Endless Summer // JJ Maybank

A Night at John B's (6)

It's a little after 6 pm, and Grandma is getting ready to put dinner on the table. I'm grabbing dishes out of the cabinet for her when my phone dings.

About to grab dinner and do a beer run, pick you up at 7? John B has texted.

I'll be ready, I send back.

After sitting down to our meal, I bring up my plans to Mom. "Is it cool if I hang out with John B tonight?"

"Just John B? Or everyone?" she inquires.

"Well, everyone. But at JB's," I confirm. I shove a forkful of lasagna in my mouth and chew.

"Will you be returning tonight or are you planning on staying there?" she asks.

Honestly, I had planned on returning, thinking I wasn't going to have the option to stay. I never had in the past. I usually dutifully returned at my given curfew time or had lied and said I was staying with Kie and made a point to not look hungover when I came home bright and early the next morning.

"Staying there?" I form my response as a question, trying it out mostly to see what she says.

"Make sure you pack your toothbrush," she says around a mouthful of salad, and I have to hold myself back from celebrating. Who is this woman and what has she done with my mom?

"Will do," I salute her, and I go back to my dinner, concentrating on keeping my excitement at bay.

After dinner, I help clear the table, then dash to my room to throw some clothes, my bathing suit, and of course my toothbrush, into a backpack. I chuckle at the inside joke with myself.

I take my things back to the living room and grab a seat on the couch. I flick through Instagram on my phone, looking at pictures of my friends from home. I hear a horn honk outside. I peek through the curtains to see the familiar VW outside.

"John B's here! See you tomorrow!" I call out. A chorus of 'bye' and 'have fun' rings out from the kitchen.

I grab my bag and run out the door, bounding down the walkway to John B's bus. I throw my bag in the car and jump in. He eyes the backpack.

"Pretending youre staying with Kie, I presume?" He asks knowingly.

"Actually," I begin. "She knows I'm staying with you."

"What? Melissa!" He says scathingly.

"Don't ask questions. I didn't. I just went with it," I tell him.

He laughs. "Okay then."

As we drive through the cut, he informs me that I'm going to be dropped off at his house so I can wait there for Kie and Pope, while he heads to Figure 8 to get Sarah.  He tells me to go ahead and start drinking if I want, and to get the Bluetooth speaker set up for music.

He pulls into the gravel driveway and I jump out. I head inside and drop my bag on the kitchen table for now. I grab a beer from the fridge and crack it open. Now where could the speaker be?

I look around a bit in the kitchen, thinking maybe he listens to music while he cooks. Does he cook? I don't come up with anything, so I move into the living room. I check under both couches, no luck. I'm about to pull up the cushions when I hear footsteps behind me.

"John B, I thought-"

My breath catches in my throat when I turn around. It's not John B. It's JJ, a towel around his waist, hair wet and chest glistening.

Damn.

"Em!" he says, surprised to see me. "I, uh, forgot my clothes out here." He moves around me and grabs his backpack from the couch. He has a death grip on his towel.