𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
[𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕]

❧

AS MARINA FINISHED WIPING DOWN ONE OF THE TABLES, she lets out a slight wince as she accidentally hits her side. She swore she was gonna wring Rafe Cameron's neck the next time she saw him. "Hey, someone left a message for you." Dalton says as she walks up to him. Marina narrows her gaze, wondering who it could be.

"Who was it?" Marina asks curiously.

"Kiara. Said something about JJ being arrested?" He informs her and she was shocked to say the least. Well, not that he was arrested but that it happened now. She couldn't recall him doing anything.

"Shit." She mumbles as she rushes to the phone. She picks it up, listening to the whole message. Marinas eyes close as she quickly hangs it up, grabbing her stuff. "I'm leaving for my break." Marina states before rushing out of the diner.

And that's how she ended up at JJ's house after making a pit stop at her own. Her backpack on her back as she dropped her bike by the steps. Her eyes glance around the property for a moment before she headed to the door and knocked on it. It was a minute or two until someone opened it.

JJ stood in front of her, a muscle tee on along with a pair of shorts, his hair was slightly ruffled but the markings on his face were new. There were a few bruises and she wondered if it happened with the police or someone else.

"Mari?" He asks, looking around, almost expecting everyone to be standing behind her because she never came to see him, let alone by herself. "What are you doing here?" JJ asks as he just sees her analyzing him.

"You look like shit." She simply states as she takes her backpack off and he watches as she takes another bag out of it.

"Nice to see you too." He mumbles, scratching at his jaw.

"I heard you were arrested." Marina admits and JJ should've known that was why she was here. He knew she'd find out eventually since Kiara and Pope had been there when it happened. Mainly because Pope was the one who was gonna be arrested but he stepped in and stopped it.

"Oh."

"You took the wrap for Pope?" She asks, clutching the bag in her hand. JJ rubs the back of his neck, shrugging his shoulders.

"You know me, from this neck of the woods anyways. It was bound to happen someday." JJ informs her and she nods her head slowly.

"Welcome to the club." Marina says and JJ bit the inside of his cheek as he glanced around the area.

"Is that all you came here to say? That we're now jail buddies?"

"Technically you didn't go to actual jail." She denies and JJ scoffs as he leans against his doorway.

"Yeah, well, i have a thirty thousand dollar restitution that I have to pay and I don't got jack shit." He mutters, anger flooding his eyes for a moment. He couldn't believe Topper snitched. It wasn't like his family didn't have enough money to pay for the stupid boat.

Marina just drops the bag she was holding to his feet. "Here." She tells him and he was curious as he stared at it.

"What is it?" He asks as he bends down to pick it up.

"A bag of snakes." His hands freeze for a moment and he narrows his gaze.

"You know, I can never tell when you're being serious." JJ admits and Marina gives him an eyeroll as she groans a bit.

"Just open it."

He picks it up, unzipping it slowly and his eyes widen when he sees whats inside. "Holy shit." JJ mutters, seeing the wads of cash just stacked on top of itself. "How much is this?" He asks, not getting how she had this or why she was giving it to him.

"Two thousand, give or take." Marina states. She hadnt actually counted it but that was the rough estimate.

"Where did you-- shit, did you steal this?" JJ asks, his eyes going wide as he drops the money back into the bag.

"Technically it was the money i earned so no." Marina informs him. JJ took a minute to understand that before realization overtook him.

"Isn't your dad gonna be pissed?" He questions. JJ had never had too many run ins with her dad and didn't really know what to think of him. He did hold the gun to rafes head to protect her but if he could do that, what could he do to Marina?

"He can try to be." She says with a sigh. But JJ shakes his head, holding the bag out toward her.

"I can't take this."

"It's not even a dent, JJ. But it'll help a bit." Marina says, pushing it back toward him and he seemed a bit frustrated, his jaw clenching.

"So, I'm your charity case now?" JJ asks, muttering a bit as it was clear he didn't want to be helped.

"Hold back your excitement." Marina tells him, tilting her head.

"Seriously, I can't take this, Mari." He denies, trying to give it back to her but she wasnt taking it.

"If i had more, I'd sugar mommy you." Marina states and this makes JJ go silent for a moment. He just looked beyond confused as he stared back at her.

"What?"

"Ha ha. I can make regular jokes too." She says, although her tone was not exactly right for her apparent joke. JJ gave the smallest smile before just letting out a sigh.

"Why?" He didn't get why she was doing this for him. Two thousand was still a lot of money, even if it wasn't close to what he needed for his restitution.

"Kiara cares about you, you took the blow for pope-- just accept it, okay?" Marina says, blankly staring at him and JJ felt his heart ache a bit that she only mentioned them and not herself.

"What are you gonna tell your dad?"

"That he should've used it for a lawyer when he had the chance." Marina mumbles with a shrug. She would try and replace it but she was just so angry right now she wasn't really thinking much of consequences. "If you so much as spend a dime, JJ, I'll gut you. I know where you live." She warns, pointing her finger at him and he holds up his hands.

"I don't doubt it." JJ responds, his eyes lingering on her for a moment. "What if I use some of it to buy something pretty for a special princess?" He asks, his tone being flirtatious like always and Marina knew she had to be a bit firm although she didn't want to be mean right now.

"A princess already has a crown." Marina informs him before turning and picking up her bike from the ground.

"You seriously gonna ride back in this?" JJ asks as he looks up at the sky which was cloudy, the rain just having started pouring down.

"It's only to the diner." She states with a shrug, getting on her bike but JJ looked hesitant.

"I can ask John B for the twinkie."

"With what reception?" Marina asks. She knew he had shit out here and she'd doubt John B would get it either. JJ looks back inside his house.

"I'll go grab my dad's keys, I'll drive you there." He was a bit hesitant after what his dad just did but he didn't want her to get in an accident.

"It's just a little rain." Marina tells him, raising her eyebrows. "I'm not made out of sugar." She denies as she starts to ride away from the patio.

"Thank you!" JJ calls out to her quickly, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't take this as a sign that I like you, maybank." She responds but he swore he could see a hint of a smile on her face as she peddles away. JJ chews his bottom lip, watching her ride out of his sight before looking down at the bag.

A cheesy smile overtakes his features as he scrunches his face up before making his way back inside.

❧

MARINA'S EYES WERE STARING INTO KIARA'S SOUL. Not even blinking as she heard the request the girl had for her as they stood in Kiaras room. "You want me to what?" Marina asks after two minutes of just complete silence. She was hoping that Kiara wasn't actually asking this of her and it was just one of the many jokes that Marina didn't understand.

"Come to midsummer with me." Kiara tells her and Marina instantly shakes her head.

"I don't think i heard you right."

"Please, Mari. It would be so much better if I didn't have to dread it alone." Kiara admits, pleading with the woman as she takes a step closer to her. Marina only looks a bit irritated.

"So you want me to go to some rich kook bullshit?" Marina asks. She loved Kiara and would do anything for her but this.... this was torture.

"And wear a nice dress?" She adds with a smile plastered on her lips but the nerves and fear was showing. Marina's jaw almost dropped.

"You have lost your mind." She denies, going to turn but Kiara blocks her.

"I will do anything. I will buy you new art supplies, I will come with you to that weird, creepy bookstore you like-- just please, just this once." Kiara begs as she holds Marina's arms. Marina was quiet as she closes her eyes momentarily before letting out a groan.

"I don't even have a dress." Marina informs her but she saw the mischievous look on Kiaras face.

"Yes, you do." She states before rushing to her closet and pulling a black dress out. Marina moves her jaw to the side slightly.

"Wow, you didn't pre-plan this at all." She bluntly states, sarcasm running in her tone. A knock on the door makes them glance over and Kiaras mom sticks her head in.

"Girls, we leave in an hour, okay?" She informs them with a light smile.

"Don't you think she's gonna look amazing in this, mom?" Kiara asks, holding up the dress and Anna gives her daughter a smile.

"Of course she is." With that the door closes and Kiara turns to look at Marina who was just giving her a deadly stare.

"I may have planned ahead." Kiara mumbles underneath her breath.

"Mhm." She simply hums, her jaw clenching a bit. Kiara just gives a sheepish smile as she holds the dress out. Marina let's out a groan as she takes the dress, moving over to the bathroom.

❧

THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE MARINA DIDNT WANT TO BE. In figure eight, wearing a stupid dress while surrounded by rich entitled kooks who throw themselves self centered parties because they have nothing better to do with their lives. "Excuse me, sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Kiara asks, a false British accent coming through, as she and Marina walk up to Pope who was cooking something. He seemed annoyed until he turned around.  "Cause it might mess up my costume." She says with a smile on her face, laughing a bit.

"I'm not doing an accent." Marina mumbles as she could see Pope was waiting for her say something as well.

"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Pope responds, a way worse accent coming out causing him to clear his throat. "That accent was bad." He admits.

"Yeah, it was. I was gonna let it go." Kiara retorts before they all look out at the party. "You ever see this many kooks in one place?" She asks curiously, a slight annoyance in her tone.

"Yeah. Last year." Pope says.

"We're in the lions den."

"And i apparently have to suffer with you." Marina adds and Kiara pinches the skin of her arm making Marina bite her tongue.

"Put on a smile, everyone else has to." Kiara responds in a hushed manner and Marina fakes one for a millisecond before it disappears. Pope finally takes a look at Marina, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

"Wow, Mari you look..."

"Hideous? Out of place? Murderous?" Marina asks, her voice monotone as she blankly stares at him.

"I was gonna say pretty." Pope says after a minute, smiling gently. Marina was silent, a bit awkward as she pulls at the fabric beneath her fingertips.

"Oh."

"Don't listen to her. She gave me a death glare when I said she should wear dresses more." Kiara tells him and he laughs a bit before it fades.

"Hey, have you heard from JJ?" Pope asks them and Kiara sighs, shaking her head.

"No. He'll be all right. He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach." She tells the boy with a soft smile. Marina debated saying something or not but she knew they were worried.

"I talked to him." Marina speaks up and they both snap their heads in her direction.

"When?" Kiara asks, her eyes widening a bit.

"I stopped by his place this morning after you left a message." Marina tells her and Pope frowns.

"What did he say? Did he seem okay?" He questions, concern evident in his tone and Marina shrugs her shoulders.

"The usual."

"Flirted with you?" Kiara asks, raising an eyebrow.

"It's fine. It's a defense mechanism." Marina didn't really care in that moment because she knew what he did for Pope and his face didn't exactly look the best.

"It's all my fault." Pope mutters as he looks down at the ground.

"You didn't do this, Pope. Topper almost killed you, remember?" Kiara assures him with a frown before applause starts and they see the Camerons making their entrance. "Here come lord capital and the exploiters." She mutters with a scoff.

"She's definitely gonna poke someone's eye out with that." Pope states, referring to Rose that wore a headpiece that made her look like lady liberty.

"Can it be me so I can leave?" Marina mutters, tilting her head back.

❧

DOWNING WHATEVER LIQUOR WAS IN FRONT OF HER, Marina stood by herself near the corner as Kiara had went to the bathroom. Marina tried to go with her but Kiara said nothing would happen in the two minutes she was gone. Yeah, like she believed that. A long sigh leaves her lips as she looks at the time. It had only been an hour since the thing started. A whole hour of her life wasted at this horrendous party.

"You don't exactly fit in here." A voice comes from behind her and she all but wanted to jump off the roof of this house in that very moment.

"God, you have more lives than my cat." She mutters as she turns around, seeing Rafe standing in front of her. "Kie invited me before you go running off to tell daddy." Marina tells him, bringing her glass back to her lips.

"How you been? Healing up nicely?" Rafe asks, and she really couldn't tell if he was being genuine or cocky and trying to remind her what he did to her.

"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" Marina asks him. She couldn't understand how he only grew in confidence. "Did you not hear my dad's warning?" She adds and Rafe shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't see him around. And I doubt anyone here will rat me out to him. Unless you're a snitch." Rafe points out with a smirk on his lips.

"Puta."

"I'm trying to be civil, hm?" He says with a sigh, leaning on the table as he finishes his drink, placing his glass down. Rafe then takes a moment to look her over. "You look beautiful." Rafe tells her and Marina glances away from him.

"So you stab me, beat up my friends and then flirt with me? What are you bipolar?" Marina asks, annoyance in her tone and Rafe just rolls his eyes.

"I'm trying to apologize." He admits and Marina laughed half-heartedly.

"Well, i hear shit." She snaps back. Rafe was silent for a moment.

"I shouldn't have attacked you, okay? I just lose my temper sometimes. I do a lot of shit that I don't mean to do." Rafe states and Marina simply blinks, not knowing if this was meant to be an actual apology. "But come on, you can't tell me you aren't into that shit. Knife play and a choke kink? Yeah, you're probably kinky as shit in the sheets." He taunts with a wink, a cocky smirk overtaking his features.

"You'll never know." Marina denies quickly, shutting down his attempt to flirt.

"You'll knock on my door one day." Rafe responds and she rolls her eyes, glancing around the area for a moment before looking back at him.

"Who are you buying from?" She asks, quieting her voice a bit. Rafe shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't know. I'll probably hit up Barry or some shit." He admits, knowing she knew who Barry was because her dad often supplied the man.

"My dad doesn't have to know." Marina denies. If he was gonna be a dick, then she was gonna keep selling, only she would pocket the money instead. Well, after she put back the money she took from him because he would surely kill her if he found out.

"Didn't think you were a sneak around behind daddy's back kind of girl." Rafe responds with a low chuckle.

"Well, i need the cash."

"For what?"

"I stole."

"Some pogue shit, man." Rafe mutters with a scoff, shaking his head as he rubs his jaw a bit.

"Calm down, it was my dad." Marina tells him, a bit pissed by his comment.

"You stole from your dad? How much?" Rafe asks, wondering why she suddenly needed the money that badly.

"Two thousand."

He whistles, raising his eyebrows. "Decent chunk of change for you pogues." He admits and Marina looked a bit annoyed.

"Will you buy from me or not?" She asks, not really in the mood to go back and forth.

"Maybe add a picture in and ill think about it." Rafe taunts with a smirk playing on his lips. Marina couldn't contain her disgust by his comment because she knew what he meant. She may not have much experience but she knows a dirty mind when she sees one.

Suddenly she sees someone just past him making her eyes widen in the slightest. Luckily, Rafe was pretty tall so she moved a bit to the side so she was hidden. "What are you doing?" He asks, noticing she was a bit shifty.

"Just stand right there." Marina states bluntly. Rafe was confused until he looked over his shoulder, seeing Amelia Emery standing not too far away. A breathy chuckle leaves his lips.

"Ah, avoiding someone?" He asks her as he meets her eyes once more.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying?" Marina retorts, tilting her head up at him. He didn't even get angry by her commentary, he simply runs his eyes over her for a moment before a sigh leaves his lips.

"You really do look good tonight, Mari." Rafe tells her and Marina could only scoff.

"Flattery only works when you mean it." She responds which caught Rafe a but off guard.

"Who says i don't mean it?"

"You're a kook. You never mean shit." She mutters with a scoff before walking off in the direction she saw Kiara. Rafe just watched her leave, confusion in his eyes as he truly did mean what he said to her.

❧

WANDERING INTO THE HALLWAY AFTER USING THE BATHROOM, Marina runs her hands over her dress before starting to make her way toward the door to go back outside. But before she could her there, she was stopped by a brunette woman, one she's seen around Topper and Rafe quite a bit. "Hey." She says, blocking the exit as she tilts her head with a false smile on her face. "Mari, right?" The girl asks as she runs her eyes over Marina for a moment.

"Who's asking?"

"You know, coming to a movie night is one thing but midsummer's? You don't belong here, pogue." She denies with a scoff. Marina doesn't blink, just staring at the girl.

"I was invited." She bluntly responds and it seemed to make this girl even angrier for some reason.

"You barely make friends with your own kind, I doubt anyone here would invite a psycho killer." The brunette denies and Marina tilts her head.

"I actually do get invited to things, unlike you who has to buy her way in with daddy's money." Marina retorts. Seeing the way the girls jaw clenches as her eyes darken a bit.

"Stay away from Rafe, you got that?"

"What are you, his little pet?" Marina asks, raising an eyebrow.

"He's one of us. He doesn't want to hang around some pogue trash like you." She sneers and Marina didn't remember asking him to. He was the one always coming for her friends or wanting to buy drugs.

"I'll remind him that next time he attacks my friends."

"You're a freak, Mari. Everyone knows it." The girl sneers, seemingly trying to get underneath her skin. But Marina had heard that name a thousand times, it wasn't anything new and honestly she had embraced it.

"Thank you for the kind compliment." Marina responds and she could tell the kook was getting frustrated.

"It's just a matter of time before your druggy father goes to jail and you follow right in his footsteps." She states and this does make Marina react a bit, biting her tongue. "Unless you drown first like your friends old man." The brunette adds with a smirk and Marina instantly glares at her.

"The tongue is an easy organ to cut out, say another word about John B and it'll be your last." She warns, a threatening tone in her voice.

"Wow, threatening me? What's next, you're gonna cut me up too?" The brunette taunts.

"That'll be a waste of a perfectly good knife. I'll just take you on a boat and feed you to the fishes."

"Just take this as a warning, psycho." She sneers at Marina as she backs up. Marina didn't know what she meant until she felt something being poured on her head. She keeps her composure as the liquid drips down her body. A few laughs surrounded her and when she looks up, she noticed a few more kooks surrounding her. One of them being Rafe and Toppers friend Kelce. "Feels like home, doesn't it?" The brunette asks with a smirk playing on her lips.

Marina looks at her now red stained dress and arms. She lifts her hand to her mouth, narrowing her gaze. She tastes it a bit only for it to taste like fumes. Paint.
"

Great, it's just paint. You guys are seriously amateurs." She mumbles. If they were gonna make this whole point about her being a psycho and dumping her in red liquid, they could've at least made it real blood.

The door behind them opens and the kooks stop laughing. "What's going on in here?" Marina heard the familiarity of Kiaras dad's voice and as she turns her head she sees the man with concern in his eyes.

"Nothing, Mr Carrera. Marina here just slipped and fell, made quite the mess of herself." The brunette says in a fake voice, putting on a smile. Mike sighs as he moves over to Marina.

"I knew i shouldn't have let Kiara invite you here." His voice was a bit low. She didn't know if he said that because he felt something like this was going to happen, or because of something else.

"Why, this is more fun than I've had in a while." Marina admits, furrowing her eyebrows. Having these kooks thinking they got one over on her was hilarious in her mind.

"Come on, we'll get you cleaned up." Mike tells her, ushering her over to the door. As she went back outside, she heard a few gasps as the surrounding kooks looked at her with disgusted expressions.

"Oh, my god. What happened?" Kiara asks instantly, her eyes going wide as she rushed over to her best friend.

"Entitled kooks." Marina states and Kiara looked like she was going to blow her top off.

"I'll kill them." Kiara says but Marina grabs her arm.

"It's only paint, Kie. I mean, they couldnt even spring for real pigs blood, how lame is that?" She mumbles, annoyed as she looks at herself. Kiara couldn't help but smile, rolling her eyes as she shakes her head.

"Only you would wanna be covered in that." Kiara states, amusement in her tone before they are interrupted by the door opening. Marina turns her head and much to her surprise, she sees JJ being dragged out by security.

"Look, man. I can walk myself, I got legs. Can you see that, brother?" JJ says with a scoff but the man only continues pulling him by his shirt. "All right i really appreciate what you did back there. Let me just walk out by myself."  He mumbles, trying to pull away.

"Oh, Mr dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of ya, I'm actually gonna down that. I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl, you know? Its okay, everybody! Do not panic. Let's leave it to the man and women in uniform, huh? Let's hear it form them! Rose, you look like lady liberty. It's good to see you again."

In the commotion, Rafe had made his way out with a smirk playing on his lips until his eyes hit Marina and surprise filled his features. "Woah, what happened to you?" Rafe asks with slight amusement yet concern in his eyes. Kiara only grabs Marina's arm, moving her away from Rafe.

"Maybe ask your little friends." She snaps at him, pulling Marina to be on her other side as they both watch as JJ is dragged through the floor. "Let go of him! You can't just boot him! I invited him here." She shouts causing them to stop.

"Kiara." Her mom warns but Kiara didn't care anymore.

"Stop it." Mike tries but she just scoffs.

"I'm a member of this club." Kiara points out, and that's when JJ pushes the security causing him to fall into one of the waiters.

"Sorry about that. Hey mandatory power hour at Rixons, Kie. Pope, you as well, all right? Rixons cove. Let's roll." JJ announces as he starts making his way out. "All right, kie, come on. Workers of the world unite. Throw off your chains. And i can't forget about my favourite girl. Mari, get your cute ass over here!" He shouts toward her, pointing his finger at her.

Marina shakes her head, a ghost of a smile on her lips. She looks over at Kiara who wasn't really debating it but she knew her parents would be pissed. "You can't hang around these kids." Mike denies in a sneer but Kiara just gives him a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry." Kiara says before grabbing Marina's arm and rushing toward the exit.

"No, Kiara!" They hear her parents shout from behind them.

"Come on, kie! Mari!"  JJ says with a smile on his face before he truly takes a look at Marina as they come running in his direction. "Holy shit, what happened to you?" He asks, his eyebrows raising as they finally reach him. "Doesn't matter, you still look stunning." He says quickly, barely batting an eye. Kiara rolls her eyes, a bit annoyed but doesn't say anything as they meet up with John B and Pope.

"Later, losers!" John b calls out as he flips them off before they all run toward the twinkie, letting the kooks watch them escape the god awful event that they had put on.

❧

THE POGUES SAT NEAR A FIRE, parked far from figure eight. "Hey, guys. So, like my dad's already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asks with a scoff, looking at the group. He knew his dad was gonna be angry when he got back home because he ditched the midsummer. But when JJ said something about the gold, that got his attention.

"Might as well tell him, Man, before we're gaffed." JJ admits and everyone else looked confused.

"You ready for this?" John B starts, facing his friends who wait impatiently for him to continue. "So, the gold never went down with the royal merchant." He denies making Pope instantly groan.

"Oh, my god. Here we go again with this." Pope says, shaking his head.

"No. All right, wait. Hear him out, all right?" JJ states which made everyone more intrigued since it seemed he actually believed right now.

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

"Are you serious? Oh, my god." Kiara says with a smile on her face.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope says, holding up his hand.

"Yeah, John B actually figuring something out? Seems unlikely." Marina denies and John B gasps as he looks at the girl.

"You wound me, Mari." John B states before reaching into his bag.  "Can i please present you with my evidence, sir and siress?" He asks them and Pope furrows his eyebrows.

"That is not remotely correct but proceed." Pope mutters.

"All right. So, in my backpack, I have a letter from Denmark Tanny." John B tells them.

"Who the hells that?" Kiara asks.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the royal merchant wreck. Check this out."

"What?" Kiara was shocked when she took the paper.

"Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom."

Kie whistles and hands it over to Pope who takes the paper from her, proceeding to look at it as well. "After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll, please." John B asks and Kiara and JJ both start doing a dramatic drumroll for him. "Because that farm is... Tannyhill plantation." He states.

"Tannyhill?" Kiara asks, her voice full of shock.

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

"Where?" Kie whispers with a smile on her face.

"Harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except there no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out." John B grabs another page, showing it to them. "The gold is in parcel nine, near the water." He tells them and they were all in collective shock.

"Holy shit.' Pope mutters, his eyes wide as he stares at the page.

"All we need is an original survey map of the property and we've found the gold." John B states with a huge smile on his face. Marina couldn't actually believe this was happening, much less that John B had actually found it. But if it was really all true, they were about to filthy rich.

"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope says with an astonished look on his face.

"Dude, it's like king tut." Kiara admits.

"I am a genius -- hey, whoa." JJ suddenly picks John b up in a hug. "Hello, fire! You're near the fire. You're gonna burn." John B warns as JJ places him back down.

"I am so proud of you right now." JJ says, his hands on both of John B's cheeks.

"That's really sweet of you." John B responds, doing the same thing.

"You two gonna kiss now?" Marina asks out of the blue causing Pope and Kiara to let out small laughs. John B just gives her a playful glare.

"Thank you for ruining such a sentimental moment, Mari." He tells her and she just salutes him before looking back at the map that was in Pope's hand.

"Okay, so guys. What's the plan?" Pope asks curiously. John B claps his hands.

"Good question. So, Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She's gonna bring an original survey map--"

"Hold on. Sarah? Wh--why Sarah?" Kiara asks, furrowing her eyebrows. Marina glances at the boys who seemed to all share the same nervous expression.

"Um.." John B starts, trailing off.

"This is gonna be good." JJ mutters, clearing his throat.

"Sarah, uh, she-- she got me into the archives in chapel hill yesterday and that's where I got the letter."

"You were in chapel hill with Sarah Cameron?" Kiara questions, wondering if she heard that right.

"Yeah, um--"

"He was mackin' on her." JJ answers and John B glares over at his best friend.

"I wasn't macking." He denies firmly but JJ only snickers.

"You were totally macking Sarah cameron." JJ mumbles with a smirk playing on his lips.

"Of all people, of all kooks. You choose Sarah Cameron?" Marina asks, scrunching her nose up in the slightest making John B let out a groan.

"I wasn't macking on her, okay? I was using her for access." John B states but no one seemed like they believed him.

"There was access, all right." JJ teases only to he hit in the face with a stick. "Hey, ow! That was pointy." He complains, finding the owner of the stick which seemed to be Marina as she just stared back at him innocently.

"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kiara asks him and John B went silent for a moment.

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

"Is that a yes?"

"I-- I left out key details."

"Yo, what? You let a kook in on our secret? What about the pogue life, what about the t-shirt company, bro?" Kiara asks, clearly upset that he went behind their backs.

"I was just using her for information." John B tells them but Kiara rolls her eyes.

"Why don't I believe you?" She retorts, tilting her head.

"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can off a boat, or uh send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies-- or like, i don't know what maris into-- live action theatre?" Marina furrows her eyebrows as she glanced down at herself. "Look, you guys know me." John B explains to them.

"Eh." Marina mumbles, shrugging her shoulders.

"Do I look like the type of person to fall for Sarah cameron?"

"Do you want us to answer that, or..." Pope trails off, sharing a glance with JJ.

"Just, just stop."

"Look, you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her." Kiara denies, trying to get them to understand.

"Her brother did hit me into he back with a golf club, and he tried to kill Mari." Pope points out causing John B to scoff a little bit.

"Rafe and Sarah are two different human beings."

"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asks, furrowing his eyebrows as he looks at Kiara.

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

"This is a bad analogy." Pope mumbles as everyone but Marina looked beyond confused.

"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take." Kiara admits. Marina knew she was still mad at Sarah and she wasn't wrong, all kooks did was screw over the pogues.

"So.... are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?" Pope asks after a moment, his eyes drifting to Marina. He wanted to keep the conversation on topic but he really couldn't when she was looking like she just committed mass murder.

"Yeah, why do you look like you're reenacting the scene from carrie?" John B questions, narrowing his gaze.

"Why do you know what carrie is?" Kiara asks, looking slightly amused as she stares at John b, it seemingly relieving some of the tension.

"I mean, you are the type of person who would willingly go for this look." JJ admits as he looks over the girl. She didn't even look bad. Maybe like a killer. But a hot killer.

"It's paint, they cheaped out." She mumbles, crossing her arms against her chest.

"I'm sorry you wanted to be drowned in pigs blood?" Pope asks slowly, narrowing his gaze and Kiara let's out a scoff.

"Have you met her?" Kiara retorts and they realized that it was a very Marina thing. "It was some stupid kooks at the party." She grumbles, throwing a stick into the fire.

"Which ones?" JJ asks, his blood starting to boil as he clenches his jaw.

"I don't need you to defend my honour, okay?" Marina assures them. It wasn't really a big deal. The kooks would just believe they won until she got them back in a very mature, non-violent fashion. Yeah, that's totally what she would be doing.

"Yeah, cause she's like some Michael Myers or some shit-- probably do worse things to them." John B states with a smirk, winking at Mari.

"Like, pour actual pigs blood on them." Pope states. He would not be surprised if she showed up with liters of pigs blood some day.

"More like draw actual blood with all the weapons she carries." John B adds with a laugh and as he looks over at Marina, the smallest smile has grazed her lips making his eyes widen. "Oh, my god." He says as he quickly stands up, covering his mouth. "My god, we need to record this moment because am I dreaming or is that an actual smile on Marina Emery's face?" John B asks, pointing over at the woman.

"I might pass out." Pope gasps, placing a hand on his chest.

"Dude, don't move too fast, you'll scare it away." JJ teases John B who wipes a fake tear from his eye.

"I need to hang a sign on my wall, revel in my accomplishment. On this day, July sixteenth, 2020, I made Marina Emery smile." John B states proudly and Marina tried to fight it off, pressing her tongue to the inside of her cheek as she just stares back at the boy.

"And survived a murder attempt right after." Pope snickers with a smirk on his lips.

"Yeah, i don't know why you're provoking her when she has a hot poker in her hand." Kiara admits, raising her eyebrows at all of the boys. John B's face falls as he takes a step back.

"Get JJ first, he's always flirting with you." John B shouts, pushing the blonde forward because he was closest to him as he quickly runs away from the small woman chasing him.

"Dude!" JJ scoffs, glaring at the man who was all but jumping in the twinkie and slamming the door in Marina's face before she can get in. She simply moves to the passenger door, climbing inside and as the door shuts, they can hear John B screaming like a little girl which made them all laugh before making their way over to the van.

❧