Be My First 3 - Tying Ends

36. Visitors!

On the way to finding Johnson, I think both Jack and I were trying to hide the fact that we were really nervous. We hummed and sang along to Coldplay songs together, looking out the window often.

His hand is on my thigh, his fingers tapping to the beat of Viva La Vida.

I reached for the volume and turned it down. Jack looked at me.

"Why'd you turn it down? I love that song."

"Me too." I agreed. "I just feel weird."

He didn't ask why. "Me too.." He agreed. "We're going to find him."

"Everything was going so good before this." I sighed. I read a quote the other day that says complaining will bring negative things into your life so I've really been trying not to, but I need to vent once in a while.

"Everything's fine. Okay? We're okay. Jack's okay. He's just dumb sometimes and needs help getting out of trouble." Jack looked at the road.

I thought the same thing about him.

"Oh, look!" I pointed out the window. Jack slowed down. I spotted something on the side of the road, seemingly a piece of clothing. Jack pulled over and watched as I got out to retrieve whatever it was. I picked up the jacket- in fact it was Jack J's jacket. Quickly, I got back into the car.

"This is Jack's." I said, looking at the pins on the side of the ripped jean jacket.

"Actually, it's mine. He kinda stole it." Jack said. I gave him a look.

"Well he's obviously somewhere around here." I said.

"Should we keep driving?" Jack asked.

"Well, yeah. Just go slow.. I mean I don't know exactly where he was talking about." I looked out the window as Jack slowly pulled back onto the road.

I was looking out the windshield, watching the headlights guide our way, when I saw something moving in the rear view mirror. I looked back, and saw something moving under all the blankets I had back there.

Out of instinct, I started screaming. Jack swerved to the side of the road.

"WHAT?" He looked at me.

I pointed to the thing moving. "SOMETHINGS THERE!" I jumped closer to the windshield, not wanting anything to do with the back of the car.

Suddenly, a head popped out from the blankets. The familiar messy hair gave me a sigh of relief.

"Uhhh, seriously Nash?" I said. I watched as he moved his hair out of his face. "So... what's up? Why are you in my car?" I asked.

He groaned. "I didn't want to drive home but it was too loud in the house. I saw the blankets and it was unlocked. That's like an open invitation, Paige." He sat up and looked out the window. Jack pulled onto the road once again.

"Where are we?" He rubbed his eyes.

"We can't find Jack. He texted something weird to us saying that he needed help, so we're trying to find him and figure everything out." I said.

"You guys are okay with me coming?" He asked.

"Well," Jack laughed. "We kind of had no clue anybody else was even in the car. You have no choice now."

Nash laughed. "I'll help you guys."

"We just found his jacket on the side of the road like 2 minutes ago." I held it up.

"Isn't that Jack's?" Nash said.

"Yeah, it is! He stole it." Jack said.

Nash laughed. "Actually, it's mine. You stole it from me."

"Hey." Jack objected. "I didn't steal it, you basically gave it to me."

"Leaving it in your car and not asking for it back doesn't mean I gifted it to you." Nash smiled.

"Well it's everyone's jacket now buddy."

"I have like 3 more." Nash said.

"I want one!" I laughed.

"Okay, I'll accidentally leave one in your car so you can claim it as yours." Nash said.

"Shut up." Jack laughed.

"Look." I pointed to what looked like a cabin that had all its lights on. It was on at the end of the road.

"Let's go to it." Nash suggested.

"Yeah, let's go see."

We slowly drove down the dirt road, and I could feel Nash and Jack's nervous energy radiating around me. Jack pulled into the driveway, and immediately turned the headlights on. Once he took the key out of the ignition, we sat in silence for a moment. Long enough to hear strange music coming from the inside.

I heard Jack sigh. "Should we, uh, go knock on the door?"

I shrugged. "This looks like a little old couple's house. Doesn't seem too intimidating."

"Let's go." Nash said.

We all got out of the car, quietly shutting our doors. I walked behind Jack, and Nash walked right by me.

I peeked through the windows as Jack knocked on the door, seeing nothing but nice furniture and baked goods on the counter. The TV was playing.

We finally heard someone coming down the stairs and to the door.

When the door opened, it was Jack J.

"Jack!" I yelled. "We've been-"

"Shhhh." He quietly said, looking around.

"What?" Jack asked.

Jack J looked terrified. "Get out of here and call the police. I should be find but you have to call the police." He faintly said.

"Oh, visitors!" An old woman came running to the door, with a cookie in her hand. "Come in!" She said.

Jack J widened his eyes. "Just go with it." He mouthed.

Nash, Jack, and I all exchanged beyond confused looks. I was scared now too.