CHAPTER SEVEN

LOVE YOURZ — J. COLE
For what's money without happiness?
Or hard times without the people you love?

THE SILENCE THAT existed between the five teenagers was suffocating. The tension from the night before was carried over into the next morning, hanging over their heads like a suspended piece of glass, and none of them wanted to be the person who cut the rope causing it to shatter like droplets of rain.

Stella's thoughts swirled around her head as she absentmindedly picked at the hem of her frayed denim shorts. Their near encounter with the cops at the motel was too much of a close call, and if they were going to find a way into the Grady-White, attention wasn't something they needed. What they needed was to lay low and the events that took place the night before were anything but that. 

Stella's gaze lifted at the sound of a rock hitting the bark of a nearby tree. She watched as JJ repeated the action over and over again, no doubt a way of coping with the silence they found themselves in. He never liked the quiet. The quiet meant that his mind was free from distraction and even from her seat ten feet away, she could tell that he was overthinking.

Despite JJ's attempts to calm down (both last night at Stella's and today before heading to the Chateau), the blond boy still harboured a fair amount of aggression. All morning he had been fidgeting with Stella's bracelets or shaking his leg, just itching to release his frustration. To put it simply, he was pissed off. At Topper Thornton. At the Kooks. At the world.

And Stella understood where he was coming from.

She had a unique perspective. She had a foot in both worlds, having experienced both struggle and luxury. But perhaps it was this perspective that allowed her to see the island rivalry without bias.

The Kooks did as they pleased with little to no consequence, refusing to recognize their privilege until it benefited them. They walked all over the Pogues, picking fights because they could or because they were bored. And when the Pogues fought back, they were the ones punished.

Stella hated the turf war. She found it primitive and childish, and she couldn't quite understand how it came to be in the first place. Her mother tried explaining it to her when they first moved onto the island many years ago and she could remember her mother saying, "Stel, there'll always be people who judge others for where they live, or how they dress, or who they love, or what they do, but you will not be one of them. There is no such thing as a life that's better than yours."

As a ten year old, Stella had no idea what that meant, but as a sixteen year old, she understood perfectly. Everyone's life is different and everyone has their struggles. Each side of the turf war had something the other didn't. The Kooks had money and resources, opportunities that gave them an advantage, things that Pogues could only dream of. The Pogues, on the other hand, had a genuine sense of community unknown to the members of the upper class who wore fake smiles like pearl necklaces, friends that would always have your back and do anything for you without a hidden agenda, a type of love and loyalty that was foreign to the Kooks.

Her perspective was unique and she could see both sides for who they truly were—people. Which was probably why the turf war made her almost as frustrated as it did JJ.

Stella was so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed John B stand up and start to pace the small shed area they were in.

"I'm calling it off," he announced, causing the four other teenagers to turn to him. "Peterkin said if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS."

"And you believed her?" JJ questioned, not missing a beat. His jaw clenched at the mention of the sheriff and his gaze fixated on the horizon before him.

"Yes," John B said stiffly, "I believe her, JJ."

JJ shook his head in disappointment and threw the stone in his hand. "An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop."

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out," John B fought, growing more defensive as the seconds passed. "It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun."

"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass."

"Yeah, cause Topper was gonna drown me?"

"He kinda did," shot JJ as he pushed off the table he sat upon. He moved closer to the group and gestured to the girl sat closest to him. "Stella had to do CPR. Maybe I should have stopped her."

"Funny," John B huffed. His sarcasm didn't go unnoticed.

"Have you looked in a mirror recently?" JJ pointed to John B's bruised face and leaned against one of the nearby pillars, letting out a humourless laugh. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win. Goddamn!" He punched one of the buoys that was hanging from the top of the shed out of exasperation.

"Look, it's okay!" Kie exclaimed, trying to ease the tension.

"No, it's not okay!" JJ shouted, spinning around with furrowed brows. "It is not!"

Stella sighed and looked up at him. "JJ," she called lightly.

He glanced over at her and his gaze instantly softened. The mere sight of her was enough to calm him down a few notches and his voice lost its edge as he continued, "They don't want us to go down into the marsh. That means there's something valuable down there and you know it. I know you do."

The others shared look before JJ captured their attention again. He stepped up to Pope and looked down at him. "I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You've got way too much to risk. And you—" He turned to Kie. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?"

Kie gave him a look and rolled her eyes.

"And Stel—" His breath caught in his throat as his eyes met hers. "You're like the two of them combined. You're gonna go off and change the world, and cure cancer or something." His gaze shifted to John B. "But you and me, man, we got nothing to lose! We really don't, alright? And I know it didn't use to be that way for you—"

"I don't want to talk about this," John B muttered, cutting him off. He pushed past him and shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"So that's it?" JJ asked as he followed after him. "John B, listen to me. I have a plan."

Stella, Kie and Pope shared another look. It was common knowledge that JJ's plans never really worked out how they were supposed to. "This should be good," Stella muttered to her two friends.

"You have the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ continued, coming up behind John B. "There's scuba gear. We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man. You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?"

There was a moment of silence as John B entertained the thought of avoiding DCS without help from the cops and his friends instantly knew that he was on board with JJ's risky plan.

LATER IN THE day, the group found themselves back in the marsh, idling above Scooter Grubb's sunken boat. Stella sat cross-legged on the bow of the HMS Pogue, weaving colourful embroidery string and listening with half an ear as Kie checked the oxygen levels in the tanks John B stole.

"Whatcha doin', golden girl?" JJ sat next to Stella, bumping her shoulder with his.

Instinctively, she leaned against him. "Making all of us friendship bracelets," she bubbled with a small smile. She held it up for him to see.

JJ couldn't help but grin. "Fuck," he breathed.

Stella's head tilted to the side. "What?"

"Nothing," JJ said, shaking his head. "You're cute."

Stella's gaze returned to the bracelet in a weak attempt to hide the smile fighting its way onto her face. "You're so full of shit, JJ."

He said nothing as he stared at her, then slung his arm around her shoulders.

Off to the side, Kie let out a groan of annoyance. The pair looked up at her in confusion, but the girl just shook her head. "This is empty," she stated in exasperation, narrowing her eyes at John B. "You took empty tanks?"

"You didn't check them before you stole them?" Stella snickered.

John B looked between the two girls like a deer in headlights. "I..."

"Okay," Kie said, checking the last tank, "this one's a quarter full. It's enough for one of us."

"Love it when a plan comes together," Pope voiced sarcastically.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kie asked, ignoring Pope's comment. She was met with silence and averted stares. "Anybody?"

JJ shrugged and removed his arm from Stella's shoulders. "It's kind of a Kook sport," he said, standing up and making his way over to Pope.

Pope raised his hand, slightly hesitant about his next words. "I... read about it."

"I listened to the summary he gave me after he read about it," Stella added, pointing at the boy after shoving her half finished bracelet into her pocket.

Kie nodded with pursed lips. "Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die."

JJ gave her an uncertain look. "Look, you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?"

Stella and Pope jumped to correct him.

"You could get an arterial gas embolism," Stella stated, thinking back to when Pope had told her about the article he had read. She did her own research afterwards, finding the health risks fascinating. "If you surface too quickly or hold your breath coming up, the air in your lungs will expand and you can tear lung tissue and you'll get air bubbles in your arteries."

Pope nodded before adding, "Yeah, and that'll cause nitrogen to get into your blood and you'll get the bends."

"The bends, like, bend over..." JJ leaned over and stuck his butt out, pursing his lips as he looked between the pair.

"The bends kill you," Pope deadpanned.

The lighthearted expression was wiped from JJ's face and he stood up straight. "Right."

"I can dive," John B spoke up. Everyone but JJ turned to him with unconvinced expressions.

"Since when can you dive?" Kie asked with a lack of belief.

"I'll do it," John B pressed. "It's fine."

Pope stood up and grabbed a pen and paper. "Let me do some calculations," he muttered, scribbling something down. "That boat's about thirty feet down..."

Stella walked over and planted herself beside him. "You forgot to carry the—"

"I got it, I got it," Pope assured, shooing her away with a dismissive wave.

Stella rolled her eyes and walked over to where Kie was standing. Her brows furrowed and she gave her a look of confusion as she started to undress.

"I'm gonna tie my shirt at the safety stop," Kie explained briefly. "Wanna help?"

Stella shrugged before taking off her pants. "Sure, since Einstein over there clearly doesn't need my help."

Pope finished his calculations and turned to John B. "So it'll take twenty-five minutes at that depth. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about ten feet. All right? For two minutes."

John B nodded. "Ten feet, two minutes. Got it."

The boys' attention shifted sharply when the girls both pulled off their shirts and jumped into the water without a word.

"What was that all about?" Pope asked.

JJ shrugged, still staring at where Stella used to be. It was like the universe was testing him every time he saw her in a bikini. "I don't know, but I liked it. A lot."

The girls resurfaced and Kie explained their sudden dive, stating that her shirt was where John B needed to take his safety stop. Stella treaded for a moment before swimming over to the side of the boat. She hoisted herself up with grace and climbed over. She was completely unaware that JJ was taking in her dripping body and committing it to memory.

"Hey, if we get caught in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so..." Pope trailed off, "better get a move on."

John B gave a curt nod. "Copy that."

While Stella wrung the water from her hair, Kie stepped up to John B and planted a kiss on his cheek. In mild confusion and shock, Stella let her hair fall back to her waist and turned to JJ and Pope with a raised brow. They just stared at her with equally puzzled looks.

"Diver down?" John B said, stunned from Kie's kiss.

"Diver down," Kie answered, taking a step back.

John B hopped off the edge of the boat and saluted them before sinking down into the water. After a minute of tense silence, Stella stepped over to Kie with a teasing grin.

"What?" Kie sassed, placing a hand on her hip.

Stella smirked. "Oh, nothing." She moved to return to her spot between Pope and JJ, but before she did, she leaned forward and kissed Kie on the cheek. "Be so careful." Kie smacked her arm, but all Stella did was walk away laughing.

About fifteen minutes later, sirens sounded behind them. Pope looked back and cursed when he saw the boat speeding towards them. "Shit. JJ."

JJ turned his head and face fell into an expression of disdain and panic. "Guys, that's the police."

"Great," Stella quavered, "wonderful."

"Just act frickin' normal," Kie ordered. She kept her gaze straight ahead, not looking over to the cops.

The police boat came to a stop right beside them and one of the officers handed Pope a rope to tie the boats together. Pope handed it off to JJ and turned back to the police, sending them a greeting. Deputy Shoupe removed his sunglasses and studied each of them.

"How you kids doing?" He asked, eyes roaming the boat. "You know the marsh is closed?"

The four teens shook their heads. "No," they chorused. "We didn't know."

"Why— Why is it closed?" Pope asked, hoping that he didn't sound suspicious.

Shoupe let out a slight sigh at the question, tired by the events of the day and leading the search in place of Peterkin. "Well, we're conducting a search out here," he explained. "Boat went down."

Stella raised her eyebrows. "Oh, that's horrible," she sympathized, trying to seem innocent.

"You kids see anything?"

They all shook their heads again. Shoupe looked around, doing a mental head count of the teenagers and he noticed that one was missing.

"Where's your friend you always hang with? He here?"

There was a pause hesitation among three of the four teenagers, but luckily, Stella held the title of the smoothest talker any of them know and stepped in to answer before suspicion grew. With the shake of her head and a sweet smile, she said, "No, he's working."

Shoupe nodded, trusting her words. He knew her mother from high school and would occasionally run into her at the hospital, and he assumed that her reputation of being an honest person would apply to her daughter as well. "Hm," he hummed. He then glanced at her friends. "I'm gonna check your little boat out."

"Go right ahead," Stella said with a friendly smile, moving over to give him room.

Shoupe examined the boat before picking up a life vest and asking if they had enough. JJ scratched his head and nodded, moving over to the hold to show him that they did. When he was satisfied, the deputy moved to the bow and stared down at the water.

The breaths of the teenagers hitched. There were three possible scenarios that could possibly happen.

1. Shoupe sees John B and they all get booked.

2. Shoupe sees the sunken boat and they all get booked.

3. Shoupe sees nothing and they don't get booked.

They hoped it was the last option because they didn't know what they'd do if it wasn't.

Shoupe took a long time to examine the water and Stella was starting to fear that John B had been under for too long. If he wasn't out of air before, he definitely was now.

"Alright," Shoupe said abruptly, turning around to leave. "Beautiful day. Let us know if you see anything on your way out."

The teens nodded and felt relief flood their body as he got back onto his own boat. They assured them that they'd keep him updated if they saw anything and for good measure, JJ even said, "We'll be gone soon, sir."

Once the cops were gone, they all rushed to the side of the boat. John B had been under for too long and the unexpected visit from the police didn't help with their already restless nerves.

Moments later, John B resurfaced with a gasp. "There he is!"

"Oh, God! Jesus Christ!"

"Don't scare us like that!"

JJ was the first to reach the ladder at the back of the boat. "How'd it go down there? Did you find anything?"

"Did I find anything?" John B repeated teasingly. He pulled a black duffle bag from the water and threw it onto the boat.

"Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!" JJ praised.

"You okay?" Stella asked, watching as John B made his way onto the boat.

"Yeah," he panted, "I ran out of air."

Kie stared down at him. "You scared the shit out of me," she scolded.

"Yeah, the cops were up here," Pope said, "but, uh... took care of 'em."

JJ placed the duffle bag in the hold and put an arm around Stella again. "Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother."

Stella was about to wrap her arm around JJ's waist, but stopped when she saw the perplexed look on Kie's face. "Kie, what is it?"

Kie glanced at her before turning to the others. "Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock."

JJ's arm dropped from Stella's shoulders as she turned around. "They shouldn't be here," she frowned. "And I've never seen that boat in my life, have you?"

"Nope."

"Definitely not."

Panic set in as the boat sped towards them with no sign of slowing down. They debated if they should wait on them, but ultimately decided that the whole situation felt threatening and that they should get out of there. JJ went to pull up the bowline while John B took control of the boat.

"Guys, don't wait for me," JJ ordered, still pulling up the line. "Go!"

They pulled into the marsh maze, trying to act natural to see if the other boat would follow. As soon as they did Stella allowed herself to panic outwardly. "I don't like this," she stated as she watched the boat behind them. "I don't like this at all."

The rogue boat sped up behind them and suddenly, the five teenagers found themselves caught in a boat chase. Stella's eyes never left the boat, but she wished that they did because maybe then she could save herself the fear of seeing the gun pointed at them.

"Guys, get down!" A shot rang through the air and pinged off the metal of the HMS Pogue. Stella grabbed the two people closest to her and pulled them to the ground. JJ immediately pulled her closer to him.

Another shot rang out.

"Oh my god, we're gonna die!" Pope shouted, bringing his hands to his head.

Pope's outburst didn't help JJ's nerves. In a panic, the blond boy turned to Stella. "Stella, if we die right now, I need you to know—"

"We're not going to die today." Stella looked around for anything that could help them. Thinking quickly on the fence between life and death would have to become second nature to her if she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and she figured that she'd better start adapting now. "Kie!" she yelled. When Kie looked to her, she pointed at the fishing net next to Pope.

Kie didn't need an explanation into what Stella was thinking and grabbed it. Stella grabbed the other side and together the girls threw it overboard. There was a final gunshot before the rogue boat's engine sputtered.

Once they had gotten away, smiles crept onto their faces.

"Holy shit," Stella breathed out, turning to Kie. "Did we just do that?"

Kie nodded with a laugh and stuck her hand out for their handshake. "We just did that."

Stella's hand met hers. "Badass, baby!" When she pulled away from Kie, JJ's arms wrapped around her shoulders from behind and crossed in front of her. She played with his hands while they headed back to John B's dock.

"What do you think it is?" Kie said as they placed the duffle bag on the deck.

"Gotta be money, right?" John B suggested.

JJ's excitement was overflowing as he answered the question. "That or a couple of keys with street value to the low to mid-mils!"

"Can we please just open the bag?!" Pope blurted out abruptly causing the other four to silence.

"Wow, Pope," John B mused. "That's a rare outburst of emotion."

"Yeah, didn't know you had it in you," Stella teased.

Pope shook his head and leaned forward. "Okay. You guys are literally killing me with anticipation. Open the bag. We almost died over this."

John B opened the bag and pulled out a silver canister. He had trouble opening it for a bit, but eventually twisted the top open and slid out its contents. There was no money, no keys, no illegal contraband. Just an old, worthless compass.

"Damn, that's anticlimactic," Stella muttered as she backed away from the duffle bag.

"Good job, everybody," Pope said sarcastically. "We found a compass."

Everyone let out comments of disappointment, but stopped when they noticed John B staring at the compass like it had just grew a face and spoke to him.

"Dude, what?" JJ asked tartly. "It's not worth anything."

"This was my father's," John B breathed out, leaving his friends to share uneasy glances.

RAE SPEAKS !
the pogues every time they lay eyes on the compass for the next few chapters: