PARADISE ON EARTH | jj maybank (DISCONTINUED)

1.13

SO THERE'S A MOMENT in every kid's life when you feel like anything's possible. When you feel like you got the total mojo. You could, I don't know, free-climb El Capitan, land on Mars, or, uh... get elected president.

The whole world's there for the taking if you've got the sack to go for it. And then, when you least expect it, some Kook shows up and tells you there's no eternal mystery.

And then all that talk about free-climbing and Mars, and the president... bullshit. Magic gets cancer and dies.

"It's not there. Look, just-- just pull the drone up."

The thunder rumbled, causing Laura to look up at the incredibly dark sky through the window. She knew it was about to storm badly, knowing they had to get back to shore soon or they were going to have to struggle through it. And that was not something she planned on doing today.

"Look, we can do another pass. Recharge the battery. We can-- we can go back down." Pope said, obviously wanting to find the gold. They all wanted to, but they had all pretty much accepted that it wasn't there.

"Guys, we've been through it three times. There's nothing there." JJ said, looking out the window. Kiara yelled at him to shut up, not giving up yet. "What? It's true! Are me and LB the only people who are aware of it?!"

Kiara sighed out at his remark, raising her voice, "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 replied angrily. "Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there." JJ said quietly to himself, although Laura heard it.

The thunder continued in the background as the entire group grew more and more disappointed.

Instead of going back to the house with John B, Laura had decided on going to hang out with JJ again. She could tell her twin was not the happiest with her right now since she didn't believe anything about the gold. But Laura knew nothing was going to stop John B.

The two were walking down the streets of the Outer Banks, not really talking. It felt awkward, which was weird between the two. JJ and Laura were probably the closest two in the group besides JJ and John B. Not even Laura and John B were as close and they were twins.

They used to be close, until their dad disappeared and then it all went to hell from there.

"John B is probably pissed at me, JJ." Laura said, her head low.

The blonde looked at her confused, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. "Why would he be pissed at you?"

"I don't know." She said, turning to look at him. "Probably because I have no hope that our dad's alive and I let him ramble on about it for so long!"

JJ walked over to her, grabbing her shoulders tightly, but not too tight. "Who gives a damn if you believe differently than him? You've always been in a shadow. We all know it except you, LB."

All she did was nod her head, turning around and continuing to walk. Laura hadn't said anything, taking her friend's words to heart.

"You wanna shoot it?" JJ asked the brunette girl once they got back. She looked at him confused, but glanced down to see the gun in his hand. Laura shrugged and grabbed it out of his hand.

JJ laughed excitedly, putting the headphones over her ears. He tried to explain to her how it works, but instead of listening she just pulled the trigger and hit the teddy bear straight on. Laura smiled to herself, before handing the gun and headphones back to JJ.

"I know how to shoot, surprisingly." Laura said with a cocky tone, giving him a smile.

JJ high fived the brunette, then placed the headphones over his own ears, getting ready to shoot the gun. As he was doing so, Pope walked over looking frightened.