Tidal Waves

Twenty-Eight

After an evening of surfing and revenge, Tallulah found herself back at John B's house for the second night in a row. This time she was sober rather plastered to stone out of her mind, but she was still her fun self with or without the drugs. She had gotten some well learnt surf lessons from all her friends, but mostly JB since the others were more interested in getting full surf sessions in. She had watched the way her friends surfed, the way they moved their hips and hands, the way their knees were bent and smiled every time they cheered or laughed over a wave. 

JJ, Pope, and Tallulah had met Kiara and John B in the ocean after their day of fun. All of them having met up and surfed together. The evening had been eventful and memorable for all, a deep conversation had taken place among Kie and John B about the kiss John had given Kie. She also asked about his thoughts on Lou and JJ's fake dating relationship to make Rafe jealous. To which John had answered truthfully in saying if anything it would make Rafe jealous, not ballsy enough to pull a move on Lou.

Tallulah hadn't surfed as much as the others because a, she wasn't the best and they all knew it, and b she couldn't get it out of her mind about what Rafe and Topper had done. She'd been debating on ditching after surfing to go find the two boys and give 'em a piece of her mind. However with convincing by JJ to let them go so she didn't get hurt, she'd stayed back with him and their friends. The three had already gotten their revenge earlier by sinking Topper's brand new speed boat. Boy did she have fun watching Pope get his hands dirty for once.

So, the sun had vanished from the sky and the white moon entered the dark picture, illuminating the sky with the various stars. The tide him in, leaving a peaceful sound to fall asleep to as it came and went, pulling the water and weeds in and out. The Chateau was quite quiet as the five teenagers lied around together in the backyard on the grass, lawn chairs and a hammock.

Lying in a hammock with Kie beside her, Lou's foot was on the ground, pushing them side to side as the hammock swung. She was slowly falling asleep the sound of the water and her friends chatting, the night before having been quite rough since she'd not slept and was drugged. Beside her, Kie had entered the conversation with the boys on the topic of believing whether the gold was real or not. 

"You really think it's out there?" Pope asked. "Like, no bullshit?" He was seated on the ground leaning against a tree with John B across from him lying on some outdoor furniture, still sitting on the grass with his back on the loungewear. Meanwhile JJ sat on a bucket between the girls' hammock and John B and Pope, chiseling a stick.

"My father thought it did." JB answered.

"But did you?"

Thunder rumbled above them and Lou opened her droopy eyes, looking around to the sky. "After hearing his voice on that tape, I think I do." John B explained.

"Only one way to find out." Pope smiled, fisting John B's hand then shook it. 

"Look, we're gonna find it, you know it." Kie yawned. "Even JJ believes."

John B had turned his head and looked over to the blond. "Oh wow, JJ do you really believe?"

"Totally." He answered, standing up and walking over to the hammock, tapping Lou's side since she was closest to where he was seated, and she mumbled before sliding over, feeling the right side of the hammock tilt downward when he sat down. She fell into his side when he'd sat down, her weight being pulled to him, but rather than moving, she remained seated with a yawn, facing the other way, staring off at the water. "Wait, are we talking about four mil?"

"Four hundred mil." Pope and Kie corrected.

"Jinx." Kie smiled, no one able to see it through the darkness.

"I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks." JJ cooed, adjusting himself on the hammock to get comfortable as he now yawned and lifted his foot onto the hammock as well. "Good night, Bird!" He laughed. 

"Good night, Bird Shit." John B answered.

Pope glanced to the three on the hammock, almost forgetting Lou was also on the hammock until he'd seen her move when JJ had hopped on. It grew quiet among the friends for a bit until Pope, JB and Kie began talking quietly about something. 

JJ had turned his head, leaning back and stared up at the sky quietly, breathing in deeply. Lou remained still on her side of the hammock, knowing JJ was beside her and she knew well there wasn't anything among them. She knew that lying beside the other didn't mean anything and that it was casual as friends and wasn't the first time. Although a small part of her felt better sleeping outside knowing he was there because she never knew what was lurking around the Cut these days.

Tallulah had yawned, placing a hand to the edge of the hammock and turned her body, lying on her right side and faced the center of the hammock, her foot resting on JJ's leg as she done so. All their feet were in the middle of the hammock, all of them being too tall for the hammock made for one or two people, not three lying at both angles.

She felt JJ move his head when his hair brushed against her forehead and she rose her own head, looking over to him. "Cold?" She whispered to him, being sarcastic.

He looked down to her quietly, his eyes wandering to her chin then her eyes. "Yeah, you should totally lie closer." He replied sarcastically, grinning in the dark.

"I'm sure one of your call girls would love to." She said quietly. 

"I mean, yeah, but you're right here." He quietly let out an 'ow' when she'd hit his stomach and rolled back over to the other side, placing her back to face him. JJ smirked and turned, pretending to yawn as he overheard the other three laughing, he didn't care if the others heard him and Lou, it wasn't like they had anything to hide. With a fake yawn, he'd turned to his left side and thrown an arm over Lou's side, hovering over her right side. She felt his hot breath against her neck. "Deny. Deny. Deny." 

"Pfft." She adjusted her head, closing her eyes, feeling her chest being squished as he hovered over her shoulder still. "By the way, you're not as light as you look."

"It's pure muscle, baby." 

She chuckled. "Good night, JJ."

"I see how it is." He nods. "Night, Tal." He teased and lowered beside her, practically spooning her as he brought his arm back to himself rather than over her side. She shifted slightly, but nonetheless managed to fall asleep within ten minutes of them remaining quiet. JJ had fallen asleep shortly after she had to the sound of the water and their friends' chatter. Followed by John B, then Pope and Kie who'd stopped conversing as it grew dead silent among the five friends on the breezy night.