Catching Sunshine | JJ Maybank

8 // Homecoming

"Okay so you really got married?"

I smirked through the watermelon juice running down my chin, licking the stickiness off my fingers before sarcastically following Kie's question with, "Like with a dandelion bouquet and everything?"

The six of us escaped Charleston's shores on whoever's boat Sarah and John B had managed to um, borrow, and spent the vast majority of the cruise back home exchanging stories from the past few months. It was mostly the two of them recounting every dashing and daring exploit from their time on the run while Kie, JJ, and I stared at them like we were looking at ghosts. Which, according to the official report, we kind of were.

Our tales were not quite so treacherous, mostly what school was like without them and how the OBX had settled after what had happened at the end of the summer. One retelling that had pointedly and somewhat awkwardly not been told was JJ and I's separation; as far as Sarah and John B knew, we were full on in love. But if either of them noticed the deliberate way I claimed a seat between Sarah and Pope on the boat opposite from JJ, they didn't say.

Sarah smiled down at her half a watermelon, a sorry excuse of a breakfast, foraged from some poor elderly couple's backyard garden. "It wasn't exactly legal, but...yeah."

Kie and I exchanged an amused look that read, "These two..."

The three of us popped another chunk of fruit into our mouths. "Am I crazy or is there definitely something going on between you and Pope?" Sarah asked, a suspicious gaze sent in Kie's direction.

Kie's cheeks dimpled from restraining the half-embarrassed/half-proud smile that rose on her face. "Maybe..."

The blonde sat between us glanced my way next, looking for more honest confirmation. I rolled my eyes and nodded once with a sideways grin which only made Sarah shake her head. "That's not a no," she replied.

The two of us looked to her and she shrugged, a meager attempt at casualness. "It's not a no."

I couldn't help it anymore; her obvious intentions of keeping the specifics of their relationship, or whatever it was at this point, vague and mysterious made laughter bubble up from the depths. I barely managed to keep from spraying melon onto the grass. My antics had Sarah giggling as well while Kie flushed and rolled her eyes. "You both are terrible," she mused, which only made us double over again.

"So what about you?" Sarah questioned over the last remnants of laugher. My brow rose.

"What about me?"

"You and JJ," she elaborated, "The OG breakers of the Pogue Code."

The carefree little bubble surrounding us popped instantly; Kie cleared her throat awkwardly which almost drew attention away from the way I immediately froze. I knew I should have been prepared for this conversation but I wasn't; did I lie, say things were great? Did I dive right into every petty detail of our breakup? Or did I just get up and walk away, pretend I didn't hear anything and leave Kiara to explain?

That last option sounded pretty good but I eventually went for concise but unspecific; my specialty. "Oh, we're uh...not together anymore," I replied, eyes diverted to where my fingers had begun to dig seeds from my watermelon's pink flesh. Sarah's voice got quiet, and her next words filled with a nauseating amount of sympathy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I didn't need them to cater to my poor, lonely self, not when we had just been talking about both of their vibrant, flourishing relationships. So I opted to try and lighten the mood, pretending the change in topic hadn't sent a fresh wave of crushing sadness through my chest. "Well how could you have? You were in the Bahamas, living it up," I said tightly, forcing a cheeriness into my tone. I stood up, feeling their eyes focus on me, not buying my lies for a second. "It wasn't as melodramatic as it sounds, really. It just didn't work out."