"Hey." Kie walked over to the hammocks. "What are you doing?"

"Saw John B and Sarah having a little trouble in paradise and stole the hammock as soon as they left." Skyler gave a small snort, moving her feet. "Wanna get in?"

Kie got in on the opposite side, her legs by Skylers head with an exhale. The girl laughed slightly. "Uh, oh. What's that for?"

"Pope." she admitted with a shake of her head. "I wanted to let him down easy but I don't think I did."

"You and Pope?" she gave a questionable look. "I didn't know that was a real thing."

"It's not, maybe I just was trying to force it to be." Kie explained with a shake of her head. "I don't know, it just didn't feel right."

"How come?" she hummed in response, moving her feet so they didn't dig into Kie's armpit if she moved.

"I don't know." she admitted in return. "It was a perfect setting, really. And, Pope is perfect, he's fantastic. And the beach, and it was all just perfect."

Skyler rose her eyebrows. "Except it wasn't?"

"Except it wasn't." Kie agreed with an exhale. "He said he understood for our friendships sake, but, I don't know. It felt a little off."

"He's Pope, though." Sky pointed out. "Maybe it hurt him, but he's not gonna hold it against you forever. Either way, like you said, you guys have been friends for years. No one's gonna throw that long of a friendship away because of an inconvenience on a beach."

Kie gave a grin. "Thanks for getting it. Again."

"Told you." Skyler pointed at her head. "Oxytocin."

Kie gave a small snort, being cut off by JJ running their way. "Guys, we gotta go!"

"What happened!" they called on sync.

"Something happened to Popes dad, we gotta go!" he encouraged, the pair getting out of the hammock together.

"Let me know if i'm hurting you." Sarah spoke as she bandaged up Hayward's bruises and cut face.

"You're doing just fine." he gave a small groan. "Thank you, darlin."

"Pop, what happened?" Pope leaned on his level.

"Oh, I should've known better." Hayward shook his head. "He came in just as I was about to lock up. Caught me by surprise. Once he had me down, he put his knee in my chest, and he asked me about that-that-that key from that-that drawing you showed me. And in case you're wondering, I ain't tell him nothing. Now, did you track it down?"

Pope pulled the key from his pocket, showing it to his dad. "I found it in Mee-maws old apartment above the pharmacy just like you said."

"Shit, boy, you should've gave this to me. I wouldn't have had to take a beating." Hayward looked his way with a shake of his head. "What's the big deal? It ain't worth anything. Why they want it so bad?"

"I didn't know. First, I get this letter telling me that I need to go to Charleston. And then I meet a rich lady who wants me to give her a key that I didn't even know was in my family." Pope explained quickly with wide, panicked eyes.

"None if it makes any sense." Kie shook her head, Skyler rubbed her back slightly

"Well, don't y'all just sit here whining about it." Hayward looked toward the girls. "Figure it out!"

"No, i'm just gonna give the key to that lady. It's not worth-" Pope began, being cut off.

"No, no, no, no. Did I raise you to back down from a fight, boy?" the older man shook his head at him. Pope shook his head. "Well, all right. Now, I-I didn't think about it before. I admit that. But now..now? I'm interested. Well, did they say why they wanted it?"

"Something about an old cross." Pope explained.

"With an angel." Skyler nodded.

"Yeah, with an angel." Pope agreed with her. "I think it might be some kind of lost treasure."

Hayward nodded. "You know who you should talk to? Your great-grandmother, Mee-maw."

"She said the key leads to the Cross of Santo Domingo." Pope spoke as the group all rode together in the Twinkie.

"Wait. Can I see that?" JJ reached his hand out.

"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Sarah spoke up in questioning. "Skyler?"

"Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic." she spoke up from the back with a shrug. "I don't know about any cross though."

"I'm guess it's some sort of historical artifact of great importance." Pope spoke alongside her.

"Well, according to the interweb, it was a gift from New Spain to the Spanish king." Kie read from her phone screen, Skyler leaned over to look down at it.

"New Spain? Is there an Old Spain?" JJ questioned.

"Shit, talk about over-gifting. Look at this thing." Kie leaned forward to show a cross drawing. "It's like there's a person standing next to it."

"So, it's a giant-ass cross." JJ hummed in response.

"It was widely considered at the time to be the most extravagant tribute ever from the provinces." Kie continued to read. "It was lost off the coast of Bermuda in 1829."

"Did you just say Bermuda?" JJ looked back at her.

"Oh, no. Not the triangle." John B shook his head.

"It always leads back to the triangle, dude." JJ shook his head. "Like every single time somethings weird, it's Bermuda."

"You know, there's a theory that aliens used the triangle to get to and from our planet." Skyler spoke up to feed into JJs thoughts. "I believe it."

"Sky, you are so smart and you believe in aliens?" John B asked from behind the wheel, shaking his head.

"There are way too many unsolved sightings to not make it true." she argued from the back seat. "And the accident photo with Virgin Mary."

"I saw that one." JJ nodded her head.

"What does a key found above your mee-maw's pharmacy have to do with any of this?" Kie looked to Pope for answers. "Where do we come in?"

"I don't know. That's a good question." Pope exhaled with a shake of his head. John B pulled up to the nursing home near the east side of the island, JJ getting out to open the door.

Pope got out first, looking back as Kie started to follow. "Hey, um, actually I think I'm gonna do this one by myself."

"Are you sure?" she nodded her head.

"Yeah, I can handle it. I don't really need you, so.." he trailed off as Skylers eyes widened from inside the van still.

"Oh, we're just all one big happy family today, aren't we?" JJ hummed as he looked between the two.

Skyler reached over when Pope walked away, pulling on Kie's belt loop to make her look back at her. "Hungry?"

She shrugged. "I could eat."

"Oh course I thanked Topper." Sarah spoke as the trio searched around the corner store. "He saved my life, and I'd put him through so much already. And you'd think that its the crime of the century."

"I mean, I get why John B would be, I don't know, annoyed. But with you? That's just stupid." Skyler spoke as she grabbed the turkey sandwich. "Like, what are you expected to do? Walk away and not give a little thank you to the bitch that saved you from drowning? I mean, regardless of who it was, even Voldemort or-or Freddy Krueger, i'd likely still thank them."

"See, exactly." Sarah agreed.

"Tell me about it. All this crazy shits happening, and Popes giving me the silent treatment for not being in love with him." Kie explained as she got her sandwich, the three dropping it on the counter.

"And we're the dramatic ones." Sarah joked.

"You know, i'm so happy I don't have to deal with hetero drama sometimes." Skyler spoke up honestly, throwing a pack of gum onto the counter as well. "Only, i've just gotta deal with girls, who know how to gab it in your heart because they knew exactly how you feel."

"Yeah, and had you in tears for a month." Sarah hummed in agreement.

"What happened?" Kie asked, paying for her sandwich while Skyler got hers and Sarahs.

"Last semester I started dating this girl. And, she's fantastic, right? She was nice, and she really listened to me, and she always considered my feelings in situations, had the most prettiest smile i've ever seen." Skyler listed on, shaking her head. "And long behold, after kissing me on the beach, she just did it to make her ex boyfriend jealous."

"Are you kidding?" Kie asked in disbelief, pushing the door open.

"I wish." Skyler exhaled with a shake of her head. "And, whatever, if she liked guys too, that cool, I have nothing against people that like multiple genders. But to lead me on like that? For a dudes sake? Broke my heart, man."

"Ready to go?" John B looked out the window.

"Yeah!" Skyler called, walking from the two girls to get in first.

It didn't take long to get to the nursing home, picking up Pope as he huffed, pulling the door. With an exhale, John B looked back at him. "So, how'd it go?"

"Shit just got way more personal." he explained.

•

kylie speaks

kie rn: i could be a better gf🙄