SWEET NICOTINE | pope heyward

19, the plan

"at least" JJ laughed, looking out at the island.

"nothing'll beat Poguelandia though" AJ breathed, her voice quiet enough for only JJ to hear. The pair sharing a look.

"We gotta get Kiara out, guys. does anyone have anything?" JJ turned, his priority remaining on getting Kiara. AJ turned away from the window and back to the pogues.

"Well, we can't storm the fort. We can't call the cops" Pope listed all the things they couldn't do and JJ sighed.

"It's not helping Pope" He frustratedly let out.

"We can't negotiate. We don't know what they want. It's got to be about the cross or the gold" Pope continued and AJ bit the inside of her lip as she thought.

"mm-mm. Guys like Singh, its always about money"

Sarah passed AJ as the girl walked over to her boyfriend and AJ took a seat on one of the chairs. She leaned her head back, trying to stop the headache that was growing.

"Are you okay?" Pope's voice met the girl's ears and she opened her eyes, looking at the boy as he brought over a chair closer to hers.

"I'm, I don't know. We need to get Kiara and get-" The girl paused, home almost slipping from her mouth but she stopped herself. "We gotta get back to OBX" Pope nodded, taking it as an answer.

The air felt different, it was no longer the same as their own slice of paradise. Tensions were back and Kiara was kidnapped, things shattered down around them. AJ tilted her head back as the thoughts danced around her mind.

She knew they wouldn't have been able to stay on the island after Portis found them but she just wished they didn't flag him down. Or that they had done worse jobs at it. She couldn't voice that though. Even if they were at a stall, they were closer to getting back to OBX than before.

"you look lost in thought," Pope said, his eyes resting on the blonde in front of him. She tore her eyes from the night sky back to the boy, his face still and calm. She craved the comfort he provided on the island but the island was gone now and real life was crawling back in.

"I'm fine" She answered.

"I don't believe that" Pope challenged and she took a breath in, trying to search her mind for something to say back.

"but if you don't want to talk that's fine, we can sit in silence" Pope continued, leaning back in the chair he was using, finally stretching his back.

"I'm gonna try to get some sleep," AJ said, it was the only thing she could muster. Her stomach was flipping, and she couldn't stop it no matter how hard she tried.

AJ fell asleep that night wanting nothing more than to wake up back in Poguelandia on the soft sand under the moonlight next to Pope and the other pogues but instead, the girl fell asleep in an abandoned, half-torn-down hotel, hiding.

The sun crept into the building through the gaps in the walls. It stirred a few of the teenagers, AJ being one of them. The blonde opened her eyes, squinting as she tried to adjust to the light.

When she finally saw clearly her eyes found JJ, sitting on a chair with a phone in his hands. She furrowed her brows, rubbing her eyes to try and fix her vision. It was then that she realized she wasn't imagining it and that JJ fucking Maybank had a phone in his hands.

"J, is that a phone?" AJ's tired voice stirred the rest of the sleeping teenagers and Sarah looked over.

"what the hell" The two blonde girls stared at him in shock.

"This little souvenir that I plucked from Portis's pocket" JJ shrugged and Sarah scoffed.

"You have a phone?"