DISCONTINUED / NO LONGER WRITING
❛ and its new, the shape of your
body, its blue the feelin' i got and
it's ooh, whoa-oh. it's a cruel summer.
and it's cool, that's what i tell 'em. no
rules in breakable heaven, but ooh,
whoa-oh. it's a cruel summer...
THE NEXT MORNING, Stella woke up to an empty home. She questioned it before she heard laughing emitting from outside. She smiled when she saw her friends gathered around the end of the dock.
Stella padded back into her room, pulling out the first outfit she could find before lacing her Converse to her feet. She slowly made her way outside, throwing her hair up into a bun.
Pulling out two strands to frame her face, she cleared her throat, making her presence known. "Top o' the mornin', although I'm kinda offended y'all started without me."
Pope and JJ gazed over their shoulders. Pope was quick to shrug and turn back to the drone's camera, but JJ quickly eyed the girl up and down, taking in her state and her outfit. Nothing too crazy, a pair of torn cut offs and sweater, but in his eyes, she could have been wearing a ball gown.
Stella met his eyes for a quick minute before he quickly looked away. Stella frowned, clearly he hadn't gotten over what happened last night.
Sighing, Stella stepped forward, leaning over Pope's shoulder as she watched her brother rub his teeth with his finger under the water. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a button.
Pope swatted her hand away. "Don't touch that. I'm trying to work out this thing."
Stella held her hands up in defense, walking away as JJ suppresses a laugh. She smiled at him, but once again, he turned away from her. She sighed, leaning her elbows on the wooden railing.
"God bless geeks, Pope," JJ said.
"What would we do without you to control the drones?"
Pope rolled his eyes. "It's not a drone. It's an ROV."
"Shut up. Shut up," warned JJ. "It's too early for that right now."
"Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim." Stella nodded as she watched her brother and Kie bob in the water.
JJ groaned. "It's such bullshit. Why do we have to do that?"
"Well, there is a maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up."
"I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro."
"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp."
"How do you know all of that?" questioned Kie.
"'Cause our dad said it, like, a million times," Stella answered, shrugging.
Kie started swimming back to the dock. "The tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, this thing could get pushed around."
