl told him angrily, pointing to Sarah who was looking back up at her with the same expression.

The Cameron girl shouted, "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"

"Then leave," Kie replied.

The blonde girl scoffed, turning to her boyfriend with a look that none of them could read. "I told you."

"Told him what, exactly?" the Carrera girl exclaimed with raised eyebrows. "That you're a liar?"

"No, that you're a shit-talking bitch," Sarah answered, causing every single person on that porch to jaw their jaws. She did not just say that.

Bree's hand flew up to cover her mouth in shock while Pope turned to her and JJ with wide eyes and said, "Oh, shit." The two girls continued to yell at each other while the three musketeers whispered to one another.

"Everybody shut up!" John B finally yelled, resulting in everyone falling silent and looking at him. "Kie, you are my best friend, right? And Sarah...you're my...You're my girlfriend."

"She's your girlfriend now? What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose," Kie questioned, and Bree fought the urge to groan since she had been praying that no one would bring that up.

Sarah turned to her boyfriend as he scratched his head nervously. "You said you were using me?"

"No," he denied, but they all knew he was lying.

"Yeah, you did," Pope corrected, throwing his friend under the bus along with the rest of the Pogues. "You definitely said those things."

The brunette boy ran a hand through his hair before yelling, "Look, love just walked in, okay?"

"Oh, vomit," Kie muttered.

"I didn't expect it," he continued while the rest of them gave him weird looks, wondering if he knew how disgustingly cheesy he was being. "It just — it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it. Right?"

Pope whispered, "Oh, that's corny."

"Gross," the Callaway girl muttered, scrunching up her face in disgust while JJ made retching noises like he was about to throw up.

"Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out," the Carrera girl offered an ultimatum. When he shook his head, she did the same. "You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?"

He didn't waste a second before replying, "Both."

"Went for the Hail Mary," JJ whistled as Bree winced. She probably would've said the same thing if she were in his position, but it was the wrong thing to say.

The two boys tutted as Kie stormed off down the stairs and Sarah turned to John B, saying sarcastically, "It'll be cool, right? I'm gonna leave. Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know." Then, she got up and walked away.

"I'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully," the Maybank boy told his best friend, and Bree grabbed the cap off of Pope's head and whacked him with it.

The brunette boy sighed before waving them over to him. "Group huddle."

"Oh, I love me a good group huddle," the blonde boy commented as they all made their way to sit on the couch that Sarah had just been on. 

"We have to do something about Sarah and Kie," John B announced, and they all nodded in agreement. When none of them answered him though, he gestured for them to begin talking. "I'm open to suggestions."

"What if we just kidnap them and lock 'em in a basement somewhere so that they're forced to talk to each other to not die of boredom?" JJ offered, and both the Routledge boy and Bree rolled their eyes at him.

The brunette girl sighed, "JJ..."

"Wait, he might actually be onto something," Pope piped in, pointing at the blonde boy, and the other two teenagers' jaws dropped.

"What?" John B exclaimed with wide eyes. "JJ? Onto something?"

The brunette girl was just as confused as she stared at the Heyward boy with furrowed eyebrows. "Are we talking about the same JJ? JJ Maybank?"

"I feel bullied," the boy said with a frown.

Pope rolled his eyes at his friends' arguing before explaining, "Well, obviously we won't tie them up, but what if we could force them to spend time together?"

"Why is that actually a good plan?" the Routledge boy muttered, furrowing his eyebrows.

JJ threw his hands up in the air in disbelief, glancing at all of them. "See? I can be right sometimes." Bree reached over and patted his shoulder playfully like she was comforting him.

"Let's not get carried away."

《✵》

"WHAT HAPPENED?" KIE ASKED AS SHE SET FOOT ON THE BOAT. Bree tapped her foot nervously, knowing what was about to happen. She was going to be stranded on a boat with two fighting girls in the middle of a marsh for the entire night in just a moment.

JJ, John B, and the Callaway girl looked up at her, and the Maybank responded, "Uh, the alternator's not, uh, alternating anymore."

"It's not charged," the Routledge boy corrected.

The Carrera girl sighed, taking a step into the room to take a look. "Did you check the plugs?"

"No," the blonde boy told her, shaking his head as the two boys stood up and slowly moved out of the compartment. "No, you should check 'em. Give it a whirl. Sorry about that."

"Uh, is this a joke? There are no plugs, like, at all," Kie questioned once she looked at the alternator.

Panicked, the boys ran to the side of the boat and dove into the water before swimming toward that Pope had driven Kie there on. "Go, go, go, go!"

"Sayonara!" John B yelled in farewell, and he and JJ shot Bree a final grateful smile while she just glared at them and flipped them off, pissed that she was being put in that situation.

Once the Carrera girl realized what was happening, she pushed past the Callaway girl in the doorway and ran out of the compartment with wide eyes. "Shit."

"John B! John B, let me out!" came a yell from below the deck, causing Kie to pause and stare down at the floor. She reached down and opened the door, and Sarah was there, looking angry. She began climbing out as she exclaimed, "What? Wait."

"What the hell?" the raven-haired girl muttered, standing up and running to the edge of the boat as the boys pulled away. Bree was still leaning against the doorway silently, watching the scene play out in front of her.

The Cameron girl came up behind Kie as her boyfriend chuckled. "Are you serious?"

"Are you joking?" the other girl shouted in disbelief. What the hell were they thinking, leaving two enemies on a boat together in the middle of a marsh? The brunette girl was honestly scared for her own safety, worried that she might get caught in a fight or something. "Get your asses back here!"

"We can't. Not till you two figure it out. Don't worry. Bree's there too," the Routledge boy told the two, gesturing to the female behind them who was approaching with a frustrated look on her face.

She ordered, "Y'all owe me a shit-ton of ice cream when we get off of here."

"I will kill every single one of you! Bree, you knew about this?" Kie exclaimed, whipping her head back and forth between the departing group and her friend behind her with a threatening look on her face.

The Callaway girl raised her hands in surrender. "I was forced into this."

"There's food in the cabin, and JJ rolled a blunt!" Pope informed them, as if that made the situation so much better. Well, it helped Bree a little bit.

"Hydroponic!" the Maybank boy added, causing all of the girls to roll their eyes at him.

She backed up slowly toward the cabin, happy that she wouldn't have to go through all that while sober. "Don't mind if I do."

"This is ridiculous," Sarah said as she stripped down to just her bathing suit, throwing the rest of her clothing into a pile in the middle of the deck so that it hopefully wouldn't get too wet.

Kie nodded, doing the same while Bree furrowed her eyebrows, a little worried that she was about to be abandoned on the small vehicle. The Carrera girl mumbled. "Well, I'd rather drown than be stuck here with you."

"Fine, be my guest," the blonde girl retorted, pulling her shirt over her head. "Maybe then you'll shut the hell up."

The two continued bickering and getting undressed, and then Sarah dove into the water and yelled, trying to get the boys to turn back around and come get them. "John B, you asshole!"

"They're not coming back for you!" the raven-haired girl informed her as the boat sped up and left them in its wake, and the three on it waved to them smugly.

All of a sudden, the Cameron girl screamed and went under water, and it seemed like something was pulling her down. Bree rushed to the side of the boat so that she could see what was happening. "Sarah!"

"What?" Kie called with an annoyed tone.

"I got stung by a jellyfish!" the blonde told them, her voice breaking while the other girl just muttered something under her breath. Sarah swam to the ladder, and her best friend helped her out of the water. "Shit!"

The Carrera girl was not surprised, and she seemed almost glad that the Cameron girl got stung, happy to be able to prove her wrong about something. "Well, you swam right into a man-o'-war. Don't know what you thought would happen. Does it hurt?"

"No, I'm sure she's having the time of her life," the brunette girl muttered sarcastically as her friend sat down, leaning against the side of the boat and holding her side. The sting was bright red and covered a chunk of her torso.

"Hey, guys...you know what they say about curing jellyfish stings?" Sarah questioned. And Bree's eyes widened when she realized what she was talking about. "One of you two has to pee on me."

The Callaway turned to the curly-haired girl and gestured to her. "Okay, that is all you right there."

"I have a better idea," Kie told them, and she grabbed the blunt that Bree had dropped on top of Sarah's clothes when she got stung. Bree smiled, and the three of them found a spot in the shade to avoid getting sunburnt.

The brunette girl took a hit of the blunt first and sighed, smoke flowing from her mouth, and she could already feel her worries numbing. She handed it to her stung friend. "Okay, here you go. It's for the pain."

"JJ, bless," she muttered, snatching it.

As she brought it to her lips, Kie warned her, holding up her hand. "Go easy. It's JJ's cousin's Cripple."

As soon as she said that, Sarah dropped her hand that was holding the blunt and was sent into a coughing fit. Bree watched her, slightly concerned while Kie just nodded with her lips pursed. It was going to be a very long night.

"Wow," the Cameron girl laughed out once the sun went down. She was so high, Kie was so fed up, and the Callaway girl had a massive headache from having to deal with Sarah's nonstop talking and Kie's eye rolls. "Hey, guess what? Would you rather have — I was imagining y'all like this just now. It was pretty funny. Would you imagine — would you rather have nipples for eyes or eyes for nipples? Imagine if you get really old, and your nipples — You boobs get saggy, and your nipples, if they were eyes, you could see if your shoes were untied."

"That would be so helpful," the brunette girl responded sarcastically. She was lying on her back and staring up at the stars, and she was a little high herself, but no where near as much as the blonde girl was.

Kie stared at the Cameron girl in confusion. "Is this like your first time smoking or something?"

"No," Sarah answered, but they all knew it wasn't true. "Hey, Kiara."

"Oh, my God. Enough of the "Hey, Kiara!' bullshit! Why'd you do it?" the Carrera girl groaned, and Bree realized that they were about to get into the deep problems that made the two enemies in the first place. She was both relieved and dreading what was about to come.

The blonde girl knew what she was referring to, but she still asked, "Why'd I do what?"

"We were all best friends," the raven-haired girl responded, gesturing to the trio. "We stole beers from your dad's fridge, we watched movies together, we cried about boys. And the next thing I know, I'm watching your birthday party happen from Instagram."

"It was one party," Sarah defended.

Kie turned to in disbelief and a little bit of hurt and argued, "You invited everybody except me. And then you told everybody I was the reason that the party got busted."

"Okay, well, who else would've called the cops?" the blonde girl questioned in defence.

"You never asked," the Carrera girl replied. Her voice was starting to break as the wind blew hair into her face. "You just let the rumor go that I was a rat. You were my best friend, and then you ghosted me, and I don't even know why! I mean, really, what did I do?"

After a moment of silence, Sarah admitted, "You liked me. When...people get...close to me, I feel trapped. And...I bail. And then I blame them for it. I'm really sorry, and I miss you. Do you think there's a chance that we could be okay again?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Kie told her.

Bree furrowed her eyebrows, still a little confused about something that the blonde girl had said. "How come you never bailed on me?"

"I was you only friend," the Cameron girl answered, an amused smile appearing on her face. "I couldn't just leave you. That would just be cruel." That caused all of them to burst out in a fit of giggles.

They turned off the lights and climbed under some blankets that the boys left for them. They were all silent, but they were all awake still, just contemplating about the things that were said earlier that night. Kie was the one who broke the silence. "Hey, Sarah."

"Hey, Kiara," the Cameron girl replied sleepily.

"Promise me that you won't bail on John B," the Carrera girl requested. "He's not just...some other guy. And he really, really likes you."

Bree nodded even though they couldn't see her in the darkness. "Yeah, that boy is so whipped."

"I won't," Sarah assured them, and they fell silent once again, rolling over in their beds to go to sleep.

"Also, I'm sorry I called the cops."

"I knew it. I knew it, you bitch!" the blonde girl exclaimed, her lips curving into a smile before the all burst out laughing loudly. "I told you! I told Bree, but she didn't believe me!"

"You should've invited me," was Kie said through her giggles.

The Cameron girl's eyes widened. "So you called the cops?" It took a good couple of minutes for them to calm down. By the end of it, they all had hiccups, and every time one of them hiccuped, it would start the cycle all over again.

"Uh oh," Pope called jokingly as the boys pulled toward them in the morning to see if they made any progress toward coming friends. "You forget your keys or something?"

"You need a tow?" John B asked with a smug smile.

"Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking this worked." Kie turned to the two with a straight face, sending a negative signal to the boys before glancing to the Callaway girl. "I don't care if they someone on the inside. She will keep her mouth shut."

The brunette girl scoffed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I told you that I was coerced into this. I promise not to give them any information."

"Absolutely not," the Cameron girl confirmed.

John B looked up at all of them with raised eyebrows and an expectant expression, waiting for them to either yell at him or hug him. "You still hate me?"

"A little," his girlfriend replied. "We're all gonna get you back when you least expect it."

"Watch your backs, boys," Bree confirmed, but her entire act fell apart when JJ held up a pint of ice cream and a spoon with a smile before helping her as she jumped onto the boat excitedly so that she didn't go tumbling into the water.

The blonde and the raven-haired girl told them that they were willing to work together while the brunette grabbed her ice cream from the Maybank boy. He questioned, "You happy?"

"Of course," she answered, eagerly opening up the tub. Then, jaw completely dropped when she saw what was inside, and she tilted it so that he could see as well. "It's completely melted."

He just shrugged and chuckled slightly. "That sounds like a you problem."

Then, she dumped the whole thing on his head, causing all of them to burst out laughing as he wiped some off his face with a finger and licked it.