PAPER RINGS | jj maybank

bonus chapter

And now it was Saturday morning, and Athena got Dorota to wake her up early so she could ride her bike over to the cut and visit Heyward, just as promised. She put on a pair of cycle shorts under her blue summer dress and her black converse and put her hair up in two half up dutch braids before cycling over to the man's shop.

JJ remembers staying there for a little while and just watching her... not in a creepy way, more like he was admiring her from afar, like she was so mesmerising that he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He sat there, next to the wooden bit of the Heyward deck, watching her with a small smile on his face.

And Athena so involved in what she was doing, didn't even notice. She didn't notice the way he laughed affectionally when she tripped over something, or he how his smile grew every time she laughed, or how that the usually reckless, confidence, loud JJ Maybank had been rendered silent from her selflessness... well just her in general actually. Athena didn't notice any of that.

She also didn't know, how she played with her rings when her and Heyward had stopped and began to talk, clearly talking about something she was uncomfortable with, or that her eyes light up when he made a joke before she laughed so hard, she had to scrunch her eyes shut and hold onto something to stop herself from falling over, or that she flicked her hair over her shoulder whenever she moved, and despite having it out of her face, she kept pulling the two front bits down to frame her face subconsciously.

JJ did.

He noticed a lot about her in those moments, and it was then that his crush started on her. Since then he went every Saturday morning to see if she was there, and when she wasn't, he went on a Sunday, just in case she changed it up. And when she was there, he simply watched her in awe, constantly surprised by her caring nature.

He even noticed the day she dyed her hair blonde. It was freshman year of high school, and her and Sarah decided they needed a change to represent the new beginning and celebrate starting high school, the supposed best years of your life, and so they both decided to bleach their hair and go blonde. JJ remembers because he didn't recognise her at first, he was sure that it was a customer until he heard her laugh at something Heyward had said, and he immediately knew that it was her.

He remembers that day so vividly because of how beautiful she looked. Her blonde hair shone in the sun as Heyward complimented her, twirling around so her hair spun out around her. JJ remembers liking her even more on that day, her hair suiting her so well that it simply enhanced her previous natural beauty.

However, the day he watched Pope Heyward spin Athena Cameron around happily, it all went downhill for him. JJ Maybank was reckless. Everyone knew it, kook knew it (Maybanks had a reputation), his best friend, John B knew it, Pope and Kiara Carrera knew it, Heyward knew it, literally everyone knew. His reckless nature took over in that moment, so clouded by anger that his friend hadn't told him of their friendship, despite JJ telling all of his friends – although in a jokey manner because kooks were the enemy – that the only kook he'd ever get with would be Athena Cameron, and that he'd be up for it because he really like her. He felt betrayed, and so he did what he did best.

He hid his feelings and turned the sadness into anger and hatred, aimed at the kooks, because at least then it could be justified not just by her singular action. He knew he didn't hate the girl, who could? In his eyes she was perfect and always would be, but she was a kook and so she had to be treated like one in order to not raise suspicion, even if it killed him a bit inside.

But once again that went downhill when Athena helped then get to the internet. They had just found out about the Royal Merchant, and JJ was the only person who had access to a place with internet. And it was just his luck that a security guard caught them and asked them all for their access cards, proceeding to threaten to kick them out once they could not produce said cards. If it wasn't for Pope spotting Athena at the end of the corridor and rushing them all over to her, they would've failed and could kiss their chance at finding the royal merchant goodbye.