➸

"No effing way!" Kiara yelled.

The group had organised to meet at the Chateau later that day to discuss their plan of action in preparation for when they returned to the Crain house, however, John B failed to mention that he was including Sarah in on their mission. Claire didn't have much of an issue with it, but she also didn't think that Sarah had a right to be involved considering she'd only just started hanging around John B. They'd been in it from the beginning and Sarah was crashing their party. Kiara, on the other hand, was–to put it nicely–pissed off.

"You brought her here? So what? She's in on this now?"

"Look, all I care about is her cut comes out of your share." JJ said to John.

"You know, I don't remember taking a vote." Kie said angrily. "This is our thing. A Pogue thing."

"I gotta say, I'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." Pope said.

"Thank you!"

"When are you not uncomfortable?" John B questioned.

"I dunno, I rode here on the back of JJ's bike pretty comfortably."

"It's true. Most relaxed I've ever seen him." JJ agreed.

"That's cute, guys."

"You know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Sarah said.

"Then leave."

Sarah scoffed. "I told you."

"Told him what, exactly? That you're a liar?" Kie asked.

"No, that you're a shit talking bitch." Sarah retorted.

"Oh shit." Pope muttered.

"My money's on Kie." JJ whispered, handing some money over to Pope.

Claire watched the two boys amusedly. Were they seriously betting on this dumb cat fight? The answer was yes, and honestly, Claire wanted a part of the bet.

"I bet neither–just to be different." She muttered. But before the three could go any further with their bet, John B shouted.

"Everybody shut up!"

There was silence.

"Kie, you are my best friend, right?" He asked, Kie nodded. "And Sarah, you're...you're my..."

Sarah smiled. "Say it."

"You're my girlfriend."

"Ohh...that's new." Pope murmured.

"She's your girlfriend now?" Kie asked. "What was all that talk about you were just using her for information? Get a map, cut her loose."

"You said you were using me?" Sarah asked, hurt.

"No."

"Yeah, you did." Kie, Pope, JJ and Claire said simultaneously.

"Look, love just walked in, okay?"

"Oh, vomit." Kie muttered in disgust. Claire bit her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"I didn't expect it. It just–it kind of happened. And I'm not gonna deny it. Right?"

"Oh, that's corny." Pope said quietly. JJ and Claire gagged.

"Look, cut the bullshit, John B. If she's in, I'm out."

"Kie, I'm not doing this. I can't!"

"You are gonna decide. I'm very interested, actually. Me or her?"

"Both."

"Ooh."

JJ whistled, "went for the Hail Mary."

"Wrong answer, mate." Claire said as Kiara stormed off and slammed the door behind her.

"I'm gonna leave." Sarah said.

"Sarah, don't."

"Gonna let y'all chat. Let me know." She said, and walked off as well.

"I'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully." JJ said.

"You really know how to win over the ladies." Claire added.

"Just shut up, both of you."

"I'll go talk to her." Pope offered.

The others went inside and grabbed something to drink while they waited for Pope to return. It only took about ten minutes, but Claire already knew how their conversation would have gone.

"What'd she say?" John B asked when Pope came back.

"That you're an idiot."

"It's a no-brainer. You're picking Kie." JJ said.

"Look, I can't make a decision."

"So what? We're just dead in the water because you're pussy-whipped?"

Claire chose to ignore JJ's choice of words. "John, we can't do this without Kie." She said.

"And I can't do it without Sarah. Okay? They both have to be in on it."

"Well, good luck with that."

"You know what? I know this was my fault, alright? But it's our problem. I've got a plan. And you two shitheads are gonna help me out." John B said, pointing to the boys.

"What about me?" Claire asked.

"You'll help too of course, but you're probably not gonna like your part."

Claire furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

John B simply smiled and walked off. Claire closed her eyes and sighed reluctantly, before sculling her beer.

➸

When John B decided to explain the plan to Claire the next morning, she definitely did not like it at all.

"This isn't going to work." She had said to him. "Kiara is going to murder you, and then she's gonna murder me for agreeing to it, and then I'm gonna come back from the dead and haunt you–ruin your dreams about Sarah."

"I don't dream about Sarah." John had replied. "And Kiara isn't going to murder anyone. The plan will work. Trust me, Claire."

"Famous last words."

Pope went to pick Kie up early that morning, while the other three stayed on the boat on the marsh. Claire was on lookout for the HMS Pogue to arrive and when it did, she tried to act as normal as possible.

"Pope tell you?" She asked when Kie hopped on.

"Yeah." Kie said and walked inside the cockpit to see the boys. "What happened?"

"Uh, the alternator's, uh, not alternating anymore." JJ said.

"It's not charged." John B corrected.

"Did you check the plugs?" Kie asked.

"No, no. You should check 'em. Give it a whirl."

"You guys are useless."

"Sorry about that."

"Uh...is this a joke?" Kie questioned. "There are no plugs, like, at all."

Claire watched as the two boys ran and jumped over the side of the yacht.

"Sayonara!" John B yelled.

Kie came running out and that's when the banging started. Sarah had been locked down below and Claire felt so guilty the entire time. She hated being left in the middle of this.

"John B! Let me out!" Sarah yelled.

Kiara looked at Claire, who gave her a guilty shrug in response as she opened the locked door.

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked.

"What the hell?" Kie exclaimed and ran to the edge. "Guys!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Get your asses back here!" Kie demanded.

"We can't. Not until you two figure it out." John B said.

"I will kill every single one of you!" Kie glanced at Claire as well.

"You can't just leave!" Sarah yelled.

"There's food in the cabin, and JJ rolled a blunt." Pope said.

"Hydroponic!"

"Claire, I can't believe you let them do this!" Kie exclaimed.

"I'm sorry! I told John B it was a stupid idea but they didn't listen. And they left me here on purpose, so I'm just as stranded as you are." Claire said sympathetically. Kie rolled her eyes.

"Well, I would rather drown than stay here with you, so..." She muttered to Sarah.

Both of them started to strip into their bikini's, and Claire figured she'd do the same since they'd be stuck here for a long while.

"Fine, be my guest. Maybe you'll finally shut the hell up." Sarah spat.

"You don't even know where you're going."

"I don't care. Good luck with the oyster beds." Sarah said and dived into the water. "Wait! John B, you asshole!"

"They're not coming back for you!" Kie said wearily. Claire came to stand beside her and the two friends watched the Kook princess fail to reach the boys.

"Love you guys, bye!" JJ called out.

Suddenly Sarah screamed and Kie rolled her eyes. "What?"

"I got stung by a jellyfish! Shit!"

Claire and Kie glanced at each other impatiently.

"Dramatic." Kie muttered.

Sarah sobbed as she climbed up the ladder.

"Well you swam right into a man 'o war, I don't know what you thought was gonna happen."

"Thanks for your help." She gasped, and sat down. "Shit! Ow!"

"Does it hurt?" Kie smirked.

"Kie, stop enjoying this so much." Claire giggled.

"Hey, you know what they say...about curing jellyfish stings?" Sarah asked.

"No."

"You have to pee on me."

"I have a better idea."

Kie grabbed the hydroponic blunts JJ had left for them so the girls sat down and started smoking.

"Go easy. It's JJ's cousin's Cripple." Kie said as Sarah took a really long drag.

She then started to cough. Like, a lot.

Kie and Claire just rolled their eyes.

~

That night, the awkwardness was still there, but the girls had smoked a lot–especially Sarah–and seemingly, most of the tension had lifted. Sarah had been giggling non stop though.

"Wow. Hey, guess what? Would you rather...have–I was imagining you like this just now. It was pretty funny. Would you ima–would you rather...have nipples for eyes or eyes for nipples?" Sarah rambled.

Claire was highly amused but Kiara looked about ready to throttle the blonde girl.

"Imagine if you get really old and your nipples–your boobs get saggy, and your nipples, if they were your eyes, you could see if your shoes were untied." She chuckled, then shook her head as Kie glanced at her irritatedly.

"Is this like your first time smoking or something?" Kie asked.

"No." Sarah said sheepishly.

Kie rolled her eyes and looked at Claire who was sitting beside her. Claire simply shrugged.

"Hey, Kiara..."

"Oh, my God. Enough of the 'hey, Kiara' bullshit! Why'd you do it?"

"Why did I do what?"

"We were best friends." Kie said. "We–we stole beers from your dad's fridge, we watched movies together, we cried about boys. And the next thing I know, I'm watching your birthday party happen from Instagram."

"It was one party."

"You invited everybody except me."

Claire watched the two girls intently; she felt like this was a conversation she should've let them have in private, but she herself had been curious as to why Kiara hated Sarah so much–and there wasn't really anywhere for her to go to give them privacy to talk it out.

"And then you told everybody I was the reason that the party got busted."

"Okay, well, who else would've called the cops?"

"You never asked. You just let the rumour go that I was a rat. You were my best friend, and then you ghosted me, and I don't even know why!" Kie exclaimed, tearing up.

Claire's heart lurched at the hurt in her best friend's voice.

"I mean, really, what did I do?"

"You liked me."

"What?"

"When...people get...close to me, I feel trapped. And...I bail." Sarah explained. "And then I blame them for it. I'm really sorry..." she took a deep breath, "and I miss you. Do you think there's a chance that we could be okay again?"

"Honestly...I don't know." Kie said.

"Look, you guys don't have to be best friends again," Claire spoke up, "like, obviously you're not gonna be as close as you were, but it doesn't mean you can't not be friends again."

"Well, I'm willing to try." Sarah smiled.

Claire and Sarah looked at Kie, Claire nudged her best friend playfully and Kie sighed, rolling her eyes but a small smile was playing at her lips.

"Yeah, I guess I can try too."

"Good, that's progress." Claire grinned. "My work here is done."

Soon the girls had made themselves comfortable and ready for bed, and Claire was almost asleep but Kiara spoke so she stayed awake to listen.

"Hey, Sarah?"

"Hey, Kiara,"

"Promise me that you won't bail on John B." Kie said. "He's not just...some other guy. And he really, really likes you."

"I won't." Sarah said.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Also, I'm sorry I called the cops." Kie apologised.

"I knew it."

The girls started laughing.

"I knew it, you bitch!" Sarah giggled. "I told you!"

"You–you should've invited me." Kie laughed.

"So you called the cops?"

"Yes!"

The next morning, the girls woke up early and waited for the boys to arrive. When they did, Sarah and Kie pretended to still hate each other so naturally, Claire played along.

"Don't give them the satisfaction of thinking this worked." Kie muttered.

"Absolutely not." Sarah agreed.

"You gotta admit it was kinda funny." John B said.

"John B."

"Uh, what's that?"

"Mastermind, huh?"

"I'm always plannin'."

"Some patriarchal bullshit." Kie said.

"Yeah, that sucked." Sarah muttered.

"You need to come up with better plans. And next time, leave me out of them." Claire added.

"You still love us though, right?" JJ asked them, throwing Kie the rope.

"Debatable." Claire said.

"Hey, you still hate me?" John asked Sarah.

"A little. We're gonna get you back when you least expect it." She replied.

"Watch your back boys."

"I for one welcome that challenge." Pope said.

"Me too." JJ said.

"So, did you guys, you know..."

"Reconcile our differences?"

Sarah shook her head. "Mm-mm."

"Not even close." Kie said.

"There was a compromise, however." Claire said.

"We're...willing to work together." Sarah agreed.

"You know what? That's victory."

"Yep." JJ said. "Know what it was guys? Hydroponic."

"Don't say that."

"All right, shut up. You guys ready?" John B asked.

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

Kie jumped onto the boat, while Sarah and Claire carefully made their way onto it, JJ lending them both a helping hand. Claire's body tingled at the feel of his hand in hers, and she tried her hardest not to get flustered in front of him. She let go of his hand as soon as she stepped on the boat and moved to sit on the opposite side, ignoring the confused look JJ gave her.

The six of them then made their way back to the mainland.

➸