One of Two // JJ Maybank

parcel 9: two

i was reading a book that evening after getting back from john b's house. me and sarah had a long talk. she really liked him and didn't want to ruin anything. i heard a knock on my window. i furrowed my eyebrows, sarah was out with john b so i went over. jj waved and motioned to open the window. i sighed, unlocking it and letting him in. "what do you want?" i tried to hide the fact that i was still upset with john b.

he shifted his hat. "john b and sarah are on the marsh in a boat, and i was wondering if you wanted to join since i'll be third wheeling? plus the boat kinda broke down and we need help." he smiled.

i giggled, grabbing my backpack and shrugged. "yeah, sure, why not?" i responded. i followed him out my window and closed it behind me. jj's small little boat was waiting at the dock next to mine. we got in and he started the engine. the sun was setting and i smiled. this was the best feeling of being in obx. after a few minutes of silence, jj spoke up, "spencer." he said. i looked up and towards him. "i didn't know if you were thinking this, but did you think john b falling was your fault?"

i tensed up. of course i did. maybe if i saw topper's stupid car pull up then maybe i could've saved john b. "umm..." i said. "yeah, i mean i was standing right there, and i thought i saw a car but..." i stopped. i looked out at the horizon. "i didn't know it was him." i whispered.

jj nodded, and sighed. "it really isn't your fault, spencer." he replied, stopping our boat in front of the bigger one.

i sighed to myself, dragging my hands down my face. "how do you know?" i asked quietly. "you weren't the one that tried to stop him."

jj shrugged. "i just know." he replied. he bent down next to me and grabbed my shoulder. "promise." i looked at him for a second as i watched his eyes flicker every where on my face.

he gave it a squeeze before tying the rope to the other boat and climbed on with the small ladder. i followed behind as i saw sarah and john b. they both waved and john b and jj stood in front of us. "so, we brought you here to do some work under the deck." john b smiled.

i nodded and he pointed to the small opening on the deck. me and sarah went down and once we were there, it was empty. i furrowed my brows and realized. "hey!" i shouted as they closed the hatch from above. i climbed up the small steps and started banging. "jj, john b, let us out!"

sarah did the same thing. "you assholes! let us out!" she was banging harder than i was. we heard more voices and someone splash into the water. "john b, let me out!" she shouted again. we heard someone walking over and opened the hatch. sarah stuck her head out and gasped. "what the fuck?"

i scoffed as i saw her. kie looked at us with disgust and let us climb out. "what the hell?" kie questioned angrily.

we walked over to the edge and watched them slowly drift away from the three of us, with pope also with them. "jj, get back here!" i shouted. he laughed, bending himself over and holding his stomach. "are you serious? you can't just leave us here!"

john b laughed as he grabbed the steering wheel. "there's food in the cabin, and jj rolled a blunt!" he shouted.

"hydroponic, spencer! i believe in you!" jj yelled.

i rolled my eyes and sarah scoffed. "this is ridiculous." she complained.

kie shrugged. "well, i would rather drown than be here with you two so..." she drifted off from her sentence.

i turned, glaring at her once again. "fine, then maybe you'll learn how to shut the hell up for once." i sassily said before crossing my arms. i saw the boys laughing and high-fiving each other as they drove slowly.

i saw sarah start to take off her shirt and shorts, revealing her bathing suit underneath. "you don't even know where you're going." kie said, crossing her arms.

"i don't care." sarah jumped into the water as the boys sped off into the sunset. "john b, you asshole!" sarah shouted loud enough for them to hear.

"they're not coming back for you!" kie said, looking down at my twin. god, how much i wanted to punch kiara in the face. sarah then screamed and started flapping around in the water. i quickly ran closer to the edge and looked down. "what?" kie said annoyed.

sarah arose from the water onto the ladder. "i got stung by a jellyfish!" she cried. "shit!"

"dramatic." kie mumbled. i shook my head. "well, you swam right into a man-o'-war. don't know what you thought would happen."

sarah leaned down on the boat deck with her back against the tiny wall. "thanks for your help." she scoffed sitting down

kie stood in front of her as i did the same. "does it hurt?" kie teased.

"hey kiara?" she asked. "you know what they say about curing jellyfish stings?" kie shook her head in response, not saying a word while i stood in silence. "you have to pee on me."

i furrowed my eyebrows. "i have a better idea than that, sista" i walked to the cabin grabbing jj's blunts. we all sat down next to each other. "it's for the pain." i opened the box as kie had a tiny smile on her face.

"jj, bless." sarah sighed as i put the blunt in my mouth and lit it. i inhaled a few times before passing it to kie, who took long hits.

a small smile slipped onto my face. "really?" i chuckled at kie as sarah plucked it out of her hands.

"go easy." kie warned. "it's jj's cousins cripple." sarah inhaled and started coughing dramatically.

later that night, we all sat in the cabin in silence as the weed had took us all over.

"wow." sarah chuckled as she was high as a kite. ""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..." my eyes were averted at the sky above me. "have nipples for eyes or eyes for nipples?" kie looked at sarah in disbelief as she continued. "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."

i chuckled at sarah's comment. "is this you're first time smoking, sarah?" i asked as kie rolled her eyes

"no." she mumbled as i sighed getting up. "wait, w-where are you going." sarah grabbed my wrist to stop me from going anywhere.

TW: MENTION OF SUICIDE ATTEMPT

"i need to be alone." i replied walking towards the back of the boat and sitting down. i dangled my feet over the edge, staring out into the water. the cold breeze hit my face as i felt a chill go down my spine. a few minutes later, i heard footsteps behind me as i turned around to face kie.

she stood awkwardly and came to sit next to me. i side eyed her and didn't move from my spot. "so.." she started. "sarah said we should... uh... talk one on one."

i nodded and shrugged. "what is there to talk about, kiara?" i sighed while letting out a weak chuckle. "you bailed on me, when i needed you and it wasn't even because of a birthday party." kie shifted and let me continue. "i did invite you to our party, you know i did. besides that, you left me when..." i stopped for a moment. "you left me right after my overdose."

i heard her inhale deeply. "i'm so so sorry, spencer." she said. "i didn't mean too, i was just scared because what if i had lost you forever?"

i sniffed, swinging my feet back and forth. "well, you still did lose me in some way." i said. "it hurt a lot not seeing your best friend sitting beside you when you wake up." my eyes started become blurry. "i needed you, kiara. i needed you more than ever. you were the only person that understood me, you- you just bailed!"

i heard her sniffle beside me. she looked at my with tears falling down her face. "i wish i could go back in time and change everything." she whispered. i looked back out at the marsh in front of us and leaned my head on her shoulder. "i love you so much, spencer."

i wiped my nose and sighed. "i never stopping loving or caring about you. even if we weren't friends." i held my wrist up to show a bracelet that had a k and an s. we made these the first week we became friends. we knew our friendship would last a long time. this was just a small break into many more years. i heard her chuckle as she did the same. "did you ever take it off?"

she shook her head. "nah, it's not like i could anyways." she joked. "this thing was practically glued on."