After we'd changed out of our Midsummer's fits and into more comfortable clothing, we all hopped in the Twinkie to drive to this beach where apparently Sarah would be delivering a map to us.

It had already started to thunderstorm outside, and as it was night time, it was looking pretty gloomy. I was almost passed out in the Twinkie back seat, half dead and leaning against JJ. Whatever he had put in that cup, had made me drunk for about ten minutes, but then I experienced a major hangover.

"Stop complaining—you sound like a brat," JJ said to me.

"How are you not dead right now," I complained. "How is that fair."

"Pussy," JJ snorted.

"Just because I won doesn't mean you have to be a sore loser!" I rounded on him, even though I was having a major pounding headache.

"Karma's a bitch," JJ sang.

"You're a bitch," I muttered.

John B pulled the Twinkie to a stop where apparently Sarah would be meeting us with a map.

"So, uh, I think I'm gonna do this one by myself..." John B said as he started to open the door.

"I'm coming," I sat up as the room spun.

"You're way too hungover," Kiara said, violently tugging me back into my seat.

"Sarah's my best friend!"

"She's my—" John B stopped himself quickly.

"She's your what, exactly?" Kiara narrowed her eyes at him.

JJ let out a low whistle, while Pope muttered "Wrong move, man.".

"We need the map," John B insisted.

"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all!" Kiara said.

"Because she can help us," I defended Sarah.

"Promise me nothings going on between you two," Kiara said.

Seriously? Who did she think she was? I couldn't believe Kiara.

"Nothing's happening, Kie," John B said as he climbed out of the Twinkie and into the thunderstorm. The door slammed shut, and Pope, JJ, Kiara and I were left alone in the car.

"That was totally a hundred percent believable," JJ said.

"A hundred percent," Pope joked.

"Everyone shut up," I moaned. "My head is killing me."

"Yeah, we heard," Kiara pulled out her phone again. Why did she always have to be doing that? It annoyed me a lot. I hated when people were on their phones when in the middle of a conversation. It was rude, to be frank.

"I think everyone just needs a little something to calm down," JJ took out a cigarette from his pocket.

"I still don't understand why you smoke those," I wrinkled my nose.

"Who doesn't?" He let out a drag.

"Ever heard of Vapes?" Pope pointed out.

"These baby's make me look sexier," JJ grinned wolfishly.

He wasn't wrong; I thought bitterly to myself.

Suddenly, screaming interrupted Kiara and Pope's conversation, my day-dream, and JJ's smoke. I could make out Sarah's voice screaming. "Somebody help! Please, somebody help!" She screamed over the thunder and rain.

We found Sarah sobbing over what looked like a dead John B's body. It turned out Topper had pushed him off this old rickety wooden bridge, and John B had fallen like ten feet. Pope and JJ ran to get the Twinkie, and we speedily drove John B to the nearest hospital.

As soon as he was wheeled into his room for surgery, I cornered Sarah in the hallway, while the other Pogues sat half asleep in a couple chairs nearby.

"So you're giving John B a little John D now?" I crossed my arms.

"Mercedes, can we not?" Sarah said tiredly.

"Since when did this happen?!" I demanded.

"John B is dying, Mercedes! And all you can do is yell like some—"

"You didn't tell me this!"

"You didn't tell me this!" She gestured to the Pogues in the chairs who were pretending not to eavesdrop.

"I—" For once I was at a loss for words.

"I'm going to check on John B," Sarah stormed into his room, slamming the door shut.

"Let's just go," I started to walk down the hall, away from John B's room.

"What about John B?" Kiara said.

"Sarah's keeping him company," I snapped back. "So let's just let her take care of him."

No one argued, I think everyone was just a little too tired to say anything. We hopped back in the Twinkie, and JJ drove us back to Kiara's dad's restaurant, as it was the closest. Kiara sneaked in using the spare key hidden under the flower pot, and we all crept inside the empty restaurant.

"You sure your parents are okay with this?" Pope asked worriedly as we all found a place to sleep.

"Pope, shut up," Kiara mumbled, already crashed in a booth and half asleep.

"JJ move over," I flopped down beside him at a table with a leather booth.

"Get your own fucking seat!" He swore at me, and violently shoved me off so I fell on the floor.

"OW!" I'd fallen flat on my stomach.

"I'm trying to sleep." JJ was more of an ass when he was tired.

"Too fucking bad," I climbed back onto the leather seat, and purposely sat so that I was squishing his face against the wall.

"What the fuck!" JJ started to flail against me, kicking me with his boots.

"JJ, just chill out," I was giving him payback for pushing me onto the floor.

"No way—move!"

"Both of you, quiet!" Pope shouted, and we all instantly fell silent, and asleep.

↬——✾——↫

The next morning, I awoke to a crick in my neck. JJ had managed to kick me off in the middle of the night, and I'd fallen asleep on the cold floor. Awesome, I pulled out a piece of gum that'd gotten stuck in my hair.

I could hear Kiara's dad yelling at her from the kitchen, it seemed he was pretty pissed about her sneaking in late last night and the rest of us crashing here.

I felt my phone vibrate in the back of my pocket, and I pulled it out. I had at least seven missed calls from my Dad, and I scrolled back to see his texts get more angry by the minute. He was pissed that I'd run off from Midsummer's, and worried that I'd been gone all night. I just turned my phone on silent.

By the time Pope and Kiara brought out a few stale bagels (that was the only food Kiara's dad was willing to let us eat), it was 9AM. The Shack was going to open in a couple of minutes, and Kiara's dad was eyeing us to get the heck out of the place.

But then John B walked through the door, alive and well, and we all cheered.

"King Kook! King Kook! King Kook!" JJ and Pope chanted as we all sat around a table.

"You're living with Sarah Cameron, now?" Kiara disapproved.

"Nah, it's not like that," John B explained how Ward Cameron was letting him stay with them for a bit, saving him from DSC.

"You talk to Sarah?" I asked.

"Yeah," John B said casually.

"John B, who the hell do you think you are? Running around, macking on Kooks here and there—Sarah isn't the girl for you," I said angrily.

"Who are you to decide that?" Kiara challenged.

"Don't tell me you like this either!" I stood up from the table.

"Well—no," she admitted.

"I like Sarah, and I'd never do anything to her!" John B protested.

"You two just met!"

"It's not like that," he insisted.

"Sure," I scoffed, and fed up with him, left the table and stormed outside of The Shack.

I was mad at John B. Well, I wasn't mad at him. I didn't really blame him, I was just taking out my anger on him. I was mad at Sarah, for not telling me all this information. Since when was she in love with a Pogue? What about Topper? Well, to be honest, I didn't really approve of Topper, so that didn't matter.

The point was, she didn't tell me anything about this. And secretly, I was a little mad at myself too. How could I have not seen this coming? John B and Sarah were literally in love with each other, it was that obvious. Even JJ could tell! And yet, I was the most clueless person ever, and it took John B nearly dying to figure that all out.

JJ joined me outside a couple minutes later, right as I was in the middle of kicking a rock.

"We figured it out—so we're heading out to get our 400 million," he told me.

"Pass," I put my hands in my jean pockets.

"Did you not just hear me?! 400 million dollars!"

"Yeah, I heard you."

"Whatever," JJ rolled his eyes. "Your loss." He went back inside. He didn't even seem that upset that I wasn't joining them on their little mission. Of course he wasn't upset, I thought bitterly. He was probably glad that I wouldn't be dividing the cut up more; he would be getting more money out of it. Clearly, money was the only thing JJ cared about.

Bitch.

↬——✾——↫

That afternoon, after I'd been moping around upset about pretty much everything, and the fact that my father still was spamming my phone with calls (I'd missed several shifts, and hadn't been home for a couple days), I got a phone call from Pope. He told me to meet with them at John B's, as they would be discussing how to get the gold, and that Sarah Cameron would be coming too.

I was over faster than he could say so.

Everyone was gathered on John B's porch, including Sarah. I could hear Kiara yelling at John B miles away, and when I banged open the screen door, they stopped mid-quarrel.

"Basically my money's on Kie," JJ explained to me. "And so's Popes."

"Your betting?!" I sat next to him.

"Ten bucks. You in?" JJ took off his hat and held it out, indicating that I put my money in his hat.

For a moment I was blinded. I'd forgotten how much I liked JJ. His hair was classified as 'hat-hair', sexily messed up in a tufted sort of way. He was grinning up to me like I was an actual human being, like I wasn't a Kook, or the Sheriff's daughter, and for a moment, I paused. It felt like I belonged—he had made me feel, for a quick moment, that I was welcome. Did he think that? JJ never thought that, he hated me. Even though I had taken the 'Pogue Test', I still knew that JJ hated my guts, and that Kiara was cold to me. But I still wished, even a little hopelessly.

"No way!" Kiara yelled.

"Stop being such a bitch," Sarah snapped.

"Sarah!" I gasped. Sarah never called anyone anything at school, she was a sweetheart.

"Shut up," she said to me.

"Oh, fuck you," I spat at her.

Everyone gasped, and the boys immediately started to whisper.

"You never told me about this whole crap—" Sarah stood up, yelling.

"You never told me about John B—" I stood up, fists clenched.

"I never agreed to the Queen Kook here—" Kiara shouted in our faces.

"Shut up!" John B roared, and everyone fell silent.

"It's me or her, John B," Kiara said quietly.

"Kiara, I can't," John B pleaded.

"Choose," she snapped.

"Both."

Kiara stormed out, slamming the door shut. Pope and JJ let out whistles, it had gone beautiful.

Sarah left after that, she didn't feel 'comfortable' here. I just rolled my eyes, and left after her, dismissing myself.

I didn't find Kiara horrible, I found her tolerable. Sometimes she could irritate me, but for the most part, I found her fine. Sarah, she was my best friend. We were supposed to tell each other everything. And I felt hurt that she'd kept this from me. I felt stupid that John B didn't tell me either, like I was an idiot or something. And Sarah didn't even apologize, she just yelled back right at me that I hadn't told her about the Pogues.

What was there to tell? Nothing. We hung out, that was it. And I didn't owe Sarah anything, nevertheless a full explanation. It was my life, and I could do whatever the hell I wanted to.

↬——✾——↫

I'd been crashing at John B's for the last couple days, too busy hanging out with the Pogues and dealing with the Royal Merchant. Apparently the four of them had gone to Crain household, and had figured out from the old Tannyhill map where the gold was hidden.

By the time I woke up from the couch, John B and Pope were gone. JJ told me they'd left to run a couple errands, and that he and I were to meet them at the main boat.

I changed into my swimsuit with clothes on top, and then followed JJ into the little tin fishing boat that they only used for emergencies. When I asked why we were even using this emergency-only boat, JJ merely shrugged and said "'Cause I feel like it.", and tossed me a beer.

"It's ten in the morning!" I caught the beer and put it at a safe distance away.

"So?" JJ was already smoking a cigarette and taking a swig from his own can.

"You're going to die at the ripe age of twenty," I told him smugly.

"No one asked you," he said, and that was enough talking for the day.

JJ steered the boat so we turned down a marshes's path, and there was the main boat. I could hear the other's voices already, and JJ dropped me off. I climbed from the tin boat to the main one, then turned to JJ.

"You coming?"

"Uh, one sec," he busied himself with the rowder.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes and poked my head inside the cabin. "John B? Pope?"

But only Kiara was there, and she was digging around a couple wires. "Nothing's broken," she muttered.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked, and we both rushed out on the deck.

John B, Pope, and JJ were all on the tin boat, laughing, and they started to pull away.

"John B!" Sarah appeared beside us, and yelled.

"What the hell! You're leaving me with them?!" Kiara shouted.

"I can't believe this," I grumbled, and sat down on the bench. The two other girls continued to shout at the retreating boys—Sarah even jumped into the water and swam after them—but it did no good, and they left us, alone, and stranded in the boat.

After a while, Sarah came back, and we realized: We were stuck until the boys came to get us. With no fuel, no emergency boat, we were stuck in this one. Thankfully, they'd left us with supplies, so we would last a bit.

I wasn't an idiot, I knew why John B had dropped the three of us out here on our own: He wanted us to 'get along'. Sarah and Kiara didn't get along, they hated each other. Sarah and I were best friends, but currently, I was mad at her for not telling me about her and John B's relationship. Kiara and I ... Well, I didn't think she was awful, but I was sure she didn't appreciate me as much for joining the Pogues.

When night came, we all lay down on a couple of towels, Sarah still complaining about her recent Jellyfish sting. I was surprised at how fast John B's plan worked: Kiara and Sarah made up pretty quickly, though I was sure the Weed had a bit to do with it. After smoking for a bit, the three of us relaxed, and both girls figured what had happened to their friendship.

Kiara and I still didn't speak directly to each other, but she did say to me that I ought to "figure my shit out with Sarah" and then fell asleep, right there.

In the end, I forgave Sarah, and she forgave me. I told her she could do whatever the heck she wanted to with John B, and Sarah giggled, saying that she would definitely be. I rolled my eyes at her, and the three of us fell asleep.