Lost

four | Beer And Anger

It had been quiet for a little bit now. Kiara was on her phone, I was admiring the views, John B was trying to find a good spot to fish, JJ was drinking, and Pope was driving.

JJ apparently didn't like the silence and decided to do something about it. "Bet you can't do this."
I watched as he picked up his bottle of beer and made his way to the front of the boat. I immediately groaned, knowing what was about to happen.

"Let me show you a party trick."
"This is terrifying." Kie said.
"Hey, Pope. Can you go a little faster, please?" JJ stepped over my legs to get to the front of the boat.
"Oh, here we go. I'm movin'." John B mumbled in exasperation, moving to the back of the boat.
Pope sped up the boat as he spoke. "It doesn't work. We've tried this like 6,000 times."
"I got this. It's gonna work!" JJ said optimistically.
Opening his mouth, he brought the bottle up and allowed the speed that they were going to blow the beer into his mouth.
Well that was the plan, instead it went everywhere except his mouth.

"You're getting beer in my hair!" Kie complained.
Pope put his hand up to shield his eyes whilst John B turned his face away to avoid getting hit.
"All right. All right!"
"You're done, stop!"
Beer started piling up in my hair. I for one hated the taste of beer and for two hated the smell even more. JJ knew this information but still decided to do this. "JJ, I swear to God if you don't stop I'll push you overboard."

He leaned out of my reach, a smug grin on his face, only making me get angrier with him.
Then, all of a sudden, the boat beneath our feet jerked so violently, the breath was snatched from my lungs and I was airborne. The force of hitting the water sent blinding through my whole body.

I could feel the water suffocating me. I could feel water running down my throat and through my nose. My body kind of froze for a moment—too focused on the pain of slamming into the water then remembering not to drown.
I opened my eyes for a moment—only being able to see a dark shade of blue and green. I closed them seconds later. My body still not reacting how it should've.

A hand gripped my arm, pulling me so fast that it reminded the muscles in my legs that they could kick.
Upon breaking the surface, I coughed some of the water out of my lungs.
"You okay, Hales? You were under for a beat." I heard John B ask from the boat.
"Why didn't you swim?" JJ asked quietly, his lips just beneath my ear so that only I could hear the question.
I glanced at him for a split second, at the confusion in his eyes, before turning my eyes back to John B. "I think I was in shock for a second, I didn't expect to be hurled into the water....What happened?"

Pope gave me a sheepish look. "We hit a sandbar. The channel's changed 'cause of the storm"
I scoffed. "Of course" I slowly made my way out of JJs grasp and to the boat, grabbing onto it so it'd be easier to stay afloat."Well that was a wake-up call if I ever needed one."
JJ glanced at me with a grin. "I saved my beer though."
"Congrats, JJ." John B replied flatly.
"Yeah drink it, I'm sure plenty of lake water filled into it," I told him. He stuck his tongue out at me like a child.

"Guys...I think there's a boat down there."
Pope suddenly said, looking off into the water.
"Shut up" John B stated.
"No way." Kiara laughed.
My eyebrows narrowed as I looked into the water trying to spot anything that resembled a boat.
"No, no, guys. I'm serious." Pope pointed into the water. "There's a boat down there. For real."
Me and JJ exchanged a look. From our place in the water, we couldn't see anything. It didn't help that the water wasn't exactly the clearest.

John B and Kie came to the edge of the Pogue to have a closer look.
"Guys...is that..."
"It's a boat!" Pope exclaimed, getting more worked up.
"Holy shit, he's right." Kie said in disbelief, taking her shorts off. "Let's go."
Anticipation wormed its way into my chest. It wasn't every day that a sunken boat was found. Especially not in the marsh. What if there was a dead body in it?

John B pulled his shirt off over his head and the three of them jumped into the water with me and JJ. JJ just shrugged and swam after them. It was only when I ducked my head under the water did I see the blurred white outline of a boat sat on the marsh floor.
How did I not see that before?

The pressure of the water pressed in on me as I followed the others, swimming deeper. It was painful for my ears.
I gripped the framework of the boat to keep me grounded as my eyes ran over the boat.
Relief trickled through me when my eyes didn't find a body. I'd heard enough stories from people along the Cut through out the years about finding wrecked boats and bodies along with them. The thought made a chill work its way up my spine.

Looking back up to the surface, I saw that the others had already headed up.
Once I noticed that I immediately started kicking up, the second I broke the surface I inhaled a breath.
"You guys saw that?" JJ breathed, excitement sparking in his eyes.
Everyone started laughing in disbelief and now that I knew that nobody had died I started feeling exhilaration hum through my blood. "That's a Grady-White."
"A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy." JJ added as they all began to swim back to the Pogue.

JJ reached out a hand to me once he made it onto the boat. I stared at his hand for only a moment before clasping his wrist. He pulled me up onto the boat, slightly grabbing onto my waist to keep me on the boat. Butterflies zoomed through my body.
"That's a primo rig." JJ said, looking over to
John B, his hand sliding away from me. The warmth that I didn't even realize was there—was snatched away.
"Yeah. That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge. Maybe it hit a jetty or something." He replied.

"You surfed the surge?!" I asked suddenly, anger growing through me.
"Yeah" John B replied, nonchalantly.
"That my boy, pogue style" JJ grinned, clasping John Bs hand with his own.
"Why the hell would you do that?" I asked, the anger was obvious now.
John B shrugged. "It was fun"
I scoffed. "What type of fucking idiot are you"
"Hales. I'm fine. Chill" John B said, shocked.
I shook my head. "No, don't tell me to chill"
"Haley" JJ started. "Come on, it's fine" I felt his hand touch my waist again, slowly pulling me towards him. Suddenly my mind went blank.
I forgot about what I was saying. I forgot about why I was angry.
All of my senses were turned into mush. All focused on JJs hand on my body.

Stop.

"Do we know whose boat that is?" Pope immediately asked, trying to change the subject.
"No, but we're about to find out." John B replied, crouching down to reach the compartment holding the anchor. His eyes flickered over to me every so often. I would catch them and then he would look away.
JJ let go of me eventually but my heart rate never calmed down. My sense never fully came back. They stayed with JJ. I could feel his every move. I knew where he was on the boat constantly. I knew how close he was to me.
What the hell was going on?

"Dude, it's too deep." JJ noted staring down at the boat through the water.
"Oh, for the weak and feeble, JJ." John Bs words made another prickle of anger flush through me. Most of my senses immediately returning back to me. If he was so adamant about drowning himself, I wasn't going to try and stop him.

"Well, I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front. Pretty sure Haley is out of the question too." JJ said, his eyes drifting over to the me who now sat at the back of the boat.
"That's fine." He stood up, the anchor in his arms.
"John B." Kie said.
"What?"
"Diver down, fool." Pope saluted.
He grinned. "Diver down."
"Yeah, he is." JJ grinned, shoving him off the boat and into the water.
I heard the splash as his body met the water and as much as I was furious with him for going out in the storm, I couldn't help the concern that laced through me. But hell John B had done more dangerous things than inspect a boat underwater. He'd be fine.