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‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ REMEMBER ME LIKE THIS — FEIGNING INNOCENCE ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙ EPISODE ONE
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Thankfully, Esme didn't have to sit with her reservations of self-doubt long before the group was interrupted. Though, their new problem wasn't much better. At the chirp of a siren, the group minus John B turned to see Shoupe approaching on his boat with some other cops.
"Shit. Guys, that's the police," Kiara alerted everyone.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Claire groaned the smile from her face disappearing as she spoke.
"Yep, that's the police. Just act frickin' normal," JJ ran a hand through his hair as he snapped towards the crew, specifically Esme who was now at his side.
"Yeah, way to be calm," Esme patted his shoulder softly. His eyes drifted to her hand, but after a moment of pondering, he turned his attention back to the oncoming boats.
She quickly fixed her outfit, still wearing just a long tan dress from the long morning, but adjusted it to the straps of her swim top would show easier. It was habit at this point, and it was usually her ticket to feign innocence. The siren rang again, unsettling Esme even if she could see clear as day what was happening and who was in front of her under the warm summer sun. "Evening, officers," JJ took the initiative to greet them first.
"Evening," Shoupe nodded. Esme had probably seen him around the most, despite the gang of pogues frequently getting into trouble. Esme hung out around Figure Eight at all odd hours, and Shoupe had been called to more than a few house parties to shut them down. "Here."
"JJ, tie it off," Pope instructed his friend so they could use the rope Shoupe tossed over to tie the boats together.
"How you kids doing? You know the marsh is closed?" Shoupe asked.
Esme was the best at feigning innocence.
While the others were tripping over their words and stuttering, Esme got to work making sure they were looking at her trustworthy eyes. Her eyebrows creased as they lifted, eyes widening like a baby deer. "No, we had no idea."
"Why... why is it closed?" Claire asked, more nervous than Esme was.
"Well, we're conducting a search out here. Boat went down," Shoupe replied.
"Oh my God, was somebody on it?" Esme asked without overdoing it, but just enough that she looked concerned. Of course, she'd known nobody was actually on the boat when it went down, but then again, they weren't supposed to know a damn thing about it.
Shoupe looked at her uneasily. "We're not yet sure... Seen anything?"
"No," JJ shook his head, the others following his example. "No boats. No."
