𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒. ᵒᵘᵗᵉʳ ᵇᵃⁿᵏˢ ¹

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 33.

"𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, shall we?" Jj hummed.

I was sitting in a dinning chair in the middle of The Wreck, around a circular table next to Pope— who studied the plat map of Tannyhill. There was no one else in the restaurant besides the five of us. Letting out a sigh, I leant the side of my head onto the open palm of my hand, which was perched up on the table, eyes staring down at the map to try and figure it out, as extra help. When Kiara slid herself into the seat next to me, I sent her a soft smile.

The night before, I almost fell asleep outside on the porch. Kiara and I sat in the soft wind for hours, her teaching me how to play the ukulele, for a long time. I got the hang of it after a lot of mistakes, multiple laughs, many attempts, but eventually learned a few simple chords after progress. I enjoyed Kiara's company, a lot. We had never really talked one-on-one or engaged in a conversation, just the two of us, but it felt good. In a certain way, she was like Sarah, with the fact that they both treated me like they've known me for years.

It was refreshing to make a new connection, especially within the group I was bound to stay with for a while. After I learned a nights-worth of ukulele, I had put it down and Kiara had asked me questions about myself, so we could really connect as better friends. I told her the basics she should know, and then she even ended up explaining the problem between her and Sarah, without me even having to ask. She explained it briefly, but I understood. I had told her that she didn't have to tell me if she didn't want to. She assumed Sarah and I were close friends, though, but she didn't mind as long as I knew myself.

As predicted, she had asked about John B and I. I had blushed and told her a few things about "us". She asked if we were dating. I had shaken my head. Then, I asked her about Jj. When running from Midsummers, I noticed how she ran into Jj's arms immediately, which sparked a curiosity in my mind, hinted at something possible between them. At her turn, her cheeks had then tinted red, and she had looked down at her feet. I gladly told her that I would be her wing-woman— even though I've only ever seen that in movies— if she ever needed me.

Later, we said goodnight, and she had gone over to the hammock to sleep, while I went inside. Even though she hadn't asked me to, I still pulled Jj aside in the living room and whispered for him to go and sleep on the other hammock, so she wouldn't be alone. A wide smile had then plastered over my lips when he grabbed his stuff, and skipped out the back door, trudging along to the hammocks where Kiara was. John B had questioned why I had been smiling so hard when I walked back into his bedroom.

Still in the clothes that Kiara had loaned me, I had instantly climbed into John B's bed and slid myself underneath the covers, resting my head on his second pillow. I would be lying if I said that butterflies didn't scatter in my stomach when he slid next to me. With my head on the pillow, and his window open only an inch, we were facing one another and talking about everything. I had mentioned Kiara and Jj. He talked about the future he would have with the gold. I had thanked him for letting me stay over. He had kissed me in return, before we both fell asleep underneath the stars.

Now, we were sitting around a table in Kiara's restaurant, at nine in the morning. The sun blazed down through the windows on every wall, cascading a glow onto my back as I stared down at the map in front of Pope— who seemed fine with me at this point. He was no longer annoyed when I was around, and I assumed it was because I had gotten us the plat map of Tannyhill, which gladly earned me a new spot in our group. John B said I was growing on him.

"So we've got the map, and now," John B said with confidence, sending me a wink, "We just have to figure it out."

"Yeah, but it's all out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it," Jj commented, taking a sip from his soda cup.