THE PRINCE'S QUEEN | J.MAYBANK

[7]

"Top! Top look! Look at me!" Ten-year-old Eleanor screamed from the rooftop of the Thorton's house. The young eleven-year-old boy snapped his head up, and his eyes widened once he realized she was going to jump off the roof into the large blue swimming pool.

"Elle! Elle no! Get down from there!" the blonde squealed in his high pitched voice. He hadn't yet hit puberty, and his sister liked to tease him about how he sounded like a mouse. Eleanor laughed and jumped off the roof without a second thought.

"Elle!" Topper cried as the Latina landed into the cold water. Her hair and clothes got soaked in the water, and as she resurfaced, she felt Topper's slim arms wrap around her.

"What ya doin' Top?" Eleanor teased.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" He asked breathlessly, and she chuckled.

"I'm fine. Top, it was fun!" She exclaimed, "but thank you for worrying about me. I love you."

"Any --" he took another gasp for air, "--time. And I l--love you to--too."

~:*:~

John B sighed heavily, "It's not there. Look, -- pull the drone up." He huffed as the sky rumbled.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath and ran a hand through my curly hair. I walked over to JJ, who was looking out at sea with an irritated expression. He started jerking with the steering wheel in frustration.

"Look, we can do another pass, recharge the battery. We can -- we can go back down," Pope said hopefully.

"We've done it three times. There's nothing there," JJ spat.

"Shut up!" Kie defended.

"What? It's true," JJ snapped, and I rested my hand on his shoulder, calming his tense muscles.

"The gold could be buried. We don't know," Kiara yelled.

"If it was there, it would've been found on the metal detector, okay?" John B cut in, "somebody beat us to it."

"Or it was never there," JJ hissed, and I shushed him calmly. He sighed and wrapped his arm around my waist, bringing me into him. I started playing with his wispy hair and pulling him into a side embrace.

~:*:~

As John B dropped me off at the dock, I smiled sadly at everyone and kissed JJ on the cheek before stepping off onto the pier. I rushed up to my house only to see Topper and my mom running towards the dock that the Pogues had just pulled out of.

They raced past me down to the other side of the large dock where a man slouched.

"How could this even happen?" Mom spat at the man who stood next to a large crane like It was his fault or something. I slowly walked near Topper and looked down in the water to see the sunken 2020 Malibu 24-MXC. I held back a smirk and instead replaced it with a frown, looking at Topper. He shot me a deathly glare then looked back at the man.

"Boat like this don't just sink, Dr. Thornton," the man explained bluntly.

"How much is this gonna cost me?" Mom asked and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ah, submerged 24 hours, so you're lookin' at 25, 30K," the man estimated, and Topper huffed, shaking his head as he snapped his head down towards me. I mouthed a sharp 'what,' and he rolled his eyes, turning back to the conversation.

"And insurance won't cover it?" Mom asked, starting to get irritated.

The man chuckled as if this was some type of joke, which I considered to be as well, but at least I hid my enthusiasm, "no, not for operator error. Plug wasn't in there," he stated. Mom slowly removed her gaze from the man to Topper. She had a scowl that said it was his fault.