THEY FOUND THE BODY THAT AFTERNOON.

out in the marsh, the body of scooter grubbs was found by the old man who operated a crab shack off the outlet. emery got the call from amelia that she had heard it over the scanner, the group all flocking to the crab shack just as the man's body was pulled out on a stretcher.

"who's that?" john b asked a nearby girl, trying to act oblivious to the situation.

"it's scooter grubbs, he was out during the storm." she explained, quickly pulling her phone out and swiping through the assorted photos. "check out this pic i got. dead body." she dragged out, emery not even attempting to hide the disgust she felt toward the girl taking this man's death and making it something to laugh over.

"what type of boat did he have?" jj asked.

"somehow that dirtbag copped a brand new grady-white." the girl said, putting her phone back in her pocket after everyone had seen her photo. "everyone's out looking for it."

they left not long after, all climbing into the twinkie and going back to the chateau, everyone but pope- who was attempting to regain his composure, finding out about the boat had heightened his anxiety more than ever before- went straight to the porch. emery was playing with a random cigarette lighter she found on the ground that still had fluid in it, while jj was tossing his zippo around next to her. levi was attempting to juggle empty beer bottles when pope bursted into the porch.

"okay, if anyone asks, we didn't see anything, we don't know anything." the boy pressed. "we need to have total and complete amnesia."

"actually, pope's right, for once." jj replied. "deny, deny, deny."

"guys, we can't keep that money." kiara tried.

"okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, kiara." jj said snappily, emery wrinkling her eyebrows.

"i pay your phone bill, you ungrateful little shit." she deadpanned. "and you most definitely have unlimited data."

"we have to pass it off to lana grubbs, otherwise, it's bad karma." kiara attempted to get the conversation back on topic.

"bad karma to be implicated in a felony, too." pope added. "we gotta go dark."

"if that means, we get to keep the money, then i agree." jj responded, looking to mara for backup.

"kiara, that money can really help jj and john b out, it can't hurt that much to let them keep it."

"i don't agree." john b said suddenly, emery, levi, and mara turning to him as though he had grown a second head.

"you don't agree?" emery clarified, john b holding his hands up, silently telling the blonde "shut the hell up."

"just, listen, okay?" he defended himself. "this is scooter grubbs we're talking about. same dude buying individual cigarettes at the porthole? shit, one time i saw this dude begging for change in the save-a-lot parking lot because he needed gas. we're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than fourty bucks in his pocket and all of a sudden he's got a grady-white?" john b asked, putting his hands up as if to say "but hey, what do i know?" and walking out the porch door. "i'm just saying."

THE GROUP HAD MOVED TO THE DOCK.

emery, levi, jj, and pope were all fishing while john b tried to convince the others to believe his wild theories about the sunken boat and mara and kiara watched, mara despising the art of fishing and kiara seeing it as unethical, despite her parents owning a seafood restaurant.

"think about it, pope, how does a marina rat get a grady-white?"

"prostitution." the boy said sharply.

"drug pushing." emery suggested in the same tone.

"he bought a winning scratcher." levi added.

"hitman." mara deadpanned, john b sighing heavily at the lack of seriousness in their responses.

"flying under the radar, no arial surveillance, they don't do that stuff during a hurricane." john b explained exasperatedly. "which means- jj?"

"they were straight smuggling." the boy said, clearly tired of john b's nonstop rambling about the boat.

"smuggling!" the brunette accepted the answer, turning back to the melville's, pope, and mara. "and i guarantee you, there's a serious amount of contraband on that wreck."

"hell yeah." jj said unenthusiastically, his mood lifting when he got a bite, and he quickly jumped into action, far more energetic than he had been five seconds prior. "fish on!"

THE CHATEAU WAS HOT.

emery had no idea why they were inside, but she knew it was no cooler inside the fishing shack than it was outside. her house on figure eight had generators by now, she was tempted to offer it up as the hangout spot, just for a few weeks until the power was back.

"for the record." pope started, tossing the cash onto the bed in front of him. "if that is a smuggling ship- with illegal contraband inside- it probably belongs to someone else."

"minor details." kiara muttered.

"they could come looking for it." he added. "taking it could be... catastrophically stupid."

"well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time." jj commented grabbing the cash and fanning it out in front of his face.

"if we just act like normal for a few days, we're peachy." emery added.

"how exactly do we act normal?" mara asked, everyone else collectively turning to levi.

"can you score us a keg?" emery asked, levi nodding.

"oh, for sure." he replied, kiara glaring around the room.

"kegger?"

JOHN B AND JJ CARRIED THE KEG.

levi, pope, mara, and kiara were all trailing behind, everyone but pope carrying different taps for the keg, not knowing which one was the working one, seeing as they had all just been shoved in a box under emery's bed.

the melville girl tossed the tap to jj, who attached it to the top of the barrel, and much to their joy, beer began to pour from the other end. filling cups and passing them to everyone but pope, who didn't want to risk getting in trouble this close to the interview he had for his college scholarship, the beach slowly began to fill with kids who heard from friends-of-friends that there was a party tonight.

"this beer tastes like shit." levi admitted to emery, the two standing with jj and john b next to the keg, mara, kiara, and pope all talking to tourists. john b was engaged in conversation with the siblings, but jj was staring at mara, who was talking to a dark-haired tourist boy.

"yeah, this is like the worst keg you've gotten us." emery replied, taking a sip from her cup, wrinkling her face at the taste and passing her cup over to john b. "i think i'll dd tonight."

"more for me." john b shrugged, taking a drink from the cup before offering one to a blonde tourist, who was clearly checking out jj. the blonde was still staring at mara. soon, levi left to go talk to ainsley, who had just arrived to the party.

night fell, and the keg was getting down to just foam in the bottom, emery still manning the drinks with jj, who grabbed a cup and started to walk towards john b, stumbling a bit as he did so, nowhere near sober.

"hey, man, do you want this?" he asked, holding the cup up to john b, who was about to take it before someone else caught jj's eye. "hey, sarah!" he called.

at the sound of the girl's name, emery immediately looked up from whatever she was doing as jj held the cup towards the kook girl, who's boyfriend was standing right behind her.

"can i interest you in a tasty milwaukee beverage?" jj asked, sarah shaking her head with a smile.

"no, thanks. we were just leaving." she said sincerely, so fakishly sweet that if kiara had been standing there she probably would've thrown up.

"oh, come on, is it not fancy enough for you?" jj taunted, emery rolling her eyes.

"jj, just leave it." she called, but topper- sarah's annoyingly overbearing boyfriend- had stepped up.

"hey, y'know what, i'll take it, man." he said, trying to diffuse the tension, but jj wasn't having it.

"that'd be great, topper, but unfortunately i didn't ask you." jj continued to drunkenly taunt the kook. "now if you said pretty please, maybe."

"oh, pretty please?" topper asked offendedly.

"top, leave it, you're both drunk. just go home." mara voiced from a few feet behind emery.

"so, sarah-" jj started, but topper slapped the cup out of his hand.

"she doesn't want it-" he said through gritted teeth, shoving jj harshly, but john b stepped between them, trying to pull jj away.

"dirty pogues!" topper yelled, john b sucker punching him directly in the jaw.

"so much for acting normal." mara commented, topper and john b beginning to full on fight each other in the water, john b yelling at topper to make a move at him. the fight mainly consisted of them tackling each other into the water repeatedly, but you couldn't ask two drunks for much more.

until, topper suddenly began to get the upper hand, sitting on top of john b with his knee in the boy's back, keeping him down in the water. he then pushed the brunette's head under the water and held it, drowning him.

"holy shit." emery breathed, staring in shock at the scene unfolding in front of her.

"topper, stop!" sarah screamed, mara turning to jj.

"do something!" she yelled, jj turning and running back up the beach to his bag. emery turned back to john b, her eyes wide as everyone screamed at topper to let him go, but the kook wasn't listening.

jj shoved through the crowd, something in his hand. he clicked the safety off on the gun, putting it to topper's head, all the bystanders except the pogues and sarah scrambling away from the scene.

"yeah, you know what that is." jj said darkly. "your move, broski."

"jj, put the gun down!" sarah yelled.

"did you say something, princess?" jj asked. topper had let go of john b and was standing up, his hands raised in an attempt to show jj he meant to harm as the blonde turned on his heel, topper scrambling to sarah as the girl took a shot at kiara, telling her to 'check her psycho friend'.

"alright, everyone listen up! get the hell off our side of the island!" jj screamed at the top of his lungs, firing the gun twice into the air, everyone running off the beach. levi and emery went to check on john b, who was sitting up, looking around confusedly.

"guys." emery called as john b's eyes glazed over and the boy collapsed backwards.

"guys!" levi shouted to pope, kie, and mara, who were all yelling at jj. quickly, the older boy and jj had pulled john b to his feet and started to carry him up the beach toward the twinkie, where emery and mara ran up the hill, mara sliding the back door open as emery got in the drivers side, firing the van on as mara climbed in the front with her to make room for the boys and kiara in the back.

"go, ems!" levi said, barely getting the door shut as emery started away from the beach.

"pope, you're the expert, what's going on back there?" mara asked. emery looked in the mirror and wrinkled her eyebrows.

"where's ainsley?"

"i saw her run off with some kooks, you know she hangs out with them." kiara explained, everyone's attention going back to john b.

"he's just out of it, lots of water to sober up and some painkillers and he should be fine." pope concluded as the van skidded to a stop in front of the chateau, emery killing the engine. jj and pope carried john b in, mara and kie following closely behind, emery turning to levi.

"do i need to take you home?" she asked, levi shaking his head.

"nah, it's fine. if they don't care i can stay here." he explained, emery nodding. "go see your friend." levi told her, the blonde girl smiling at him before jogging up the path to the chateau, her brother following close behind.

"he's in his room." kiara said as soon as emery got inside, mara giving her friend's hand a reassuring squeeze as she walked past. emery could hear a conversation start between jj and levi as she opened john b's bedroom door, the brunette laying- fully clothed- on his bed, his head resting on his forearm. she looked at the contented expression on his face- he looked calmer than he had in days- and smiled softly. she looked around the room before her eyes fell on the throw blanket on the floor at the foot of the bed, which she tossed over her friend. carefully, as not to disturb him, she grabbed a pillow from the headboard and gently laid down next to him.

IT WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN EMERY WOKE UP.

the sunlight shining through the opened blinds in john b's room was hitting her directly in the face. a familiar weight, one she had felt the previous day walking up next to jj was present again, this time, john b had pulled emery close to him in his sleep, her head resting on his bicep.

emery glanced up to the doorway, immediately shaking john b awake when she was greeted by the face of sheriff susan peterkin standing in the doorway.

"get decent, kids, we need to talk." she stated. john b and emery quickly sat up as peterkin shut the bedroom door. the routledge went to rub his eyes, something he quickly regretted due to his newly formed black eye. emery grabbed a t-shirt off the floor and quickly changed into it while john b grabbed a bright yellow hawaiian shirt to change into.

"you don't think she knows about last night, do you?" john b asked quietly, emery shrugging as she pulled her hair down, grabbing a random brush off the dresser and running it through her hair.

"topper wouldn't have tipped her off, there's no way." emery muttered, putting her hair back into a low ponytail as she and john b walked out of the room, peterkin looking at the pictures on the wall in the living room of john b's uncle and parents.

"sorry to barge in like this, but dcs called." the woman said, mainly to john b. "they wanted me to check on you, make sure you're doing okay. so how are you, besides the-" she trailed off, motioning towards john b's black eye.

"oh no, i'm great. yeah, there's nothing to worry about." john b assured unconvincingly.

"i'm so glad to hear you say that, john b, but i heard some thing that concerned me. let me see if i can remember- oh yeah!" she said suddenly. "one of the things i heard is that your uncle teddy- your guardian- hasn't been in the state for three months."

"yeah, no, that's false." john b denied quickly.

"you don't have to say anything, i know it's true, i called the school." peterkin explained, picking up one of jj's old blunts off the table and smelling it. "they said you used to be a good student, but now you're failing all your classes."

"no, no, i'm only failing one." john b explained. "and it's history, the dude's a dick, he's got it out for me."

"what about you, ms. melville?" peterkin asked suddenly, emery's eyebrows furrowing.

"what about me?" she asked.

"your mom called, said your brother was supposed to come home last night and never did."

"he stayed here, he's probably outside at the surf shack with the others." she explained, peterkin nodding and looking between the two.

"i heard there was a fight at the beach yesterday, and a gun was involved."

"okay, a gun?" john b asked, scoffing at the comment. "did i get in a dust up, yes, but was there a gun? no."

"oh, don't worry, i know who it is, i'll deal with him later." she assured.

"who are you getting all this information from, exactly?" emery asked, only to be ignored as peterkin continued talking to john b.

"all i'm worried about now is making sure you're in a safe home." peterkin explained as john b picked up a trash can and began throwing empty beer bottles into it that were scattered around the house, emery sitting on the couch as he did so.

"yeah, super safe, super sound, sturdy-" john b added, knocking on the table by the door. "and, uncle t's coming back, so."

"is that what he said?" peterkin asked, john b nodding. "well, if he's coming back i think you should be allowed to stay."

"thank you." the routledge boy breathed, but peterkin wasn't done.

"but if i stick my neck out for you, you have to help me. tit for tat."

"what- what does tat mean?" john b asked hesitantly, emery suddenly alert and listening closely to the conversation.

"let me see, how can you kids help me? oh, i know." she said, standing across from where emery was sitting and john b was standing. "so, a body was found in the marsh yesterday, were you guys in the marsh yesterday?"

"yeah, we were looking for drum." emery explained, john b nodding.

"you catch anything?" peterkin asked.

"nah, we were skunked." john b said disappointedly.

"strange." peterkin said skeptically. "fishing's usually good after a storm, all sorts of things get stirred up." she paused for a moment. "you come across a wreck yesterday?"

john b hesitated, pretending to be confused. "no." he finally said, looking peterkin dead in the eyes as he did so, the woman sighing.

"you're skimming just above the surface, john b." she said quietly. "now down here, it's foster care- juvie. pretty big drop for a smart kid like you. but up here? is you and your little girlfriend and your friends doing whatever you want." peterkin said with a small glance down at emery. "outer banks. or foster care on the mainland."

"i feel the need to confirm i'd jump in a man-o-war before i went out with him- no offense jb."

"not the time." the brunette muttered, emery nodding and leaning back onto the couch as john b sat next to her.

"you're one inch above the surface, john b. if i was you, i'd start flapping my wings." peterkin said, looking the boy in the eyes. "now you sure you didn't come across a wreck yesterday?"

"yeah. yeah, i'm sure." he said, peterkin leaning down and putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"it's better if you didn't." she said quietly, looking between the two. "now i'm gonna look the other way, as long as you kids stay out of the marsh."

"yes ma'am." emery replied sarcastically, the sheriff moving towards the door.

"i got dogs living better than this, john b. you might wanna think about cleaning up." she said, walking out the door before either teen could reply, john b grabbing a crushed beer can from the floor next to him and chucking it at the wall once peterkin was far enough away from the house and burying his head in his hands.

emery put an arm around her friend's back, john b's head falling onto her shoulder.

"i'll talk to mom, see if we can't talk them into arranging a custody transfer without ted, okay?" she assured. "i'm not letting them take you, not without a fight."

"okay, man-o-war." john b muttered, both of them chuckling at the comment.

"i'm gonna go find my brother, you get decent." emery said, john b standing and saluting his friend as he walked toward his bedroom.

"yes, ma'am." he said mockingly.

kens speaks 🪐

this is a whole freaking novel

harringtonssss and i keep each other's update schedules scheduling with our deals (go read her book summertime sadness for clear skin, it motivates me to write)

also jb and emery being my favorite couple fr, peterkin being captain of the ship is my favorite thing.

see you in chapter four