vibrant

nine; painted shoes

When Ophelia wakes up, the first thought she has is of Jj. A stupid smile grows on her face when she remembers dancing with him, his hand pressed against her lower back, and his other holding hers. Then, she catches herself, and effectively shakes it off. They're friends, Ophelia reminds herself, he probably just asked because Kiara was already occupied. But then, she hears John B's voice in her head yet again, You're good for Jj, and he's good for you. You balance each other out.

To distract herself, Ophelia gets out of bed. She walks to her closet, pulling out a Beatles t shirt and some jean shorts. She also grabs her paisley printed bikini. Then, she moves to her ensuite, getting herself ready for the day. Grabbing a new hair tie, she starts to gather her hair for a bun, but then she stops herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Letting her long hair flop back to its place, Ophelia takes a deep breath, leaving the elastic on her wrist. Maybe she'd leave it down today, or at least a few hours.

Ophelia calls goodbye to Michael before she gets on her bike and starts pedaling to the South side of the Island, pulling up to the Chateau rather quickly. Ophelia leans her bike against the porch, not hearing any commotion in the house, she heads down to the dock, hearing a splash.

"Hey!" She calls, walking down the wooden path and making all four Pogues turn and face her, "What are we doing?"

"Little morning swim to test out the drone," John B says, taking off his shirt and leaving him in his trunks, "You comin?"

"I'll pass this time," Ophelia says leaning on the railing of the dock.

"Suit yourself."

John B jumps into the water, and Kiara follows. Ophelia eyes the screen Pope sits in front of, looking over his shoulder with Jj on by her side. She watches as John B appears, tapping the drone's camera lens and then cleaning his teeth with his finger.

"Ew," Ophelia mutters, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jj reaches forward, his hand going to hit one of the buttons on the console, "What's this right here?"

But, before he can touch anything, Pope swats his hand away, "Don't touch that. "I'm trying to work out how to drive this thing."

Jj looks over to Ophelia, "I just wanted to see if-"

"I know, Jj," Ophelia says, reassuring the boy, her hand gently patting his back, "I know."

Kiara swims into the frame, and Ophelia adjusts her glasses, looking on in awe. The drone is pretty cool, she'll admit to anyone who asks, but she's still not comfortable with how they obtained it.

"God bless geeks, Pope," Jj says from beside Ophelia, "Truly, man. What would we do without you to control the drones?"

"Technically it's not a drone, it's an ROV-" Pope begins, his fingers moving to test another button.

"Shut up," Jj snaps, standing up straight and leaning on the rail of the dock, "Shut up. It's too early for that right now."

"Hey, can I try?" Ophelia wonders, her green eyes shifting to Pope, who nods and stands, allowing Ophelia to take his place. He points to the controls, briefly telling her what buttons do what.

"Why can she try but I can't?" Jj asks, raising a brow at the other boy.

"Because-" Pope starts, but, John B bobbing up to the surface cuts him off.

"Hey, look, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to the lawyer in town and file a formal claim."

"It's such bullshit," Jj utters as Ophelia hands the controls back to Pope. She wanders over to stand beside Jj as he asks, "Why do we have to do that?"