𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖, ʲʲ ᵐᵃʸᵇᵃⁿᵏ

xxiii. mackin' on the kook princess

SOMETHING NEW
Chapter Twenty-Three: Mackin' on the Kook Princess

THE POUGES WERE sat around the fire, the orange glow calmer and more inviting than last time four out of the five teen were next to a fire. Ava was holding JJ's hand, a small smile on her face as his thumb ran over the bruises on her knuckles. She wished they were alone so they could talk about the kiss, it was a heat of the moment kind of thing, it needed to be discussed.

"Hey guys, so like my dad's already gonna kill me." Pope started. "So what is this mandatory meeting about?" He asked.

John B shot finger guns toward JJ who shrugged. "Might as well tell 'em, man, before we get gaffed." JJ told the brunette.

"I'm sorry, gaffed?" Ava questioned.

"You ready for this?" John B asked the group.

Kie nodded. "Yeah." She stated obviously.

"So, the gold never went down with the Royal Merchant." John B said.

Pope shook his head with a groan. "And here we go again with this." He complained.

"No. Alright, wait. Hear him out alright?" JJ asked from Pope.

Pope turned to John B as he began explaining. "It's been here the whole time. It's on the Island."

"Are you serious?" Kie asked. "Oh my God." She breathed out in disbelief.

"Okay wait, how do you know this? Your dad's research was stolen." Ava put in, not fully grasping the new information.

"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope said, ignoring Ava's question.

"I'm sure you would Pope." John B agreed, standing up for his presentation of how they were going to find the gold. "But can I please present you with my evidence, sir?"

"Proceed." Pope allowed with a wave of his hand. Ava's eyebrows furrowed as she was ignored and with feeling JJ squeeze her hand lightly she didn't feel the need to make a scene, especially when that would only stall the process of John B explaining that the gold was still out there waiting to be found, so she bit her lip and sat back.

So John B nodded. "Alright, so, in my backpack." He paused in order to unzip said backpack before continuing. "I have a letter from Denmark Tanny."

"Who the hell's that?" Kie asked with a raised eyebrow, while Ava was wondering the same thing. The blue haired girl glanced up at JJ, suddenly loosing her breath from the way he was looking back at her, the orange glow of the fire making him look beautiful even though his face was adorned with cuts and dark bruise, Ava couldn't help but find him very handsome. A shy smile crawled upon her lips as they stared at eachother.

"Have I told you how you beautiful you look tonight?" JJ whispered with a smile as well.

Ava nodded her head. "Pay attention, we're missing the lecture." She whispered back, turning back toward John B. JJ laughed a breathy, quiet laugh, leaning his head on Ava's shoulder while they listened.

"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck." He told the group, unfolding the paper that he had pulled from his backpack. "Check this out." John B handed the paper to Kie who began examining it. "Okay so slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship,  but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the Merchant to buy his freedom." Kie held the paper out to JJ, he took it and handed it to Ava.