𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐲

VII. The Marsh.

THE GROUP of teens met up again to head out to the marsh after John B got the scuba gear for JJ's plan. They settled down and got the anchor down to the bottom as Jake looked through the scuba gear. "This is empty. They're all empty, JB. Why would you take empty tanks?" He asked the boy who just looked away. "I..." He paused, not having any explanation and Jake sighs. "This one is only a quarter full." He looks around at the others.

"It's enough for one of us." Kie says, looking at John B. "Love it when a plan comes together." Pope says, his arms crossed. "Does anybody
know how to dive?" Jake asked them, he has some idea of it but not how to. "Uh..." No one answers and Kie looks at them.

"Anybody?" She says. "It's kind of a Kook sport." JJ says, glancing at Pope and Kie sighs. "I... read about it." Pope says and Jake looks at him. "Great, Pope read about it, so someone's gonna die." Kie says, looking away.

"Look, y-you put the thing in your mouth and breath. How hard could it be?" JJ says, looking at Pope. "Well, if you come up too fast, nitrogen gets into your blood, and you get the bends." He looked back up at the blond. "Bends like, bend over and..." "The bends kill you." Pope cut him off and JJ looks at him.

"Right." He says. "I can-- I can dive." John B tells them and Kie looks at him. "Yeah, you can dive. I'm cool with that." JJ says and Jake scoffs. "Since when can you dive?" He asked and John B looks at him. "I'll do it. It's fine." He says and Jake sighs, looking away.

"Let me do some calculations real quick." Pope said as he sat up and Kie looks at John B. "You serious?" She asked him quietly before she looks away, rolling her eyes, standing up. "Okay, so that boat's about 30 feet down, right?" Pope says and Jake looks at John B.

"Okay."

"So it'll take 25 minutes at most at that depth."

"Twenty-five..."

Jake looks up at Kie who looked worried, listening intently. "Which means you need to make your safety spot at about... ten feet. Alright? For two minutes." Pope looked up at John B who nods. "Yeah, yeah. Ten feet, two minutes. Got it." Jake is still looking at Kie when she took off her shirt and jumped off the boat. "Uh..." John B looks at them.

"What was that all about?" Pope asked and Jake shrugs. "I don't know, but I liked it. A lot." JJ says and Jake scrunched up his face. "Dude..." He says and JJ shrugs, glancing at him as John B clears his throat. "Alrighty."

"Yeah. Uh, when you-- uh, when you're down there, you look for the cargo hold. You stick this thing inside and twist and pull, okay?" JJ now explained to John B. "Stick it in the hole, twist and pull." John B nods. "My dad moved some weight back in the day." JJ explains.

"Who didn't?" Pope says. "Hey! I tied my T-shirt to the anchor chain about ten feet down. It's where you need to do your safety stop." Kie tells John B as she had come up to the surface by now. "Cool." He merely says.

"Alright, keep an eye on this." Jake tells John B, handing him the meter. "Yeah, you need to make sure you have enough air to decompress." Pope tells him and John B looks up at them. "Okay, how much do I need?" He asked and Jake looks at Pope. "Unclear. Breathe as little as possible." Pope tells him.

"Zen. Think Zen, you know?" JJ said as Jake goes to take his seat. "Yep, got it." John B says and Kiara gets onto the boat. "Hey, if we get caught out here in the marsh, we're basically screwed, so... Better get a move on." Pope said and Kie walks over to John B. "Copy that." John B says as Kie walks up to the boy and she leans in, kissing his cheek.

Jake immediately looks to JJ and Pope, raising his brows. "Diver down?" Is all John B even says to her. "Diver down." She tells him, sounding unsure and worried before she steps down. John B saluted them and then the waiting began. "Alright." Pope came to sit down and JJ waves. "See ya dude." He says.