"LIGHTS UP AND THEY KNOW WHO YOU ARE, KNOW WHO YOU ARE,
DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?"
- harry styles, lights up

PRESENT DAY

"Ave?" JJ yelled down the hall, Avery stirring from her sleep and rolling over towards the door, shoving her hair off her neck and rubbing her eyes.

"Come in!" She yelled, the thudding footsteps of JJ's boots on hardwood approaching her door, which was pushed open after a few moments.

"I'm guessing you didn't get John B's text?"

"No, and I'm guessing you didn't get mine?" Avery asked, sitting up and grabbing a hair tie from her beside table, using it to pull her hair up. She tugged her bangs out, looking up at JJ, waiting for him to answer her question.

"You texted me?" He questioned, pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking at it with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, I asked if you were staying at John B's." Avery said bluntly. "You didn't show up at nine, I thought you were at your dad's. I almost went over there."

"Glad you didn't." JJ mumbled, walking across Avery's room and tugging the blinds open, golden sunlight streaming through the windows and hitting the Decker's tanned skin. Her hair had lightened considerably, the milk chocolate colored strands hovering delicately over the freckles that painted her face like stars. Her eyes were lighter too, more hazel than brown. Her skin had tanned like cocoa, and everything about her was different from the way she had looked when JJ had met her the previous year.

"Time to get dressed, Sleepyhead." He told her bluntly. "We're going fishing."

"I don't want to." Avery whined, but tossed her blanket off as she did.

"That's too damn bad." JJ replied in a mocking tone. "Mind if I raid your fridge for beer and snacks before we leave?"

"Yeah, go ahead, the cooler's in the garage and there's bags of ice in the deep freeze." She said, ushering JJ out of her room with her manicured nails, all of them a nude color, but with either a teal, pink, orange, purple, or blue french tip with little hibiscus flowers painted onto them.

JJ immediately scrambled out of the room, Avery finally climbing out of bed. She grabbed the mesh tote bag hanging from her desk chair, putting a bottle of sunscreen as well as a sunscreen stick in it. She could tell the power had gone out based on the fact that her normally cool house had a humid, sticky feeling in the air.

Reaching into the basket of bikinis sitting on the floor by her dresser, Avery found a lilac top and matching bottoms, reaching over into the dresser to pull out a pair of white shorts. She changed in her bathroom, putting the usual braids in her hair that had grown down past her hips in the past year before putting it back up.

"Avery!" JJ yelled from the kitchen, the Decker grabbing her bag and rolling her eyes.

"I'm almost ready!" She shouted back, grabbing the assortment of silver necklaces from her desk and putting them on, checking in the mirror to ensure they were all in the proper place before slipping on the rings that JJ had given her for christmas the previous year, both of them silver bands, but one with a pearl and the other with a curiously shaped blue stone.

"I'm gonna have John B leave you!" JJ threatened, his voice more distant, telling Avery he was downstairs now. She rolled her eyes again, grabbing a pair of socks and running out of her room towards the front door where JJ was standing with the cooler in his hand and his eyebrows raised at her in impatience.

"You're a child." Avery mumbled, grabbing a pair of Converse that were the same color as her bikini, putting them and the socks into her bag. "I didn't even have time to grab towels."

JJ nodded towards the cooler, where two of Avery's teal bath towels were folded and under the handle.

"I was prepared." He said bluntly, Avery wordlessly tugging the front door open and pushing past JJ to get outside. John B was sitting on his boat outside at the end of the dock, the brunette looking up when he heard Avery's approaching footsteps on the dock.

"Hey, RiRi!" He shouted happily, Avery smiling at her friend and jumping onto the boat.

"What's up, Johnny Boy?" She asked, John B's face falling at the nickname Avery had given him a couple weeks after their meeting.

"I thought you were gonna stop calling me that." He whined as JJ set the cooler down next to where Avery was sitting on the bow, the girl reaching inside and pulling one of many cans of assorted beers, hard seltzers, and mini-bottles of hard liquor.

"Yeah, well... I really don't want to." She said, opening the can and taking a drink, passing it to JJ and reaching into her bag for her shoes and socks.

"You wore socks to go fishing?" John B asked disgustedly as Avery paused from tying the laces on her shoe, looking at him in confusion.

"Yeah." she deadpanned. "At least my shoes don't look like I wore them through the trenches of World War Two."

John B scoffed offendedly, JJ snickering behind his friend as he started the boat.

"Okay, now you owe me a drink." The Routledge said, holding his hand out towards the Decker, who fished her hand around in the already melting ice inside cooler, her hand meeting the cold glass of a beer bottle, which she passed to her friend. The Routledge boy cracked the lid open while shaking his head in disapproval at Avery.

"Unbelievable." He mumbled, taking a sip from his bottle as Avery took another drink from her can, leaning back on the bow.

"Don't question my socks- which cost more than your house, by the way- and I won't question your shoes." Avery fired, but she was smiling the whole time, John B's smile only widening as he looked between avery and JJ in disbelief.

"Can you hear this chick?" He asked JJ, the Maybank nodding.

"You should totally beat her up." He said sarcastically, Avery's jaw falling as she turned to face JJ.

"Okay, asshole!" She exclaimed, John B laughing at the girl's comment, the trio all turning as they approached the outlet.

"Look at this place." JJ mumbled.

"This place makes the Chateau look like a castle." Avery added.

"Okay, stop making fun of my house." John B said flatly.

"It's barely your house anymore, you might as well live with me." Avery fired back. "Both f you might as well live with me."

It was true. JJ and John B both stayed at Avery's house more than their own. It wasn't like she didn't have the room for the boys, and she was happy to have their company. Every time John B had an upcoming meeting with DCS, who had essentially been living up his ass since his dad's disappearance, he would have Avery write a note for him to stick the door with some excuse, supposedly written by his uncle, and then go sleep on her couch for the next week.

Avery had learned that JJ's home life was anything but pleasant, and that the day they had met, he was, in fact, not in a fight. He opted to stay at her or John B's houses rather than his own, and they didn't mind at all.

Avery was more than happy to give the two boys help with their home lives, she knew she was fortunate to have what she had, and was happy to help those who weren't as lucky as her. She gave John B money for groceries, helped him out with bills when he came up short at the end of the month, and helped him keep an act up for DCS.

As for JJ, she always left her doors unlocked in case he needed to come over at night. She left blankets and pillows on the couch for him. She had bought a first aid kit and cleaned him up. She would sit with him and let him talk for hours. She couldn't believe how fast he had been to open up with her, but she realized that it was probably because she was one of the few people who was willing to show him that she cared.

"Sure hope Guffy's boat didn't sink. He doesn't have insurance." JJ mentioned nonchalantly.

"Yeah." Avery mumbled in reply.

"Agatha- what did you do?" JJ whines as he looked around the harbor at the trash and debris scattered through the water. Avery looked over the edge of the boat, pleased to see that the hurricane hadn't impacted the marine life as the dolphins were still treading the water.

"She is a crazy lady." John B dragged out.

"The surge must've been pretty big." Avery commented.

"Morning , Ms. Amy!" John B called to the woman standing on the dock with a trash bag in her hand. "You guys make it through okay?"

"Still here." She replied simply.

"Good to see you!" JJ called, turning towards Avery and John B immediately after. "She totally looked at me."

"I saw." Avery whispered in a sarcastically giddy tone, which made JJ's previously cocky demeanor falter, his shoulders slouching a little at Avery's comment.

"Well look who we have here!" John B called, Avery turning to see Pope standing on a dock with a hose in his hand, washing the wood on a high pressure setting.

"Your hose compliments your eyes." The Decker said bluntly, Pope only flipping her off in return.

"We have a safety meeting, attendance mandatory." John B said as though he was speaking into a walkie-talkie, JJ stepping up onto the stern next to Avery.

"I can't, man, my pops has me on lockdown." The Heyward boy complained, JJ tossing his arms up in dramatics, Avery stifling a laugh at the gesture.

"Come on, man!" JJ exclaimed before turning and looking at his shoulder, doing the same walkie-talkie impression that John B had done. "Your dad's a pussy, over."

"Oh, I heard that you little bastard." Pope's father said, acting as though JJ's words had offended him a little. Avery had only ever known the man as Heyward, as the only thing anyone called him by was his last name. "Avery, baby, how've you been?"

"I'm great, and you?" Avery asked politely.

"I'm surviving." He answered bluntly, although he didn't seem very pleased that he was able to reply to her question at all.

"We need your son!" John B called.

"I promise we'll bring him back in one piece." Avery attempted to negotiate, Heyward ignoring John B all together and turning his attention back towards the brunette sitting on the bow who was batting her eyelashes at him, although that was partially due to the fact she was looking directly into the sun.

"I'm sorry, Avery, but there's just so much to get done." Heyward said sympathetically.

"It's just for a few hours!" She replied.

"And island rules, day after a hurricane's a free day." JJ added, Avery smacking him on the knee. He turned as though he was silently asking her what he did wrong.

"Heyward likes me more than you, shut the hell up." The Decker girl gritted, but Heyward was already letting loose on JJ.

"Who the hell made that up?" He shouted.

"Uh... the pentagon I think? We have security clearance, Ave has a card." He said, pointing to the Decker girl, who held her hands up in surrender.

"I have millions of dollars, not a card." She said bluntly.

"Pentagon- y'all think I'm stupid?" Heyward asked angrily.

"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, dad." Pope attempted to negotiate, but the look on the older man's face told Avery that Heyward wouldn't be letting his son leave any time soon.

"Tomorrow- no! No- hell no! You're doing it right now." He said firmly, but John B leaned toward Pope.

"Get in the boat." He whispered.

"Make a run for it, man." JJ mumbled, Pope looking at his father before dashing into the boat, Heyward immediately shouting his protests.

"Bring your ass back up here!" He yelled, the Heyward boy leaning against the steering console.

"I promise I'll do it tomorrow, dad." He said calmly.

"When you get back, you're gonna clean shrimp, you're gonna clean fish, you're gonna clean your dirty ass room!" Heyward shouted towards the boat, which John B had idling steadily away from the dock.

"Love you, dad!" Avery yelled.

"and I don't like your friends- I like Avery, but still!" Heyward added, the Decker smirking and looking between JJ and John B.

"Heyward likes me more than you, ha." She said flatly, taking another sip of her drink. "I can honestly go home now, that's a days goal completed."

"You trying to avoid Kie?" John B asked, Avery shaking her head immediately.

Despite the horrible foot they got off on when they first met, Avery and Kiara had actually become friends. It was something that shocked all the boys, to say the least. They all expected Avery to despise Kiara for the rest of her life after what she said, but the two had made the mutual decision to remain civil when Kiara came back to the pogues.

"Of course not." She replied flatly, the boat approaching the Carrera's dock where the curly haired brunette was walking down her dock, a cooler of her own clutched in her hand.

"Top of the morning to ya!" John B exclaimed as Pope helped the girl into the boat.

"I should've texted you, I brought drinks." Avery told the girl, JJ furrowing his eyebrows at her.

"You didn't bring shit. I packed the cooler." He scoffed offendedly, Avery raising her eyebrows at the Maybank.

"Did you buy the ice?Did the booze money come out of your pocket? Did you pay for the cooler?" She fired back, looking around in though for a few seconds and then immediately shaking her head. "I don't think you did."

John B laughed through his teeth, immediately putting his fisted hand over his mouth. JJ turned and glared at him, John B idling the boat up nonchalantly. Avery wrinkled her eyebrows as the boy began to flap his arms like a bird.

"I understand your nickname is Bird, but you look like you were dropped on your head as a child." The Decker deadpanned, John B letting his arms fall to his sides as he looked at the girl, clearly unamused. JJ pulled open the lid on Kiara's cooler, pulling out a bottle of beer.

"Let me show you guys a party trick!" The Maybank exclaimed, climbing onto the bow, Avery immediately getting up and moving to one of the chairs behind the steering console, where John B was also standing up.

"Yep, I'm moving." The brunette mumbled, sitting in the seat next to Avery. Pope took the wheel, Kiara choosing to remain in her seat by where JJ was standing.

"Pope, can you go a little faster?" JJ requested, the Heyward shaking his head, but throttling the boat up nonetheless.

"This doesn't work." He mumbled. "We've tried this like, six thousand times."

"It's gonna work." JJ said, muttering something under his breath before tipping his head back, attempting to pour the beer into his mouth. However, it wasn't working, as the beer was actually flying out of the bottle and hitting everyone behind him.

"You're getting beer in my hair!" Kiara exclaimed.

"You better not get that shit on my towels!" Avery shouted, shielding her face both from the sun and the occasional droplets of alcohol that were flying at her face.

"Okay- you're done!" John B yelled.

"Alright, that's enough!" Pope exclaimed. "JJ!"

Suddenly, the boat slammed to a stop, more flew into the air, actually. Avery watched in a flash as JJ was thrown off the front of the boat. However, the Decker was thrown forward and backward again, her back making hard contact with the metal leg of the chair she had been sitting in, the girl letting out a small scream of pain.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed when the boat stopped moving. she rubbed her back, groaning as she doubled over on the floor, actually feeling nauseous from the impact.

Around her, she could hear similar groans of pain from John B, Pope, and Kiara, and there was a small gurgle, followed by repeated gasps for air and groans of pain as JJ resurfaced.

"You okay, J?" Avery called, pulling herself up and sitting back in her chair.

"I think my heels touched the back of my head." The Maybank groaned as he swam back over to the boat.

"RiRi, you good?" John B asked Avery.

"I think I broke at least four of my vertebra." She whined, slouching back against the torn white leather of the chair.

"She's till running her mouth, she's fine." JJ said bluntly from the water, Avery flipping him off.

"Pope, what the hell was that?" The Decker asked, her right arm rubbing her sore back while her left was folded over her stomach.

"It's a sandbar, the channel changed." He explained, JJ finally making it to the edge of the boat.

"No shit." He spat.

"You run your mouth a lot for someone who wants to talk about me." Avery shot, giving JJ a look that showed she wasn't in the mood for his bullshit. the gaze of irritation the boy had had due to Pope's careless driving softening as he turned to Avery, who appeared to be in a considerable amount of pain.

"Probably messed this whole place up." John B complained, but JJ had grabbed one of Avery's towels. The Decker watched with furrowed brows as JJ opened her cooler, grabbing a couple of handfuls of ice and placed them in the towel that he had spread out on the ground. John B looked between Avery and JJ as the Maybank twisted the towel so he essentially had a makeshift ice pack, which he walked over to Avery with.

"Lean forward." He mumbled, Avery doing so. Her tense muscles immediately relaxed as the cold ice hit her skin, the obvious tension on her face fading as her whole body physically relaxed.

"Guys!" Pope called suddenly. avery looked up to see the Heyward boy standing on the edge of the bow, looking down into the water. "I think there's a boat down there."

kens speaks 🪐

dun dun dunnn

also what is it with these 3-4k chapters i've been writing lately, this isn't normal for me