𝐅 𝐎 𝐔 𝐑 𝐓 𝐘 - 𝐅 𝐎 𝐔 𝐑
good framer of john b routledge

"Good news for residence of Outer Banks," the broadcaster on the radio emitted from inside of the car as they parked inside of an abandoned car port. "Dominion Power says that their underwater transmission line, which will restore power to ninety-percent of the area..."

Meredith sighed from her spot in between JJ and John B. After settling at the car port, the pogues had rotated spots, Kiara still at the wheel while JJ and Meredith took the spots by John B and Pope in the passenger seat.

Nobody slept or did much of anything. John B's mind was still reeling, and the others didn't have the courage to sleep during such a devastating time.

"...should be functional within twenty-four hours." Sirens suddenly silenced the radio, JJ jolting forward to look around them.

Meredith pulled him back down, trying to calm his panic by running her hand soothingly through his hair. During their long wait at the port, JJ had put his hat on top of her head, mentioning how cute she looked. And now, she took it as an advantage to run her fingers through his locks while his head rested in the crook of her neck.

He sighed in content, nuzzling his forehead further into her neck, a newly rolled joint between his lips and a lighter in hand.

"And still, no arrest in the shooting death of Sheriff Susan Peterkin," the broadcaster continued. "The state police have issued a statement regarding a local person of interest, a juvenile from-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by Kiara, who had turned the radio off completely.

The ebony-eyed girl felt the blonde stir from beside her, leaning off of her chest to glance at his other friends. His elbow dug into the seat he sat on, holding his weight over Meredith.

"Let's game this out," he finally spoke. "Maybe you guys can help, being the smart ones and all, but..."

Meredith frowned at his words but allowed him to continue.

He sighed. "...who are the cops going to believe? Ward Cameron and Michael Waters or us? So, the accusers are big shot developers, and your dad is basically lord of the island,"

JJ paused, realizing his words may have upset her, but when she simply shrugged, he continued. "Got the government on speed dial kind of people, and the accused... is John B, who is pretty much a homeless sixteen-year-old boy at the moment."

John B frowned. "Thanks." He mumbled sarcastically.

"Shit," Pope cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Okay, man," the blonde cleared his throat. "Yucatan, all right? I'm saying that's the only option. What other option do you have?"

"Enough with the Mexico bullshit, all right?" John B rolled his eyes, warning laced in his tone. "Sarah will bail me out."

"She did witness the whole thing," Kiara reminded.

"Thank you," John B sighed.

Although they seemed to be convinced, both Pope and Meredith gave them incredulous glares. She knew her best friend better than anyone, but it was impossible to assume she would so openly betray her family like that- she couldn't even trust John B when he had broken the news to her about her father.

"And she's gonna snitch on her brother?" Pope turned his head, eyebrows arched.

"Not happening, bro, okay?" JJ leaned further past Meredith, taking the joint from his lips, smoke bellowing as he spoke. "We've gotta get you off the island."

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

"Exit stage left while you still can," JJ nodded, head turning when distant sirens sounded off. "Before the entire island is on lockdown."

Meredith sighed, grabbing his bicep and pulling the blonde down in case the police cars decided to surveil the area.

"Guys, just get down," the curly-haired girl muttered quietly, sliding down lower in the driver's seat, Pope doing the same beside her. Almost as if it was luck, Meredith managed to pull JJ down just in time, a loud siren wailing as the cop car sped past them, Pope speaking over the noise.

"Sarah's not a Pogue, John B," he reminded, and Meredith had to unclench her jaw, realizing she had been staring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, you can't stay here, man," JJ agreed, hand falling on Meredith's lap. He let out a frustrated sigh, falling down onto the seat completely, head lolling to the side on her shoulder.

She had to bite back the urge to remark a comment about Sarah, knowing she was just as much of a Pogue as the rest. And if Sarah wasn't a Pogue, what was Meredith? Everybody knew that before she 'joined their cult' as the Kooks would say, she was the prized possession of Figure Eight, the HBIC.

Now, all of a sudden, she was running amuck with a couple of Pogues, and they had the nerve to say that Sarah wasn't a Pogue as if she wasn't sitting right there?

Meredith knew they weren't saying it in a condescending way because she knew that the Pogues loved them both dearly- but that didn't mean that the feeling of desolation didn't claw at her insides, begging to be freed.

So, she did what she knew best. She shoved the feeling down, mistaking it for jealously, sliding down further in her seat to be closer to JJ.

And he pulled her closer because he wanted her around, and nothing would change that.

The Carrera's car had been parked outside of the Ferry Port for God knows how long, waiting for the moment when it would officially open again. There was a large sign on the info board that said, 'Ferry Closed'.

And right under that was a WANTED poster. John B Routledge's face is right in the middle. Meredith's breath hitched, hand moving to rip if from its staple. The group has sent her outside to scale the area, considering she was most known out of the five, and she was highly respected. She was to find information and come back- how bad could it be?

She tore the poster from the staple, a scowl forming on her lips. Her eyes scanned the paper, frowning at the twenty-five thousand reward.

Just as she was prepared to turn around and return to her friends, a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Well, look who it is," She clenched her jaw tightly, glancing over her shoulder to see Harper and Dakota approaching her. "Who would've thought."

A sarcastic laugh came from Harper, and Meredith resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "What do you want?"

"A little birdie told us that you were seen with the Pogues," Harper retorted, jutting her hip out dramatically and laying her hand on it. "And that you're screwing around with that kid- Maybank."

"Yeah?" Meredith tilted her head, tranquility washing away to make an appearance of her anger. "Take that bird and shove it up your ass-"

A large hand clamped over her forearm, head whipping around to see Pope, eyes widened.

"Meredith," he warned, beginning to drag her in the opposite direction. "Come on."

Meredith sent one last longing glare towards the two girls, lips curled in distaste. She watched as Harper smacked aggressively at her bubblegum, a familiar necklace adorning her neck. The Waters girl squinted her eyes, trying to make out the golden pendant and its familiarity. Suddenly, it clicked, and she let out a loud scoff.

Pope's eyebrows knitted together in confusion when she tore her arm from his hold, walking back to approach Harper.

The blonde reeled back in surprise when Meredith didn't stop until she was inches away, eyes hooded in anger. "You know, if you wanted to be me so bad, you could've just asked."

She lifted her hand, finger curling around the necklace before she tugged harshly, the pendant falling in her hand. Harper scoffed loudly, reaching out to retrieve the necklace- Meredith's necklace- but the girl was already walking off, Pope scolding her in a hushed whisper.

"Are you serious?" He narrowed his eyes. "It's a necklace-"

"That she stole," the girl cut him off, moving to hook it around her own neck. "I got it for my birthday."

Meredith sent the dark-skinned boy a fake pout, bottom lip popping out, and eyebrows curling upwards. He tried to fight it off, but his lip slowly curled upwards into a smile, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You and your jewelry," he smirked, walking the rest of the way to the car.

"What?" Kiara's head popped out of the window, eyebrows pinched together in confusion. "I'm sorry? Did we miss something?"

"She stole my necklace-" Meredith whined, pointing in the direction of Harper, who was sporting a large scowl. Before she could continue, Pope opened the door, shoving her in.

"Okay- get in the car," he interrupted, trying to silence her complaints and JJ's chuckles.

Meredith huffed but obliged nonetheless. She climbed over JJ, his hands finding her waist to settle her, her dark hair splayed over her face as she tried to step past him.

When she sat down in the middle seat, the blonde's hands were finding her face, pushing the many fallen tendrils past her chocolate eyes.

"Okay, so, bad news," Pope began, leaning through the open window. "The Ferry's closed, and there is this."

He gave Kiara the paper from the open window before climbing into the driver's seat. Why did they let him drive? That was a great question- from what she had heard, Pope's driving history wasn't exactly spotless.

Kiara's eyes widened in horror, turning to show the others in the back. John B had pushed his seat back, so he now laid on it, trying to lean forward to see.

"What is that?" He furrowed his brows. "What is this?"

"Shit," Kiara gaped.

"Well, John B, uh..." JJ took the poster from the curly-haired girl. "... this is a good framer of you."

His expression went blank when his eyes caught himself on the paper, the reward money screaming at him. The brunette turned his head wordlessly, lips parted.

"Okay, so the whole island's looking for John B now," Pope spoke out loud.

"That's a lot of money," Kiara added, face contorted anxiously.

However, JJ tried to see past the immediate panic, resorting to humor. "Congratulations, John B. You're famous."

Meredith tore the paper out of his hands, sending him a warning glare from the middle seat. She gave the poster to John B, who began reading it thoroughly.

"Guys, we got to get to the HMS. We need small, no running lights-"

The girl's idea was silenced by John B. "It's at the Château, Kie."

"And I wonder if the cops got the entire place staked out," the blonde brought his hand to his forehead, rubbing at the skin anxiously. "Let me think. Oh, yeah. No. They definitely have that place locked down."

Kiara swallowed thickly. "Yeah, copy that."

"Let me think," Meredith caught the way Pope began to panic frantically, eyes darty and demeanor jittery. "Just give me a second."

Suddenly, his head darted upwards, eyes widened. "JJ."

"What?"

He turned around in his seat completely, arms wrapped around the head rest. "Does your dad still have that boat? The cigarette boat, The Phantom? The one he used to race?"

"Maybe," the blonde shrugged, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. As opposed to Meredith, she quickly began shaking her head, an awful distaste on the tip of her tongue.

She promised herself that she would never let his father do anything to hurt him ever again, and she would make sure of it.

"You could get right up the coast, no problem," Pope turned back around, leaving the blonde to think to himself.

"Okay, look..." Kiara muttered to herself, trying to formulate a plan.

"It's not gonna be easy, Pope," JJ scoffed.

"...the surf's running from three to four..."

"I don't know where the keys are," JJ interjected, growing overwhelmed.

"Well, find them!" The Heyward son raised his voice.

"Im thinking," JJ shot back, back tensing. Meredith quickly took action, one hand finding JJ's, lacing their fingers together while her other hand patted the back of Pope's seat.

"Dude, just chill out," she warned him, trying to diffuse the situation before it all blew up.

"Why is nobody moving forward?" He spoke over her, the girl huffing at her failed attempt. Pope began making wild hand gestures towards the long line of vehicles ahead of them, Kiara reaching out to silence him.

"Can you relax?" She raised her eyebrows. "JJ, how much weed did you give him?"

"Guys," John B tried, but the teens only continued to speak over one another, Kiara scolding JJ and Pope for their partake in doing weed.

"Your car's on the poster," John B revealed. However, the shock was quickly overtaken with fear when Pope abruptly began slamming his palm on the horn, shouting over it.

"Can we move it?" He shouted out the window, Kiara was quick to pull him back in.

"Pope!" She shouted. "It won't help. Don't honk the horn."

Slowly, heads began turning their way at the commotion, a young boy pointing towards their car.

"It's that guy!" His nasily voice rang out, pointing accusingly towards the slouched brunette, whose eyes went wide with horror. "Right there."

"Shit," Kiara cursed.

"We got a snitch," JJ sat up in his seat abruptly. "Pope, turn the car on."

"We get twenty-five thousand dollars if we find him!" The young boy's voice slowly caught the attention of numerous people, all of which noticed the crouched brunette in the back seat. Right next to him was Kook Princess, Meredith Waters.

"Hey!" Another man approached the car, the sound of his palm coming in contact with the window forced the teens to spin around. "He's right there!"

"Hey!" Kiara shouted. "We gotta go!"

John B quickly curled into himself, using the hood of his salmon colored sweater to shield his face, but it was no use. Everyone was looking.

JJ leaned forward further, hands gripping Pope's seat. "Turn the car on!"

"I found him first!"

"Hell, you did, little bastard!"

"Pope, turn the fricking car on!"

"I'm trying!"

"Pope! Start the car!"

Their voices all overlapped each other, everyone in the car shooting into action as the situation quickly escalated. They were practically sitting ducks, and it was only a matter of time before they were caught.

"Dude-"

"Turn the car on!" JJ shouted, trying to shield his best friend, but it was no use. "Go, go, go, go!"

Without warning, Carrera's car instantly jerked forward, the front slamming into the rear end of the car in front of them. The teenagers inside all jolted forward involuntarily, JJ's hand finding Meredith's chest, trying to push her back before she shot forward into the windshield.

"Pope!" JJ shouted over the chaos. "Jeez!"

"Dude, back up!" Kiara cried out, eyes widened with horror when the car shook violently from the impact.

"Hey!" JJ tried, but whether the boy was completely in a panic or he was simply too high to comprehend anything, Pope didn't listen. Instead, his foot pressed further onto the gas, forcing the car forward, but it didn't move, locked between the cars in front and behind them.

"The other way," Kiara scoffed.

"It's okay!" The blonde panicked. "Pope, just go!"

The car quickly spun around, Pope turning the wheel as much to the right as he could, the tires squeeling against the concrete.

"Hey!" Kiara cried out.

"Sorry!" Pope apologized, but Meredith could've sworn a hint of a smile ghosted his features. If a spontaneous car crash didn't kill him, she would.

"What are you doing?!" Kiara whipped her head at him with wide eyes, watching as the car weeved through crowds of people and police officers, Pope taking sharp turns out of the Ferry Port.

"We'll bump out," JJ spoke over her, arm snaking around Meredith when the vehicle hit a large bump.

"Watch out!" Kiara's terrified voice caught Meredith's attention, lifting her shocked gaze to see a mail box in the distance, and Pope was driving straight towards it. "Pope! Woah, woah, woah, watch out!"

The group all braced for impact when the front of the car came in contact with the mail box, tearing it from the ground. Kiara gasped, hands moving to shield her eyes.

When the dark-skinned boy let out a manic laugh, Meredith's eyes widened. "Pope- what the fuck?!"

"Oh, my God!" Pope cheered, startling everyone with a thrilled laugh.

"Pope!" John B's eyes widened with horror, hand grappling for the handle on the roof, trying to stay put.

"I'm living my best life now," Pope cackled, turning the wheel to speed down an empty road.

"My mom's gonna kill me," Kiara cried, pushing her hair back with a scrunched face.

"I should be the last to say this," JJ panted out. "But you are not okay to drive. Stop!" And, much to their surprise, Pope's foot shifted between the gas and the brake, the car coming to a disruptive halt. "Jeez!"

"John B, get out." The Heyward son rasped.

"He's right," JJ nodded, looking past the sable-haired girl. "We'll draw the cops, you run."

"Shit," the boy in question panted, taking one final breath before he was shooting up in his seat.

"I'll get the rig, and I'll meet you in the dump tomorrow, okay?" JJ shouted in a frenzy, watching as his best friend struggled out of the car from his confined space. "Three o'clock, okay?"

"Yeah," John B panted, feet landing on the cement.

"Three tomorrow at the dump," JJ repeated. As soon as the door slammed shut, Pope was jolting the car forward again, foot glued to the gas. "Come on, go, go, go!"

And he did, driving as far away from the empty road as he could, ready to draw away the cops if it meant saving his friend.