stashing it out of sight. The silence was comforting, broken only by the occasional laugh or shout from some of the motel's guests in the distance.

Pope leaned back, pulling out his notebook and flicking through the pages, his eyes scanning a few lines of text. Kiara rolled her eyes as he started to read under his breath, clearly fascinated by whatever he'd dug up. I reached over and snatched the notebook from his hands, skimming through it myself.

"Always the nerd, huh, Pope?" I tossed it back to him, grinning. "It's okay; at least one of us is actually going to get into a college."

He scoffed, a small smile breaking his serious expression. "Oh yeah? And what about you? When was the last time you even thought about applying?"

"Surprise," I shot back, "I'm planning on it. Going to send in applications once things settle down."

Both of them stared at me in disbelief, then glanced at each other, as if trying to gauge if I was serious. I laughed, feeling a small swell of pride. "I mean, come on, I'm not just a Pogue. Can't I have a future too?"

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised," Pope admitted, nodding thoughtfully. "You're always on top of your grades. Just... didn't think you'd want to leave the OBX."

Our conversation was cut short when a police boat drifted into view, its engines humming softly. We all tensed, realizing there was no way to alert JJ and John B. I felt my pulse quicken, every instinct telling me to grab something, do something.

Kiara leaned forward, her voice low. "Just... stay calm. We're not doing anything wrong."

Pope shot her a look, but nodded, and we all settled into casual positions, trying to look as if we were just waiting for someone to arrive. We exchanged nervous glances, barely breathing as the officers climbed out of the boat and started toward the motel, eyes sweeping across the parking lot.

The three of us kept our faces neutral, glancing away from the police as if they were nothing more than an inconvenience. I could only hope that JJ and John B would slip in and out quickly, with no idea we were sitting here practically in the line of fire.

The three of us watched, barely breathing, as JJ and John B crept along the roof, hiding from the police that just entered the hotel room. Just when it felt like the officers might notice something, JJ and John B hopped down, somehow undetected, and made their way back to us on the boat.

JJ landed with a thud and a wild grin, brushing off the dust from his jeans. "Well, that was fun," he smirked, looking way too pleased with himself.

"Bet it was, John Jackson," I teased, nudging him in the side. I never missed a chance to use his full name; it always got under his skin.

JJ's face fell, and he gave me a flat look. "I told you not to call me that."

I held back a grin. "You gonna throw a tantrum now?"

His glare deepened, and he shook his head, though I caught the faintest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

John B let out a dramatic sigh, crossing his arms. "Could have warned us sooner, though."

Kie rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Pope. "We could have, if Pope here wasn't so busy reliving his glory days on the math team."

JJ's head whipped around, eyebrows shooting up. "Wait—you were on the math team?"

Pope grimaced, clearly wishing he could melt into the floor. "Can we not talk about it?"

"The cops were treating that room like a crime scene," John B muttered, rubbing his forehead. The frustration was obvious—he hated being so close to answers yet never quite close enough.

"Did you find anything?" I asked, hopeful that they'd at least found a clue.

JJ's expression lit up with something like mischief, and he pulled something out of his pocket. My eyes went wide as I registered what he was holding—a gun.

"What the hell, man?!" Pope nearly yelled, his eyes going big as he backed up instinctively.

I crossed my arms, shooting JJ a withering glare. "JJ, put that thing down before you hurt yourself."

"Oh, come on, it's not like—" JJ started, but I cut him off, giving him a pointed look.

''John Jackson."

With an exaggerated sigh, JJ tucked the gun back into his waistband. Kie looked at him with barely concealed disbelief. "Why would you take that from the crime scene?"

JJ shrugged. "Better than the cops having it, right?"

Pope dropped his head in his hands, muttering something under his breath. "I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship. This is it—I'm done for."

"Not like you had a bright future ahead of you anyway," I teased, nudging him with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes, swatting my arm. "Thanks for the pep talk, Mavie."

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