jj's girl

Chapter Nine

emma's pov

i had pulled away from the hug and entered the bathroom to wash my face. i'm 17 years old yet my dad is always up my ass, always has been,
probably always will be. i rinsed my face and went to the bedroom. jj had laid out some fresh blankets for me. that's sweet. i felt bad making him sleeping on the couch, but he insisted. i hopped in bed trying to get some sleep. the sheets smelled really good. everything smelled like jj.

i woke up the next morning feeling really refreshed. that's one of the best nights i've had in a long time. i folded jj's bed since thats the least i could do and went downstairs. jj was already awake and making breakfast. "smells good," i said startling him. "yeah you better hope it tastes as good as it smells. i don't usually cook," he said while chuckling. i laughed with him. "wow i must be very special," i teased. "you wish," he said smiling at me. i gave him a small smile in return and decided to help him out. "oh my god you're doing this all wrong!" i whined. "give me that egg, i'll show you how it's done." i cracked the egg perfectly into the pan. "show off," jj said nudging me. "i'm just too good i don't know what to tell you." we both laughed and shared a long stare. was i flirting with jj?? it looked like we were about to kiss but jj looked away so i filled the silence. "i better get going after breakfast. i don't want my dad knowing i wasn't home last night, he'd freak." "yeah that's probably best," jj said looking a little disappointed. "i'll see you later though right? after my shift?" i asked. "oh uh, did the gang have something planned?" he asked. "no, but there's no reason we can't hangout. surfing, 5:00?" "oh i don't think i can today emma. sorry," said the boy looking down. that'didn't seem very convincing. "oh okay, well maybe another day," i said. we ate in dead silence after that awkward conversation. was he not flirting?

i snuck back into my house through my bedroom window. luckily, i don't think my dad heard me. i got dressed and ready for my shift at the wreck. i grabbed my board and was stopped by my dad as i was grabbing a granola bar to take as a snack. "where do you think you're going? you're grounded remember?" he said. "i have a job dad. i can't skip, i just started," i told him. "get back home as soon as your shift ends," he said. "no excuses." "fine," i said rolling my eyes. i grabbed my granola bar and left.

i made my way to the wreck on my board but tripped when a guy crossed in front of me. "what the fuck?" i said as i looked up. of course, topper. he was mad about our first encounter, but did he seriously have to stoop so low? he laughed and walked into the diner. i got up but it hurt a lot. i looked down at my knee and it was pretty scratched up. i walked into the wreck looking for kiara but she spotted me first. "hey emma. you ready?" she greeted. "hey, i actually banged up my knee pretty bad, are there any bandages?" i asked. kiara looked down and cringed. "yikes that's pretty bad, i'll grab you some stuff to fix that up." "thank you." kiara returned with some polysporin, cotton balls, and a large bandage. "can you manage cleaning that up on your own? it's kind of busy in here," said kiara. "yeah of course. you've done more than enough." she smiled and started taking more orders.

i tried to stop the bleeding as much as i could with the cotton balls, applied some polysporin and finished off with the bandaid. i put the supplies in the back and grabbed my apron and cleaning materials. i was cleaning some tables towards the back of the diner when i saw jj and pope walk in. i thought jj was busy? he must've forgotten i work here because when he saw me appear in my apron, he looked surprised and a little worried. "oh hi emma, forgot you work here," he said, looking down. "no worries. aren't you busy?" i asked. "oh um yeah turns out the stuff i needed to do is a different day." "i see, so we're still on for surfing then?" i asked excitedly. "um well," was all he could say. "if you don't want to go, you can tell me. you don't have to lie about it," i spat. kiara must've heard us and looked at both me and jj confused. i can tell jj hadn't mentioned anything to pope either because he was just as confused. i left to go and clean some more tables.