Carson Keller used to think her biggest problem was their rivalry against the Kooks, but that was until buried secrets rose to the surface. Now her biggest problems included a dangerous treasure hunt and a hot-headed teenage boy.
✰ season 1-3 ✰
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"DON'T LET IT GET IN YOUR HEAD, BROTHER. There was three of them and two of us," JJ said. They were at Pope's dad's place. The night before had been wild with Rafe and his friends attacking them. Carson had a bit of bruising on her ribs from it, but she could tell that Pope was shaken up from the whole thing. Getting jumped was not a fun experience. "That's some typical Kook shit right there."
"Hell yeah," Kiara said.
"Too much of cowards that they had to gang up on you," Carson said. "They wouldn't know what a fair fight looked like if they bit them in the ass." If it had only been two of them, there was a much higher chance that JJ and Pope would have won.
"What was your thought process with using your head?" JJ asked.
"I don't know, man. I just kind of acted off instinct, alright," Pope said. "I was a cornered animal."
"Hey, Pope, someone here to see you," his father called. At first Carson thought it could have been the Kooks again, but then she figured they couldn't be that stupid to show up in the middle of the day at a public place like this. If they were going to jump them again, it would be where no one could see. The sight of Deputy Shoupe made her realize how much worse it actually was though.
"Evening, Officer," Pope said nervously. Pope already hated getting in trouble, but the fact that a police officer was there for him was the worst thing he could imagine.
"I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property," Deputy Shoupe said. "Keep your hands on the counter where I can see 'em." No one had been expecting that, not even JJ or Pope had been aware of what they had done.
"Shoupe, what'd he do?" Heyward asked.
"Look at the warrant," he replied.
"You're arresting him?" Carson said, even though that was pretty obvious. It was just a shock to see Pope in handcuffs.
"You're just gonna arrest my boy?" Heyward said in disbelief.
"How much did they pay you, man? How much did they pay you?" JJ yelled. They followed them outside to where Shoupe was leading Pope to the cop car. Heyward had to hold JJ back as Carson and Kiara continued to demand answers from the deputy. He just ignored them as he led Pope away. Just as he was about to put him in the car, JJ screamed.
"It wasn't him! It was me," he said. They all looked back at JJ. "He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he'd just been beaten up. I was so sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit. I can't let you take the blame for somethin' I did. You've got too much to lose." He was right, Pope had his whole future basically lined up for him. But Carson also couldn't watch JJ ruin his.
"JJ, stop," Carson said.
"What are you doing?" Pope said.
"I'm tellin' the truth. For once in my goddamn life, I'm gonna tell the truth," he said. "I took his old man's boat, too."
