𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐒 ━━ SARAH CAMERON

41

"HOW'S BLAKE?"

"He's settling down at your house," Kaden replied to John B's question as he sat down beside Pope. "He was getting bored in the hospital, and was annoying the nurses and doctors so they discharged him. He's fine now, anyway. They only kept him for precautionary measures."

"Your brother's. . ." JJ trailed off, sounding incredibly amused, "something."

"He's just like you," Kiara muttered, placing a glass of what Kaden assumed was juice in front of him. "I wonder how you were when you were his age."

Kaden's lips pursed at the words that left the girl's mouth. He wished they hadn't brought up his childhood, but then again, they had no idea what his life was growing up; having to witness his parents fight on a daily basis. Seeing his dad hit his mom then blame it on alcohol and whatnot. Hearing the excuses that his mom would make up upon returning home late from work when her words would come out slurred and she'd smell like sex and alcohol— sometimes she wouldn't even bother with the excuses. Having to stay with Blake in his room, keeping the doors locked and putting on loud music so they wouldn't hear what was happening on the other side of the door. Being greeted by random women and men his dad would bring home in his mom's absence— getting touched by them without his consent. It wasn't until one of them took it a little too far that his grandfather took him away from that hell hole.

"It was fun," he bit out, the shift in mood didn't go unnoticed by his friends. Luckily, they chose to not comment on it.

"You guys," John B suddenly spoke up, a certain amount of excitement in his tone. "I've been texting Sarah."

"Huh? Sarah Cameron?" Kiara frowned, clearly not liking where this was about to go. "What do you mean?"

"She dropped by last night," John B began telling them the same story he told Kaden earlier that day. The latter wasn't paying attention until he heard him say something that bothered him for some unknown reason. "I texted her. Didn't know she'd reply."

Kaden wasn't sure how to feel upon hearing the words that were leaving his friend's mouth. He couldn't describe the sudden emotion that crashed upon him and consumed his entire self. He glared at John B in the corner of his eyes and Pope was the only one who noticed it. His lips twitched and he softly nudged him. Kaden raised his brows at him and only earned a knowing smirk in response.

"You should stay away from Sarah Cameron," Kiara said, sounding slightly on edge.

John B's head snapped in her direction, his brows furrowed. Everyone knew of Kiara's and Sarah's falling down, but they were never told the reason behind it. "What? Why?"

"She's a kook," Kiara answered as if that was enough of a reason for him to stay away.

Kaden scoffed, "so are you."

"But I'm not like her," Kiara argued. "She's a spoilt brat. She's going to ruin you if you get too close. I don't trust her. I mean, she's the reason why Topper burnt your house down— why Blake got hurt. It's all because of her."

"That wasn't her fault," Kaden frowned. "Topper's a dick. He burnt my house down because I hit him, and he got mad. It's got nothing to do with her."

"I was there when you hit him," Kiara sighed. "He called Sarah a slut, and you got mad. So, it's because of her. Topper's her boyfriend, she shouldn't be hanging around other guys— especially not you. She's also the reason why you went to jail. She could've talked to Topper's mom, but she didn't. She could've prevented all this from happening."

"You're being ridiculous," Kaden frowned. "She couldn't have prevented shit from happening. You don't know what you're saying. You're only saying what you are because of your little disagreement with her."

"I'm not," Kiara lifted her chin defiantly. "I'm saying all those because it's true. She's the reason why all this is even happening."

"Give me a fucking break," Kaden mumbled, not buying the words leaving her mouth. While he liked Kiara, he also knew how she could be at times.

"I'll be just fine," John B cut in, in an attempt to ease the tension that suddenly rose between them. "Me and Sarah, I mean. Just watch."

"Sure. Have fun," Kaden couldn't help the bitterness in his tone. JJ snorted at that, flashing him a taunting smirk when he shot him a subtle glare. Kaden resisted the urge to roll his eyes when JJ and Pope exchanged a look— he knew all too well what these two were thinking of and he hated it.

"Anyways, I've been doing some research about the gold, you know. . . the lost one." John B began and Kaden stilled. "My dad was obsessed with that before he disappeared at sea. I found a lot of things in his office regarding it and it's interesting so. . . I say we go look for it."

"It's just a legend," Kaden muttered with a shake of his head. "There's no such thing."

"We should check it out for ourselves," John B persisted, looking at the others. "Aren't you guys interested? What if we find it? We'll be rich. Our lives will change."

"I mean. . ." JJ trailed off, shrugging. Anything that involved money, he was in and they all knew that.

"It's a long shot," Pope sighed.

"It's a shot in the dark," Kaden said. "There is no lost gold, alright? Even if there was, it must've already been found by now. That happened years ago."

"Well, if someone found it then why did nobody say anything?" Kiara asked, raising a brow. "I mean, it should've been on the news or something."

"Maybe the person didn't want anyone to know that he found it," Kaden shrugged. "I mean, it's a lot of money— and would attract thieves, or whatever potential dangers and whatnot to that person. You know how greedy people get for money, and the lengths they'd go to get that amount would be insane. Also, the government might try to claim it as their own. If someone found it, it was smart to keep their mouths shut about it."

"So, you think someone found it?" Pope questioned earning a nod from him. "I believe so, yes."

"What if you're wrong?"

"Then, good luck," was Kaden's response to John B's question. "Not only will you be wasting your time, but also you'll be putting yourselves in danger because who knows who else is after that probably non existent gold right now?"

"So. . ." JJ paused, his brows furrowing, "you're not gonna help us find it?"

"Nope," Kaden said, "I'm not indulging this." He wasn't going to do the same thing his grandfather did to Ward. That was exactly what got him killed. "Good luck, though."

"Nah, man." Pope shook his head, clicking his tongue. "I'm not doing this. K's right, I'm not going to waste my time looking for something that probably doesn't even exist."

"If it does, then we're losing a huge opportunity here." John B said, trying to convince them. His eyes darted to JJ who looked like he was having a mental debate. Finally, the blonde looked up, then shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to try. If we find it, we go full kook. If we don't, we go back to catching fishes again. Either way, life goes on. Come on, you guys. It'll be fun."

Kaden never felt so guilty in his entire life. He had money, three of his friends didn't. Yet, he couldn't use that to help them because he didn't want to have them look at him any differently. He let out a small sigh, leaned back in his seat and watched Pope slowly agree to JJ's idea. John B smiled at that, looking pleased as did Kiara. They all slowly shifted their eyes to him, waiting for him to agree too.

However, much to their disappointment, he shook his head. "I've got better things to do. But you guys have fun though."

"Alright, party crasher." John B rolled his eyes, but then chuckled. "Hey, if we do find it, you aren't getting shit."

"I wouldn't expect to," was all he said. "Have fun." At least he knew he was not going to be there to witness the disappointment they would all so obviously feel upon realising that there was no gold anymore.