Rule breakers // Outerbanks

/28/ Prayers

"Guys, I've read this thing like a thousand times. It makes no sense."
Kiara was observing the letter again as she sat next to Isla on the backseat of the truck, finally entering Charleston after driving for what felt like an eternity.
"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 agreed with Kiara, asking his question to Pope.
"That's the other creepy thing. You know?"

" 'Please come alone' that's hella sus."
Kiara added, causing Isla to look at her with a disgusted face.

"Did you just say 'hella sus'?"
She cringed.

"I was thinking the same thing. I think it's because-"
Pope spoke up, replying to Kie when he was cut off by the sudden noise of the truck breaking down.

Suddenly, a lot of smoke appeared into the car, causing Pope to pull over with order from his friends.

"That's a lot of smoke. Even for your dad's truck."
Kiara commented, coughing out the dark grey smoke.

"Pope, Isla's got sensitive lungs, man!"
JJ waved his arms around, protecting his girlfriend from the smoke, who personally had no problem with the amount of smoke.

Pope hastily pulled over, just in time for the car to break down.

"No no no no."
Pope rambled when he got out of the car, observing the damage.

"It's gonna blow up, it's gonna blow up!"
Kiara pushed at the door, trying to get out of the car as well.

"It's not gonna blow up. You probably unhooked the radiator, Pope. I haven't seen this before. You knocked the entire hubcap off!"
JJ replied, standing outside the car next to Isla, watching as the smoke surfaced around the broken down truck.

Pope tried looking at the damage by popping the hood up, but the amount of smoke made it clear there was no fixing. JJ sarcastically applauded at the boy.
"You might wanna reschedule your meeting tonight, Pope."

"Plan B?"
Kiara interrupted JJ, knowing there was no point of fighting about it until they found an alternative to get to Pope's meeting on time.

"Public transportation?"
Isla suggested, looking around to see if there were train tracks nearby.

"We could hitchhike?"
Kiara went on, the two girls coming up with solutions while the boys stared at the truck.

"Or we could rent bikes?"
Isla added, earning an agreeing nod from Kiara.

The boys simply ignored them as their list went on, JJ observed the truck through the popped open hood, discussing the damage with Pope who stood next to him.

After spending multiple minutes discussing over what to do, the group decided to get the truck fixed at the nearest garage as fast as they could.

Isla stood with her back against some old car, smoking a cigarette as she watched Pope examine the damage with the mechanic who worked at the garage.

On the opposite end, she noticed Kiara, staring into the distance with a frown on her face. JJ walked up to her, the two of them talking about god knows what while Isla observed them.
She wasn't blind, she could see the chemistry between her boyfriend and best friend from miles away. It confused her, the way the two of them looked at each other, but she wasn't worried. She trusted the both of them. If Kiara felt anything towards JJ, she would've known, and JJ cared about her way too much to give in to the chemistry he had going on with Kiara.
So no, Isla was not worried. Not yet anyway.

Another thirty minutes passed, and the damage of the truck was finally repaired. Pope and Kiara went inside to discuss the price while Isla and JJ sat down on a bench in front of the garage. The girl was looking into the distance, getting rid of her thoughts while JJ looked at her, trying to read her expression.

"Everything okay?"
He eventually asked, giving up on trying to get inside her head.

"Yeah, fine."
Isla lied, gifting him a swift smile.

"You sure?"
The blonde wasn't convinced by her answer, he could sense something was going on.

"Yeah, I was just thinking of John B and Sarah."
She came up with a quick excuse, which wasn't a complete lie, she definitely was thinking about her friends, but it wasn't what was concerning her right that moment.

"I get that you're worried, but we'll get them back on the island, alright?"
JJ grabbed the girl's hand, rubbing circles over the palm of her hand as she smiled at him gracefully.

"Yeah."
She sighed.

The two soon got interrupted by Pope and Kiara walking out of the garage, heading towards their two friends who were waiting for them.

"Alright, good to go."
Kiara told them, causing them to get up from their seats and making their way towards the now fixed truck, getting back into their previous seats.

"Guess we won't make it in time."
Isla announced while looking at the time, noticing it was already past eight.

"What do we do?"
Kiara looked around, waiting for an answer.

"Let's just call it a night, find a spot to sleep and get back out there tomorrow."
Isla suggested, knowing it wasn't an option to continue their journey to Limbrey since they wouldn't arrive on time anyway.

Everyone agreed with her idea and went to find a spot somewhere in a field to park the truck.
Kiara and Pope sat in the back of the truck, while JJ and Isla sat on the inside, smoking a joint while nodding along to some tunes on the radio.

"You think they'll work out?"
JJ suddenly spoke up, looking at the back to where their two friends sat, cuddled up with some blankets while looking at the night sky.

Isla met his gaze, a pang filled her heart as she noticed JJ's stare, but she quickly shrugged it off, convincing herself he was just interested in their relationship because they were his friends.

"Not sure."
Isla admitted softly, blowing out some smoke.
She actually was sure, she knew fully well Pope was not the one for Kiara, he was too good, too soft. Kiara needed someone to holler back at her, someone whose giving her passion, Pope wasn't like that. Pope was sweet, gentle.

"Yeah, I don't think they will."
JJ confessed, turning back around to look at Isla, a smile immediately growing on his face when he looked at her, her brown hair falling down her face, her pale skin shining in the moonlit car, the joint placed against her plump lips, she looked absolutely beautiful to him.

"We will though, right?"
He asked, causing her to look away from the window and towards him, throwing the finished cigarette away.

"Of course we will."
Isla smiled, unsure if she was answering his question or whether she was convincing herself.

"Good."
JJ smirked, leaning over to her so he was on top of her, his fave hovering over hers.
"Because I'm not prepared to lose you."

Isla looked into his eyes, his light blue orbs meeting her dark brown ones as their lips barely touched when words softly left her mouth before colliding into his like it was the first time.
"You're not going to."

The next morning, the friends continued their journey, making their way to Charleston to hopefully be able to still speak with Limbrey.

Pope sat in the drivers seat once again, with Kie next to him in passengers while Isla and JJ shared the backseat, looking out the window to enjoy the view when they finally entered Charleston.

"Wonder where John B and Sarah are right now."
JJ spoke, looking outside the window as well.

The three friends simply shrugged their shoulders to his question, not sure how to answer it because they also had no idea where John B and Sarah could possibly be at right that moment.

But little did they know, they were closer than they'd ever suspect.