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Pulling myself up, I grabbed onto the boy's arms as they help hoist me over through the hole and out of the grave. I handed the identical envelope to John B
"That's not gold," JJ said.
"Holy shit," John B said inspecting the envelope, "this is from my dad."
"I have one too," I confessed. Grabbing the envelope from Kie and holding it up for them to see. John B looked back and forth between me and the envelopes silently.
JJ's lighter clicked as he lit his joint. Me too bud, me too. I heard the soft crunch of gravel before I saw a car approaching the graveyard. Headlights shining directly onto us.
"Code red. Code red. Square groupers! Square groupers," JJ yelled out as we all scrambled behind the mausoleum, out of the path of the headlights.
"Go," Kie said shoving us all back as far as we could go.
"It's the guys who robbed your house," JJ said.
"Excuse me, what," I said, baffled by the statement.
"Light," they all frantically turned off their light sources, leaving us in the black of night.
"I see something," the grouper called out.
"Do you think it's them," Kie whispered. We all leaned around the corner to see the men coming towards us.
"Homie's got a gun," JJ said.
"Screw this," I said, taking a break for the exit, the rest not far behind me. The men started shouting as they saw us flee out of the graveyard.
We had made it to the gate, all jumping up to climb over the rotten iron. Landing safely on the group I started towards my car, leaving the rest of the group.
"I'll try to find you tomorrow," I called out to them as I jumped into the driver's seat. When I looked up, I saw Pope stuck on the iron gate. Giggling to myself as he was stuck, I heard the men continue to chase them.
Pope was yelling something about ripping when his pants completely ripped in half, leaving the underwear-clad boy to cover himself as he ran to the safety of the van.
"It's a little Tootsie Roll," JJ said to Pope, causing me to laugh even harder. I waved at the group as I put my car in drive and raced down the streets, the van not far behind me.
☾☾☾☾
It wasn't long before I split ways with the group. My original plan had been to return to OBX, open the envelope my parents left me, and leave but after my altercation with John B, I couldn't. There was a reason I felt the need to come back and I think John B could answer that question.
Pulling my car off the road, I faced my favorite spot in the banks. The dunes, filled with lush greenery rolled into the dark blue abyss. Turning off the vehicle, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had yet to really take a moment for myself. Being back in the Outer Banks has surfaced emotions, I didn't know how to handle it.
After my breath, I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car, my envelope gripped firmly in my hand. Walking through the emerald grass, I sat down on the highest dune, overlooking the ocean in front of me. I finally let the tears leak as I attempted to process the emotions I was feeling. For a while, I thought that I could process the loss of my parents. They were deep-sea researchers. The job itself was dangerous, they knew there could be a day that they'd not come back. I knew it too, but I'd always looked at the optimistic side. But I guess I was wrong. Why had they left me a single envelope, I knew that they had their suspicions of what was to come from their research.
Looking out before me, I forgot the envelope in my hand, letting it drop into the sand. I realized that grief is kind of like the cerulean waves in front of me. It comes and goes with the tides, some days are far worse than others. I swiftly wiped the tears from my eyes as I saw two figures out on the beach in front of me.
I could recognize the figures before me any day. Topper Thornton and Sarah Cameron, my ex-boyfriend and best friend. I sat watching them for a while. Not really knowing how to process them being there. I didn't really leave either relationship in a good place when I left the OBX.
New tears threatened to fall down my face as I saw Topper grab Sarah by the waist, kissing her. I never wanted Topper to wait for me, I made that clear, but I didn't expect him to move on to Sarah. I feel like I can't breathe, like suddenly I'm under the waves in front of me, as water floods into my lungs, suffocating me.
Grabbing the envelope, I swiftly walked back to my car not noticing the male watching me from the beach, also recognizing the figure facing away. I knew I had to get to John B's house to open the envelope, whatever was in his could match mine. Whatever they were looking for, his father knew something about as well.
☾☾☾☾
an
hi yes, i hate this
but i wanted to post it
also its not edited don't come for me
shoutout to ryann, lils, and lilly for listening to me struggle with it.
