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❝ you want to steal from my dad? ❞
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𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

For the first time in a while, I wake up in my own bed and sun streams through the window making my room glow with a golden hue. I drag myself out of bed and make use of our backup generator, taking a hot shower.

After wrapping a towel around myself, I look in the mirror and grimace at the nasty looking bruise on my jaw, courtesy of Topper fucking Thornton. I head back into my room and jump a little when I find Kiara laying on my bed, flicking through a magazine.

"Morning, lovie" The Carrera girl chirps without looking up.

"Morning, pookie" I reply, making a move to shut the door but a hand shoots out stopping it.

"The door stays open" My dad declares.

"I'm getting dressed" I retort and he frowns, glancing over at Kiara who is ignoring the man.

"No funny business" He warns me.

"Cool" I reply.

"What happened to your face?" He then asks, looking at my bruise.

"Topper punched me" I answer simply, knowing he won't believe me anyways.

"Sarah's Topper? No. He wouldn't do that" My dad chuckles before his expression darkens "Which one of those so called friends of yours hit you? Was it Luke's boy? I'll make sure Luke straightens him out"

"No! It wasn't JJ. He wouldn't hit a girl" I snap, not wanting the Maybank boy to get in trouble because of me.

"Then was it the Routledge boy? Heyward's kid?" My dad grills me.

"It was just a surf accident" I lie, knowing its the only thing he'll accept "I wiped out and hit it on my board"

"Why didn't you just say that? There's no need to accuse a perfectly nice boy of something so horrible" He scolds me and I sigh, nodding along.

"Sorry, Dad" I say in a monotone voice before slamming the door shut and locking it.

"I don't know what that man's problem is" Kiara hums, still not looking up from the magazine.

"He hates the idea I might be happy with someone around, so he tries to make them feel so uncomfortable and unwanted that they'll just leave" I explain, changing into a red bikini with white polka dots on it.

"What an asshole" She scoffs, shaking hear head.

"Tell me about it" I laugh shortly, slipping on a pair of black denim shorts and a light grey crop top that has thin cord like straps.

I pull my hair into two dutch braids and tie a red bandana around my head before pulling on my red chucks. I swipe on some red lipstick and a little waterproof mascara.

"Ready to go?" Kiara asks, hopping off the bed.

"Uhuh" I nod, unlocking the door.

We head downstairs and I see my father standing with Rose and Rafe, all of them staring at us with clear distaste. Kiara grabs the tie on one shoulder of my bikini and tugs on it, undoing the bow it was tied in.

"Kie!" I laugh, not bothering to grab the strings because I'm wearing a top anyways.

"Nothing I haven't seen before" She winks at me, walking backwards and I shake my head with a smile.

"Sylvie!" My father yells and I turn my head "Keep yourself out of trouble, will you?"

"Of course" I smile sarcastically before following Kiara out the door.

We hop in her car and I tie up my bikini again as we make our way to the chateau. When we arrive, we head out back and see the boys are already there. Pope is reading a book while John B paces anxiously and JJ sits on a table, staring out at the water.

"Kie, Vie, good morning" John B greets us.

"Morning, boys" Kiara hums while I ignore them, sitting down on the sofa.

"Look, i'm callin it off. All right?" John B announces.

"Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS" He adds making my eyes widen.

"And you believed her?" JJ scoffs.

"Yes, I believe her, JJ" John B retorts.

"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop" JJ says in disbelief, throwing stones into the water.

"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple days, and she'll help me out. It doesn't help that your ass was the one shooting a gun" John B argues.

"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass" JJ snaps and I roll my eyes at the statement.

"Yeah, because Topper was gonna drown me" John B scoffs and I look at him in disbelief.

"Sure looked like it" JJ retorts.

"That's really funny" John B laughs sarcastically.

"Have you looked in the mirror recently?" JJ asks, walking towards us and turns to me "Either of you"

"Come on, man, tell me some more. Come on" John B encourages the blonde, looking angry.

"They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pogues. They always, always win! Goddamn!" JJ shouts, punching a buoy.

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara snaps.

"No, it's not okay! It is not! They don't want us to go down into the marsh! That means there's something valuable down there, and you know it! I know you do" JJ rants, pointing at John B.

"And I understand why you don't wanna go. You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk" He tells Pope.

"And you- I mean, you two are already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother?" He scoffs at Kiara and I.

She looks at him in disbelief and I scowl in anger, feeling the need to punch him in his stupid face.

"But you and me, man, we got nothin to lose! We really don't, all right?!" JJ exclaims.

"JJ" John B sighs.

"And I know it didn't use to be that way for you" JJ continues.

"I don't wanna talk about this" John B shakes his head "I don't wanna talk about it"

"So that's it?" JJ scoffs.

"Just get out of my way, bro!" John B shouts, pushing JJ to storm past him.

"John B, listen to me! I have a plan! You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" JJ calls out after him.

"No, JJ" John B groans.

"There's scuba gear inside, man. We borrow that, and then we go down to the wreck this afternoon, and that is what's gonna save you, man. You don't see rich kids going into foster care, do you?" JJ asks.

John B hesitates for a minute before turning around and locking eyes with me.

"Vie?" He asks for my opinion and I paste on a glare.

"You want to steal from my dad?" I ask, lacing my comment with disgust.

Both boys freeze and start stuttering out excuses but I laugh at them, dropping the angry expression.

"Do it" I tell the brunette who grins at me.

✯¸.•'*¨'*•༻❁༺•*'¨*'•.¸✯

"This is empty. You took empty tanks?" Kiara asks John B in disbelief as she checks out the scuba gear.

"Okay, this one's a quarter full. it's enough for one of us" She tells us.

"Love it when a plan comes together" Pope says sarcastically.

"Does anybody know how to dive?" Kiara asks and we all go silent.

"Anybody?" She adds in disbelief.

"It's kind of a Kook sport" JJ shrugs.

"Your dad ever make you take diving lessons?" John B asks me and I shake my head 'no' "That's just great"

"I read about it" Pope announces.

"Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die" Kiara snaps.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breathe. How hard could it be?" JJ states.

"If you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends" Pope tells him.

"Bends like, bend over and..." JJ drawls off, bending over the driver seat suggestively which makes me roll my eyes.

"The bends kill you" Pope retorts bluntly and I snort.

"Right" JJ nods, throwing his arm around me but I shrug him off.

"I can dive" John B offers.

"You can dive. I'm cool with that" JJ tells the boy, frowning down at me.

"Since when can you dive?" Kiara scoffs.

"I'll do it. It's fine" John B assures her.

"Let me do some calculations real quick" Pope declares and I listen carefully, loving the passionate way the Heyward boy talks when he's using his brain.

"That boat's about thirty feet down, right?" Pope starts.

"Okay" John B nods.

"So it'll take twenty five minutes at that depth. Which means you need to make your safety stop at about...ten feet. All right? For two minutes" Pope explains.

As John B agrees, I wiggle off my shorts and slip off my crop top.

"Pass me your shirt, Kie" I tell the girl, who takes it off and hands it to me.

I climb onto the front of the boat and dive into the water, swimming downwards to where Pope said the safety stop should be.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

"Uhh" John B hums in confusion.

"What was that all about?" Pope asks the other Pogues.

"I don't know, but I liked it. A lot" JJ says, gulping as he watches the spot where Sylvie had dived into the water.

John B clears his throat and JJ snaps out of his trance as Kiara glares at the blonde, hating the way he plays with her best friend's feelings.

"Uh, so.." JJ drawls off.

"All righty" John B says, pulling on the scuba gear.

"Yeah. Uh, when you- Uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ tells John B, handing him a key like object.

"Stick in, twist, pull" John B repeats.

"Yeah" JJ nods.

𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘦'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

I break the surface and take in a deep breath.

"My dad moved some weight back in the day" I hear JJ say.

"Who didn't?" Pope replies as I swim towards the boat.

"Hey! I tied Kie's shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop" I tell John B.

"Cool" He replies.

"Keep an eye on this. You need to make sure you have enough air to decompress" Pope tells the boy.

"Okay, how much do I need?" John B asks as JJ holds out his hand to me.

I pretend not to see the boy and haul myself out the water on my own.

"Unclear. Breathe as little as possible" Pope advises him.

"Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ tells him.

"Yeah, got it" John B nods.

"Hey, if we get caught out here in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so...better get a move on" Pope announces.

"Copy that" John B replies as Kiara walks up to him.

She leans in and my eyes widen as she kisses his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth. I share a confused look with Pope before turning to JJ to see him smirking.

"Diver down?" I hear John B speak.

"Diver down" Kiara repeats.

John B jumps into the water and worry nips in the back of my mind but I try to ignore it.

"Diver down" Pope sighs as John B disappears into the water.

"See ya, dude" JJ states although John B can't hear him anymore.