𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 / ❛ I mean, I could show you❜

[ episode one, pilot ]

Brooklyn woke up groggy and sore, the remnants of last night's storm lingering in her mind. Thunder had rolled through the island, shaking the windows and rattling her sleep. She pulled her soft white comforter tighter around her and stared up at the ceiling, trying to shake off the exhaustion.

Her room felt like a sanctuary—walls covered with posters of The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey, alongside photos with Sarah and the Pogues. Each piece of decor was deliberate. The mix of dark tones and bright accents gave her room both a peaceful and vibrant setting, a reflection of how she balanced the chaos of her world.

With a sigh, Brooklyn rolled out of bed and padded over to her dresser, where a few loom bands, anklets, and the gold necklace Keillin had given her lay scattered. She absentmindedly fastened the necklace around her neck, its familiar weight comforting her.

As she made her way downstairs, she could hear the familiar sounds of her parents moving around the house, the soft murmur of voices filtering through the hallway.

"You survived the storm, I see." Charlotte, Brooks mom spoke.

"Just barely," Brooklyn replied with a tired grin, heading straight for the fridge. She grabbed a Gatorade and took a long sip, feeling the coldness wake her up a little more. She glanced over at Charlotte, who was sipping her coffee. They exchanged a quick smile, unspoken words of routine and care.

Brooklyn took her drink and walked out the back door, the screen closing shut behind her. She spotted her brother, Keillin, and Kelce out in the backyard, kicking around a soccer ball, the morning sun already beating down with a relentless heat that replaced the storm's chill.

"Yo, Brook!" Kelce called out, catching sight of her. He kicked the ball in her direction, and she instinctively trapped it with her foot, bouncing it between her knees before sending it back with a strong kick. Kelce grinned, impressed.

"See you later!" she called out as she spotted her friends pulling closer to the dock. She took one last swig of her drink, squinting as the familiar boat approached. She spotted John B at the wheel, looking like he was born to drive it, with JJ sprawled out as if he didn't have a single care. And then there was Pope, who, as usual, was the only one taking "steady" seriously.

She shook her head, grinning to herself. Same old Pogues. Some things never changed, and that was more comforting than she'd admit. JJ offered her a hand as she stepped onto the boat.

"Morning, Brook," John B greeted her with a smile, his hand shading his eyes from the sun.

"Morning," she replied, settling beside JJ, who immediately leaned in with a cheeky grin.

"Survived the storm, huh?" JJ teased, ruffling her hair as she rolled her eyes.

"Barely," Brooklyn quipped, taking a sip of her drink.

They picked up Kie a few minutes later, and soon the Pogues were off, cruising through the still, debris-filled water. As they passed under the bridge, the group fell into a comfortable rhythm.

"Hey, what's the plan today?" JJ asked, his voice lazy as he stretched out on the deck.

John B shrugged, eyes scanning the horizon. "Not sure. Maybe we find some treasure, maybe we don't. Could always just take a swim to Antarctica." he spoke sarcastically.

Brooklyn smirked. "I think we're due for some Macarena practice."

John B raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Macarena, huh? You gonna show me how it's done?"

"I mean, I could show you how it's done," Brooklyn teased, fishing her phone out of her bag. "But you might not be able to keep up."

She quickly found the song and hit play, the familiar beat of the Macarena filling the air. JJ jumped to his feet with excitement, and without hesitation, Brooklyn joined him, the two of them dancing across the boat with exaggerated enthusiasm.

The boat lurched unexpectedly as they danced, sending them both crashing into the water with a loud splash.

"Shit!" Kiara shouted from the boat, laughing as she watched them.

Brooklyn surfaced, gasping and laughing as she wiped the water from her eyes. JJ bobbed up beside her, groaning.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I think my heels touched the back of my head," he muttered, rubbing the spot as they swam toward the boat.

JJ flashed a grin and gave her shoulder a pat. "But hey, I saved the beer!"

Brooklyn rolled her eyes, feeling the soaked fabric of her flannel cling to her skin.

"You're alright, right?" JJ spoke, gazing at her. She nodded, her back falling down onto the floor of the boat.

"What happened, Pope?" John B asked, straightening his posture from the sudden stop.

"Sandbar. The channel shifted." Pope replied, peering into the water. He froze, his eyes catching something below the surface. "Guys, there's a boat down there."

"No way," John B moved to join Pope, also looking into the water.

"Seriously, there's a boat," Pope pointed down, his voice steady but laced with intrigue.

"You think it was caught in the storm?" Brook spoke.

John B nodded, "Looks like it."

"Let's check it out!" JJ pulled off his shirt and dived into the water without a second thought. Seconds after, the boys were diving in too.

Brooklyn joined the boys, her and Kie swimming deeper down to catch up with them.

The group inspected the boat, nodding to each other. Brooklyn pushed off from the surface of it, propelling herself back to the surface.

"Holy shit, that's a Grady White, worth at least 500 grand," JJ announced, pulling himself back onto the boat. Brooklyn whistled to just add special effect.

"That's the boat I saw during the surge," John B noted.

"You surfed the surge?" Kiara raised her eyebrows at the brunette, while Brooklyn chuckled, putting her sunglasses back on.

"That's my boy—Pogue style."

"Do we know who owns it?"

"We're about to find out," JJ answered, tilting his head with his usual mischievous look.

"Are we, though?" Brook asked, her expression skeptical.

JJ leaned down to her with a smile. "Yep."

The five stood before the rental property, surrounded by debris and clutter from the storm. Unlike Figure eight, this side of town was completely torn apart.

"Doesn't seem like the kind of place someone with a Grady White would stay," Brooklyn observed, tilting her head by the slightest.

"But it looks like a place where someone with a Grady White could meet their end," John B added.

"Whoa, relax," Brooklyn interjected, raising her hands.

JJ chuckled, tying their boat to a nearby post.

"Keep him from doing anything rstupid," Pope advised to John B, who exchanged glances with JJ.

"No promises," John B quipped, quickly after stepping toward Kiara.

"Be careful," she warned, handing him the keys. "I'm serious."

Pope sat on one side of the boat, Kiara and Brooklyn on the other, their arms resting on their knees.

"Biggest pet peeve? Giving just 1% to the environment," Kiara stated, prompting Brooklyn to raise her eyebrows at the response.

"What's wrong with that?" Pope asked.

"We have one planet. We should give it 100% effort."

"That's not financially practical," Pope countered, his typical logical mindset shining through.

"Nor is destroying the planet we inhabit. Right Brooks?" Kiara shot back, nudging Brooklyn.

"Sorry, what?" Brooklyn asked, squinting in the sunlight. Pope chuckled, while Kiara lightly hit the blonde girl's shoulder.

"Uh oh, police," Pope whispered, standing up cautiously.

"Call them over," Brooklyn urged.

Pope looked at her like she was crazy, his eyes widening. "Are you insane?"

"I've got it," she replied, making her way to the fence and leaning over.

"Brooklyn!" Pope whisper-shouted as he and Kiara hid behind a rickety wooden sign.

"Hey, Shoupe! What's up?" Brooklyn called out casually, addressing the officer nearby as an attempt to distract them from going up to the apartment where John B and JJ were.

"Just checking out the reports on this place," Shoupe responded as he and the other officers approached the building.

"Cool, cool," Brooklyn nodded, realizing her distraction wasn't working. She noticed Shoupe's coworkers already heading up the stairs. "Hey, I gotta go—my friends' boat is running low on juice. Pogue boats, you know?" She gestured, leaving Shoupe behind. Pope's face scrunched up in offense.

"Move closer, get closer to them," Brooklyn instructed as she quickly untied the boat.

Kiara watched nervously as John B and JJ stood by each side of the window. "What the fuck," she whispered under her breath.

"Let's go," Brooklyn urged, climbing aboard and waving at the boys, signaling for them to get down and onto the boat.

The four of them sat at the Chateau, each fiddling with something in their hands. Pope ran up from behind the door. "Okay—We didn't see anything, we don't know anything. We need total and complete amnesia."

"Actually, Pope's right for once," JJ stood up, pointing at him. Brooklyn held back a giggle. "See, I agree with you sometimes. Deny, deny, deny."

"Guys, we can't keep that money," Kiara added, throwing her arm down onto the sofa.

"Okay, not all of us can afford unlimited data plans, Kiara."

"That's fair," Brooklyn agreed, glancing down from JJ and hitting her knees with her hands.

"We have to pass that off to Lana Grubbs, otherwise it's bad karma."

"Bad karma to be implicated in a felony too. We gotta go dark."

Brooklyn shut her eyes, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet up on the table. She fiddled with a ring on her finger. "If that means we get to keep the money, then I agree."

The blonde sighed. "JJ, face it, that money's just gonna sit in your pocket. Lana Grubbs probably needs it more than you, and this whole thing is looking sketchy. Scooter Grubbs with a Grady White?"

John B snapped his fingers. "That, I agree with. Just think about it. This is Scooter Grubbs we're talking about. Same dude who buys individual cigarettes at the porthole. I once saw him begging for change at Save-A-Lot for gas. He's a dirtbag marina rat who never has more than forty bucks in his pocket, and suddenly he's got a Grady White?"

For the record, if that's a smuggling ship with illegal contraband, it belongs to someone else." Pope spoke beside Brooklyn, both of them sitting on the bed. "They could come looking for it. Taking it would be catastrophically stupid."

"Right, well, stupid things have good outcomes all the time," JJ replied, taking the money from Pope and spreading it out. Thousands of dollars. "All we need to do now is figure out how to get into the cargo hold of that wreck. Until then, we just lay low. Act normal."

"And how do we plan on doing that?" Brooklyn asked with a smile, her legs crossed, her necklace dangling on her skin.

They paused for a moment before Kie spoke. "Kegger?"

Brooklyn's face slowly turned into a smirk. "I like your thinking," she said, biting down on her bottom lip. JJ chuckled, standing up and offering her his hand.

If there was one thing that could define Brooklyn Hail, it was parties. The people, the drinks, the music, the chaos. It was so her.

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word count : 1834

yippee

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