𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 - 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨

chapter two

the next few days, i try to lay low with sarah. she's super nice and really funny to be around. with her as a friend, i feel like i don't have to force anything. it's just easy.

we ended up talking and falling asleep in her boat. one of the only places on the island with working air conditioning.

when i first woke up, i heard voices talking to one another. i kept my eyes closed so i could listen in on the conversation.

"...top off the tanks?" speaks a feminine voice, who i presume to be sarah.

"uh...no. no, powers down, so the compressors were off," a male voice speaks, then clears his throat.

"so, you're sneaking into our boat at five a.m. with empty tanks?" she says, then there's a pause. "i'll make sure to tell ward."

"okay, okay. cool, cool," he says, dropping things on the floor. "just drop these off"

"yeah, yeah, the middle of the room is fine," she says, with attitude.

"yeah, this is pretty much what he told me to do," the boy says.

"bye," sarah says.

there's a pause. "actually, you know, what——what exactly were you gonna tell your dad?" he chuckles.

"nothing much. just that you poached our scuba gear," sarah answers.

this conversation seems pretty heated. i can't imagine she's talking to a kook this way, so the guy must be a pogue that works for her family, maybe?

"okay, fuck. i borrowed it for a few hours," he responds. "okay? and i brought it back intact and unharmed."

"minus air," sarah retorts.

"look, please don't tell him," the mystery guy speaks. "okay? he'll fire me."

yep. just as i suspected. who could it be, though.

"what are you gonna do?" sarah asks. "pull a gun on me?"

ohhhhh dayummm. shots fired. quite literally.

"i didn't know jj would do that," he answers.

okay, so it's not jj. john b then, possibly?

"that's convenient to believe," sarah scoffs. "maybe you should get better friends."

oh yeah. this is definitely john b.

"well, maybe you should get a better boyfriend," john b sasses.

"like one who doesn't poach?" sarah asks.

"look, please, just don't tell him," he pleads. "okay?"

"relax," sarah says, coolly. "i'm not gonna tell him anything. your secret's safe with me, john b."

oh shit. looks like topper might have some competition. this shit is spicy.

"okay, you can leave now," sarah says.

"right, yeah, uh...i'll leave, i'll leave that right there," he says, awkwardly.

i finally open my eyes to see him walking out the door and sarah laying back down.

"bye," sarah says.

"later," says john b.

i sit up and say, "not so fast, sweetheart."

she groans and sits back up on the couch. "how much of that did you hear?"