All That Glitters

He's Nervous

The next morning, the boys woke up early to rescue Kie and Sarah from being stranded. Not early enough though it seemed. Since they were both awake and both crossing their arms by the time they pulled up.

They played coy when John B asked them how it went. Very obviously pretending it hadn't worked. John B wasn't entirely convinced it had worked until Kie gave Sarah a sly fist bump when she thought he wasn't looking.

Pope was the most surprised that it worked.

JJ fixed Heyward's boat and promptly dropped it off at his dock before joining up with the others at the Chateau.

"Alright, so, we're all in on this." John B said.

"All in. One hundred percent." JJ confirmed happily.

"It's four hundred million dollars. What idiot would pass that up?" Kie snickered.

Sarah hummed in agreement.

"Well then. Our plan will commence as soon as the sun goes down. Make sure you all wear dark clothing and bring a mask. If Mrs. Crain catches us, we don't need her to be able to identify us."

"All in, baby!" JJ hollered. Grabbing Pope's shoulders and shaking him before going for an embrace.

Their little celebration was short-lived. As with most things. In order for their plan to work they each had to leave the Chateau to keep their operation on the down low as possible. No suspicious parents. That would only hinder everything they were trying so hard to do. Nobody had to know they were on the verge of finding the treasure of a lifetime. And that they were planning to commit several crimes in the hours to come. Nobody could know.

JJ didn't go home. He didn't go anywhere in fact. Not because he didn't want to. No, the thought of going home after the dread that had settled in his stomach if his fears were true made him want to punch something. Someone. The only other place that he felt okay was the Chateau.

If his dad was still alive and kicking, if he was able to kick, JJ knew if he went home after he woke up covered in blood that he thought was his father's, he wouldn't be going anywhere else. Whether it be because his father killed him or he got arrested. The hypotheticals hurt his head. And John B and Sarah looking like they were about to do something nasty wasn't helping.

Kie joined her father at the Wreck, picking up a shift he said she didn't need to. It's not like she owed him or the business anything. Not yet anyway. When she went home after, the sun was setting. The blinding sun held onto the horizon longer than she'd seen before. Like it was trying to stall her plans.

She sighed before stuffing a bag she usually used for staying overnight at the Chateau with materials she might need. Including some snacks. She pulled on a dark outfit and a bandana before calling out to her parents that she was leaving for the night. They answered with concerned tones but other than that, she was good.

Pope immediately went home to prepare himself both mentally and physically for the adventure he was about to endure. The remnants of the anxiety he'd swallowed when they were tearing up the Crain's basement was itching inside his throat. Squeezing at his wrists as he flung supplies into his own bag.

Hey ward almost stopped him on his way out the door. Offering him dinner as the sun was starting to set. Pope blew him off saying that he had something important to do. Heyward called after him saying " he better not be going off to do some stupid shit with that Maybank kid". He almost got arrested once . "There was no future in which he had one if he got arrested". Pope swung his arm through the straps of his backpack and began walking.

Sarah only stopped at her house for a minute to pick up some clothes. She ran into Rafe outside who was tweaked out of his mind. He didn't pay her any mind as he slunk into the house wiping at his nose. Sarah left and headed back to the Chateau almost immediately.

She spent the better part of the afternoon with John B, listening to him talk about some of the fun stuff he had done in the past with the Pogues. Sarah gasped several times and ended up getting tackled by JJ when he was aiming for John B. Totally aiming for him and not her. He claimed he was allergic to being a third wheel. Which garnered a bright laugh from Sarah.

John B had finally finished taking the trash and damaged items out of his house with a little bit of help from JJ. Most of it was made up of items he never paid any mind to besides some crushed photographs and memorabilia. JJ taunted him with a dead mouse he found behind the fridge in the kitchen.

John B spent the afternoon snuggling with Sarah on the couch. Telling her a few elaborate stories from junior high. Making sure to keep out all the stuff that happened with JJ before he got the ring. Those weren't his stories to tell. He told her about how he and Kie accidentally got on the local news during an interview with one of the Kook families on the island and the news reporter couldn't get over how quickly they had climbed the Kook's white painted stone wall. It was a whole report about how the walls in the OBX couldn't keep the youth out. JJ cut in after that story as Sarah and John B were making googly eyes at each other.

The night came faster than they all thought.

Well, Kie thought the day was dragging a bit. But that's neither here nor there.

The eagerness drove most of their actions during the day when they had to stay as inconspicuous as possible. John B had the Twinkie fired up and ready for the Pogues almost a whole half hour before they had agreed to meet.

"You nervous, John B?" Sarah asked.

He stopped chewing at his fingernail. "That obvious?"

"A bit." She shrugged with a smile. "Don't be. Okay?"

He winced and cocked his head to the side. "That's not helpful but I'll take it." He smiled.

JJ sprang into the backseat with a bag full of rope. "So I uh, I got about fifty feet of rope, John B. The hundred foot one is back at my place."

"Did you wanna stop and get it just in case?" John B already knew the answer but he just wanted to press it just to see if JJ would actually break and tell him something. Which of course, didn't work.

"No. No, I think we'll be okay. If worst comes to worst, I guess we'll just go back tomorrow." JJ said nonchalantly. He set all his gear in the seat compartments. "We don't gotta bother with the old Maybank house just yet."

"Whatever you say." John B rolled his eyes.

"Wait, why wouldn't you just go get the longer one just in case?" Sarah asked.

"Because J-"

"Because I am about ninety percent sure that there's no way we would need that much. And... and, Sarah, it would be a waste of time to get it now when everyone is already on their way back over." JJ leaned back against the seat. Lifting his head up so that he was looking down at the both of them in the front seat. He fiddled with his vape for a second before hearing someone coming up the driveway.

Over the rolling engine, JJ could hear the familiar sounds of Kie huffing for breath. She walked into the light of the van with a frown.

"I made sure to come early and you're still warming up the Twinkie? Come on, John B. That's a waste of gas and this thing is already an environmental hazard as it is. At least turn her off if you're just gonna sit in the driveway." Kie scoffed before throwing herself into the backseat next to JJ.

"Sorry, Kie."

"He's nervous." Sarah smirked. John B gasped with exaggerated shock, covering his mouth with his hand.

"How dare you." He whispered.

Kie rolled her eyes pulling her bag to her chest.