THE HARDEST PART OF THE whole thing was the fact that Sierra didn't know what followed after JJ was taken. For the whole duration of her and JJ's friendship she was constantly given a lecture by Susan Peterkin herself about how much she disapproved of the Maybank boy. Add that on top of the pile of the crimes he'd committed and God knows what the future held for him. It was flaw that Sierra always held, she constantly wanted to know what was next. But, in this case, didn't.

It knawed at her brain, and now she was thinking of all the possible things she wanted to say before he was shoved in the back of that cop car. Then, the following day she was forced to act like none of that bothered her. Like she wasn't completely overstimulated by her own thoughts.

Staring at herself in the full length mirror inside the master bedroom of the Carrera household she felt guilty. Sierra was attending a Kook event while JJ was sitting inside a jail, or worse, sitting inside his home with that alcoholic, drug abusing, dirtbag father of his.

"You okay, Si?" Kiara questioned, noting the expression ecthed upon her friends face. A frown and sunken eyes that tainted her pretty features.

"I dont know if I want to do this anymore, Kie." Murmured the girl, smoothing down the wrinkles in her light blue dress, identical to Kiara's. "I look good, but I feel like shit."

The Carrera gave her a pitiful look, placing a newly manicured hand onto her shoudler. She took a look at her self, face scrunching up in disgust before she scoffed. "This is disgusting."

"I know." Called Ana Carrera from down the hall, her heeled feet clicking against the hardwood floor. "It's just horrible." The woman walked in, heading towards her dresser with a collection of jewelry laying on top of it. "I'm asking you to relax and go to a fun party."

Turning around, Kiara glared at her mother in annoyance. "I look like a bourgeoisie pig."

"Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?" The woman sighed, putting on dangly gold earring.

"Mom, people not three miles from here have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers. That's so tone-deaf."

Sierra didn't speak but cringed a bit at how accurate her words were. The only reasons she wasn't fleeing from the scene and replacing the long dress with something more comfortable was because she couldn't disappoint people like Mr. and Mrs. Carrera.

Turning around, the auburn-haired woman gave her daughter a pointed look. "Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island Club?"

"Yeah, mom, how could I forget?" Kiara remarked with an unimpressed tone, turning around to following her mother as she headed towards the door. "You had to grovel for, like, ten years—"

"Twelve." The woman corrected, heading down the hall to the next room. "And we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough," She returned, "and so you know why we did that?"

"To keep up with the Joneses?"

"No, so you could have the same  experiences that I had as a child." Mrs. Carrera explained, hands planted on her hips like any typical mother. "Honey, do you know what the island club is?"

"A factory farm for debutantes."

"The Kook version of the Met Gala?"

The older woman gave the two a disapproving look before turning to her daughter and cupping her cheeks. "It's a nice place, with nice people, where the both of you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people while the island sinks slowly into the ocean."

Mrs. Carrera let out an exasperated sigh, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with the argument. "Okay, I want you two to put on your party faces. Especially if you want to live, Kiara."

  As the woman walked out the young Carrera girl looked to her best friend, an unimpressed look on her face. "I can't believe this."

  "Neither can I." Sierra mumbled, reaching for the white heels she had yet to put on. "Me at Midsummers. What the hell am I even suppose to do?"

  "Find Pope as quick as possible then try to find a way to sneak a shot or two." Kiara replied, falling backwards onto her parents bed.

  Sierra wanted to warn her about messy up her hair, it was the only thing she allowed the makeup artist to do after declining to put on any sort of cosmetics. But, the Ray girl held back, not wanting to sound too much like Kiara's mother.

  "Agreed." Sierra mumbled, grabbing the small the box and opening it up. Inside was a pearl necklace, combing with some earrings. The girl looked down at the jewelry, hesitant at first before clasping on the string of pearls.

  "We're leaving in five minutes, be ready!" Shouted Mr. Carrera from downstairs, his voice echoing into the master bedroom and causing Kiara to let out another annoyed huff as she sat up.

  "You ready?" The girl asked, checking her friend out. "You look good."

  Turning around from the mirror, Sierra smiled bashfully and nodded. "Thanks, Kie."

  "Four minutes!"

  "We're coming!" The Carrera girl chuckled, taking her friends hand and walking down the stairs.

  "Oh, stop right there." Mrs. Carrera beamed l, hurringly reaching into her bag for her expensive phone. "You two look so cute!"

  "Mom." Kiara protested, another foot coming down to walk off the last few steps.

  "Just one, just one."

  Sierra couldn't help but giggle l, wrapping her arm around Kiara's waist encouragingly before turning her head to grin at the camera. The sound of a more then just one picture clicked as Kiara finally gave a closed-lip smile.

  "One minute!" Mr. Carrera warned, the front door left opened and his voice coming from the outside of the home.

  "Okay, let's go." Tucking away her phone, Mrs. Carrera ushered the two teens out the door before locking it closed.

—

  STARING AT THE BUSTLING CROWD OF Kooks, Sierra felt the instant pit of regret pool at the bottom of her stomach. There was so many, and all in one spot. Blurs of golden accessories and fancy outfits filled the Country Club. It was nearly overwhelming, hearing the posh sounds of laughs and the clicks of champagne glasses meeting.

   "Alright, I'm going home." Sierra declared after sucking in a deep breath, she turned, ready to leave right then and there.

  "Nuh-uh." Muttered the Carrera girl, instantly tugging Sierra back to the spot next to her. "If I have to suffer, you're going to suffer with me."

"All right, girls. I want you to have fun, please don't offend anyone." Mrs. Carrera lectured, giving Kiara a pointed look. "But be responsible, no drinking, no acting like a fool."

"Okay, mom." Kiara gave the woman a tight-lipped smile before she walked away. "So, where the drinks?"

Sierra let out a chuckle, hooking an arm around Kiara's. "I think we should find Pope first, then get drinks."

"Great idea." Kiara agreed, also scanning the area for the familiar face. "Found him. Back corner." Sierra followed her line of sight, smiling softly. The two walked through the large crowd and ignored the looks they received for not even uttering an 'excuse me' while squeezing by. "Excuse me, sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves?" There was a clear shift as Pope's back grew stiff, a paused moment for him to roll his eyes and scowl before he turned around with a neutral expression. "'Cause it might mess up my costume."

A wave of relief drowned Pope's features, his frown turning upward as a chuckle escape his lips. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Doing the swift handshake with both of them, Pope stepped back slightly to make more room for them to stand together. "That accent was bad." Sierra admitted with a giggle, pushing away the strand of curl that blew in her face from the light breeze.

"It was, I was gonna let it go." Kiara agreed, turning to look out at the party, "Ever seen this many kooks in one place?"

"Yeah." Pope nodded, tearing his gaze away from the chatting Kook's to check up on the food. "Last year."

"We're in the lions den." Kiara muttered, her tone tense, like a warning that didn't even need to be said because it was obvious. A party full of the rich and wealthy who were full of too much arrogance, and then the small individuals who stuck out.

"Exactly." Pope lowered the lid on the grill, glancing at Sierra who was staring at the crowd in worry. He leaned in closer to Kiara. "Have you heard from JJ?"

"No." Kiara replied louder than he wanted her to. The Carrera girl didn't believe on keeping the blonde's name hush-hush just because Sierra was around. Sure, she was close with him but that wasn't a reason to underestimate her fragility. "Neither of us have, but he'll be all right he has a survival instinct of a cockroach."

"It's all my fault."

"You didn't ask for this, Pope." Sierra comforted with a small smile, "I don't think there's anything in this world that could've convinced JJ to not to take the blame. Especially after what Topper and Rafe did, he felt responsible."

"Why would he? He wasn't there, and it's not like he could've changed the assholes mind." Pope questioned with a frustrated furrow in between his brows.

Sierra shrugged, "That's just how he is. I don't even know why."

And suddenly, the sound of grand applauses and sight of people standing respectively caught there attention. In came the Cameron's, Ward and Rose strutting in with their heads held up high. "Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters."

  Following the couple came the three children, their walks not as confident as the people before them, more tense and awkward. Especially Sarah who looked as if she didn't even want to be in the presence of the many eyes staring at her.

  "She's gonna poke somebody's eye out with that." Pope commented, drawing Sierra's observant eyed back to the woman in the fuchsia dress.

  The Ray girl giggled, nodding in agreement. "I'm not even sure what the look she going for was."

  "Maybe bougie pineapple?" Kiara piped in, looking toward Sierra who only laughed harder. "Maybe a mess would be more accurate."

—

  THE SUN HAD GONE DOWN, AND AS much as Sierra hated to admit, Midsummers looked beautiful in the dark. The distant reflection of the moonlight on the water, and the warm ambience that the fairy lights created was what made the event bearable.

  The band could've worked more on their music but the beat was enough for Sierra to gently sway whilst Kiara snuck over some drinks from the unsupervised bar. Everybody indulged in mindless conversation, danced, and feasted on Heyward's delicious food.

  "Don't tell me you're having fun." Kiara joked, subtly passing the girl a glass of bubbly champagne. "Couldn't find anything else, so, we'll be drinking like a Kook tonight too."

  Sierra raised the glass, gently clicking with Kiara's before taking a sip. "Fun wouldn't exactly be the first word to come to mind."

The Carrera girl smiled gently, attempting to follow Sierra's small steps. "It's okay, you deserve to enjoy a night like this, even if this is last place both of us wanna be."

  "Cheers to that." Sierra lifted her glass once more, but this time chugged the remainder of the liquid. "Fuck, get me another one of these."

  "Comin' right up." Kiara followed her actions, downing the glass despite it being far from classy and her mom's approval. Luckily, the girl didn't care for either. She disappeared into the crowd, leaving the Ray girl to slowly soak in the effects of chugging the drink so quickly.

  The effects in question hardly hit. After attending so many boneyard's and drinking the many JJ cocktail's her ability to hold alcohol was shocking for a girl her age. "Yo, Pope, where can I find, I don't know, like a cookie in here?"

  The Heyward boy turned away from the grill, stopping to think before responding. "I don't even know if they have those here, but try the snack table by the bar."

  Sierra nodded and patted his his arm in appreciation, waiting until the Carrera girl returned before venturing off. "Let's go find some cookies."

  Kiara handed off the freshly filled glass, furrowing her brows. "They have cookies here?"

  The curly-haired girl shrugged in response, "Who knows, Pope said to check the snack table." Without another word Sierra squeezed passed a few Kook, navigating the unfamiliar venue like she knew where she was going. But she saw bar, so, a snack table should be somewhere nearby.

  "The waiters are passing out hors d'oeuvres and small cans of sparkling waters. I hardly think they'd be serving any kind of cookies." Kiara commented, sipping on the drink in her hand as they approached the closest thing to a snack table they found.

  Scanning the table Sierra found small samples of crème brûlée and equally sized portions of gelato causing her to let out a disappointed sigh. "How much money do they invest into this shit every year and I can't even find a cookie!"

  Kiara chuckled amusingly, watching the girl pout before downing the whole glass. "Woah, okay, I'm guessing another glass?"

  "I'm gonna go the bathroom first." Sierra carelessly set down the glass onto the snack table, beginning to walk in the direction of an indoor portion of the venue. Kiara muttered something in acknowledgement before she walked off to bother Pope.

  The hardwood floor meeting the heels of Sierra's shoes made a satisfying click with each step, but trying to find a bathroom in the maze that was midsummers was utterly unsatisfying. She had asked help from three people before she got a general idea of where to head, it was starting to irritate her and it didn't help that some commotion was beginning erupt behind her.

  Just as victory came, the 'Ladies Room' sign coming into view, somebody that was stupidly running in the halls slammed right into her. The force from their high speed nearly knocked her down but the boy's swift hands caught her before she met the floor.

  "Fuckin' assho—" Sierra paused, eyes widening suddenly when the apologizing boy was an all too familiar face. Instantly her expression changed, no longer angry but confused. "JJ?"

  "No time." Was all he muttered before he was pushing the girl into the conveniently empty women's bathroom. With a heavy sigh the blonde threw his head back to rest on the door tiredly. "Fuck."

  Just moments after muffled sounds of footsteps were heard. "Find him, I'll go this way, everybody split up and let me know when you find the Pogue."

  "Is that Rafe?" Sierra whispered, looking to the blonde confusingly, noticing the purple bruise on his upper cheek and his busted lip. "What the hell is happening!"

  "Hey, pretty girl, don't you look very Kooky." JJ began, ignoring her words and reaching out to grab her hips.

  "JJ." Sierra scolded, slapping away his hand and reaching for the lock on the door. It was best before some old lady walked in on a male waiter in the ladies room. "We have all the time in the world now, mind telling me how...everything."

  "Well, went to jail for a bit, dad bailed me out and gave me this gnarly thing." The teen casually explained, pointing to the black eye. "Then met up with JB—which, by the way, he's totally mackin' on Sarah Cameron—Uh, came here, pretended to be a waiter before those dick's found me and chased me around."

  Sierra stared at him, sighing before bringing him in for a tight hug. "You are such an asshole, y'know that right?"

  "Mhmm." JJ wrapped his arms around her, gently caressing her waist. "I know."

  "Don't ever pull some shit like that again, okay?"

  "Of course, my queen." The blonde jokingly bowed, kissing her knuckles despite her unamused glare. "Sorry, seeing you so dolled up makes me want to treat you like a royalty. You look gorgeous."

  Sierra let out a chuckle, shaking her head. "Thank you, Jay." She felt his hand slowly reach for hers.

  "Do a little spin f'me." Still gripping hand he twirled the girl, letting her smile giddily as she showed off her look. For once that night she felt good about being so dressed up, having her hair pinned up and face enhanced by simple touches of makeup. The blonde suddenly pulled her back in, making their chest meet and their lips to nearly collide. Only inches stood between them.

  If somebody was to ask, JJ didn't care. He was whipped and would've said it in front of a million people without an ounce of embarrassment. He was in love. It may have taken him a ridiculous amount of time and strange situation to figure it out but eventually did. Looking at her he could hardly believe that she wanted anything to do with him. But she did, and it was no or never. He kissed her, no hesitation in his motion nor second guessing. JJ was never one hundred percent on some of the decisions he made throughout his life, but feeling Sierra's lips on his was something he confidently could say was perfectly right.

   And though they'd kissed before, JJ knew that this one would be different. Slow, passionate, and full of unsaid confession's. No words were needed, the kiss was enough.

  His hand reached up cup her jaw gently, head titling to deepen the intimate action. Simultaneously he stepped forward, leading her toward the sinks. The fabric of the dress luckily protected Sierra from the cool marble of the counter. She wanted to be gentle, remembering the abrasion on JJ's lip that could feel against her's, but his growing desperation prevented her from doing that. Within moments his tongue slipping in between her teeth to fight with her's.

  His hands roamed, down her body and squeezing her thighs before they landed in her hips. The right dress made it impossible for her to spread her legs wider, a low growl of frustration came from the blonde as he reached to shove the fabric up, bunching it up on her waist so he could perfectly fit himself between her legs.

  Prior to the event Kiara had advised that Sierra shouldn't wear anything underneath so it wouldn't press up against the satin and interfere with whole look. The feeling of her lower body bare against him made JJ chuckle, pulling away slightly to gaze down at her darkly. He moved one arm to wrap around her waist, the other lowering to her thigh before he slowly began to grind their bodies together, his hard-on meeting her wet cunt.

  A faint noise escaped Sierra's throat, eyes looking up at him pleadingly. "Jay."

  "Y'feel that?" He questioned quietly, continuing his moves in a painfully slow manner. "You're doing that to me."

  "Jay." Sierra whimpered, supporting herself by gripping JJ's biceps. "If you're gonna do somethin', do it now. Please. Before Kiara starts looking for me."

  The blonde made a noise of disapproval, removing his hands to swiftly unbutton the slacks, he didn't fully pull them down only giving himself enough room for his hard dick to escape his boxers. "Don't be quiet."

  If that was suppose to be a warning, it was a shitty one. Sierra gasped in surprise as he pushed himself into her, filling her up so suddenly and yet so pleasurably. Sierra had to readjust, both arms wrapping around his neck for more support as JJ began moving.

  He built up his pace, starting slowly before he was snapping his hips in and out her tight cunt like it was the last time he'd ever feel her around him. Fast and deep, those were the only words her foggy brain could come up with to describe the feeling. Moan after moan slipped out with thrust that hit the right spot, and by the sounds his own groans he was feeling the pleasure just as much.

  Sierra was sure that the nosies is what kept people away from banging on the door and demanding to be let it. It's a big venue, there should be more than just one women's restroom. Her main focus the was mind-dizzying sensation that pounded her core every second, it wasn't long before she felt a familiar feeling twist her insides. It didn't help that JJ reached down to rub her clit, intensifying knot in her stomach and causing her to clench around him.

  The blonde let out a strangled moan, movements growing slower and sloppier until Sierra came. He felt her pull at his messy locks as she did, her legs instinctively wanting to clamp shut as he kept his thrusting and caging him in. "Si." JJ panted out, tapping her thigh in a silent warning that he was on edge and needed be release.

The girl let go, her legs falling limply and dangling off the edge of the counter. JJ jerked himself until release, milky strings of cum shooting out and landing on Sierra's thighs. "Fuck." The Ray girl mumbled, head falling back and landing on the mirror.

  "Shit, lemme just—" JJ fumbled with the nearby paper towels, wiping off his mess on the girls exposed skin. "You okay?"

  Sierra lazily nodded, grabbing JJ's outstretched hand as she slid off the counter. "Yeah, that was...that was good."

  "Just good?" The blonde smirked, tucking himself back into his pants and smoothing out any wrinkles on his clothes. "Fuck, get back on counter if it was just good."

  Sierra chuckled, tugging down the dress until reached her ankles once more. "It was amazing for a quickie."

  JJ reached over to peck her lips, smiling widely. "I'll take that."

  "Yeah, yeah." Sierra blushed, resting a hand on his chest. "Now, listen, here's how this is gonna go. I go out first, if I don't come back in ten seconds then the coast is clear and you can come out."

  The blonde nodded, watching as she approached the door, unlocked it and cautiously stepped out. Everything seemed to be as it was when she was first shoved in. Taking as a sign of safety, Sierra continued down the hallway in the most normal way possible, even smiling at the security that passed her.

"Oh, shit."

  By then it was too late, JJ had stepped out after the instructed ten seconds. But, his clear male appearance and the sign that read the opposite put him in a comprising position.

"Hey, young man." The bearded security guard snapped, glaring at the blonde with his hard eyes. "What were you just doing in the women's room?"

  "Uh, I—the woman's room?" JJ turned around, staring at the womanly figure stamped on the door of the bathroom. "What? I didn't even notice—" His forearm was immediately taken as he was dragged out the building, no time to even come up with another excuse.

  "Wait, wait!" Sierra attempted to chase after them—emphases on attempted as the short heels she wasn't too comfortable walking in made it hard to chase after a six-foot-something security guard.

  "Woah, look, man, I can walk myself. I got legs. Can you see that, brother? Let me just walk out by myself." The loudness in the Maybank boys voice plus his attempt to free himself of the security's grip caught the attention of all the attendee's. His attention suddenly shifted to an older gentleman sipping at a small cup of whiskey. "Oh, Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you—I'm actually gonna down that."

  Sierra watched through the crowd as JJ took the drink, swallowing the remainder of the liquid in one go, cringing afterward due to the strong taste. "Shit."

  "What the hell is happening?" Kiara came up to her best friend, her face being nothing but flummoxed in how one minute she'd turned away to let Sierra go to the bathroom and in the next she was chasing after an unruly JJ.

  Sierra attempted to form words but even she was too dizzy with confusion to respond with a straight answer. "He's getting kicked out!"

  "Well, I can see that!" The Carrera girl muttered, "Why?"

  "It's okay, everybody! Do not panic. Let's leave it to the men and women in uniform, huh! Let's hear it for them!" JJ shouted, applauding obnoxiously, suddenly pausing to point at the rich blonde in the hot pink dress. "Rose! Look like lady liberty."

  "Kie, do something, anything!"

  "Let go of him!" Kiara yelled over the judgmental whispers, and her own father attempting to quiet her down. "You can't just boot him! I invited him here, I'm a member of this club."

  Her protest were enough to distract the security guard so that JJ could set himself loose, sprinting to the nearby exit. He turned around, looking to the two girls and even pointing as if there'd be a confusion to who he was addressing.

  "Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie, Pirate, of course you as well. Pope, you too, all right? Rixon's cove, let's roll." And if that wasn't enough of a dramatic exit, he looked back to beautiful girl in the blue dress. "Sierra, come on. Workers of the world unite, throw off your chains!"

  In half of her own heartbeat, Sierra tugged off her heels and sprinted down the middle of the space that the crowd had made and straight into JJ's open arms. The blonde gently spun her around, loving the sound of her giggles echoing into his ear. Behind her came Kiara, and then Pope. John B already walking up with his own mischievous smile and lingering eyes that were glued onto a girl in the distant crowd.

"Later, losers!"

—

  OFF IN A ENCLOSED AREA IN FIGURE 8, surrounded by trees and chirping cicadas sat a small fire. John B had gone off to fetch for more wood while Kiara and Pope sat down on some pieces of dirty logs around the flame.

  As for Sierra and JJ, they stepped away so they could get changed into their normal attire. "I brought some clothes just 'cause I knew you were gonna be with Kie at the party." The blonde dug into his old backpack, pulling out a simple pair of shorts and a top.

  "Aww, Jay."

  "Yeah, I hate to see this pretty thing go, but at the end of the day, I prefer you with nothing on." JJ shrugged, casually unbuttoning his dress shirt. Sierra stood there awkwardly, watching until he finished tying the laces on his heavy shoes. "Uh, something wrong? Did I not get the right shade of blue to go with that top or something?"

"No, it's not that. I just wanted to wait until you were done so you could turn around." Sierra admitted shyly while the blonde gave her a bemused look.

"Turn around?"

"Well, yeah." The Ray girl shrugged. "I literally have nothing on under this. Just tits and puss."

"And? You think that bothers me? I've seen those things before and you didn't care."

"Well that was when we did the dirty stuff, Jay! This is different, besides, it's better so you can guard in case anybody tries to come over here."

"Excuses, excuses." JJ huffed out, turning around slowly and hesitantly. "We've literally gone skinny dipping before..." Sierra tuned out the Maybank boy's list of all the times she's been slightly nude around him as she slipped on her shorts. "...Oh, and that one time I accidentally walked in on you getting in the shower."

"Can you unzip me." Sierra groaned, dropping her aching arms from attempting to do it herself.

"Oh, so now you want me looking? Okay." JJ faced her once more, reaching for the small zipper and pulling it down. "You've accidentally flashed me before too. More than once."

"I don't remember that." Sierra furrowed her brows, slipping on her shirt and then shimming out of dress.

"That's 'cause they were all accidents. Sometimes your girls just fall out and you don't realize." JJ recalled, smiling at the thought like he was reminiscing a fond memory. "Good times."

Sierra scrunched her nose, folding up the dress and shoving it into JJ backpack. "How many other people have I potentially flashed. Fuck, my dignity is probably buried in the ground."

"Hey, having a bangin' ass body means being entitled to all the flashin' you want." The blonde attempted to comfort as they headed back to the group. "If I was a girl, my tits would be out all the time."

"What?" Kiara loudly exclaimed, her face scrunched with confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, hey guys!" JJ grinned, taking a seat on one of the open logs. "JB tell you the whole sha-bang yet?"

"I was gettin' there." John B muttered, "Right, so, the gold. It's been here the whole time. It's on the island."

"Are you serious?" Kiara questioned with surprise evident in her tone, "Oh, my God."

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope added, raising a his pointed finger in typical nerd fashion.

"I'm sure you would, Pope, but," John B stood with an exasperated sigh, "can I please present you with my evidence."

"Proceed."

"All right. o, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." Unzipping his bag he reached for a folded up piece of old parchment.

"Who the hell is that."

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He took the paper, unfolding it so it could be passed around as he continued his lecture. Strange since he never cared to pay any kind of attention to Mr. Sunn's history lessons. Yet, here was, practically teaching a lesson himself. "Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship. My dad 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 farm. Drumroll, please, because that farm is—"

"It's TannyHill, isn't it?" Sierra interrupted, observing the parchment.

"Yeah." John B sighed disappointingly at not being able to do the grand reveal himself. "TannyHill Plantation"

"I mean it was pretty obvious. Denmark Tanny, TannyHill." Sierra shrugged, "That's like not knowing that there's five Jackson brothers when the band is clearly called the Jackson Five."

"Okay, okay!" John B scoffed, "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit ton of rice, which pissed off white planters, and then they decided to lynch him."

"Racist bastards."

"So, on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to son as a farewell."
For extra dramatic and suspenseful effect, the Routledge boy paused. "And in the last line of that letter he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."

"Where?" Kiara whispered back in response with a giddy smile.

"Harvest the wheat, in parcel nine, near the water. Except...there's no wheat. You see, wheat is the code for gold, check this out." John B shows the letter to Pope, who, of all the Pogue's, had the most puzzled and suspicious look. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water."

  Kiara lets a breathy and surprise laugh whilst Pope slowly took the laminated parchment and studied it with a small flashlight. "Holy shit."

  "All we need is an original survey map of the property, and we've found the gold!" JJ, who had been partially listening the whole time lifted his head at the sound of gold and stood up.

  "Okay, so, this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope began as JJ trudged behind him and toward John B.

  "Dude, it's like King Tut!"

  "I am a genius." John B boasted, gasping suddenly as JJ lifted him a few inches off the floor, "Hello—Woah, fire! You're near the fire, you're gonna burn."

  "I'm so proud of you right now." JJ confessed, looking at the boy intensely in the eyes.

  "Thank you." John B appreciatively mumbled, cupping the blonde's cheeks. "That's really sweet of you."

"Okay, so." Pope spoke up, still holding some resistance in his tone. He wasn't going to run into the idea head on until he was fully convinced. "Guys, what's the plan?"

  "Good question," John B nodded, pointing at him like he'd sparked a forgotten thought back into his mind, "Sarah Cameron is coming tonight, she's gonna bring an original survey map—"

  Despite the rush in John B words, Kiara caught the name rolling off his tongue in an instant. Her face dropped, gaze piercing through the Routledge boy's face. "Wait, wait, hold on. Sarah? W-why Sarah?"

  "This is gonna be good." JJ commented, looking at Sierra with amusement. She held back a smile, trying to remain as serious as possible. The topic of Sarah Cameron was one that Kiara didn't take lightly.

  "Sarah, um, she—she got me into the archives in Chapel Hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter." John B sputtered out nervously, trying to sound casual to de-escalate the rising tension.

  "You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kiara spat out incredulously, not wanting to believe it. Hoping that John B would just say it was a cruel joke, but the nervousness in his face revealed that wasn't lying.

  "Yeah, uhm—"

  "He was mackin' on her." JJ confessed slyly, the words tumbling out his mouth so quick that Sierra nearly missed them.

  "Oh, no he didn't."

  "Oh, yes he did."

  "I wasn't macking." John B sighed heavily, shutting his eyes with frustrated at being outed so easily by his best friend.

  "You were totally macking Sarah Cameron."

  "I wasn't marking on her, okay? I was using her for access." The brunette argued in hopes to dig himself out the quicksand, but he was in far too deep.

  "There was an access, all right."

  "Using her? John B if that's suppose to make you look better in this situation, it's not." Sierra scolded, glaring at the boy who only returned a look to 'shush up'.

  "Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara questioned sadly, her eyes pleading that the girl she hated wasn't slowly slithering back into her life through such an opportunity like finding four-hundreds million in gold.

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

  "Is that a yes?" The Carrera girl raised her voice, the disappointment transforming into anger and betrayal. Why did it have to be her, she wondered.

  "I—I left out key details."

  "Yo, What! You let a kook in on our secret?" Kiara stood up, her heels giving her enough height to be John B's gaze straight on. "What about Pogue Lyfe? What about the T-shirt company, bro!"

  "I was just using her for information!" John B reasoned, attempting to defend himself against the accusation that was very true. It was unfortunately much harder than he thought.

  "Again! Totally messed up." Sierra added in her own opinions but ended up being ignored. All other forms of life being zoned out between the two.

  "Why don't I believe you?"

  "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." John B listed, attempting to convince the crowd of disbelievers, he wasn't making any progress. "Look, you guys know me, do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?"

  "Uh.."

  "Do you want us to answer that, or?" Pope mumbled lifting his head from his hands to look up at the Routledge boy.

  "Just—just stop."

  "Look, you don't know her yet." Kiara slowly began, voice calming down like she was addressing a toddler, "I do! You can't trust her!"

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

  "Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings."

  "What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ questioned with genuine curiosity, ever the clueless boy. He never bothered to be caught up with the gossip despite Sierra spilling the whole story to him one night. He was too busy staring at her, and getting super fuckin' high.

  "You shouldn't have asked that."

  "She's like a spitting cobra." Her hands waved around to emphasize her words, "First she—she blind you, and then—"

  "This is a bad analogy."

  "Listen to me!" Kiara demanded sternly, looking over at John B. " Whatever we get she's gonna try to take."

—

  AFTER AN AWKWARDLY LONG AND TENSE walk to the Twinkie they silently piled in and began their journey to the nearby 'hawks nest'. A park meant for sight seeing but has been mainly used for horny teens trying to have sex in a more risqué location. Was it safe? No. There's been far too many stories that spread around Kildare county highschool about near death experiences in the hawks nest. It a surprise that it hadn't been closed down yet.

  The drive was just a quiet, the faint hum of a rock song through the old speakers was the only thing that separated pin-drop silence and them. Usually the volume would be cranked up so high that the old van practically vibrated from the noise, but the situation hardly called for that.

  Sierra laid comfortably on the leather seats, JJ sat just below her, preferring the floor. He relaxed as she ran her manicured fingers through his hair, detangling the messy locks with each brush. It stayed that away until they came to an aggressive halt.

  "All right."

  JJ huffed, not wanting to pull away from his position, but being forced to as Pope slid open the door and began stepping out. "Hit it, boys! We're goin! Recon mission."

  Sierra groggily sat up, she wasn't in the mood to walk. After spending a few hours in heels she'd had enough physical activity involving her feet and legs for the night.

  "Yo, uh...so, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself...tonight." John B announced, turning back to look at his friends from the drivers seat. His eyes mainly stuck to Kiara, worryingly looking for a sign of approval.

  He only received a roll of her eyes, the Carrera girl slumping into the seat and crossing her arms in annoyance.

  "Really?" JJ asked suspiciously, leaning back against the seat. "I mean I'm not complainin' but—"

  "What?"

  "Nothin', brother." JJ mumbled back, slowly reach for Sierra's hand and guiding it towards his scalp. "Do watch at you want."

  "Look, I just don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery."

  "As somebody with a peanut allergy, I take great offense to that." Pope commented, adjusting back into his spot as he'd already stepped one foot out the vehicle.

  "I just don't understand why we're involving at all." Kiara voiced once more, dragging out the argument to prove a very clear point. She was pissed at John B, like, greatly pissed.

  "Kie, we're not involving her, okay?" John B reassured her for what felt like the thousandth time, though it didn't help the annoyed expression on the Carrera girl's face. "It's—it's just, uh, like a— a business meeting...thing" He explained as JJ made a blowjob motion with the blunt he'd pulled out from his bag, Sierra made a small circle with her fingers and stuck another through it, the sexual motions making Pope giggle. "Look, once we get what we need we cut her loose, all right. Plus we need the map."

  "Promise me nothing happening between you two."

  "Nothing is happening, Kie."

  "I'm being serious."

  "Okay!"

  "This isn't about you, and this isn't about us. This is about her. Dude, she's gonna get inside your head." Kiara warned, worryingly looking at him. Part of her wanted to push away the disbelieving thoughts in her head, to just trust her best friend. "Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys."

  "Promise."

  "That was really believable." JJ nodded impressively, nearly clapping if he didn't have the joint between his fingers.

  "A hundred percent believable."

  "And the Oscar for best male actor goes to Jonathan Routledge."

  "That's a good one." The blonde chuckled, passing her his joint as a reward.

  "Anyways," The brunette muttered, "uhm, I'm gonna take care of business."

  "You're gonna to take care of that business so well." JJ continued to tease, not letting up for a second since he discovered the brunette's thing for the Kook princess.

  "We'll just sit here." Pope began as John B climbed out the car without caring about his bestfriends struggles. "In the hot ass car."

  "While it's lighting." Sierra added, she chuckled lightly as she listened to the faint thunder. "Thunda, feel the thunda, lightening—"

  "Sierra." Kiara sternly interrupted, holding back an amused smile. "Respectfully shut the fuck up."

—

  "Boom, bitch!" Sierra loudly celebrated as her hand symboled a scissor while JJ had his hand flat symboling paper. "I told you! I fucking win!"

  "Yo, you cheated, rematch!" JJ argued for the third time, the two teens had gotten bored and decided that rock paper scissor was the only thing left to entertain themselves.

  "Nope, Sierra has beaten you three times, JJ." Pope, the designated referee of the game, defended as Sierra threw her hands up in victory.

  "Suck on that!"

  "It's just a stupid game." JJ grumbled as he rolled his eyes, the van went silent while Sierra still quietly celebrated, waving to the small crowd that consisted only of Kiara. She only stopped when she heard something, glancing at the Carrera girl to make she wasn't crazy, and she was met with worried brown eyes looking back at her.

  "Wait, did you guys heart that? Shh." Kiara questioned, the thunder rumbled loudly which caused the boys to assume that was what she was talking about, but after a few seconds of silence the voice yet again shouted desperately.

  "Please, somebody help!"

  "Oh, wait, no, I hear that." JJ muttered as he scrambled to climb out the van, the teens quickly followed in complete confusion and worry.

  "Shit."

  They followed a path that was surrounded by trees and covered by the damp grass. They sprinted till they reached a limp body and Sarah Cameron crouched down beside it. Her plump cheeks were stained by tears and her breathing was uneven. She ran her shaky hand through his hair, feeling useless for not knowing what to do, then again, what else would a teenager do when dealing with something so gruesome.

  "Sarah! What happened?" Pope asked as the teens slowed down in front of John B's body, his eyes were screwed shut, letting out the faintest groans of pain.

  "I don't know what to do, he needs help, Topper shoved him." She girl sobbed as Sierra stared down at the body in complete shock, her eyes had gone wide, her hands began to tremble, her heartbeat quickened, she was completely horrified by the sight in front of her.

  "Please, please, please, get help." Sarah begged through the hiccups of her own sobs. "I don't care who, just call someone."

  "Oh, my God." Sierra mumbled as her hands covered her open mouth, instinctively she took a couple steps back, utterly breathless.

  "Sierra did your dad show you anything to help him. Like, CPR, something?" Kiara asked frantically as all eyes fell onto the girl, if she wasn't scared enough before, she certainly was now. They all looked to her like she was the guardian angel responsible for keeping John B's life safe, but all she could do was stutter out an answer.

  "I..um..I don't—uh." She choked out as she swallowed thickly and crouched down beside the body, she took a breath and looked up at her friends. "C-call the ambulance, tell them to get here as quick as possible."

  "Go, go!" JJ demanded towards Pope as he quickly sprinted back to the van.

  "Pope, hurry!" Kiara desperately cried out to the boy as they all had to wait until some sort of help came, but it felt like it was years.

  Sarah kept trying to comfort the unconscious boy with her soft voice and even placed a light peck on lips. Sierra flickered her gaze up towards Kiara who seemed taken back by the action.

  "Pope, come on!" JJ screamed Sierra examined the boys body and noticed only a few gashes but a badly swelled wrist. Those were the only clear signs of injury on his unconscious body, God knows what else was hurt, nobody could do anything else but just watch.

Who knows, they might be in front row seats for the screening if their best friend's death.

NATTI SPEAKS:
Super long chapter, hopefully you liked it!!!