Kook princess II Kiara Carrera

Chapter 22

"So this is what we're doing, huh? We're just sailing out. We're just gonna forget about John B? We should never have left him. We're turning back." Cleo looks at JJ. "No! We're all gonna get caught. What type of plan is that?" "It's a plan to stick together, Cleo." "Then we are dead together." Kie speaks up. "She's right. We had to leave, or we'd all be zip-tied in the back of a pickup. We did the right thing." I look at Sarah before walking up and rubbing her arm. "You alright?" She doesn't say anything. 

Suddenly Kie's phone starts ringing. "Who's that?" Kie looks confused. "It's Portis." "Portis? That's John B. That's definitely John B. Hold on." He runs over grabbing the phone before answering. "Yo! Dude! Is this you?" I look at JJ. "Put the phone on speaker, asshole." He ignores me. "What-- Do you need us to turn around?" "JJ, put the phone on fucking speaker." "Alright, cool it, princess." He puts the phone on speaker before speaking to John B again. "Say that again. Say that again." "I said don't worry about me, okay?" Everything else he says is jumbled because of the connection. 

"We do not copy. Can you--" Sarah grabs the phone. "Let me talk to him. John B?" "Sarah." His voice is starting to sound distorted. "Are you okay?" She moves away to hear better. She comes back. "He's fine. Thank God. What happened?" He says something but once again, it's jumbled. We look at each other confused. "Wait. What'd you say? John B?" He tries to speak again. "I... I can't hear you. John B?" He says something else but she only picks up one word. "Kildare. Kildare, when?" The line cuts off and Sarah looks at the phone. "John B! No, no, no. John B!" 

She looks at us. "Kildare. What the hell?" Cleo speaks up. "You guys think he found his father?" Pope looks at us. "He's been missing for almost a year." I look at Sarah. "Sarah, what do you think? Should we go back?" JJ looks at us. "Sarah-- We're sitting ducks. We need to make a decision. Are we turning around, or are we gonna keep going? Sarah, come on." I whack him. "Dude, stop." He ignores me. "Sarah, we need to make a decision!" "He said go." "Hold on, listen." Now he wants to stall. "Go." "Sarah." "Go!" It wasn't the decision he was hoping for. 

The boat engine revs and we start moving. Pope is on the first shift of driving with JJ keeping him company. Kie looks at me as I lay on her lap. "There's something I should probably tell you." I look up at her. "I don't like the way you said that." I look up at her and there's no smile on her face. I sit up. "Kie, what is it?" She opens her mouth before closing it again. "Come on, babe. Whatever you have to say can't be that bad." "Sage is dead." I pause. "I killed him?" She nods quietly. I nod. "You should probably tell Sarah." "Baby, are you okay?" I nod. "I'm going to tell JJ and Pope that we should probably stop for gas." 

She tries to stop me but I'm already gone. I climb up the stairs and stop short when I see how close Pope and JJ are. They look like they're about to kiss. Shit. I try to creep back down the stairs but I slip and let out a yelp. They pull apart and look at me in panic. I look at them apologetically. "Sorry, I came up here to tell you that we should probably stop for gas." They nod. "Oh, all right." I go back down and I wanna slap myself. I couldn't wait a few more minutes. I just had to be on the brink of panicking over the fact that I killed someone. JJ comes down the stairs and sits beside me. 

"I'm sorry." "Don't worry about it. It's probably a good thing." I look at him. "Don't say that." He shrugs. "Pope's too good for me." I look at him. "No, he isn't. You deserve him, just as much as he deserves you." The boat stops and Pope and Cleo go out to get us supplies. Sarah sits on the other side of me. "Hey, are you okay?" "I'm fine." "You know, you don't have to be." "But I am. Don't worry about me." "I'll always worry about you. You're my best friend." I lean my head on her shoulder. Cleo and Pope come back from their haul and it's so quiet. Everyone in the boat is just silently thinking of different things.