"How much you wanna bet one of them killed the other?" Joey spoke up as they road out to the boat of forgiveness to get Kie and Sarah.

"Who do you have your money on?" JJ asked curiously.

"Kie. I haven't forgotten about that punch she gave me." Joey said honestly with a raise of her eyebrows. "My mouth didn't stop bleeding for an entire two hours."

"You partly deserved it." Pope said as they neared the boat.

"Pope, no she didn't." John B rolled his eyes.

"I sorta did, yeah." Joey had to agreed.

Pope looked out at the pair of girls on the deck, "Well, they both look pretty alive to me."

"You gotta admit, it was kinda funny." John B spoke out to the pair as he stopped the boat.

"Mastermind, huh?" Kie asked him with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I'm always plannin'." He said back with a cheeky grin.

"Some patriarchal bullshit." Kie spoke as she stood up and jumped onto the boat.

"Yeah, that sucked." Sarah agreed before doing the same.

"Still love us though, right?" JJ asked hopefully.

"I didn't even know about this, so." Joey said honestly. "I would have never forced you guys to do this."

"Oh, thank you, the best friend I should have had." Kie spoke, holding Joeys shoulder as she moved past her.

"Hey, you still hate me?" John B questioned as he looked up to Sarah.

"A little. We're both gonna get you back when you least expect it." Sarah crossed her arms with a nod of her head.

"Watch your backs, boys." Kie spoke with a threatened look. "Joeys on our side."

"I don't think Joeys on y-" John B began.

"I am." she corrected him.

"She is." he nodded. "Of course she is, silly of me to think differently."

"I welcome that challenge." Pope said to the pair with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Me too." JJ agreed.

"So, did you guys, you know..." Pope trailed off.

"Shower?" Joey asked, pulling wet whips from her bag. "Take these, there's a flesh eating bacteria in these waters."

"I was gonna say make up but that works too." Pope went along with her words.

"Reconcile our differences?" the tall girl questioned.

"Mm-mm." Sarah shook her head.

"Not even close." Kie agreed.

"But we're willing to work together." Sarah added to the words, giving the four a questionable look.

"You know what? That's victory." John B said in relief. "Jo and I did the same."

"Oh, you did?" Kie rose her eyebrows.

"Willing to work together." Joey shrugged, taking her whips back.

"Yup." JJ agreed.

"Wiggedy-wiggedy-wiggedy." Pope said as he twinkled his fingers with John B's. Joey grinned as she saw Sarah wink at Kie, holding both her hand out to help the pair jump down.

"You guys got rope?" John B asked as he drove the van.

"Yup."

"Grappling hook?"

"No grappling hook, we're not batman."

"Pulley?"

"Check."

"Cleaning supplies?"

"Jo, are you kidding?"

"Dark clothes?"

"Got it."

"Flashlights?"

"Check."

"All right, good. We're ready."

"Let's go."

"Wait, wait." John B stopped the group from moving as he stood in the open door, "I wanna say thank you, guys. Seriously. It means a lot to me that you're here tonight."

Kie smiled but rolled her eyes, "Always."

"Of course, man." Pope said softly as he gave a little hand shake.

"All right, we done with this circle jerk? Can we go do this?" JJ spoke up in questioning, looking at John B and holding the rope.

"Let's get the wheat in the water." Pope said as JJ jumped out of the van.

Joey caught John B when he slipped on the van slightly. "You run through some mud on the way over."

"Probably." he answered, flashing her a grin before she let him go and they circled the van.

"Great to be back." Joey said sarcastically, throwing her bag over for Pope to catch. JJ came to her assistance, pushing her up by her foot so she could jump over.

"After you." Sarah said.

Joey knew John B was behind her, walking. She could sense his breathing, listening to it so many times to not recognize it. She wished he was infront of her so she didn't have to feel like he was staring at the back of her head, analyzing everything she did. Joey though back to what Topper had said at the shop, making a B-line to look at the back of Sarah's head, somehow thinking she could read her thoughts and she'd known if the Cameron girl had given him any sort of apology for cheating.

Her thoughts were cut when the motion lights from the house came on, making everyone fall to the ground in a panic.

"Okay, so she has motion sensor lights." Pope confirmed as they all hid behind the taller bushes.

"How does she even know what those are?" Joey asked, wincing as her palms dug into the mud. "Ewwww."

"Shhh." John B shhed ber quickly, reaching into her bag.

"We could, uh... move really slowly, maybe?" JJ suggested with a look at each of them.

"What?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"That's not really how it works." Pope argued with a look of disbelief.

"Oh, shit. Let's through a rock at it." John B suggested with a grin, passing Joey a wet wipe from he bag. She slapped him in the face with it.

"That's a really good idea. Let the axe murderer know that we're here." Kie nodded her head.

"Throw a rock at it?" Pope asked in disbelief.

"You have a better idea?" John B went on.

"Get me a new wipe." Joey knocked him in the arm as John B dug in her bag for her.

"What about the breaker? In the circuit box on the porch." Sarah asked as the idea came to her.

"No, no. You're not going in the house alone." John B shook his head her way. Joey whipped her hands, throwing the whip at JJ's face.

"Watch me." Sarah said back daring like.

"Crain chops people into pieces." JJ hummed as he looked at the Cameron girl.

"If you believe that, but shes like what, 85?" Sarah questioned him.

"Something like that." JJ said back with a shrug.

"She's probably barely still kicking." she said his way.

"I'll go with you." Kie spoke up as her and Sarah shared a look.

"Do you want me to go?" Joey cringed over at the pair. "Go into that dusty, moth balls, germ infested, definitely hasn't been cleaned, house with the two of you?"

Sarah almost laugh. "No, it's okay."

"Okay, we'll wait for your signal." Pope agreed.

"Hey, be safe." John B stopped Sarah a second.

"We will." she nodded her head as they left.

JJ grabbed Popes face and turned it to him, "Be safe."

"I'll be so safe." Pope mocked him back, "I'll be safe for you."

"Can you guys stop? Stop." John B scolded the pair quickly, "I'm gonna kill you."

Joey passed Pope her flashlight as she dug into her bag again.

"But how would that keep us safe?" the Hayward boy began. Joey grasped the purple light from her bag, flipping it on.

"What the hell is that?" JJ looked her way.

"It's not as bright." she nodded to their flashlights. "If she had motion lights, she could have cameras too. This one won't make it more obvious."

The trio of boys shared a look as John B shrugged. "That isn't such a bad idea."

"Yeah, maybe you'll listen to me more then." she rose her eyebrows in annoyance, passing him the purple light. "Don't ruin it. Those are plant lights, to help them grow."

"Flower child Jojo." JJ mocked her.

The light from the porch turned off quickly, making the four perk their heads up.

"They did it. Go time." John B grinned. JJ pulled his bandana over his mouth with a grin. The four shared a look.

"I'll lead." Joey nodded, taking the light from John B's hands. When she said it, she thought back to her dance lessons with Topper. She lead then. Joey looked over her shoulder at John B. "Has Sarah talked to Topper?"

John B gave her a weird look. "Topper? Why?"

"After she cheated on him." Joey rose an eyebrow his way.

"I mean, no, not after he nearly killed me and put me in a cast." John B gave a weird look as Joey turned back around, leading them toward the well. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Just asking."

•

kylie speaks

the way they can go from
being soft to being mean to
each other makes me laugh
and cry all at the same time.