A couple weeks went by and JJ held on to that picture. He would take it out every now and then and stare at it for hours. He couldn't help but imagine a life where she hadn't died. Everything would be so different. So easy.
He thought about what Kie had said about visiting her grave. He liked the idea, but he knew he wasn't ready for that yet.
It was almost summer now. JJ hadn't talked to his dad since finding out about him and Anna's past. He planned to keep it that way too.
He had been bouncing between the chateau and Kies house. Other than that, he didn't really have a place to call home anymore.
It didn't really bother him, but some nights he couldn't help but think about it. He was just so tired. He was tired of school and work and feeling stressed.
He started asking for more hours as a distraction.
He was trying really hard to stay away from drinking as much as he could. He noticed himself starting to fall back into his old drinking habits, and hated it. It was really stressing him out.
As long as he was at work or at school.. he wouldn't be drinking. So he tried to work for as long as possible.
He didn't tell anyone that he was having this problem again. He just wanted to figure it all out on his own and not bother anyone.
As for Kie, her parents were on her back about finals. The end of the school year was coming up and so we're all her exams.
She had a lot of studying to do and spent most of her afternoon's doing just that.
Without even really realizing it, they had drifted. The only time they'd see each other was at school or when JJ would stay the night. But even when he did, he'd always get there late and most the time be so tired from working.
Kie noticed their sudden drift, and started to get worried. She knew they had to talk about it.
She went to the chateau one afternoon when she knew JJ would be there.
She saw him out on the dock and made her way over to him.
He turned around and saw her coming up. He then looked down at the bottle in his hands. He was disappointed and disgusted with himself. He didn't want Kie to see him drinking.
She always talked about how much better he was doing, and how he was working on himself. He didn't want her to see. He didn't want to let her down. He just needed her to think that everything was okay, and that he really was doing as good as she said he was.
When she got up to him, she saw that he was drinking, but didn't even care. She didn't mind him drinking occasionally. He had just put this pressure on himself to look perfect for her.
"JJ, hey" Kie smiled
"Hey. What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at her briefly but then back out at the water.
"Just.. wanted to talk" kie shrugged
"Yeah?" JJ asked "bout what?"
"I dunno, I just- I kinda- I feel like we've.. sorta drifted..y'know" Kie said. Her intent was to bring it up to get reassurance. She expected it to all just be in her head and for him to tell her that it was all one big misunderstanding. But he didn't.
"Yeah" JJ agreed.
"Yeah.." Kie said, confused. This wasn't how she expected this conversation to go. "Yeah.. I feel like you've been distant"
"Yeah, well, I'm busy, Kie" JJ shot back through a sigh.
"Right, yeah I know" kie said innocently. "I just.."
YOU ARE READING
Jiara
Teen Fiction"To freshman year JJ" JJ says, saluting the blunt and taking a hit "May he Rest In Peace" he says, blowing out and passing the blunt to pope Is JJ finally ready to settle down? Leaving his life of lying, stealing, and cheating behind him, he decides...
