"There's... no gold?" I say like a question to no one in particular. My eyes cover every pixel of the screen, begging for any flash of gold or a clue of some sort.

    "Look, just-- just pull the drone up," John B instructs in disbelief. Thumber booms, his hand finding his face as he mutters, "Shit,"

    "We can do another pass. Recharge the battery," Pope suggests, scrambling for any possibility or explanation. "We can... we can go back down!"

    John B ignores him, my eyes stuck to my brother as he passes his fingers through his hair. Taking on my sisterly duties, I walk over to him and try to gain his attention, "Hey, it's alright,"

     "It's not alright!" He yells, dropping his hands to his side as he turns to face me in anger, "It's not okay,"

    "We've been through it three times. There's nothing there!" JJ yells from his position at the wheel. As always, he manages to say the most unhelpful thing at all times.

    "Shut up!" Kie yells at his tone-deaf comment. "The gold could be buried! We don't know!"

    "If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B joins, his voice cracking through his sentence. I push my hair back from my face, dropping to sit on the edge of the boat. 

    "Do you think... somebody beat us to it?" I voice out loud, looking between the members of the group.

    "Or it was never there," JJ mutters loud enough for me to hear. 

     "Not helpful, JJ," I sigh, tucking my hair behind my ears to keep it out of my face, careful not to flick my glasses away from my eyes. "Look, it's not the end of the world, we just have to try something else-"

    "Of course you'd say that," John B scoffs, pulling the hood of his jacket up over his head and shaking his head. My chest clenches, looking at him with hurt visible in my face.

    "What does that mean?" I almost whisper, not wanting him to continue speaking but not wanting to let his attitude slide.

    "It means that you don't need the gold, okay? You get to go back to your stupid mansion with your happy little family. We have nothing! Not even food-"

    "Hey, lay off her! That's not her fault," JJ yells from the wheel, John B turning immediately to send a questionable stare to the back of his blond friend's head. I look down, pulling at the bottom of my shorts at the uncomfortable atmosphere. I didn't expect JJ to stand up for me, especially over John B.

    John B turns from all of us, curling into himself as he looks out at nothing. I know he's only lashing out at me because he feels distraught, but it doesn't take my feelings of anger and squander them.

                    It's strange. The whole time I was kicked out of home all I wanted was to go back and fall into my mother's arms. But now that it's a real option, I find every excuse to not go back. Along with John B's harsh words, it's been a shitty day.

    "JJ," I call out to him, lifting his noise-cancelling headphones off of his ears to protect his eardrums from his gun. He drops his aim from the Teddy Bear, looking at me with confusion, "Care to share,"

    He looks down at my open palm, looking back at the gun before dropping it into my hand. He slides the headphones off of his head, handing them over next, "You sure you can handle her?"

    I look up at him, rolling my eyes as I slide the headphones over my ears, "I can handle her just fine, macho,"

    "Are you sure? I'm happy to.., y'know, line you up," He says lowly, standing behind me and attempting to grab my arms before I swat him away. He laughs, holding his hands up in surrender and stepping back.

    Lining the gun up with the bear, I let all my rage towards my brother and home life fill my body, travelling from my brain all the way down to my fingertips. I pull the trigger, the bullet landing in between the Teddy bear's eyes. 

    "Lucky shot," JJ mutters after I set off another bullet, reaching out to take the headphones off of my head just as Pope comes around the corner yelling our names.

    I let the headphones fall around my neck, holding them there as I notice the distress on Pope's face. "They know,"

    "Who?" I ask out loud, confused about what he's referring to.

    "All right, chill, bro. They don't know shit," JJ dismisses him.

    "Topper knows I sunk his boat," Pope repeats, turning on his heels in stress.

    "How do you know they know?" JJ pushes further, sitting down on a tree stump. I cross my arms over my chest, observing the way Pope paces back and forth.

    "Because Rafe and Topper are posted outside of Heyward's and mad dogged me," Pope says in frustration, slightly glaring at JJ for his nonchalant response. 

    "Pope, that could be regular jackass behaviour for them, okay? Try not to freak out just yet," I step closer to them, sending Pope a look of sympathy over his stress. He shouldn't have had to retaliate in the first place, Rafe needs to learn to keep his hands to himself.

    "They have cameras! They could've seen me!" Pope exclaims, not settling his anxious pace even for a second. 

    "There was no power, Pope. How could they have seen you?" JJ continues to try and rationalise.

    "Not to add to his worry but, Figure Eight has generators for their generators," I say reluctantly, sitting down on some discarded piece of furniture beside JJ.

    "They don't give scholarships to kids who vengefully sink boats," Pope panics further. "It's not a good look on my transcript,"

    "Enough with the regret, Bro!" JJ shouts, standing up quickly from his seat to get closer to Pope. "They caved your face in. They hit us, we hit them, it's the law of the jungle. Now, if any Kooks come up to you and ask if you had anything to do with it, you walk up to 'em, look 'em right in the eye, and...?"

    Pope looks down, JJ's hand now clasped on his shoulder as he waits for Pope's reply. "Deny the living shit out of it,"

    "That's right. Deny, deny, deny," JJ nods in agreement. "But, just for safety, we don't go anywhere without protection,"

   Both boys turn to me, the gun resting beside me comfortably. 

    Lifting my eyes from the weapon to the two boys, I shake my head with a grin, "That is not going to end well,"

                    "Phoebe!" I hear a familiar feminine voice yell out to me. I keep my sunglasses over my eyes despite entering the confinements of The Wreck. Kiara walks around the both, approaching me with a grin on her face, "I've been looking for you,"

    "You have?" I ask.

    "I was just about to leave for the summer movie series, you should tag along," She suggests, not giving me much of a choice as she leads me out of the establishment. I look over my shoulder, my throat aching for the drink I was coming to collect. I remember Sarah mentioning the movie marathon at dinner once, suggesting I go with her for some girl-bonding time.

    "Oh, yeah sure," I agree, walking beside her down the ramp as she carries picnic-type equipment in her hands. "Need some help with that?"

    She grins at me, handing me one of the lawn chairs she was carrying. "It's nice to have a girl around, y'know?"

    "I get it," I nod in agreement, adjusting my grip on the small lounge chair, "Honestly, you kind of intimidated me at first,"

    "Really?" She laughs, turning to me with amusement all over her face, "I thought you were going to be a stuck-up bitch,"

   I laugh, my jaw falling open in amused shock at her bluntness. I turn back down to my shoes, kicking the tips of them against the concrete as we walk in the sun, "I can be, sometimes,"

    "You were always nice to me in school," She shrugs. "It's hard to get along with some of those people, they only care about shoes and accessories instead of things like surfing,"

    "I remember a girl wanting to be my friend because she saw my bracelet was shiny," I laugh, her own sounds of amusement mixing with mine. 

    "It did make me wonder why you hang out with dicks like Rafe and Kelce, though," She admits, looking ahead as JJ and Pope begin to appear in the distance, pushing each other and laughing.

     "Well, I would have approached you all those months ago if you didn't look like you were going to bite my face off," I nudge her, watching her roll her eyes in amusement. 

    "Point taken,"

    "Ladies," JJ reaches us, holding up his esky full of what I assume to be drinks. 

    "I'm so glad they're still doing this," Kiara comments, leading the group onto the lawn where the projector sits. Other people have already claimed their spots around the screen, converting with friends on their blankets and chairs with snacks and drinks all around them. "Back to OBX life, you know? Aren't you guys glad that I made you come?"

    "Ecstatic," Pope comments bitterly, reminding me of his earlier freakout. He sets his own lawn chair down on the grass, all of us picking a communal spot to dump our things.

    JJ clears his throat, adjusting his hat as he lowers his esky, "My couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest,"

    "We're in the green zone, man," Pope whispers to JJ, gaining my attention. 

    I look between them both, unfolding my own chair as Kiara takes off from the spot, approaching some of the vendors, "Please tell me you didn't actually bring it,"

    "Okay, then I won't tell you," JJ shrugs causing me to sigh. 

    "We're in the middle of Kooklandia, this is the last place I want to be," Pope panics, calmly continuing to set up his little area. 

    "Shut up, Pope," JJ tells him, all three of us sitting down on our respective chairs. I lean back on mine, my seat set beside JJ as I pull my hat forward over my head. 

    Kiara re-joins the group, two Pepsi's in hand as she hands one over to me. I don't miss her unamused expression. I mutter my thanks, cracking the drink open and taking a big gulp from the much-needed beverage, "Just saw Rafe,"

    I choke on my drink, leaning forward and tapping my chest as JJ leisurely taps my back. I clear enough of my throat to look up to Kie and ask, "What?"

    "He said, and I quote, 'tell your boy that we know what he did'. What is that?" She repeats with a tough look of confusion and annoyance. 

    Pope and JJ look between each other without a hint of subtleness, JJ speaking up, "Um.. where is he?"

    "Right there," Kie says, turning around and gesturing behind us. Pope whips around so fast I'm surprised his neck doesn't break, JJ following suit. I take the more conspicuous approach and lightly glance over my shoulder. 

    "Great, the whole death squad- ah!" Pope exclaims as JJ grips the top of his head, spinning him back around to face the front.

    "Don't stare, bro," JJ instructs.

    I keep my eyes on Rafe for a second longer, screwing my face up ever so slightly when he blows a kiss my way. 

    "Just warning you, bro," JJ's voice brings me back to the conversation, my gaze shifting to him as I finally take my sunglasses off and place them on top of my hat. Maybe the shadows of the accessory are enough to cover the small bruise under my eye from the man behind me "If they corner me, I'm coming out swinging, okay? Slice and dicin', I'm on the edge right now,"

    "JJ, just calm down," I sigh, sitting up straighter in my chair to better observe the conversation. 

    "If that doesn't work, I got this right here," He says, looking between Pope and I as he holds up his backpack.

    My eyes widen slightly at the object, knowing all too well what's underneath it. 

    "Yeah, yeah, so we just gotta stay in the group," Pope nods along. I look at them dumbfounded, feeling like I'm watching a live conversation between Beevus and Butthead. Morons.

    "Like a school of fish," JJ nods.

    "And how, exactly, do you think that's going to go down, huh?" I lean in closer to the duo, knowing they haven't thought this through, "Let's just think for a second, okay? They haven't done anything and I doubt they will here so, let's take a beat and maybe put down that bag before I toss it in the lake, JJ,"

    JJ nods, dropping the bag to the ground without lowering his macho man persona, his shoulders squared. 

    "JJ, please tell me that you did not bring a gun here," Kiara joins the conversation, glaring at JJ with a locked jaw. "JJ, there are kids,"

    "No! Kie, I didn't bring the gun. Everything's fine, okay?" JJ laughs, lying clearly. 

    "Oh, wow, thank you. That's really convincing. I love that, JJ," Kie replies sarcastically in frustration. "Founding principle, you guys. No secrets amongst pogues, what is Rafe talking about?"

    "Kie," Pope begins like he's about to announce horrible news to her, angling his seat to face her, "It might go down tonight,"

    "What does that mean?" Kie screws her face up as Pope turns back and sips from his drink. "It might go down tonight? What did y'all do?"

    JJ turns to Pope, whispering, "Deny, Deny, Deny,"

    Sighing, I turn to Kiara, leaning forward past JJ to talk to her in a quiet tone, "Rafe is under the impression that I slept with JJ which, before you ask, is not true. So, now he's trying to 'claim his territory' in typical Rafe fashion,"

    "Why would Rafe think that?" Kie asks, looking between JJ and I.

    "It's a misunderstanding, thanks to JJ," I send a tight-lipped smile his way which he returns with a grin and wink. I turn back to Kiara, feeling guilty for lying already, especially after her mention of their rule. But, I guess I'm not one of them anyway, "It's fine, Kie. No need to worry,"

    Deep down, I wish I could believe my own words.