𝑪𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝒀𝑶𝑼 | 𝑱𝑱 𝑴𝑨𝒀𝑩𝑨𝑵𝑲

Chapter Eight - Distractions

The Pogues took a day off yesterday because of the weather, so Devon spent the day with Sarah, trying to cheer her up after her fight with Topper. First she encouraged Sarah to talk to John B and then they went shopping for the rest of the day, ending the night with Fro-Yo.

Today's the day the Pogues use the drone to find the Royal Merchant. Devon keeps JJ company as he steers the boat. They sit in comfortable silence, JJ paying attention to where he's going while also being aware that Devon is burning a hole into the side of his face. He gives her a quick look, "Why don't you take a picture?"

Devon hums, "Maybe I will." She points to the accessories on his head, "The hat and glasses combo is really doing it for me right now." JJ looks at her with a smirk, taking his eyes off the ocean.

He jumps when John B calls out. "All right, JJ. Pin it here."

"Roger that! X marks the spot." JJ responds. Devon steps closing, peeking over his shoulder to watch how he steers the boat.

She notices his necklace hidden beneath his shirt and grabs it to get a better look, her fingers brushing against his neck. "I like this, too." She says, her breath hitting his neck.

JJ grows stiff as he fails to concentrate. He looks down at her, "You should go help the others."

Devon frowns, taking a step back, "Why?"

"You're distracting me." JJ grabs her by the waist, turns her around, and pushes her out, "Go!"

Devon giggles as she joins Pope by the monitor. Kie is putting the tether into the water and John B is directing JJ. Pope gasps as a squid comes across the screen. John B is quick to get up, "What, what, what, what?"

Devon put her hand on John B, pushing him back into his seat, "It's nothing, Pope just got a little jumpscared."

"Don't do that to me man!" JJ comments.

"My bad." Pope mumbles.

The tether reaches 700 feet when the boat starts to feel the storm rolling in. Thunder crashes and the wind picks up, causing the waves to get rougher.

"920!" Kie tells the group. "John B! There's too much current! We are going to lose it." She struggles with the tether. Devon gets up from her seat to help Kiara stay in control of the tether. "960!" The boat should be right above the merchant. "970! 980!" Kie seems to have hold of the tether so Devon rejoins Pope and John B at the monitor.

"I'm at the bottom!" Pope announces.

"We should be seeing something!" John B says.

"Be patient John B!" Devon tells him, keeping her eyes on the screen.

"Good god." Pope says.

"See anything?" JJ asks from the front of the boat.

Devon lets out a laugh, "it's the Royal Merchant."

They continue to watch the screen, looking through the wreck for the gold. After a while, John B sighs, "It's not there. Let's just pull the drone up."

"Look, we can do another pass." Pope encourages, "recharge the battery. We can go back down."

John B walks away, running his hands through his hair. "We've been through it three times." JJ says, "there's nothing there!"

"Shut up!" Kie yells. "The gold could be buried. We don't know!"

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B says in defeat. "Somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there." JJ mutters. Devon sighs and takes the seat next to Kiara, letting her friend rest her head on her shoulder.

...

"I'm so glad they're still doing this." Kiara says to Devon, Pope, and JJ. "Keep calm. Carry on. Back to OBX life. You know? Aren't you glad I made you guys come?"

Devon adjusts the bag on her shoulder with a smile on her face. "Oh my gosh, yes! I missed this. I remember how we always used to come here when we were younger."

JJ adjusts the hat on his hat, "my couch was pretty comfy, I'll be honest."

Kie turns to Devon, "Dev, want to go get drinks?" Devon nods and they go to the snack stand. "Hey, can I get two pepsis, please?" Kie orders, pulling money out of her pocket.

"And a water, please." Devon adds.

"Hey, Dev." Devon rolls her eyes at the voice coming from her left. "Hey, what's up?" Rafe says, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Devon stays stiff, not hugging him back, just looking to Kie for help. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Devon says, looking away.

"Good, good. I miss you." Rafe says, trying to catch her eye.

"Okay." Devon deadpans.

Rafe lets out a heavy sigh before turning to Kie. "Tell your boy that we know what he did."

Kie looks unamused, "Sorry, what boy are you talking about?"

"He'll know." Rafe responds. Kie walks away immediately. "Bye!"

"Douche." Kie says, not looking back. Devon goes to follow her but Rafe holds her back.

"Hey, hey, hey. I meant what I said, I miss you." Rafe says delicately.

Devon sounds annoyed, "I know, Rafe, but we broke up a year ago. You have to get over it." Devon pleads. " I'm gonna go join my friends now."

"What do you mean friends?" Rafe steps in front of her. "You're not hanging out with that trash are you? I thought you were better than that, Dev."

"They're not trash, but yes, they are my friends. Now if you'll excuse me." Devon says before walking around her ex-boyfriend.

She sits down in the beach chair next to JJ, hearing him say, "Just warning you, bro. If they corner me, I'm coming out swinging, okay? Slicin and dicin. I'm on edge right now."

"Yeah, yeah." Pope agrees. Devon sends Kie a look of confusion and earns one in return.

"If that doesn't work, I got this right here." JJ holds up his bag. Devon looks at the bag with wide eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. So we just gotta stay in the group." Pope says. "They can't come get us in the group."

"Like a school of fish." JJ agrees. Devon drags her hand across her face in disappointment.

"Stay in the school. Can't leave the school. Stay in the school." Pope repeats.

Devon grabs JJ's arm to get him to turn to her. "Please tell me that you did not bring a gun here. It's a movie showing! There are kids!"

JJ smiles, "No, Dev. I did not bring a gun. Everything is okay."

Dev grits her teeth, "Do not lie to me JJ Maybank." He looks away from her eyes.

"Founding principle, you guys. No secrets amongst Pogues." Kie says. "What is Rafe talking about?"

Pope looks around before saying in a low voice, "It might go down tonight."

"What does that mean?" Dev asks. "What did you guys do?"

"Deny, deny, deny." JJ whispers.

Notes

big fight coming up