019 !! PAIN

"Hey, guys. So like, my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?".

Georgie looks up at Pope with a bored look in her eyes, the after effects of the weed still swimming inside of her as she tries her best to concentrate.

"Might as well tell him, man, before we're both gaffed", JJ comments side glancing at John B.

John B excitedly rubs his hands together slowly glancing at all of his friends looking up at him in anticipation.

"You ready for this?".

"Yeah . . .", Georgie trails off waiting for him to continue.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant".

"Oh my god, here we go again with this", Pope facepalms plopping down next to Georgie who is herself trying to stop from cringing at the brunet frowning at his friend.

She gets it, okay?

And had this happened yesterday, she would've probably yelled at Pope for being so inconsiderate.

But it is not yesterday, and this is the first time she's seeing John B in thirty hours ever since he decided to ghost all of them and run off to god knows where doing something she can only imagine as amateur "sleuthing".

She hates to admit it but maybe things have gotten a little out of hand.

Maybe, Pope was right.

John B is in denial.

"No. Hear him out, alright?", JJ jumps to his best friend's defence making Georgie grow even more suspicious of what the brunet had been up to since they parted ways the day before.

"It's been here the whole time. It's on the island".

The expression on his face seems to be of someone expecting an appreciative standing ovation.

But all he gets is three confused and very very tired scowls.

"Are you serious?", Georgie leans forward trying to ignore the sudden dizziness taking over her.

"Oh my god. I would like to voice my skepticism", Pope chimes in shaking his head.

"I'm sure you would, Pope. But can I please present you with my evidence, sir?", John B states making the former roll his eyes.

"Proceed".

"Alright. So in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny".

"Who the hell's that?", Kiara furrows her brows.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out".

He pulls out a laminated folder from his backpack revealing an old worn out piece of paper lying inside the plastic.

"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 Royal Merchant to buy his freedom. After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll please, because that farm is . . . ."

Kiara scoffs playfully before beginning to rapidly tap her fingers against the log of wood she's seated on, JJ doing the same with a goofy grin on his face.

"Tannyhill Plantation", John B proudly declares.

"Tannyhill?", Georgie mumbles confused.

"Yeah", he points at her, "so after that, he used his money to free even more slaves and he sold a shit ton of rice which pisses off all the white planters, and they decide to lynch him. So the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell, and in the last line of the letter he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold".

"Where?", Georgie asks wide eyed.

"Harvest the wheat. In parcel nine, near the water. Except there is no wheat. You see, the wheat is code for gold. Check this out", he turns the folder in his hand to show off the letter contained inside.

"The gold is in parcel nine. Near the water".

"Holy shit", Georgie runs a hand through her hair.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property and we've found the gold", he shrugs with a sense of pure pride.

"Okay, this might have a small chance of actually being true", Kiara murmurs in awe.

The entire group begins pouring out their congratulations and pull John B in for a tight hug making sure to let him know how proud they are of him.

Georgie laughs tightening her arms around his neck.

"I'm so proud of you right now", she mumbles hiding her face in the crook of his neck breathing in the familiar salty ocean scent radiating off him.

He chuckles holding on to her waist just as gently as she pulls him closer, trying to ignore the butterflies swirling around in her stomach at the feel of his arms circling her body and pulling her flush against his.

Their hearts beat flushed together, Georgie's marijuana infected mind enjoying his touch for the few seconds they remain stood that close.

She finally pulls back, a smile on her lips.

"What's the plan?", she asks grinning up at him.

"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map . . . ."

"Hold on", Kiara takes a step forward, meanwhile Georgie remains frozen, her eyes frantically running between John B and an obviously uncomfortable JJ.

"Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?", the blonde clears her throat wrapping her arms around herself.

"Uhm . . .", John B rubs the back of his neck.

"This is gonna be good", JJ snickers quietly.

"Sarah, uhm, she . . . .", Georgie throws a glance at JJ before turning back to a clearly anxious John B, "she got me into the archives at Chapel Hill yesterday. That's where I got the letter".

"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?", Kiara yells in an accusing tone.

"Yeah, uhm . . . ."

"He was mackin' on her", JJ interrupts earning Georgie's attention.

"I wasn't macking", John B bites back defensively.

But the look on his face is enough for a hauntingly painful pit to settle inside Georgie.

Her eyes searching fill with a sense of betrayal, harsh betrayal as John B tries to come up with a solid argument that could convince his friends that things between him and Sarah Cameron were only . . . . platonic.

"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron", JJ huffs.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access", John B retorts.

"There was access, alright", JJ smirks.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?", Kiara crosses her arms.

"I was trying to get into the archives".

"Is that a yes?", Georgie's throat closes up but she refuses to let her emotions control her.

She just cannot do this tonight.

"I . . . . I left out key details".

"Yo, what? You let a Kook in on our secret? What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the t-shirt company, bro?", Kiara scowls.

"I was using her for information", he shakes his head hoping to sound believable and glancing at both the girls looking at him as if he's just ruined their entire life.

Different reasons for both, and yet the outcome seems the same.

"Why don't I believe you?", Kie lets out a dry chuckle.

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat or . . . . or, uh . . . .", he turns to Pope in desperation, "send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies".

When they still look back at him with frowns, he audibly sighs.

"Look, you guys know me. Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?".

"Do you want us to answer that or . . . .", Pope huffs waving his arms around.

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do!", Kiara yells shushing all of them.

Georgie curls her lips biting down on her bottom lip to keep herself from crying as her mind starts pulling up scenarios, mental pictures of John B with Sarah Cameron.

There's no way this is happening right now.

"Her brother did hit me in the back with a golf club", Pope mumbles.

"Rafe and Sarah are different human beings", John B states.

His words cut through Georgie's heart like a knife, a deliberate twist taking small turns as he continues to defend her.

Defend Sarah Cameron.

"What did she do to you, exactly?", JJ asks Kiara.

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

"This is a bad analogy", John B mutters under his breath.

"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take".

Kiara breathes heavily letting the silence take over.

Crickets sound throughout the small clearing in the middle of the forest, all of them staring at John B knowing full well that this argument isn't gonna lead them anywhere.

That Sarah Cameron will now, somehow, become a part of their little secret.

But only Georgie's heart knows the real pain that realisation brings with itself.

***
i finally updated yayayay