smooth seas//john b

ten

JJ and I stand with Pope on the dock. John B and Kie are in the water with the drone. On the screen I see John B rubbing his teeth.

JJ points at a button. "What's this right here?"

Pope smacks his hand away. "Don't touch that. I'm trying to work out this thing."

"God bless geeks, Pope. Truly, man. What would we do without you to control the drones?" I tease.

"Technically it's not a drone. It's an ROV," Pope starts.

"Shut up. Shut up. It's too early for that right now," JJ states.

"Hey look, once we get footage of the wreck, we'll bring it to a lawyer in town and file a formal claim," John B tells us.

"See it's bullshit why we have to do that," JJ says,

"Well, there is maritime salvage law. You can't just go to the ocean floor and scoop a bunch of stuff up," Pope reasons.

"I know. I know. It's just lawyers aren't cheap, bro," JJ offers.

"As soon as they see the footage, they'll work for a comp," John B assures.

"How do you know all of that?" Kie asks.

"'Cause my dad said it, like, a million times," John B says.

"Yeah, that's fair," Kiara reasons.

"This tether is, like, really long. In the wrong weather, it could get pushed around," Pope warns.

"Then we'll go at dead calm," John B says.

Thunder rumbles overhead.

"At slack tide," I say.

"So now, we just gotta wait around for the right weather. And today is not that day," Pope states.

A storm is rolling in. The clouds are dark and I can already hear the thunder.

Everyone leaves but John B and I. I sit with my legs hanging off the dock as John B is in the water.

"You gonna tell me what happened last night?" John B asks.

"Nothing happened," I assure him.

John B gives me a look. "You seemed kind of upset."

"I was a little drunk, that's it," I counter.

John B nods. "Sure."

I nod my head. "Yeah."

John B smiles at me. "Cause you would never keep a secret from your best friend."

I shake my head. "Never."

"Never," John B repeats.

I scream as John B pulls me off the dock and into the water. When I resurface I laugh. "John B!"

He smiles. "What. You looked a little hot."

I splash him. "Hey, do you remember... when you kissed me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I remember," John B tells me.

"Did you tell JJ?" I ask.

"Um... I had to. I mean, Pogues don't lie to Pogues, right? And plus, JJ just laughed at me because you shot me down, so..." John B explains.

I scoff. "I didn't shoot you down. I mean, it was really bad timing. You were freaking out, right?"

John B nods. "Yeah. Yeah, no, I... I was freaking out. I was freaking out. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering. It's not..." I trail off.

John B nods. "Is this about Topper?" John B asks.

I shake my head. "No."