SHOOTING STARS ✰ jj maybank

005. KEGGER

All the Pogues watched as Lana Grubbs sobbed over her husband's dead body. He was pulled out of the marsh and was now being taken away on a stretcher.

"Who is that?" John B questioned as all the teenagers watched the scene unfold in front of them.

"It's Scooter Grubbs. He was out during the storm. Check out this pic I got." The girl sitting beside the Pogues explained as she pulled out her phone, showing a photo of Scooter's dead body to the Pogues. "Dead body."

"Jesus," Scarlett whispered as she looked away in disgust. She could've continued on her day perfectly fine without seeing the very detailed photo of the dead guy. She was standing beside JJ, just fidgeting with her fingers.

"What kind of boat did he have?" JJ questioned curiously.

"Somehow, that dirtbag copped a brand-new Grady-White. Everyone's out looking for it." The girl explained and all the Pogues immediately shared a look.

JJ looked over at Scarlett to see her eyes glued to the ground. "Hey, you okay?" He nudged her arm and her head popped up.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. It's just, that I was with Scooter the other night. He was helping Sarah and me with something. Now, all of a sudden, his body is being hauled away right in front of us. It's just weird. He was alive one minute, and now he's not." She explained to him. "And I feel so bad for Lana. I couldn't imagine going through that."

"Hey, it's okay. He probably went peacefully." JJ pulled the girl close to his body, keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders as they sat at the dock and got more details about Scooter's death from this girl.

The Pogues were now all back at the Chateau, sitting around the screen in porch and doing whatever.

"Okay. So, um... we didn't see anything. We don't know anything. We need to have total and complete amnesia." Pope burst through the door of the Chateau and sat beside Kie and Scarlett on the couch.

"Actually, Pope's right for once. See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny." JJ stood up from the reclining chair that he was sitting on.

"Guys, we can't keep that money," Kie spoke up from beside Pope on the couch.

"Okay. Not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara." JJ rolled his eyes at the girl.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs. Otherwise, it's bad karma." Kie tried to convince the boys.

"Okay, as much as I would love to keep the money so you guys can buy all the shit you need, that is Scooters money. We need to give it to Lana. I mean, could you imagine losing someone you loved? The money could help her pay for the funeral." Scarlett spoke up sadly. She felt so bad for Lana. She remembers when her uncle died, it was really hard even though she wasn't that close to him. She couldn't even imagine the pain of losing her husband.

"Bad Karma to be implicated in a felony, too." Pope just ignored Scarlett and responded to what Kie had said about bad karma. "We gotta go dark."

"If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree." There would be no chance JJ would be giving up the money.

"I don't agree." John B argued as he grabbed JJ's shoulder.

"What? Why?" JJ questioned his best friend.

"Just think about it." John B began. "This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude that's outing individual cigarettes at the Porthole. Shit, one time I saw this dude begging for change in the Save-A-Lot parking lot because he needed gas. We're talking about a dirtbag marina rat who's never had more than forty bucks in his pocket, and all of a sudden, he's got a Grady-White? Just sayin'. Plus, I agree with Star."