Magnetic - JJ Maybank

28 - Communication

"This is crazy, man." Pope cheered. We were all so happy. We were about to be rich and there was nothing to stop us now. John B said he was gonna go take the rest of the gold tomorrow. 

We won.

"Group hug!" Kiara yelled.

We all ran towards each other and formed a circle. 

"Full Kook! Full Kook!" We sang again. It was so beautiful. Six teens laughing with pure joy. Full of hope, thinking we could rule the word.

Kiara hugged Pope. 

John B kissed Sarah.

I started to walk to JJ, but when I saw his eyes, I remembered what happened. I remembered everything. He'd lied to me. 

I looked down and regretted even looking at him. I was so stupid to forget. We weren't together anymore.

The others got out of their embrace and looked at us. The silence was so heavy. I would've ran away if someone'd gave me the right to. 

"I don't like when y'all are fighting." Pope shared.

"Same." Kiara agreed.

I pressed my lips together and looked at JJ. With everything we'd lived tonight, I felt like everything was possible. We got shot at, followed by a crazy granny and won a shit ton of money. If that happened, maybe I could listen to what he has to say. 

JJ looked at me like he was scared of what I was about to say. His eyes were missing the spark they usually had. He was slowly losing his spark. 

Losing me. 

"Let's go outside, okay?" I told him. Confusion filled his eyes. I took his hand and guided him towards the door. He immediately followed me. He was willing to get every tiny part of me he could have.

I sat on the porch stairs and looked at the sky. The breeze was cool, the stars filled the dark blue blanket of the night with their mesmerizing glow. 

JJ sat next to me.

I inhaled. Night air had always been so comforting to me. When I was little, I used to lay on the gras and look at the starts until I fell asleep with Sarah.

"Talk." I said.

"Wh- What?" JJ looked at me. 

"I am willing to listen to you." I told him calmly. "Don't waste it."

"Oh. Uh, yeah." He was a little perplexed, which I totally get now. 

I looked at my hands.

"Look, Maya. There's no valid reason to what I did. Nothing will reverse what I did." 

I nodded.

"You know, before I met you, that's what I was doing." He started. "I was sleeping with girls like they were toys for me. Like they meant nothing." 

I looked away. He was the boy I was trying to avoid. It would've been so easy to meet a god guy. It would've been too easy.

"But then, I met you." He continued. "And my perception of life changed. I felt love for the first time."

He put two fingers on my chin to guide my face to look at him.

"You changed my life, Maya." He affirmed. "So, when I lost you, I tried to find that feeling in other girls, but it never worked."

"JJ..." 

"I was so scared to lose you again that I didn't want to risk it, but I should've told you." He looked down. "I'm sorry."