The Girl In The Shadow || Outerbanks || Pope Heyward & Cleo Anderson

18.

-

Sarah and John B were alive. It was a relief for the pogues finding out their friends were alive, but the relief only lasted for a few minutes before a news alert came through their phones.

"..Body of a young girl found near figure eight docks.." Kiara read before she gasped,

"Body of Sixteen year old Valera Cameron was found..oh my god.. no.." Kiara looked at JJ and Pope with tears in her eyes,

JJ let out a yell, throwing his phone, shaking his head.

Pope stared at his phone , "..gunshot wound.. apparently drowned... This can't be true!" He denied, shaking his head.

"She knows how to swim! She couldn't have drown! She's not dead... She's.." Kiara hugged Pope, crying,

"She can't be dead." Kiara pulled JJ into the hug, and the three of them were crying. Well, Pope was silently crying, still in shock from hearing the news of Valera's death.

It wasn't fair. He never even got to tell Valera how he felt for her, and he would always love her, but she would never know that.

He had lost Valera, and it wasn't fair.

🌊

"..my fake dead body looks so real." Valera said, looking away from the tv and towards Topper.

"Um, it's a cadaver, just had a friend do a little makeover, make it look more real." He told her

"Right.." Valera stood up, wincing a bit, and Topper stood up, holding his hands out just in case she fell.

"I'm fine." She waved him off, and Topper let his arms fall to his side.

"Where are you going?" Topper questioned, following behind Valera.

"I have to go tell my friends I'm still alive, I can't let them believe that I'm actually dead." Valera replied, and Topper stopped her from going anywhere.

"You can't, I mean, you're injured, you can't get that far without reopening your stitches, and second, Rafe's gonna kill me if I let you leave." Topper told her,

Valera nodded, "Okay.."

Topper smiled at her, "We'll just take your car, and I lay low." Topper frowned as Valera grabbed his keys, holding them out.

"What? No, that's not what I was implying, val." Topper told her, and Valera sighed.

"Well, we're gonna have to tell them somehow." Valera told him , dangling the keys.

Topper snatched the keys and shook his head. "No, we actually don't. Look, I get they're your friends, but we need people to believe that you are actually dead, and I mean, no offense, but your friends can't act."

"Yes, they can. They can act better than you." Valera replied

Topper looked offended, "Uh, maybe not insult the guy who's hiding you."

"It wasn't an insult, Top," Valera gave him a little grin ,"it was just a fact."

Topper rolled his eyes, "Look, we just have to do what Rafe told us to do, and that's for you to lay low, and for me to act like you are dead."

"Cool, I'll be like a ghost," Valera made a ghost noise. Topper smiled, and Valera chuckled,

"Hey, when you go out again, would you mind buying me hair dye?" Valera questioned, going back to the couch.

"Why?" Topper asked,

"Because Top, I want to dye my hair, why else?" Valera replied,

"What color?" Topper questioned, and Valera hummed,