If Only ❆ JJ and Kiara

#23

We're nearly at 14k reads (we're now not too far off from 15k reads, that's how long I've had this in my drafts for)! Tysm for everything, seeing people vote on this more than a year after I began really keeps me motivated to write this even with four assignments due. I really apologise I've just lacked so much motivation but I've missed having something to work on, so here you go! :) (Also sorry for any plotholes, I've kind of left the previous things in the past and want to start a new mystery)

No POV:
For the first time in recent history, life for the Pogues had been pretty smooth sailing (about as smooth-sailing as it could be). The summer had been filled with running from cops, spending late nights out on the boat, partying hard and then sleeping hungover in the chateau the following day.

However, as all good things must come to an end, the Pogues were wallowing in sadness at their final day of freedom before a return to school. This was going to be the first time Sarah had spent school on the island, and she struggled to imagine her being friends and going to school with these people a year ago.

For Sarah and Pope, going back to school was an exciting, novel experience. Pope almost missed having to focus on school all the time, it was an escape from the reckless actions of his friends. And for Sarah, this whole new world felt exciting and special. The rest of the group could not share their fondness for the place.

JJ wasn't stupid, and if he put his mind to it, he could easily do very well, school just wasn't something that seemed to matter. Somewhere deep down, JJ knew that even if he tried, nothing he learned there was ever going to eventuate and he felt as though he was going to follow the same route as his father. John B was an average student, though his grades weren't quite up to scratch. When you spend most of your time trying to convince the police that you aren't a child living alone, the work given to you isn't very high up on your priority list. Out of the three, Kiara did well, but she planned on taking over her dad's business, so although she had mediocre grades, schooling beyond high school was irrelevant. 

~

The final day of freedom was coming to a close, and though JJ and John B wanted very little more than to throw a party, Pope was able to talk his friends down from something they would regret the following morning.

Kiara looked out onto the lightly misted marsh, almost hoping that if she stared long enough, time would pass slower. But alas, that was not the case and she felt the sun slipping away to brighten another part of the world. Kiara wasn't necessarily one to let negative feelings overwhelm her, and she chose to focus on the more positive things about the evening. Like how she was relaxing, with her closest friends in the world and her wonderful boyfriend who she was leaning quite comfortably on.

Subtly, JJ intertwined his fingers through Kiara's, and they still both gave each other butterflies with even the slightest movements. Pope was talking about something that didn't seem to spark much interest in the couple, until something slipped from his mouth, "Which makes me think, maybe there's more to the gold than we thought?"

This instantaneously grabbed JJ's attention and he sat up straight, displacing Kiara. "What do you mean? Is like- a few hundred million dollars not enough? I highly doubt Ward would've gone to all this trouble if he didn't think it was worth it," JJ's tone was a mix of sarcasm and confusion, directed at Pope.

"Well, you very clearly weren't listening. There's so much more to the gold than we thought, or at least more than I thought." Pope snapped, irritated at his friend's ignorance and tendency to annoyingly weave in and out of conversations.

"Well then, please educate me."

"Okay, so my dad knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who works at the museum, and apparently there was a robbery there a few weeks ago."

"So what? Most of this island is filled with thieves who would do anything to make some money, even if nothing in the museum could come close to the gold in worth."

"Let me finish my point," Pope cleared his throat before continuing, "It wasn't just a normal robbery. In fact, they spent more time looking for what was stolen than who was the thief. All they tried taking was a notebook of some old lady from a hundred or so years ago. She wasn't important, so the notebook is hardly worth shit, but you'd think if you were a Pogue trying to rob the museum, you'd take something worth more than a few dollars, wouldn't you?"

"I still don't see how this has anything to do with-" JJ was curtly cut off, again by Pope, "Oh for fucks sake man, just let me finish the goddamn story. So basically, whoever tried to take the notebook is not one for using his brain much, because they practically told the police his identity by not covering his face or looking out for cameras. And I didn't think much of it until Dad mentioned something about Deputy Shoupe bailing him out of jail. Again, by itself this only sounds a little strange and doesn't sound relevant to the gold at all, however, I did some digging and found that Ward has been quietly giving Shoupe monthly instalments of a few tens of thousands of dollars." Pope sat down and was feeling quite pleased with himself until he saw a tear well up in the corner of Sarah's eye.

"What- no- Sarah, I'm sorry. I kinda sorta forgot about... all of that," Pope waved his hand in the general direction of Sarah, which was him referring to Sarah's less-than-stellar relationship with her father.

Word count: 1001

Ayo it's nearly 1 am which isn't even that late but I'm tired and I don't love the idea of keeping this dialogue running doesn't sound great just bc i like to try and keep things interesting with more action :) I'm so glad this is finally out after spending way too long in my drafts, so I hope you enjoyed this!