𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕕-𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 (JJ)

❽

"Can I help you?" I asked, confused about her sudden outburst. "Explain yourself," She demanded, but I cocked my head to the side. "Explain what?" I chuckled. She took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose, "What's going on with you and JJ?" 

"What do you mean? Nothing's going on," I said truthfully. 

"He's always flirting with you and I saw you blush before!" She said with an excited giggle, but I kept my composure. "I think he likes you," Pope added, and I held up a finger. "No, no. He does not like me like that, and I do not like him like that. We're friends. That's all," I protested. 

"No, you're friends with John B. You're friends with Pope. You're not just friends with JJ," Kie said. I thought back to the night JJ and I spent high in the hammock. I thought about what he said, but dared not bring it up. It would only complicate things. 

I had friends now, I was finally happy, and I would be damned if a little crush got in the way. "What about the rule, huh? No Pogue-on-Pogue macking?" I put out there, sure they would back down after I said it. "Doesn't count, you weren't always a Pogue," Kie said, and Pope nodded from behind her. 

"That's a technicality," I whined, but Pope and Kie were set on making me uncomfortable today I guess. I ignored the rest of their middle school-like conversation and got up to get my book, which I left on the back of the boat. I bent down to get it, but when I got up, I saw a cop car pull up, light flashing. 

"Guys, guys," I hissed, and they looked to where I was now pointing. "Oh shit," Kie said, and I nodded, eyes still trained on the police car that had arrived. "If I lose my merit scholarship, I'm gonna kill someone," Pope groaned, and I could tell his brain was working in overdrive trying to come up with an escape plan. "Should we peel?" Pope asked, growing antsy and nervous.

"We never leave a Pogue behind," Kie said. The cops began to advance towards the room our friends were in, and I was pained by the coincidence. "No, seriously, should we peel?" Pope asked again. "Pope, shut up," I urged, 

"What do we do?" I frantically asked, but it didn't seem like anyone had any ideas. "Wait, okay, follow me," I said, getting off the boat as the cops passed and running underneath the window of the motel room John B. and JJ had gone into. We began throwing rocks at the window after Pope pitifully missed his first attempt. We all kept throwing until enough rocks had gotten their attention. 

They soon realized what we were pointing to, alerting them about the cops, and they jumped into action. They hoisted the window open wide enough so they could both shimmy out and balance on the ledge underneath it. My heart rate sped up as I watched the two try to keep their foothold right outside the window that either one of the officers could look out of at any given moment. 

When the cops finally left, we all dashed to the boat, escaping as quickly as possible. When we were all on the boat, we had to ask. "Did you guys find anything?" 

"Did we find anything? No, I don't think so. Oh, yeah, we did," JJ said. He then pulled a gun from out of his back pocket and we all froze up. He had really done it. JJ had finally tipped the iceberg from minorly angry and a little bit crazy, to full-blown flight risk. 

"You've finally lost it," I said, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Why would you take that?" Kie shrieked, and Pope simply turned around with a hand on his forehead. "I'm gonna lose my merit scholarship," Pope muttered, and I chuckled. No matter what, Pope's constant anxiety was always funny. I could tell Kie was holding back a laugh too, and JJ threw an arm around his shoulder, "Sh, sh, sh, no, no, no."

"At least you still have us," He said and Pope sighed. 

"I'm living my nightmare," He said simply. "Hey, you two are adorable, really, but we should really get the hell out of dodge," I suggested, and John B. pointed to me, agreeing.