{ LIVING THE POGUE LIFE }

{43}

Out of everything that JJ could have possibly imagined happening, Brie upping and leaving definitely wasnt one of them.

He knew why she left, really he did. But that didnt stop it from hurting any less. And it also didn't stop him from hating her for it. He had told her that he loved her, and she didn't even turn around to acknowledge it. Maybe he didnt expect her to say that she loved him too because, let's face it, he knew that he was hard to love. His only hope was that, by telling her the truth of how he really felt about her, she would have stayed. For him, for their friends, even for the gold. He just wanted her to stay.

"Fuck her, alright?" JJ said when he returned to the rest of the group, who were all in floods of tears, "We dont need her. If shes that willing to give up on us, then she shouldn't have even been involved in the first place."

"Can you blame her for leaving?" Kiara shouted, "JJ, she lost her entire family! She doesnt want to stay and see us fall apart, which we are by the way."

"She had nothing to lose," JJ argued, angrily, "None of us do anymore! Me and John B, we got nothing. Pope fucked his scholarship interview! And Kiara, your parents can get you out of any of the shit you get yourself into. Look at us. We're not running off, are we?"

"Quit throwing blame, JJ," Pope snapped, "Brie's been through a lot. None of us wanted her to go, but who can really blame her?"

"I do!" He yelled, "I blame her! We've all been through some shit, doesnt mean we just give up on our friends, our family."

Kiara wiped her tears and John B kicked the door of the garage. It slammed off the wall with a loud bang that made Kiara flinch.

"Just leave it, man," Pope muttered, "We all loved Brie, alright? But now she's gone. Get over it."

"Love?" JJ sneered, heart skipping over the world love. His automatic reflex was to be defensive around the topic of him qne Brie, especially when the word love was thrown around. "Who said anything about love? That it, Pope? Did you love, Brie?"

"Fuck off, JJ," Pope snapped, "Stop being an asshole just because you cant handle rejection."

JJ's blood boiled. His clenched his fists by his side and huffed steady breaths through his nose. Pour salt on the open wound, why dont you? If Pope really wanted to play that game, then JJ was more than willing to participate.

"Let's be honest," JJ said, "Its not about me, is it Pope? It's about you liking every girl who's nice to you. Remember when you liked Kiara?"

"JJ," John B groaned, "Don't do this, man."

Pope looked down at his feet in embarrassment, but JJ could see how angry he was getting. Kiara stared at Pope in shock. Of course, JJ decided to push it further.

"What was it you said to me?" JJ taunted, "Oh, JJ, I think I really like her. You liked Kiara too, didnt you John B?"

"Shut up," Pope growled as John B just rolled his eyes.

"Why dont you make me?" JJ challenged, "Come on. Hit me, bro. Go on, you'll feel better. Just hit me."

The adrenaline was rushing through him now, just begging to be put to good use. He wanted to get it out. Anything to feel better and numb the pain that Brie had caused.

"Guys, stop it," Kiara complained, "We really don't need this right now."

"No, what we didnt need was Brie," he panted, breathlessly, "Messing with all of our emotions like that, and then just ditching us when we need her. It's-it's fucking exhausting! Okay?"