𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃─𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

seven.

─☼☼☼─

"𝙄 𝘾𝘼𝙉'𝙏 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙄𝙀𝙑𝙀 you found the real Royal Merchant." Charlotte awed, stealing a glance at the three teenagers in her car as she turned into a parking spot. "You guys do realize how cool that is, right?"

Two days after her fight with Rafe, Charlotte was out of the house for the first time. 

For two days she had sat in her room, ignoring calls from Kensington and Willa and watching as Kiara zipped in and out of the house, off on adventures every day it seemed. 

Charlotte didn't have the energy for any of that. 

But, when her sister had told her about the OBX Summer Movie Series, she couldn't resist. It had been their favourite thing to do as kids, so of course they were dragging JJ and Pope along with them. 

"Don't get too excited, Charley." JJ warned. "We didn't find the gold."

Charlotte shrugged as she shut off the car. "Still kind of cool." She paused for a moment. "Where is John B, anyway?"

Pope let out a sigh. "We don't really know."

"Are we thinking that we should be concerned?" Charlotte wondered, feeling uneasy with his absence. 

"Nah." JJ assured as he threw open his door. "He's probably working on the next part of the hunt. He'll turn up when he's ready."

"Okay then." Charlotte muttered, pulling herself out of the car and toward the back. "Here." She ordered, passing the cooler to JJ. "If you don't mind."

He gave her a wink. "Of course I don't mind for you, my dearest Charley."

"JJ, stop flirting with her." Pope ordered as he grabbed the remaining chairs. "You're embarrassing yourself."

JJ flipped him off as Charlotte laughed, throwing her spare arm around the younger boy. "It's endearing, JJ."

He shoved away from her. "Whatever."

"I'm so glad they're still doing this." Kiara beamed as she walked ahead of the other three, ignoring their shenanigans. "Keep calm. Carry on. Back to OBX life. You know?"

Charlotte looked around at the crowd, afraid she was going to see someone she did not want to. 

"Aren't you guys glad I made you come?" Kie continued, blissfully glancing around. 

Pope set the chairs down with a sarcastic smile. "Ecstatic."

"My couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest." JJ quipped. 

"Come on guys." Charlotte prodded. "You need to have some fun this summer. It can't all be about ─" she dropped her voice to a whisper. "─ you know what."

"Charley's right." Kie agreed as she began setting up the chairs. Unbeknownst to her, Pope and JJ were muttering about something as she continued speaking. "We need to maintain some normalcy, or else we'll totally lose our minds. Like we'll go crazy and probably turn on each other and then ─"

Charlotte cut her off. "Kie, they are one hundred percent not listening to a word you say."

Kiara rolled her eyes. "Of course they aren't." She stood up and reached into her back pocket. "I'm going to get a soda. Want anything?"