ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

SEVEN... she's all I wanna be

warning: hints of body insecurity

CHAPTER SEVEN

•••

"Wake up, Collins."

The sound of a cheery but faint melodic voice and knuckles rapping against her window pane caused Collins to slowly awake from her deep slumber. She stirred under her sheets and tried to block out the sound but the incessant knocking prevented her from being able to sleep peacefully. She blinked as her vision blurred into focus and the light in her room shined into her eyes, the sun sending her its gentle greeting after a long night's rest.

Turning in her bed to face her window, Collins gasped and jumped at the sight of a person's head staring back at her through the glass and her sheer curtains. They peered at her with their hands shielded around their eyes like a Peeping Tom that coincidentally, Collins had actually encountered before.

Except, it wasn't the scraggly old homeless man that Charlie had chased down the road after hearing her scream, it was soon recognized that the head belonged to JJ.

Slipping out from under the covers, Collins padded over to her window and pushed back the curtains before lifting up the divider between them.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." JJ said with an especially chipper attitude. He checked her up and down with his eyes drifting inconspicuously from her eyes to her bare legs and sucked in a deep breath at her alluring appearance, which for JJ, was an oversized t-shirt that he imagined could be his someday and pair of flannel sleep shorts.

"Good morning." Collins asked with a groggy croak in her voice, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and tucking her wavy hair behind her ears. She covered her face with her hands, mortified once she realized that she probably had eye boogers and drool on her skin from having just rolled out of bed. Her eyes peeked through the gaps between her fingers and she quickly tried wiping away any evidence.

But JJ hadn't noticed any of such things and just continued on obliviously. "Just checking in to see if we were still on for story time later, and also because I wanted to know if you were down for a little boat ride with some of your friendly neighborhood Pogues."

"Sure, sounds fun." Collins grinned, then she asked curiously, "You guys planning on going after the Royal Merchant today?"

"Yes, ma'am." JJ nodded. "Why only read about a treasure hunt when you can live one? You up for the challenge?"

"Yeah," Collins answered excitedly, "I wanna help John B get the gold his dad promised him. Give me like 10 minutes and I'll be out."

"Mind if I come in and wait instead?" JJ asked with a hopeful look.

"I guess not, I'll come around and let you in."

"What's wrong with the window? Throw me a rope and we can reenact Tangled." He gripped the window pane with both hands and a mischievous smile. He knew he could've easily climbed in if he wanted to, but where was the fun in that?

"You know in the real story, the girl is imprisoned by her own father and he chops her head off in the end." JJ clamped his mouth shut and stared blankly ahead at the dark revelation. Collins just chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry, I'll just meet you outside. Promise I'll be quick." Pulling her window shut and forming a division between her and JJ's sulky expression, Collins drew her curtains and retreated over to her dresser and began pulling clothes out.

She changed into a pair of jean shorts and the grey worn out Duke t-shirt that she'd bought at the thrift store that was two sizes too big for her, but was her most comfortable clothing item to date. She laced up her sneakers before progressing to the bathroom, where she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and dragged a comb through her hair.