Hell or High Water | JJ Maybank [2]

BONUS CHAPTER!

"I hope not," Pope spoke up. "This will be fun for a little while, but then it'll turn into Lord of the Flies."

Jo scrunched her nose and crinkled her eyes at Pope's words. She tilted her head to peer up at JJ, who caught her confused glance and chuckled. She could tell he was just as lost regarding Pope's reference.

"It'll turn into what?" JJ asked. He raised his eyebrows at Pope while the boy stared at him.

"Oh, come on!" Pope groaned. "You don't know that book?"

"Dude, does it look like I read?" JJ sassed back. "He doesn't," Jo giggled, taking amusement in the fact that Pope was even more frustrated by her unneeded remark.

"It was our summer reading assignment before sophomore year," Pope deadpanned.

"Then I definitely didn't read it," JJ chuckled.

Jo rolled her eyes and smiled at Pope. "Pope, you know we never do our homework. Especially when it's summer."

Pope sighed defeatedly and threw his arms in the air. "You're right," he muttered. "I should've known."

"The Lord of the Flies is a book about a group of kids that gets stranded on an island," Sarah spoke up. "They don't know how to work as a team so they took sides with the two leaders and basically ended up fighting against each other."

Silence hung over the group as they thought through Sarah's words. John B shifted and looked down at her, obviously impressed. "You read Lord of the Flies?" He whispered teasingly.

Sarah rolled her eyes and elbowed his stomach. "Yes," she deadpanned. "I actually enjoyed school."

"Of course you did," JJ murmured.

"Okay, but that's not gonna happen to us," Jo said. She tried to sound confident, but it was clear that worry was etched in her tone. She had witnessed John B and JJ argue many times before, and she remembered the fallout between Kie and Pope when John B went after Ward. She could only hope they would all be able to handle things civilly.

"I wonder if my parents have noticed I'm gone yet," Kie said quietly. "If I ever go back, they're definitely gonna send me to boarding school."

"I don't even wanna think about what my parents are gonna do," Pope sighed. "I've already dug myself a deep enough hole as it is."

"Okay, then don't," Jo stated. She sighed and wrapped her arms around JJ, feeling the desire to get as close to him as possible. "This is our Pogue paradise, remember? Let's not worry about the what if's just enjoy it."

The group was silent for a beat before they all nodded their heads. Jo smiled and rested her cheek against JJ's shoulder, watching the fire as it crackled and sent tiny embers into the starry night sky.

"That was cute," JJ whispered. "You know, if we do end up like Lord of the Flies, I'd follow you."

Jo rolled her eyes and pulled away from JJ just enough to teasingly tap his face. "Oh, screw off," she chuckled. Her eyes moved past JJ as she watched the waves crash against the sand behind them. She could just make out a figure standing in the shallows and when she turned around to observe her group, she noticed that her brother was gone. She whispered to JJ that she would be back soon and after she pried herself out of his arms, she went to stand beside John B.

"Are you okay?" She asked after a few seconds of silence. John B finally tore his eyes away from the waves and looked down at his sister.

The truth was, he couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened on the ship. To be more specific, he couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with Ward. He wanted to tell Jo about it, but at the same time he didn't.

"I saw Ward," he stated.

Jo tilted her head. Furrowing her eyebrows, she folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, he's alive. You told us that."

John B sighed and shook his head. "No, I mean I talked to him."

Jo's eyebrows shot up as she stared at her brother. She could feel her heart rate increasing. "W-what?"

John B frowned and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "He was trying to kill Sarah when I found them. I pushed him off of her, and then he tried to kill me."

"Again?" Jo cried.

John B nodded curtly. "I shoved him and he hit his head on the railing. Just like dad." His voice was quiet and faraway as he turned back towards the water. "I could've killed him. Thrown him into the ocean the same way he threw dad overboard."

"But you didn't," Jo realized aloud. John B closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, but made no further effort to speak. He wasn't sure how he felt about his decision. Part of him regretted it, but another part knew he was better than that. Jo understood this. It had been a trying year for everyone, especially the two of them. They had been chased and attacked and made out to be murderers. She almost wished that John B had done it so they didn't have to worry about Ward anymore. But she knew that would only cause more problems.

"He would be proud of us," Jo murmured. "We did everything he taught us to. We even found the gold — and more."

A smile ghosted John B's face and he nodded his head. "Yeah. He would love it here. This was the dream."

"It is the dream," Jo said, matching his smile. "Woogity woogity?"

This brought a grin to John B's face and he nodded happily. Throwing his arm over his sister's shoulders, he turned and they walked back to join their friends. "Woogity woogity," he whispered.

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A/N - Took forever but I finally wrote a bonus chapter about being stranded hehe. I can't wait for another season already!!!!