ᴍʏ ᴘᴀʀᴀᴍᴏᴜʀ | ꜱ.ᴄᴀᴍᴇʀᴏɴ

eleven.

"Pope, we're not stealing the drone. We're borrowing it," John B stated, his eyes focused on the road as he gestured toward the boy behind him. Marley couldn't help but bite her cheek, suppressing a smile at Pope's concerned glances exchanged between each of the Pogues.

"Humans are the only animal that can't tell fantasy from reality," Pope quoted, and Marley's eyes shifted from JJ, who was rolling a joint, to Pope with a confused look, wondering why her friend even knew that by heart.

"Wait, did you come up with that?" John B questioned.

"Albert Bernstein came up with that, but it applies to this whole treasure-hunting thing," Pope answered, turning around to face John B in the front seat, "So which is it? Fantasy or reality?"

"Why are you so weird, Pope?" Marley asked the boy as she manspreaded in the back of the Twinkie, tilting her head slightly and looking at him. She didn't even understand what he was saying since he started talking. JJ nodded in agreement as he finished up rolling the joint.

"It's fantasy, but possible reality," Kiara answered the boys' question from the front of the Twinkie. It was an unspoken rule that Kiara usually got shotgun, considering they all had a thing for her at least once.

"Reality," John B nodded as he shared a look with Kiara.

"Virtual reality," JJ corrected the boy as he flicked open his Zippo lighter, sparking up the joint. Marley and JJ shared a smile as he brought the lighter closer to burn it.

However, their smiles dropped when Pope reached over and grabbed it from JJ's lips, flicking it into the back of the Twinkie. Marley tried to catch it mid-air, but the speed was too fast for her to grab it. She huffed and looked towards Pope, observing his stern look, "Keep the signal clear."

JJ shot the boy a glare as he aggressively shut the lighter, extinguishing the flame. Just in time, John B pulled over the Twinkie, signaling that they had arrived at the salvage yard. They had an initial idea that Kiara would use her parents' car to distract the guy working and claim she had a flat tire. While she did this and the coast was clear, the rest of them would try to find the drone, most likely in the storage room. Easy plan, right?

Stepping out of the Twinkie, Marley squinted against the sunlight, her hand instinctively rising to shield her eyes. Observing this, JJ approached his sister and handed her his cap. A smile adorned her face as she donned the cap, her golden waves cascading to her shoulders as she adjusted it. The plain white t-shirt hugged her figure, accentuating her defined arms, and her tan skin glistened slightly with sweat in the heat.

"Hey, don't worry. You got this," John B smiled towards Kiara. Marley watched with a smirk as she leaned against the Twinkie, watching Kiara shake her head and look towards the twins.

"It's not me that im worried about." She chuckled, pointing towards JJ and Marley. Letting out a laugh, Marley pushed herself off the car.

The four of them made their way towards a wall, crouching down to peer over it and observe Kiara distracting the man in the salvage yard. Marley squatted slightly, her eyes fixed on the scene as the man opened the gate for Kiara. Glancing between John B and Kiara, a memory flashed in Marley's mind, remembering they were something more than a friendship. She turned to John B with a teasing smile, silently enjoying the potential drama.

"How's it going with Kiara?" Marley asked the boy, observing as he awkwardly pursed his lips into a forced smile.

"It's not awkward, weird, or anything," He answered, maintaining a forward gaze, while JJ snorted in amusement at the tone of his response.

"Honestly, I did not think you were gonna actually listen to me," JJ bit his lip, trying to suppress his amused smile, a twinkle of mischief shining in his eyes, "I was 100% sure she was into you, man. Pope and Marley would agree."