𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟸 𝚎𝚙.𝟹 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

"you have nothing to live up to / you have nothing to live down"

It was early evening when Kiara, JJ, Pope, and Tate rolled across the mainland on their way to Charleston. Tate was half leaning her head out the window so her hair streamed in the wind and cooled her face from the September heat. JJ kept rolling blunts in the front seat and passing them back to her. It was the only contact they'd had all trip. Things were still tense between them since their fight back at the Chateau. It was rare for the two of them to get into fights like that. Sure, they argued now and then, but Tate was starting to worry a little bit. It was the second real fight they'd had in just a few days. She didn't want them to fall apart. She'd seen too much of that in her lifetime to have it happen with JJ.

Luckily, Kiara kept everyone distracted with incessant talking, something Tate was begrudgingly grateful for. "Guys," she said, flipping the letter Pope had received that morning over in her hands, "I've read this thing like a thousand times. It makes no sense." She played with her hair as she spoke. "I mean, the Limbreys own, like, half of Charleston. What do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?"

"Why you specifically?" JJ cut in. "That's the other creepy thing."

"Please come alone," Kiara read. "That's hella sus."

Tate pulled her head back in the window laughing. "Kie, I hate you sometimes."

"What?" she said, looking over at Tate and smiling at the look on her face. "It is!"

Just then, the engine made a weird hissing noise and smoke poured from the front of the truck. Everyone jumped. "Oh, come on!" said Pope, leaning forward to get a better look.

"Pull over," said Kiara. "That's a lot of smoke, even for your dad's truck."

JJ started coughing and rolled his window up. "Pope, I got sensitive lungs, man!"

"Pope, just pull over!" said Tate, wishing she was the one driving.

Without slowing down, Pope veered off to the side of the road amongst protests and cries from his friends. At last, the truck came to an abrupt halt and Pope leaned back in his seat, laughing incredulously. Tate felt like killing someone. Of course this had to happen. It was icing on the already awful trip of a cake. "No, no, no, no," said Pope, switching off the ignition and clambering out of the car.

"It's gonna blow up!" Kiara cried, and she and Tate dove from the car and scrambled a few feet away.

"It's not gonna blow up," said JJ, looking at the two of them in what would've been amusement if the situation weren't so dire. "You probably unhooked the radiator, Pope." He headed around the truck as Pope hurried to pop the front. "I haven't seen this before. You knocked the entire hubcap off!" JJ clapped his hands together in almost delirious incredulity. He let out a little whoop and laughed as he picked up the hubcap.