I'm here // JJ Maybank

16

The three of us quickly grab our boards and meet John B and Kiara in the ocean. We spot them in the distance and start to make our way over.
"Hey save some waves for us!" JJ calls out as we rush into the water with our boards.
"Hey where have ya been?" Kie calls out.
We surfed for a couple of hours until our bodies grew tired. All the stress in my body disappeared for those few hours, completely getting lost in the waves. Summer felt normal again just for a split second.
-
The sun went down and we all found our way back to the Chateau. I laid on the hammock next to JJ and everyone else was in their own beds for the night.
"You really think it's out there? Like, no bullshit?" Pope asks John B.
"My father thought it was." He responded.
"But do you?"
"After hearing his voice on that tape... I think I do" I picked at my nails as they spoke. I don't think I believe. If there's one thing I've learned about the routleges, its that they live off of false hope.
"Look, we're gonna find it, you know?" Kie chirps in. "Even JJ believes" she says making me laugh a little. He looks at me and shakes his head.
"Oh my god JJ, do you really believe." John B gasps.
"Totally. Wait. Are we talking about four mil?" He says.
"Four hundred mil" pope, kie, and I say at the same time.
"Jinx" I say.
"I'm gonna dream about shipwrecks" JJ says. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer to his chest. I nestle my head into his chest and close my eyes, basking in the comfort.
"Good night bird" JJ calls out.
"Goodnight birdshit" John B replies.
"Good night Mel" JJ whispers to me, his breath on my skin giving me goosebumps.
"Night J" I say.
—
The next morning we took Heward's boat out to finally use the ROV. The weather still wasn't ideal but we were impatient at this point. I sat in the captain's area with JJ while we drove out to the spot.
"Alright JJ, Pin it here" John B called out. We all assigned jobs on the way here, even though all of them kinda went without saying. Kie and I were in charge of the teacher, John B was to make sure we stayed on spot, Pope was ROV footage watch, and JJ was steering.
"Rodger that! X marks the spot." I patted JJ on the back and then made my way over to Kie to start helping lower the teacher. We dropped it in and I tightly grasped the yellow cord to keep it from getting pulled in too quickly.
—
A/N Look, I'm not gonna lie, this part gets boring. Sue me, we all know what happens. Let's pick up from when they finally reach the Royal Merchant. On another note though, this scene makes the top 10 JJ looks.
—
"See anything?" JJ calls out.
"It's the Royal Merchant" I hear JB say. I look at Kie with wide eyes and her mouth falls open. I keep a hold on the teather, afraid that the current is going to take this thing, while kie goes and looks at the screen. Her eyes light up at the sight. They watch the screen for a couple minutes, scanning the sunken ship. I watch their big bright smiles slowly fade out which could only mean one thing. JJ believing wasn't enough. Pope keeps mumbling to himself and John B wears a very unhappy face. After a couple more minutes John B stressfully runs a hand though his hair and says,
"It's not there. Look, just - just pull up the drone." I sigh and start to set the ROV up to be pulled back in. Luckily for me this thing is automatic. Before anyone starts debating, I hit the switch and watch the tether come back in.
"Look we can do another pass. Recharge the battery." Pope tries. I stand up and go back to where JJ is. I sit on the floor next to him and lay my head back. I may or may have not gotten my hopes up once we got out here. Lesson learned, don't expect great outcomes unless you want to be disappointed.
"guys we've been through it three times. There's nothing there." JJ says to the three who are still hovering over the screen.
"Shut up!" Kie shouts at him.
"What? It's true!" I call out.
"The gold could be buried, we don't know!" She continues. I see she really believed.
"If it was there it would've been found by the metal detector okay? Somebody beat us to it" John B snaps. I scoff and stand back up, ready to go back home.
"Or it was never there" JJ mumbles to me.
"Probably" I say standing beside him and stare forward. He nudges my shoulder and I turn to look at him sending him a weak smile. Everyone dispersed to different areas of the boat and the ride home was dead silent. Talk about a buzz kill.
—
Once we got back to Heywards everyone went their own ways.
"Hey Mel, wanna come back to mine? Dads not home" JJ asks, lightly grabbing my elbow to get my attention. I look over to John B who is waiting for me in the HMS to bring us both home.
"Yeah sure, let me go John B quick." I say smiling at him. I quickly jog over to JB and he looks extremely pissed off.
"Hey go on without me, I'm gonna hang out at JJ's for a bit" I say. He turns to look at me and narrows his eyes.
"Is something going on between you two?" He asks, his tone very unpleasant.
"What do you mean?" I ask shaking my head. Since when was me and JJ hanging out a weird thing.
"You guys have been doing a lot of 'hanging out' recently that's all. Just want to make sure my two best friends aren't up to anything behind my back." He says accusingly.
"Nothing new. Just don't feel like wasting away in my room for the rest of the day." I defend. John B nods his head and turns the HMS on. I'll take that as conversation over. I turn on the heels and make my way back over to JJ.
"Okay let's go" I say pushing his shoulder
"After you ma'lady" He says making me laugh. I can't help but to what John B said, was he just in a pissy mood or am I just being naive?