One Stupid Thing

1:1:5

"He's definitely out of air," Pope says, as if he is reading my mind. John B finally appears from out of the water and we all exhale in relief.

"There he is!" JJ announces.

"Oh, God!" Pope curses. "Jesus Christ."

"Don't scare us like that!" Kie threatens him. Her smile reveals just how relieved she is.

I step away from the edge and rake my hands through my drying hair. The adrenaline is still pumping through me. "I thought Shoupe would see you for sure."

"How'd it go down there?" JJ inquires, "Did you find anything?"

John B makes his way over to the ladder at the back of the boat and begins to disassemble his gear. "Did I find anything?" he repeats with a huge grin.

"Yeah, there we go! That's my boy!" JJ celebrates and assists John B in getting everything back in the boat. The rest of us join him at the back, all curious as to what he discovered.

Kiara, more concerned about John B than his discoveries, asks, "You okay?"

John B gasps for air. "Yeah. I ran out of air."

"You scared the shit out of me." Kie's affection for her friend is undeniable. First the not-so-friendly kiss on the cheek and now her constant worry for his well-being. Anyone could tell that she cares about him deeply, but is it platonic like she insinuates or is there something there that she is just too scared to admit? Now that I think about it all the boys seem to care about Kiara a whole lot. Including JJ. It doesn't surprise me. One super pretty, rich girl hanging out with three teenage boys. How could he not like her? My heart squeezes at the thought. Am I jealous? No, I can't be. I shake away the aching feeling and tune back into the conversation.

"Yeah, the cops were up here, but, uh... took care of 'em," Pope tells him coolly.

"My bad."

"You're all good."

"Yeah, you kinda missed the show, brother," JJ jokes. The more I am around JJ the more I notice that pretty much everything he says is laced with sarcasm.

Kie diverts her attention away from a soaked John B and into the distance. Her expression shifts to slight panic. "Hey, guys? Guys, bogey, two o'clock."

JJ looks over his shoulder. "What?"

I follow their gaze. By now the day is turning to night and the sun is setting, leaving it's array of colors splashed over the horizon. A little ways down the marsh is a white boat. Not a small fishing one like the Pogue, but a nice, speed boat.

"Do you guys recognize that boat?" Pope asks.

"Certainly looks like the type of boat you'd see on Figure Eight," I point out.

Kie shakes her head. "I've never seen it. What are they doing here? The marsh is closed."

JJ squints his eyes to study it. His blue eyes, like mine, struggle in the bright evening sun. "I don't know, but let's not stick around and find out."

"JJ, get the bowline," John B instructs as he slowly and unsuspiciously begins to prepare the Pogue to get out of here.

"Yeah."

Pope turns around to ask, "Should we wait on 'em?"

"No, we're not gonna wait for 'em." John B snaps. "Go get the stern. Go!"

"Are you joking?" Kie expresses her disagreement at Pope's comment. "JJ, hurry up."

As the boat approaches ominously, JJ blurts out, "Guys, don't wait for me. Go."

I stare out at it as the boat comes into focus. Two men are staring blankly back at them. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this. C'mon guys, let's go!"

John B starts the boat with a quick turn of a key and JJ hurriedly pulls up the anchor from the front of the boat. Every movement is done so as to not alarm the men, who were very quickly gaining on us.

"I'm with you, Stella. I don't like the look of this," John B says as he glances back.

JJ, who had successfully pulled the anchor up onto the deck, asks, "Are they coming for us?"

"Maybe they're fishing." Pope tries to explain the means of their pursuit, not very well I might add.

"Go, go, go, go, go!" JJ urges.

Pope adjusts his hat. "Act natural!"

"Let's go!" Kie exclaims.

As our boat begins to pick up speed, the sound of an engine grows louder as they advance. It is clear to us now.

"Hey, guys, they're following us." Kie puts all of our thoughts into words.

Pope stares back at them with wide, panicked eyes. "This can't be good."

John B, intensely focused on getting us away from this boat, is interrupted by JJ. "Dude, you gotta go faster!"

"I'm going!"

"Gun it!"

John B takes JJ's advice and lays on the accelerator. The Pogue's engine revs and it picks up speed.

In our brisk attempt to escape from our pursuers, John B steers the boat sharply through the maze of the marsh, but it is no use. The HMS Pogue is no match for their speed boat.

Without any warning, a gunshot rings out and a bullet flies through the air, barely skimming past our heads. We all duck down in surprise.

"Holy shit!" Kie cries out.

"John B, get down!" JJ calls.

As I am tucked in a ball on the floor of the boat, another gunshot rings out. Another miss, but a close call once again.

Pope flinches and flattens himself to the floor. "Oh my God, we're gonna die."

By the third gunshot it becomes obvious that these guys mean business. This was no fluke. Kiara and I, both crouched low, attempt to make a plan.

"Shit! Um... Stella, can you reach that net?" Kie gestures to a tangle of bright green rope bundled up in a corner. I nod and manage to get it in my grasp. At first I was confused. What in the world does Kie want me to do with a fishing net? Then it clicks. Without another word I begin to creep towards the back of the boat.

Bam! Gunshot. I can feel the wind whizz past me as the bullet is fired. 

"Stella! Get down!" I hear JJ yell out. His voice cracks with desperation, but I am determined to go through with the plan.

Now at the back of the boat, I hurl the net into the wake behind us just as a fifth gunshot rang out into the air, then a sixth, before finally their boat reaches the net. Their boat engine whirs and comes to a halt. Just as Kie and I had suspected, the net got wrapped around their propeller and is preventing them from reaching us. The others slowly begin to stand and we all watch as the scary guys get left behind in the marsh. In one last attempt to complete their mission, a final gunshot rings out, but it was way off. I turn back to the group with a victorious smile on my face.

"Nice work!" Kie raises her hand in the air and I smack it with my own. Everyone else gasps for breath and cheers in relief. As the adrenaline slowly leaves my body, I realize how exhausted I am. This adventure has been absolutely nuts and I dread returning to Tannyhill. With any luck the Pogues will let me crash with them for the night.

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And so the adventure has begun! Please vote and comment. I really appreciate it!