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DAY TWENTY-FOUR
"I think you need to add more here" AJ suggested to JJ as he used a burnt stick to draw on a piece of beige fabric.
"on the coconut bra?" JJ asked, studying his work of art.
"yeah, on the coconut bra. Maybe on the end of that joint too" The mention of joints made JJ tip his head back with a groan.
"god I miss that stupid Juul"
"how long are you guys going to work on that?" Cleo called out, staring at the pair in disbelief. In her defence, the two had been working on the Poguelandia flag all morning. "AJ, we're going to get more berries and coconuts" AJ took the hint and stood from the sand.
JJ scoffed as he was left to finish the flag on his own and the blonde girl brushed the sand from her body before following Cleo to where Pope was waiting.
"That's what you needed first?" Pope's question was playful and Cleo signalled him to keep moving.
"so you're telling me you had your own house, your own room, and they was gonna give you money to read books?" Cleo changed the subject back to one the group had been talking about the day before, what life looked like before all of the treasure hunting.
"Well, it was a scholarship. and I don't know if I'd have gotten it. It's whatever now" Pope shrugged, picking a few berries up and placing them in the woven basket Sarah had made.
"So you just throw it away to chase treasure with your dropout friends?" Cleo's question made AJ hum in agreeance.
"yeah, your life was set. Why ruin it? Why sabotage your scholarship interview?" AJ added, looking over to the boy.
"It wasn't just about the treasure, that cross belongs to my family. it's important to me and I still haven't lost it"
"We just found out about the cross Pope, what about before that?" AJ questioned, her gaze softening as she turned and walked backwards.
"Yeah, better off keeping what you got than searching for something you ain't gonna find. Did Daddy ever teach you nothing? Sunken treasure. You had the real treasure in your hand, and you just let it go" Cleo and AJ were ganging up on him in their own way, neither runaways seeing why anyone would throw what he had away.
"Okay well, what about you, huh? You had a job on a boat, a life, I'm sure, before all of this. You gave it all up to scrounge for berries in the jungle." He turned from Cleo back to AJ. "and you?" The rest of his sentence didn't leave his mouth, the boy shutting up when he saw the way she raised her brow. "Just saying"
"Well, what we had wasn't better than this. Can't say the same, now, can you?" Cleo pointed out, walking up ahead more with AJ to get some more coconuts.
