Alone Together • JJ Maybank

Five.

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Pope's serious voice stuttered the words again, a hint of panic in them. "No, no, guys seriously. There's a boat down there for real." I stepped forward, as John B and Kie done the same, joining Pope by his side. The water was murky, probably disrupted from the hurricane. But glistening under the surface was the outline of a boat just behind where JJ was treading water.

"Holy shit." I mumbled.

Kie and I looked at each other with the same thought. I the bottom of my summer dress, pulling over my head as Kie stepped out of her shorts. John B dived in first, joining JJ by his side as they swam towards the boat. Taking a breath, I jumped into the water, appreciating the coolness as it instantly surrounded me. Pope jumped in beside me as I broke the surface, and we quickly swam to catch the others up.

Taking another deep breath, I forced myself under the water. I wasn't half as skilled in the water as the rest of them were, and it showed when I had to come back up for air first, but not before I caught a closer glimpse of the impressive boat.

"That's a Grady-White." JJ excitedly described as soon as he and the others came back to the surface. "A new one of those is like 500 Gs, easy."

"Well it ain't worth that much down there." I said as I pulled myself back onto the boat.

"That's the boat I saw when I surfed the surge." John B said as he looked at Pope. "Maybe it hit the jetty or something."

"You surfed the surge?" Kiara took the words out of my mouth, sounding concerned.

JJ laughed, slapping John B's hand. "That's my boy, Pogues style."

"That's dumb." I rolled my eyes at them as I rung my hair out beside me.

"Wait, do we know whose boat that is?" Pope asked.

John B opened the hatch to pull out the anchor as he responded. "No, but we're about to find out."

"Dude, it's too deep."

"Once again, dumb." I repeated, more to myself than anyone else.

"Well I'm not resuscitating you. I'm just making that clear up front."

"John B." Kiara's voice sounded concerned she tried to catch his attention, but he was already lifting the anchor and walking to the edge of the boat. I looked at Kie, but she was too hooked on watching John B with a worried look on her face. Looking back towards John B, I watched as he shook his head, brushing off Kie's concern.

"Diver down." He saluted as JJ playfully shoved him off the edge. We all lent over the edge of the boat eagerly watching John B sink lower below the surface and I couldn't contain the smile on my lips as I shook my head.

"What?" JJ asked from my side.

"You're all insane." I said as I turned back to watch the water, feeling his stare lingering on me.