THEY WERE NOW OFFICIALLY IN HIDING, OR AT LEAST, JOHN B WAS. They were in the car, and they were parked under some abandoned barn-looking thing. Two police cars passed them, and they had the seats leaned back so that no one could see them unless they were looking directly through the windows.

The radio gave them updates about what was happening. "And still, no arrest in the shooting death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin. The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from—"

Kie reached over and shut it off when she realized it wasn't helping. "Let's game this out," JJ announced. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but...who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron or us? So the accuser is a big shot developer, kind of lord of the island, got the governor on speed dial kind of person, and the accused...is John B, who is...pretty much a homeless 16-year-old boy at the moment."

"Thanks," the Routledge boy responded, shooting him a sarcastic smile 

Bree, who again, was in the very back — only all by herself — groaned, running a stressed hand through her hair. What the hell were they gonna do? She muttered, "Shit."

"Okay, man. Yucatan, all right?" the Maybank boy told him, causing Kie, Pope, and John B to roll their eyes at him. "I'm saying that's the only option. What other option do you have?"

"Enough with the Mexico bullshit, all right? Sarah's gonna bail me out," the brunette told informed them, and he seemed like he was pretty confident that she would come to his rescue.

The Carrera girl nodded, "She did witness the whole thing."

"And she's gonna snitch on her brother?" Pope asked her with raised eyebrows, and he had a point. What was Sarah going to do when she faced with the choice between her family and her friends?

"Not happening, bro. Okay?" JJ told him, sitting up to stare down at his best friend, and Bree honestly had no idea what to say because she didn't know who Sarah would choose. "We've gotta get you off the island."

Pope said, "The ferry. It's the only way."

"Yeah, you gotta exit stage left while you still can, man, okay? Before the entire island is on lockdown," the Maybank boy added.

When Kie heard more sirens approaching, she slumped down in her seat even more. She warned them with a whisper like the cops would be able to hear them talking. "Guys, just get down."

"Sarah's not a Pogue, John B," the Heyward boy told him with a 'hate to break it to you' face that he wasn't even able to see.

JJ agreed. "Yeah, you can't stay here, man."

"Pope, can you act normal?" Kie questioned when they drove into town to see what was happening. The Heyward boy had gotten out to look around, and John B was still leaning back in the seat to hide.

"So, um, okay, so, bad news," Pope informed them, talking to Kie who was in the passenger's seat. "The ferry's closed, and there is this." He handed her a sheet of paper before climbing in and sitting in the driver's seat.

She passed the paper back to the Maybank boy as his hiding friend beside him asked, "What is that? What is this? What is this?"

"Well, John B, uh...this is a good framer of you," JJ answered, showing it to the brunette boy, and Bree leaned over the seat so that she could read what it said. It was a wanted poster with his face on it.

John B just sighed in frustration, and Pope said, "Okay, so the whole island's looking for John B right now."

"That's a lot of money. Maybe you should turn yourself in," the Callaway girl pointed out, staring at the reward for finding him with wide eyes. They all gave her a look. "I was joking, obviously."

"Okay, guys, we got to get to the HMS. Dude, it's small, no running lights—" the raven-haired girl started. If they could just get the boy on a boat and out of the county at least, then they could work from there.

The Routledge boy told her, cutting her off. "It's at the Chateau, Kie."

"And I wonder if the cops got the entire place staked out. Let me think. Oh, yeah. No. They definitely have that place locked down," the blonde boy wondered aloud sarcastically, causing his friends to roll their eyes at him and how not helpful he was being. 

"Let me think. Just give me a second," Pope told them, and after a second of thinking, he turned around to face the Maybank boy. "JJ, does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, the Phantom. The one he used to race."

"Maybe," he responded.

Turning back around in his seat, the Heyward boy explained, "You could get right up the coast, no problem."

"It's gonna gonna be easy," the Maybank boy informed them, but Kie was already talking over him about the surf. He just kept talking though. "Pope, I don't know where the keys are."

"Find them," Bree ordered in response.

JJ just deadpanned at her is disbelief as he passed the paper to his fugitive friend. He replied in a monotone voice, "Thank you so much for that advice, Bree. You're just so smart, and I don't know what I would've done without you saying that."

"Why is nobody moving forward? What's going on here?" Pope quizzed in a weird voice, gesturing to the line of cars in front of them that was stopping them from going anywhere.

"Can you relax?" Kie exclaimed before turning to the blonde boy with raised eyebrows, "JJ, how much weed did you give him?"

John B called to them, causing them to turn around and look at him in question. "Guys. Your car's on here. It's on the poster." This just resulted in an argument between Kie and Pope who was honking the horn and yelling, which just drew more attention to them.

"It's that guy," some little blonde kid said, pointing out the car and John B to his mother. "Right there."

"We got a snitch. Pope, turn the car on," JJ demanded, tapping his friend's shoulder with a panicked expression as a guy began walking toward them with a determined face.

As the little boy kept yelling, Bree muttered, "That little shit."

"Hey! He's right there! I found him!" the man that was walking toward them shouted as he banged against the window of the car, and it caught the attention of the officers around him.

As the car just sputtered as he turned the keys, Kie yelled, "Pope, turn the fricking car on."

"I'm trying!" he replied, and as the rest of his friends urged him to go faster, he finally got it to move, and they collided with the car in front of them. The sudden stop caused them to fly forward, and the seatbelt that pulled Bree back made her hit her head against the window.

She groaned and held her head as the Carrera girl told him, "The other way. It's okay. Pope, just go!" The car in front of them got pushed a bit as they turned around and drove into the grass, heading right past the police.

"What are you doing?" Kie asked him as the rest of them yelled when he collided with a mailbox on the side of the road. "Oh, my God. Pope! What the fuck?"

"I'm living my best life now! My mom's gonna kill me," he told them, and the impact and screaming was only making the brunette girl's headache worse.

JJ said from behind him, "I should be the last one to tell you this, but you are not okay to drive, dude. Stop! Oh, jeez." They all groaned as the Heyward boy slammed on the brakes, and the tires squealed.

"John B, get out," he ordered, and Bree furrowed her eyebrows, thinking that he was kicking him out of the car.

"He's right," the Maybank boy nodded as the brunette boy began to stumble out of the car. "We'll draw the cops, you run. I'll get the rig, and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay? Three o'clock, okay? Three o'clock tomorrow at the dump!"

They drove off as their friend sprinted into the trees on the side of the road. Bree groaned and massaged her forehead. "Why do I hang out with you guys again?"

"Because you love us," JJ replied in a sing-song voice, looking back at her with a smug smile.

"Oh, yeah. That."

《✵》

"POPE, YOU CLOCKED THAT CAR, MAN," JJ LAUGHED OUT. Bree had moved to the seat that John B was sitting in beside JJ so that she wasn't all left out in the back. "Like, that was so bad!"

"I'm glad I'm just not driving now," Pope told him, and he cackled loudly while Kie and Bree shot both of them 'really?' looks.

"Pull over," the Carrera girl ordered, and the Heyward boy stopped the car, almost tipping it over on its side in the process. Man, he was high. "JJ, it's not funny. He shouldn't be driving."

As Kie and Pope switched seats, the blonde boy muttered, "Mama's mad. Where are we going?"

"The last place they're gonna look," she answered. Turns out, the last place they're going to look is Sarah Cameron's house. Kie climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her.

As they watched her, Pope got out as well, leaving the other two teenagers of the group in the car as the Maybank boy questioned, "You sure this is a good idea?"

"She's the only one who can clear John B," the raven-haired girl explained as the duo began scaling the wall. She got over without any problems, but he was grunting as he struggled.

JJ said, "Last place they'd look because of how stupid it is."

Then, Kie and Pope were gone, and the car was left in silence. Bree ran a hand through her hair as she got lost in thought for a moment and bounced her leg nervously, hoping to God that everything was going to work out in the end.

"What's up?" the Maybank boy questioned, noticing the look on her face that made it seem like she wasn't all there, like she was in some sort of trance. She was just staring at the ground, her eyes not moving, and he could tell that she was deep in though.

She snapped out of her trance at the sound of his voice. "Hmm?"

"What's up?" he repeated curiously with a look of slight concern on his face. "What's bothering you?"

"Nothing," she muttered, avoiding his eyes because she knew he would be able to tell if she was lying if their eyes met. The truth was, there was a crap-ton of things that were on her mind. She was helping a fugitive Pogue that was dating her best friend run from the police. He ex-boyfriend was a murderer that was framing him. Ward had gotten the gold, and everything had gone to shit.

He still did not seem convinced. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, taking a deep breath before raising her head so that her eyes landed on his. He shifted slightly, and she became suddenly aware that their legs were touching when he moved.

"That's a big change to take in," he told her, and when she furrowed her eyebrows at him in question, he explained, "You know, moving from Figure Eight to the Cut. You went from tablecloths and hedge trimmers and shit to..well, just shit."

She sighed with a small giggle. That had been one of the last things on her mind because of everything with John B and Ward and the gold. "I'm not really worried about that right now."

"Then what's wrong?" he quizzed again, knowing that there was something that was eating at her.

"It's just that...Two weeks ago, I was a Kook princess. I was annoying as shit—"

He cut her off, raising his hand like someone would in a classroom, only he . "I can testify for that."

and I hated myself and how I was," she told him after sending him a glare for his comment, gesturing around before continuing, "And now, I'm helping a fugitive Pogue that is dating my best friend hide from the police because he is being accused of a murder that he didn't commit."

The blonde boy just shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal and they did this all of the time before smiling at her. "How else would you wanna spend your Saturday evening?"

"Exactly. I'm living the dream," she replied, causing them both to chuckle.

"When this is all over, and we're rich because of he gold..." he paused as she nodded, trying to be optimistic about the outcome of everything. "...we're going to Yucatan, just us Pogues, for a break from everything."

She raised her eyebrows at him in curiosity. "What is it with you and Yucatan?"

"It is quite literally paradise. We'll just surf, eat lobsters, drink beer, and party all day and all night," he answered, making hand gestures as he talked which made her throw her head back in laughter.

He watched her with a huge grin on his face as she gazed back at him. "That sounds nice."