𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴

𝐱𝐥𝐢𝐢𝐢. just like dirty dancing

I continued browsing, hardly noticing JJ moving into the aisle in front of the one I was in. I looked up from a record, meeting his eyes again through the holes of the shelves. He immediately looked away.

I looked back down at a record for a few seconds before looking back over at him. This time, he held a record of one of Elton John's in front of his face and posed to where it looked like the face was his.

I laughed loudly, getting the attention of the owner, who instantly shushed the two of us. I looked back over at JJ, who was still laughing at his own joke. I looked around for an album, eventually landing on a Ted Nugget album and bringing it up to her face as well.

JJ looked over at me, immediately bursting out into laughter again. The owner now fast-walked over to us, us both acting busy until she walked away.

"Red?" Sarah called, bringing my attention back to the group.

I looked over at JJ one more time, giving him a soft smile, which he returned. Then, I walked back over to Sarah and the rest of the group and continued browsing. 

"Hey, Sarah?" I asked, Sarah looked over at me, waiting for what I had to say. "Who's that guy over there." I nodded my head towards JJ, who turned his head away from me and tried to act natural.

Sarah scoffed playfully, "Nobody important."

"Nobody important?" I asked, apparently loud enough for him to hear, because he looked over at me again. I locked eyes with him, as if speaking directly towards him instead of Sarah. "Y'know, in all my 15 years of existence, I've never heard of anyone who wasn't important before."

JJ smiled widely, looking back down at his record and chuckling to himself.

"JJ," John B whistled, grabbing the boy's attention and pulling him to the side. JJ continued staring over at me.

"What's her name?"

John B looked over at me and Sarah, laughing at his best friend. "Ha, she'd squash you like a bug."

"Her name."

"Red Shoupe, daughter of Deputy Shoupe. Kook goddess." John B replied with a sigh, watching as his best friend continued staring over at her. He elbowed him in the stomach, bringing him out of his trance. "Dude, did you hear what I said? She's totally off-limits. Let's go, Pope's waiting."

With that, I watched both John B Routledge and JJ Maybank walk out of the record store with John B's arm wrapped around his shoulder.

Red shook off the distant memory, trying to distract herself from the pain she was feeling. It had been a day since her and JJ's confrontation, and she'd tried her best to get her mind off of it, but nothing seemed to do the trick for her.

Everything just seemed to remind her of JJ and what they'd had before it went to utter ruin.

She didn't want to talk to anyone. Or at least, not the pogues. But she did have her second-best option, who had been waiting for her ever since she'd left. Max Fischer.

Red knew she could talk to him, so she drove over to his house and parked out front. She hadn't seen the white suburban home since he'd help them get the flight records to catch Gavin. Now, she just hoped to God that Max was home.