restricted ~ JJ Maybank

1.44

We were at the wreck, saying nothing as we sat there. Pope was leaning against the window next to Kie, who sat in a chair. John B and Sarah sat at a table in the corner as I stood against a wall next to the them, my head tipped back against the wall. My hand was still tangled in the necklace, thinking about whatever JJ could be doing right now.

"Look, he'll come around, all right? It's..." John B said first, breaking the tension. "He's doing a JJ thing." He added.

"You think he'll go home?" Kie asked. My mind had wandered to the worst possible scenario, which would explain why JJ never talked about his home, and always slept at the chateau.

I just felt awful not noticing it before.

"There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home." Pope said, his eyes locked on the view.

"What's the deal with his home anyway?" I asked, letting my head fall forwards, loose from the wall.

"His dad is an asshole." Kie simply said, I dismissed it after that, noticing the pained expression Kie had om her face.

"You okay?" John B asked Sarah, who still seemed spooked after today's events.

The girl nodded, closing her eyes for a brief second. "Yeah." She wispered. "Are you?"

John B shrugged as he diverted his eyes to the floor. "I mean, I'm in one piece, so..." He said.

Sarah gave him a tight lipped smile, as if telling him it was all okay, but her smile immediately faltered after that. Telling me it wasn't all okay.

Pope sighed. "Okay." He started, pushing himself away from the window. "It's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put it in- in a safe or a vault or something. I- I don't know. Just until we can someone who won't rip us off. I can go figure it out tonight, I can get it all done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."

"All right, let's do it." John B agreed.

"Easy. Yeah let's go." Pope said.

"What about that thing with my dad?" Sarah said, reminding me of the trip that John B believes will be his death.

"Shit." John B cursed.

"You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Kie complained.

"Look, I have to go."

"Blow it off." Pope whined. "It's 400 million in gold!"

"Make something up!" Kie said.

"Tell him you're sick or something." I said, pushing myself away from the wall.

"Look, I- I have to, okay?" John B said. "He saved me, all right?"

"So, I stayed with the Cameron's for a while, I'm not going fishing with Ward." I said, staying at Sarah seemed a long time ago, even though it was just a week ago. Some of my stuff was still in one of their guestrooms.

"Maybe, but if it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster car." John B said. "So... I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it night. Right?" He asked, frankly, we all nodded.

"Fine. Fine, go fishing." Pope gave in, his frustration clear on his face.

"And at least, JJ will probably have washed up by then." Kie said.

"He wouldn't wanna miss this." I mumbled, my eyes fixated on the floor.

______________

I was laying in the back of the van, my mind caught up in the music, trying to figure out where JJ was.

I heard John B and Sarah talking, but I didn't even bother to listen, until the sound of a honk came from behind us.

"Oh shit. That's Rafe." Sarah said, knowing the bike.

Rafe came up beside us. "Hey, pull that piece of shit over!" He yelled, but when we didn't, he stopped his bike in front of us, forcing us to stop aswell.

John was about to get out, when Sarah stopped him. "John B." She said.

"What?"

"Let me handle him." She said as she got out of the car.

John B and I watched their conversation when we heard another bike pull up, which to my luck, was Topper.

John B and I got out of the van, waiting for Topper to stop.

"Come to try to kill me again, Top?" John B said as he crossed his arm over his chest.

"Yeah, here we go. Here we go. It's always the Kook's fault, isn't it? I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry about your arm, but dude, I hardly touched you." Topper defended himself.

"And still, hard enough to break the wood." I said, leaning against the van. Topper looked at me, almost hurt that I took John B's side.

"Look, I'm not the one corrupting two girls from prominent families, from my family." He said, glancing at me briefly. "Getting them involved in a life of crime-"

"Look, you have no idea what's going on!"

"Oh, I have no idea what's going on? I know you're stealing 25K from a drug dealer. You get them involved in that shit?" Topper yelled, tapping the side of the van. "Jessi, what the fuck are you doing." He said, coming to stand in front of me.

"I'm doing what I want for a change, without an overprotective brother to hold me back."

"I did everything to keep you away from this, from home." He said, coming to stand closer to me.

"Looks like you didn't do that good of a job." I wispered, loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes filled with anger, but he stepped away, back to John B. "Listen, I... I know I'm the one that cares about them, not you, or that piece of shit Maybank kid." He spat.

"Why don't you get on your fucking bike, Topper?" John B said.

"Or what?"

"Get on the bike." John B dismissed it, and to my surprise, Topper did too when he stepped away. "See you later, sweetheart."

"You're gonna realise your mistake, Jessi, you're a Thornton." Topper yelled before he drove off.

I scoffed, rolling my eyes before I got back in the van.

__________

Apparently John B wanted to show Sarah something, some old church, but I wasn't interested in the slightest so I stayed in the van, giving the couple some privacy whole John B was supposed to give me a ride to the Cameron's house.

When they came back out, Sarah had a wide smile on her face, their hands tangled together. I pieced it together fast, a disgusted look on my face.

"Oh, gross." I said, fake gagging, earning a push against my shoulder from Sarah. "You couldn't wait to do that elsewhere, you know, someplace where I'm not in a 100 feet ratio." I said, looking between the two.

"Oh grow up." Sarah said, getting into the van.

"Just get me to Sarah's so I can get some clothes." I said, dismissing the thought as fast as possible.

___________

This one is pretty short, but I thought I'll just put it up.

Don't be a ghost reader :))

♡