IT TOOK THE whole group to lift Sierra out the bed, a stupid amount of Tylenol, and multiple kisses of comfort from JJ to reach their current destination. An old, rusty pawn shop that looked far too sketchy for some teenagers to hang out at.

"Hell of a job melting it down, Frankenstein." JJ sneered as he stared at the bright blue cloth in his hand that held the gold.

"Like you could've done any better!" Kiara snapped back as they climbed out the van.

"I could've done much better, I took a welding class!"

"When?"

"Both of you shut the fuck up and help me out." Sierra shouted as she held out a hand while the other grazed her wound. "I feel like shit and we've got a mission to do."

"Alright, alright, chill out, okay?" John B, being main leader of the group, stepped in all namaste to prevent another stupid argument from breaking out.

"Easy for you to say that, you're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off." JJ grumbled, "Why did I have to get this job anyway?"

"Yeah, and why did I, a cripple, have to join him?"

"Because you guys are the best liars, Sierra has a really good poker face." Pope replied as the two walked away, Sierra was feeling better, maybe the pain killers were finally starting to kick in.

"Okay, happy couple." John B instructed JJ and Sierra as the duo clasped their hands together and smiled. "Perfect."

Sierra pushed open the glass door to the pawn shop, a bell above her head rang loudly, announcing their arrival to the older lady behind the counter. "Afternoon ma'am." JJ enthusiastically spoke as soon as he walked into the door.

"I see you buy gold." Sierra said as kiara, Sarah, Pope, and John B slowly entered the shop one by one. Keeping it subtle, making sure they all look separate.

The woman sighed heavily as her drooping eyes glared at the couple, "That's what the sign says, don't it."

"Well, I hope you buy a lot of it cause I'm about to blow your mind." JJ smiled widely as he pulled the old, worn out backpack onto the glass counter. The thing had patches and stitches that kept it together, Sierra didn't even know if JJ had ever washed it after all the things it's gone through.

The lady was unamused by JJs tactics to hype her up as she stared at the gross bag he was digging through."I ain't got a lot of mind left to blow so have at it."

He smirked as he lifted the heavy clump of melted gold and placed it in front of her. "How about them gold apples."

The woman still seemed unfazed as she stared at the gold and scoffed. "That ain't real."

Sierra leaned in and smiled. "That it ain't real, feel how heavy it is, it's solid gold, ma'am."

"It can't be." The woman was not convinced, she lifted up from the cloth and got a feel of its surprisingly heavy weight. She glanced up at the teens before reaching up into a box of tools.

"Yeah, let's get some light on that." JJ commented as the lady pulled out a magnifying glass and a tiny flash light.

She examined it closely, "Spray painted tungsten."

"Spray painted tungsten? Really? Okay." JJ chuckled, glancing at Sierra unsure, he had no idea what the fuck tungsten was.

"Ma'am, trust that it's not tungsten, why don't you check how soft it is."

She nodded at Sierra's challenge and reach back into the tool box beside her, she took out a nail and hammer. "You mind?"

Sierra pulled away from position on the counter and shrugged. "Have at it."

After a couple hits the gold remained untouched, it didn't even look like the nail was anywhere near piercing the surface.

"Wow, would you look at that." JJ sarcastically remarked as the woman glared up at him.

"Now hold your horses, we ain't got to the acid test yet."

"Oh! The acid test, my favorite guys." He loudly announced, glancing around the store but the other Pogue's ignored him, as if he was a stranger. That was the plan, just a happy couple that are totally not related to the other teens wandering around.

After dropping acid on the gold she stepped back and sighed in amazement. "Well, it ain't planted, and it ain't painted."

"Ma'am I'm telling you this is as real as the day is long."

"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down" She noticed as she looked up at the two with a raised brow, Sierra paused and looked over JJ, he was already looking at her with wide eyes.

"Oh, well my mom, and girlfriend," He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, "collected some unwanted jewelry and melted it together." Sierra smiled at the lady but she still seemed suspicious as she picked it up and placed it on a scale.

"Seven pounds?" The tone out Sierra on edge as the woman looked at them. "That's a lot of earrings."

"Well, we're from figure 8, y'know, and we have quite a lot of jewelry there."

"Mhm." She walked away towards a room blocked off by a curtain, the group scurried in their direction to recollect on what just happened.

"You see what I mean by best liars." Pope spoke as Sierra shrugged and waved him off.

"Oh, stop, you'll make me blush."

"I think we've got her guys, just keep her going, then we'll be filthy rich." John B whispered with a smirk as the Pogue's went back to their spots once the woman exited the curtain with the gold and a check in her hand.

She cleared her throat, going back to her spot behind the counter and glaring at the two. "Well, I talk to my boss and this is what I can do."

JJ stared at the check and scoffed, "Fifty-Thousand, you think I walked in here not knowing the spot price." he argued, "I know for a fact that this is at least 140k."

The woman placed her hands on her hips and squinted her eyes in annoyance at him. "Well, sweetie, you're in a pawnshop. I not Zurich, do I look Swiss to you?"

"Ninety, or we bail, you get nothing." Sierra challenged as the woman gazed back at her.

"Seventy, half-price." She bargained while leaning in, "And I won't question where you two got this from."

JJ swallowed and peered over at John who subtly gave him a signal. "I'm gonna need that in large denominations please."

"Well here's the snag, I don't have that much denomination, at least not around here. I can write you a cashiers check."

"No ma'am we want it cold hard that's what the sign says." JJ pointed towards the sign that read cash for gold, "Cash for gold, and that's what I expect, i'm going to get in cold hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse, that's where it is, is that all right?" She asked and the duo stared at her for a few seconds, silencing communicating, before nodding.

"Where is this warehouse?"

—

"You're fucking cheating, Pope!" Sierra groaned as she once again lost against Pope in a intense rock, paper, scissors match. Soft reggae music filled the van along with a slight breeze from the half broken hair conditioning. It hardly helped against the humidity, but the Twinkie was old, far to old to surprisingly function. Sierra would occasionally had to wipe the sweat that gathered on her forehead.

"How can you cheat in rock, paper, scissors?" Pope questioned, watching as she threw herself against the seats of the van and huffed childishly.

"I don't know, but you're cheating!"

"Just admit that I win, and you're a sore loser."

"No."

"I personally think Sierra won, I saw you cheat." JJ tuned in as Pope scoffed.

"Oh, okay, here comes JJ, riding on Sierra's dick once again!"

"Shut up, Pope!"

"Alright, kids, keep it down back there." John B said from the front seat, peeking over at them from the rear view mirror. "We're almost there."

Pope rolled his eyes and glanced out the window, "So, they keep the money out here?" Sketchy looking shacks, over grown lawns, and old trees passed by the deeper they got into this mysterious road.

"That's what she said." JJ replied, also looking out the window, he caught onto his own words and let out a quiet chuckle."That's what she said."

"Stop."

"I've never even heard of Resurrection Drive." Sarah commented, turning her head to look back at the other Pogue's.

"Cause your rich." JJ muttered.

"You've never heard of it either!" Kiara snapped back as the boy smirked, Sarah smiled back her gratefully.

"Thank you."

"There's nothing but weeds back here." Kiara noted, her eyes scanning the setting around them from the dirty window behind her.

"All right, just 'cause it's weeds, doesn't mean it's, like-" Before he could finish his statement the familiar ring of cop sirens echoed behind them.

Sierra raised a brow and took notice of the car trialing behind them. "Cops out here?" In such a remote location it was unlikely that cops would be wondering around, waiting to stop people, it made Sierra suspicious and uneasy.

"God! Are you kidding me?" JJ shouted, gripping his hairs and throwing this hands back down angrily. "Why is it gotta be us!"

"What did we even do?" Sarah nervously asked, gazing at the people inside the van, being the obedient, kook princess, Sarah wasn't familiar with the involvement of cops. She always stays in her own lane, following rules, being kind to others, it made her heart beat quicken and her hands sweaty at the sight of the red and blue .'lights flashing in the rear view mirro

"Why are we getting pulled over" Pope added, he as well has never been very supportive of the many times the Pogue's got police involved. He had far to many things to loose for some dumb little mistake that could send him to jail. He never liked taking risks, yet he still did it, for the thrill of it all. But, in moments like these, his panicked mind thought about the scholarship. A life changing thing he could loose in an instant with one wrong move, looking between his friends and the police car behind him, he nearly fainted.

"Hey, clam down, it's probably nothing, we haven't broken any laws, yet." Sierra reassured, sending them a light smile as they all quieted down.

"Yet?" Pope heaved, eyebrows scrunched togethor in worry. His dark eyes flickered between the car that had pulled them over and JJ's old backpack where he knew that a few items inside were probably very illegal.

John B eyed the gold that was still gripped tightly in JJ's hand, "Stash that." The brunette ordered as the blonde rolled his eyes and covered up the precious thing with a blue rag.

"I hate cops." JJ muttered to himself, looking over at Sierra.

"Did you bring the gun!" John B suddenly, glaring at JJ, it was a fair assumption given the fact that the pogue had no awareness of the dangers he brought with his bad decision. That one bad decision being bring a gun that wasn't even theirs everywhere and waving it around at the slightest inconvenienced

"No!" JJ huffed out, shoving the gold into his backpack. "Everyone told me to leave it back at the place."

"Thank God." Kiara exclaimed as they continued shouting things at once, all towards JJ since he was the one to most likely have some stupid shit on him. He stuffed the backpack into a small compartment under his seat swiftly, having to push on it a couple of times for it to shut.

The hush, anxious whispers came to a halt when the click of a shot gun rung into their ears, this shit was so much fucking worse than cops. Their faces all turned to look at the masked man with a gun pointed directly at John B. "Why don't I go ahead and see those hands in the air!" The initial shock of their situation froze them, petrifying them into silence. They didn't move an inch, they just stared, terrified. "Hey, all of your hands in the air, now!" He shouted louder, forcing his point on all of them as they listened. "You, out of the car right now, let's go."

The man lead the brunette out the van slowly, John B made sure to cautiously follow each of his instructions, but despite his compliance, the man's shouts intensified and grew angrier. John B was brought to the other side, the shot gun still pointed directly at the back of his skull. Sierra had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she watched, imaging the outcome that could occur if they made one mistake. As John B slid the van door open, each Pogue climbed out, their hands still raised in the air. "Get out the car! There you go, pretty girl, here we go! Get out the car, let's go, hurry up!"

"We're broke—" JJ attempted to reason but the man shoved the gun into his chest angrily.

"Shut the hell up! shut up!" Sierra flinched back at the screaming, her hands trembling with each passing second, her knees felt like they were going to buckle any second. The yelling wasn't pleasant thing to hear, especially after years of hearing them echo in her brain, it made tears gather in the inner corners of her eyes.

"All right! Just relax!"

"Shut up the hell up, I'll blow your damn head off!" He threatened, "Lay in the ditch, on your hands and knees! Put your head in the ground."

They all complied, lowering themselves down into the dirt with no where else to go, the masked man backed up into the van, he began rummaging through the different areas, seemingly looking for something in particular.

"It was a set up guys!" Kiara spoke up, they'd all fallen into this trap that seemed too good to be true, there was no warehouse, the pawnbroker lied, leading them straight into this situation. They were drawn out into the middle of fucking no where, remote enough to not even get cell service, it was all planned specifically so they couldn't escape in anyway.

"That old bat shanked us!" JJ cursed under his breath, slamming his balled fist into the ground. Sierra kept her head down, attempting to even out her breaths and calm down her thoughts. She thought of every possible thing that could go wrong, how the masked man could easily pull the trigger and kill one of them, permanently staining the blood and memory onto them. There bodies would be left for the horrendous amount of mosquitoes to eat up till they were just bones. She shuttered at the thought, tears slipping down her face as she leaned over to the blonde next to her, gripping his sweaty hand. The two looked at each other, the anger swirled in his eyes but there was unmissable fear that struck the blue hurricane of his irises.

Sierra's lip trembled as they both just stared at each other, she'd still find a way to blame herself if JJ was somehow hurt, she could've done so much but instead she was whimpering and crying like a hurt puppy. It wasn't like there was much she could do, but her brain still convinced itself that she could've done more to prevent this. What if she just took the money was originally offered and hadn't pushed for more, which subsequently lead them here. She shoved her head in his arm, not wanting to think of what could happen to her, or to him. She felt a light squeeze on her hand and kiss being planted on the top of her head, it was enough to ground her from the frightening reality of it all, but only for a moment

Quiet shuffling made Sierra raise her head from it spot in JJ's arm, she furrowed her brows and nearly gasped as John B began to stand up. The quiet protest of his friends meant nothing as he simply hushed them and sprinted towards the mans car.

Coincidentally, the man exited the van, gold in one hand while the other kept the gun pointed on them. "All right, I want all of you to stay just like that unless you want your brains blown out on this road, don't move your goddamn heads!"

He rushed back into his car, the gun was placed into the passenger seat as his guard was finally let down, but John B quickly rose from the back seat, attacking him from behind. The five teens stood from their positions as John loudly exclaimed, "Guys I got the gun."

The gathered around, each taking turns with their own hits. Punches, kicks, shoves, they did it all to make sure the man stayed down. Sarah even slammed the car door into his side a few times.

"I got the gold!"

The man wheezed and panted has he laid against the car door, John B pulled the bandana, revealing a familiar face. "I know this piece of shit, he's a basehead!"

"Probably knows my brother."

"He sells coke to my dad."

"And he use to always give my mom that shit that always made her fucking delusional." Sierra spat, glaring down at the man who was the main root to all her problems.

"Listen, I couldn't hurt any single one of y'all—"

JJ didn't let him finish his sentence as he ripped the gun from John B's grip and slammed into Barry's face, the blonde was pulled back by his friends, but he brushed them off with a clenched jaw. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Barry's wallet, grabbing nothing more than his ID that had all his information on it, including his address.

"We got one last stop."

—

The tense car ride was spent in silence, JJ's hand gripped the wheel tightly, knuckles turning white as his eyes glared at the road in front of him. His angered thoughts could be heard without speaking a word, it was strange hearing him so silent, that's what made the Pogue's deeply worry. He was dead set on heading to Barry's house, his brain already registering where the go as he glanced at the address. The after math of the traumatic experience also fed into their lack of words, they still were trying to process what the hell happened and if Barry's threats could possibly stretch out into reality.

Pulling into Barry's neighborhood made Sierra nervous, snapping her out the trance she was in the whole car ride. The danger of the people there was beyond something Sierra could defend herself against.

"Welcome to crackhead wasteland." Sarah was the first to break the silence, watching the dirty, old trailers pass by, each one getting impossibly filthier the deeper they went. It was a trash wasteland, one that would've made Kiara go insane, yet the Carrera girl anxiously remained silent.

"I don't know about this, man."

The old van came to a halt in front of a trailer, the lawn littered with stolen beach seats, beer cans, and more garbage. JJ looked down at the ID and Sierra immediately saw the plan forming out in his head, a plan that's probably very stupid and reckless.

John B, who had been sitting in front seat, hit his head with his closed fist a few times in annoyance. He watched his best friend exit the van, disregarding the presence of the rest of the group.

"Dude what are we doing at Barrys?" Pope asked, even more scared than before.

"This will only take a second." He said eyes attached to the trailer as he marched through the grass and towards the door.

"Where are you going?" John B mumbled, hardly bothering to stop his stubborn friend.

"Yo soy justica." With that, he disappeared into the house while the rest just gawked at him from the open van door.

"At least he learned something from Spanish class." Sierra muttered throwing her head back against the seat with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

"Did you glean anything from that?"

"I am justice, whatever the fuck that means." Sierra peeked one eye open once the silence became a little too suspicious, everyone was looking at her.

"You know somebody should probably-"

"Oh, ok, I see." Sierra scoffed, standing up and sarcastically murmuring, "Move along, super girlfriend here to help."

"Good luck." Sarah offered weakly as Sierra turned around a gave her a tight lipped smile.

"Thanks blondie." Entering the trailer home, Sierra nearly gagged, and not in a good way. The aroma was all types of things mixed together, weed, alcohol, shit, and moldy food. It made Sierra scrunched her nose up in disgust but she followed the sound of shuffling and the quiet whispers nearby and caught the blonde rummaging through cabinets, it mirrored what Barry had done earlier.

"So, JJ, got a plan, maybe one that's reasonable?" Sierra questioned, looking over to see JJ's face, but he never turned to look at her, he continued to trash the place.

"Well, as thou hath stealeth from us, we shall stealeth from ye."

"Alright, Shakespeare, ye technically didn't steal anything, we got the gold back, this isn't really equal, it's idiotic." Sierra replied, watching as JJ paused, looking over at her for a second.

"An eye for an eye, Pirate." JJ shrugged, attempting to move past her, but she quickly pushed him back.

"My reasons still stands, Jay, stealing from a drug dealer is the most horrible idea you've had yet." Sierra looked deep into his conflicted eyes. "He knows who we are!"

JJ bit his lip, chewing on it as a taste of metal filled his mouth from the reopened scab."I'm not scared of this guy." He walked away, shoving the curtains that substituted a door out the way.

"That's fine! But you sure as hell should know better than to steal from this guy!" She shouted, she heard no reply. "JJ what are you doing?"

"Getting even." He shouted back, just a few moments later he came out the room with a duffel bag,"All right, took care of business." He breezed right by Sierra as she threw her hands up in exasperation. "All right, so we're looking at five grand each for reparations for putting us through that bullshit. Sorry about that y'all."

Sierra followed behind him with a deep frown, "I tried." She sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips, watching the Maybank boy casually walk back to the van.

"So that's what we're doing now? We're robbing drug dealers?" Kiara scoffed, annoyed eyes latched onto JJ as she crossed her arms.

"This Barry guy is gonna find out, and he's gonna come after us." Sarah looked between the Pogue's who nodded in agreement, all but JJ, predictable.

"Yes, he will, this is not the time to start wildin' out!"

"How'd you guys like havin' a gun pulled on you?" JJ snapped back, glaring at his friends.

John B planted his hands onto the boys chest, cautiously whispering, "Relax."

"He had it right here on you, bro." He said through gritted teeth, pointing a finger a John B's chest. "Don't even get me started on the way he was lookin' at Sierra, my Sierra."

"We've gotta go get the gold, okay? Just give me that shit." John B sternly declared, reaching to rip the duffel bag from JJ's hands, "We're putting it back—"

Instantaneously, JJ gripped the boy by the collar and shoved him against the van, it wobbled on its old, four wheels. The boys glared at each other, breaths heavy as Sierra  saw a side of JJ that was only ever unleashed whenever his cured wounds would reopen, when the anger he shoved away snuck up from behind and took control. Sierra could only watch with shocked expression, the burning gleam in his eyes set fire against John B's.

The Routledge boy knew it was bound to happen at some point, his gaze remained unfazed and strong as he clenched his jaw. "Do you feel like a tough guy, huh? What are you gonna do when he comes for us?"

"We punch him in the throat."

"Yeah, good fuckin' idea, JJ." The boys expression hardened, staring right back at JJ.

Finally, he pulled back, the tension remained thick, he snatched the bag back from John B's hands."I'm not putting it back." He stated, climbing into the van, awaiting everyone else. "You guys getting in or what?" His questioned was silently answered as they all stood outside, staring at him. He climbed back at, head turning to look at every single one of them."What?" 

"We're getting sick of your shit." John B announced stepped forward.

"Oh, my shit?"

"Yeah, yeah, your shit."

Kiara added gas the wild fire with her own insult, "Yes, your pulling guns on people shit."

Pope had already been fuming and blurted out his own comment. "You acting like a freaking maniac."

"Okay, Pope, I took the fall for you man! Know how much money I owe you because of you" JJ pushed, eyes glazing over with tears he didn't dare let fall. Sierra frowned sympathetically, knowing what the high restitution did to him.

Guilt washed over Pope as he reminisced on the incident, the boy being taken away in handcuffs because of an impulsive mistake he made."I'm gonna pay you back, and I didn't ask you to do that!"

"I just did!" JJ hissed, an emotion far beyond anger writhing in his voice. "Pay it back. Right here, right now, by myself." His eyes flickered towards everyone in the group, stopping at Sierra's, somehow, he always caught himself staring at them. In that moment, he wanted get lost inside them, it'd be better than the place he currently was. The comfort of her arms, her warmth, her kisses, it's all he wanted, but the look of disapproval he could've sworn flash in her eyes made him pull away, clearing his throat. "You know what, that's what I'm gonna do." He grabbed the bag from the van and trudged away, whispering. "Go off by myself."

Sierra's heart lead her feet, following after him, but a tight grip pulled her back. "Let him cool off." John B warned. "He's too stubborn to listen to any of us."

"But," Sierra swallowed the lump in her throat. "We can't just let him walk away." She stared at the boy doing exactly that, walking away, becoming a mere dot in her line of sight. "I can't let him walk away."

NAT SPEAKS:

guy, stop fighting, this isn't you😔 fr tho this book lowk needed some spice, some angst, some smut so that's what imma do for the future chapters I'm editing 😜I love my bookie JJ, he fine af.

me when I see JJ and Pope in the same room