The Pogues

Protecting Her from Big Bad Kooks

Cassie was in her natural element. The water swarmed her body in her small black bathing suit that hugged her curves well. She gave a thumbs up to John B, who was swimming underwater with her while they tested the drone that had gotten the day before. The day that Cassie couldn't stop thinking about in her fleeting moments with JJ that night.

She swam up to the surface with John B, looking up at Kie, JJ, and Pope with the visual of the camera in the water. "Hey, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim," John B planned. JJ groaned, "It's bullshit. Why do we have to do that?"

Pope hung over the wooden panel on the marina, "Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up." "I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro," JJ explained. John B talked from the water, "As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp."

Cassie looked between all of them as JJ smiled at her as Kie looked at John B, "How do you know all of that?" John B shrugged, "'Cause my dad said it, like, a million times."

Cassie thought about it for a moment, "I mean, he is right." Cassie swam over to the ladder to get back up as Pope thought out loud, "This tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, it could get pushed around."

JJ helped Cassie up as she dripped on the wood, making both of them blush in her small and tight bikini. John B looked around, still in the water, "Then we'll go at dead calm."

In the distance, a deep rumble of thunder came from the clouds making Kie ask, "At slack tide?"

"So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather. And today is not that day," Pope noted as he looked out into the sky with the growing clouds. JJ looked between Cassie and the sky which let out another speech of thunder, making her lean next to him to look out into the water. Their arms were touching when she laid her head on his arm. She couldn't get JJ out of her head and she couldn't help but wonder what JJ was thinking. While JJ did the opposite, admiring her perfect skin and long hair that danced with him the night before that he couldn't get to leave his thoughts, wondering if she felt the same.

Maybe one day, they'd think in sync.

~~~

Later that day, Cassie went home and had to wait for the technicians to help her with the electricity and generators. It took a few hours and finally when she signed the last papers, she gifted them some home-made muffins and sent them on their way.

She knew JJ and Pope were doing a job for Heyward while Kie and John B were waiting to go surfer because after all, it was the perfect day. She grabbed her keys and a covering for her bathing suit before locking the door and running out to start her car. She hopped into the jeep and drove to the beach with her surfboard in her trunk.

Coincidentally, when she arrived, she also saw JJ and Pope walking towards the water. She pulled off her covering and anchored her ankle strap with her surfboard in her right hand. "Hey, save some waves for us!" JJ yelled as the three ran towards the water to the remaining two Pogues.

Cassie wasn't the best surfer but she could hold her own and do some party tricks. JJ was the best surfer on the island by far as he was able to weave the waves with ease. So for some hours until dark, the Pogues were able to just be teenagers, surfing the waters of the great OBX.

~~~

"You really think it's out there? Like, no bullshit?" Pope asked as the Pogues sat in complete darkness except for the brilliant moon. Pope, John B, and Kie were settled in some laid out lawn chairs with the perfect warm air consuming all of them. JJ and Cassie laid together on the hammock beside them, tangled together. Neither of the pair talked about what they were feeling but it was just instinct to wrap themselves together as they laid under the stars.