family. | outer banks x oc

we got nothing to lose.

Pope and I picked up Jj and headed to the chaeteu.

John B looked like he got less than an hour of sleep. Kie was playing the bongos on a small couch across from Pope, who was reading. Jj was still mad about last night and had decided to throw rocks while sitting on a table. I layed on the ground next to Jj.

"Look. Im callin' it off. All right?" John B speaks up. Everyone's eyes dart to him while I continue staring at the clouds.

I remember when I was younger, my brother, Trent, would take me out on my dad's boat every Friday and we would stare into the clouds. We would always tell eachother what we saw in the clouds, never being able to agree on the shapes. I miss him. I constantly wonder about where he ended up and why he decided to leave.

"Peterkin said, if I stay out of the marsh, she'll help me with DCS." John B continues.

"And you believed her?" Jj asks with a tone of skepticism in his voice.

"Yes, I believe her, Jj."

"An actual cop, John B. You believed a cop."

"Acab." I comment.

"What does that even mean?" Pope asks.

"All cops are bastards. Basically, the police officers don't suck specifically but, their rules and the way they learned to disarm people or arrest them does. It's 2019, Pope. Not 1955."

Pope stares at me in confusion while John B and Jj continue their argument.

"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. And that Leia crashed a glass bottle across Topper's head." John B yells.

"You know what I should have done? Just let Topper drown your ass." Jj says. He as clearly annoyed at the boy by now, which I totally understood.

"Topper was gonna drown me?"

"Sure looked like it." Jj says. "I mean have you looked in a mirror?" He asks while standing up off the table. "They always win, don't they, man? Kooks versus Pouges. They always, always win!" Jj yells.

"Look, it's okay!" Kiara shouts at him.

"No, its not okay!" Jj yells at her. "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." He continues to yell while he points at John B.

I am barely fazed by this. I genuinely don't care if we go into the marsh or not. I just wanted to hang out with my friends.

"I understand why you don't wanna go." Jj says pointing at Pope. "You're the golden boy. You got way too much to risk."

"And you-" Now directing his voice to Kiara. "I mean, you're already rich as fuck anyway. Why would you bother."

Kie scoffs and turns her head.

"What about Alessia?" John B asks.

"Her dad pretty much hates her at this point, right?" Jj asks me. I don't answer. "Plus, her brother has already been arrested like 3 times. The Barlowe kids are at rock bottom with the law. She's got nothing to lose."

He wasn't wrong. I had nothing to lose. I wouldn't mind going into the marsh again. What could go wrong ? Nothing.

"You and me, man, we got nothin' to lose!" Jj yells. "We really don't, all right?"

"Jj." John B sighs.

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

God, when will Jj shut the hell up? He's just prying into everyone's business right now when he doesn't need to.

"I don't want to talk about this."John B tells him. He starts walking past Jj but Jj doesn't move. "Just get out of my way, bro."

"John B, listen to me. I have a plan."

Kiara, Pope, and I all look back and forth between eachother with an expression of annoyance and confusion whiped across our faces.

"You got the key to Cameron's big boat, right?" Jj asks.

"No." John B groans, knowing where this would go.

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

-726 words