"Hey hot momma." Kie said as Layla walked down the hill with a scold on her face, huffing and puffing as she fixed the flower crown on her head.

"I hate this, I hate all of this." Layla complained as she huffed, standing on the other side of Pope, "My dads so embarrassing, if people wanted to go to church they would. He's literally humiliating me by trying to preach by the door."

"He does it every year, might as well get use to it by now." Pope said as Layla rolled her eyes as looked down at his nearly burnt hamburgers, "Stop judging my patties."

"I want to go home." Layla huffed. She'd been in a relatively bad mood sense her and Sarah's argument in the middle of the rain, feeling insecure was a understatement.

"Look on the bright side." Kie said as she motioned toward the group of girls all dancing around, "Dont you like women?"

"I don't want Kook woman." Layla said in annoyance, crossing her arms across the satin sage green dress she wore, "I want no one."

"Damn, who hurt you?" Kie asked as Layla ignored her, keeping her arms crossed and pouting the rest of the night.

"Just a cherry coke please." Layla said with a forced smile to the bar tender, "With vanilla if you have it."

The older woman gave a nod with a forced smile, turning to get the stuff. Layla leaned on the bar, looking around at the hundreds of Kooks around her. She was surprised non of them gave her a hard time yet, a voice heard behind her, "Hey."

Layla looked over her shoulder to find Sarah with a grin. She rolled her eyes to cover the way her face flushed and heart jumped, "Hey."

Sarah came up to her side, "These things are pretty boring, aren't they?"

"Yup." was all Layla said as she avoided looked at her, wishing the bar tender would go a little faster with her coke. Sarah could sense Layla hadn't wanted to talk to her, which is why she came over to try and act normal with her as much as possible.

"I had this really crazy b-" Sarah began before Layla cut her off, facing her for the first time sense she arrived.

"Is there something I can help you with, Sarah?" Layla questioned as the blonde stared at her with a blink, face falling, "Hum?"

"I want us to be friends, is that such a bad thing?" Sarah went back at her in questioned, scanning her face with a cross of her arms.

"Do you fuck with all your friends feelings or was I just special?" Layla asked sarcastically as she put the five dollar bill on the bar when she got her drink.

"Layla-" Sarah began before Layla was off, walking away with watery eyes. She knew it was stupid to cry over a girl she spent one night with. But one night was enough time for Layla to feel things for Sarah she hadn't with anyone else before. She felt like for the first time someone was actually listing to her, actually seeing her. Layla wanted Sarah so bad, she still wanted her so bad.

Yet the feeling wasn't returned.

"Is that JJ?" Kie asked as the pair of girls broke conversation. Their parents were speaking just a few feet away. Layla's eyes looked over and saw JJ being pulled out by security, downing a mans drink on the way.

"Oh what the hell is this night?" Layla asked as she put a hand on her forehead, "It feel like a fever dream."

"Let go of him!" Kie hollered out loudly, "You can't just boot him!"

"Really?" her dad asked in disbelief as he came up to her side.

"I invited him!" Kie yelled out once more as she looked in disbelief to the man that was pulling JJ out, "I'm a member of this club!"

"Layla, god is watching." Raymon reminded his daughter as he stood by her side, seeing JJ take off in a sprint toward the woods were John B could be seen. She looked to her right, seeing Pope doing the same as his dad yelled out for him.

"Cmon Layla!" Pope yelled after Kie ran off.

"Layla!" Raymon warned as Layla threw her drink in Rafes face, taking off in a run toward her friends. JJ hugged her tightly as the five sprinted off.

"Where the hell you think you're going?" Haywire hollered at the group of teens who payed him not mind.

"Freedom!" Layla yelled as she put her fist in the air as she ran.

"Hey, guys. So, like, my dads already gonna kill me." Pope announced as the five sat around the fire together in the middle of the woods, "So whats this mandatory meeting about?"

"Feels a bit like a cult." Layla confirmed as she picked the flowers off her crown and counted them each time they fell onto the ground.

"Might as well tell them, man, before we're gaffed." JJ said knowingly as he gave Layla a warning look, confusing her as she sat up better to listen.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B said as he grinned over at Kie knowingly.

"Fever dream continues." Layla spoke as she rubbed her eyes, swearing her mascara, that she'd forgotten about, in the process.

"Oh, my God. Here we go again with this." Pope complained with a roll of his eyes.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ said as he gave the three a pleading look.

"It's been here the whole time." John B said with a calm grin toward them, the fire illuminating his face enough to see the astonishment in his eyes, "It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kie asked as she looked back and forth between the pair.

"So we nearly died looking for it in the water for no reason?" Layla asked in disbelief, "Unbelievable."

"I'd like the voice my skepticism." Pope announced with a raise of his eyebrows as he held his hands together.

"I'm sure you would, Pope." John B said as he threw a twig into the fire, "But can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"

"Process." Pope sighed, waving him off.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B said as he pulled out a tea stained paper.

"Who the hells that?" Kie asked as Layla snorted.

"Did Tanny have a fanny in his panties?" No one laughed at Layla joke aside from herself.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." John B announced as he put the letter in Kies hands, "Here you go. Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his fame. Drumroll, please."

The remaining four hit the logs they were sat on as John B took a big breath, "Because that farm is Tannyhill Plantation."

"Tannyhill Plantation?" Layla asked as her jaw dropped, "Why did I not to the math sooner?"

"My thoughts exactly." JJ said to her with a snap of his fingers.

"So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pissed off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him." John B said as Layla huffed and flatted her dress.

"You could have given a warning, John B, I was starting to think Tanny was my hero." Layla said with a knowing shake of her head.

"My apologies, ma'am." John B said as he gave her his bandana, "So, on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of that letter, he leaves a coded messages about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Kie asked with a grin.

"Harvest the wheat." John B said with a knowing grin across his lips, "In parcel nine, near the water. Except, there's no wheat."

"Nines my lucky number for a reason." Layla said as her and John B fist pumped.

"You see, wheat is code for gold, Check this out." John B went on as he hurried to Popes side, "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

"Holy shit." Pope said in disbelief.

"Why didn't I think of this sooner? I'm literally suppose to be the hot detective that whips finger prints." Layla announced as she hit her forehead harshly.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold!" John B said excitingly, fueling the four around him.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope said in disbelief as JJ hugged John B tightly.

"I'm gonna be so rich, i'm gonna have a art gallery and pay models, of all sizes, to let me paint them naked." Layla moaned as she fell onto the grass, "My dreams have been answered, maybe God is on my side, dad was wrong."

"Okay, so guys." Pope announced to get the four from celebrating too quickly, "What the plan?"

"Good question." John B said knowingly, "So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight."

Layla's heart felt as if it stopped, chocking on air as JJ cringed, forgetting to give her another warning.

"Hold on." Kie cut John B off quickly, "Sarah? Why Sarah?"

"Um.." John B trailed off.

"Um? What the fuck does um mean?" Layla demanded. Pope and JJ shared a look, the only pair to know what was going through her mind right now. Layla began to pick at her fingers horribly while her heart raced.

"Sarah, um, she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday." John B spoke, stuttering slightly as he did so, "and that's were I got the letter."

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kie asked in disbelief. Pope listened to Layla's alarming silence, wishing she'd at least say something.

"He was macking on her." JJ finally said. Layla's eyes shut as she rubbed her forhead in pain, her head begging to throb. It made sense now, who Sarah was with, who she wanted more then Layla. It had been her best friend of all people. God truly wasn't on her side.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access." John B said as a pine cone collided with his head, "Ow!"

"So first you mack on her then you use her? You're such a piece of shit." Layla said in disbelief, Popes eyes widened.

"Wow, wow, take it down a notch." JJ said quickly as he put a hand on her shoulder, which she shoved off quickly.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kie asked alarmed.

"I was just trying to get into the archives!"

"Is that a yes?"

"I-I left out key details."

"Yo, what?"

"God, John B!" Layla said in disbelief, more so out of anger and jealously then anything.

"You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Life? What about the T-shirt company, bro?" Kie asked in disbelief, ranting and raving.

"I was just using her for information." John B tried to redeem himself, putting his arm up as another pine cone was thrown at him.

"Why don't I believe you?" Kie asked with a stupid look.

"I'll tell you why." Layla said as Pope gave her a wide eyed look, "Because he was macking on her completely!"

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here! Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or-or uh, send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies or put Layla through detective training or get her naked art gallery! Look, you guys know me! Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

Layla rolled her eyes, biting her tongue harshly.

"Look, you don't know her. I do!" Kie yelled at him knowing, "You can't trust her."

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club." Pope cut in. JJ watched Layla stare at the fire in complete silence.

"Rafe and Sasha are different human beings." John B spoke knowingly as Layla scoffed.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked as he looked to Kie in questioning.

"She's like a- like a spitting cobra. First she-she blinds you, and then-"

"This is a bad analogy."

"Listen to me!" Kie yelled, clear hurt in her voice, "Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take."

Layla inhaled, "I'm with Kie, you're a fucking idiot, John B."

•

kylie speak

i didn't realize
how well this
book has done
so far. thank you
guys so much, i
appreciate and love
all of you.