𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞〚𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 〛

Chapter 12

Delilah crossed her arms, feeling like a judge on a show, and did her best to look serious. She was unable to hide her amusement as JJ squinted his eyes, doing his best to shoot at a paper target she had stapled to a three.

 The boy had absolutely no clue how to hold a gun, and his precision was the proof of it.

 He took off his safety glasses, which she had insisted he wore and lowered his arms, muscles trembling from the effort.

"Your technique is dreadful," she grimaced. "I have no idea how you are able to hold the gun for so long that way."

Despite her critique, the boy smirked and flexed his biceps, earning an eye roll.

 Delilah had always envied boys and their no-effort muscles. It wasn't fair that girls weren't as naturally strong as them.

 She held out her hand and he gave her the gun, watching as she smiled at the familiar grip. Taking a small step in front of him, she tilted the gun, allowing him to clearly see her movements.

"Wrap your dominant hand as farthest up the grip," she demonstrated. "And put the heel of your other hand on the bottom of the grip, to support. Right?"

 He nodded.

 "Your thumb should be just slightly in front of your dominant hand's thumb. Glasses."

"What?"

She stared pointedly at the goggles on top of his head.

"Oh, right."

Delilah had always hated the security glasses, which fogged up every time she breathed too deeply. But for the sake of setting an example, she pushed them up the bridge of her nose.

 Holding the gun against her chest, she watched the target in front of her, drowning out everything around her. JJ ardent gaze was rather hard to ignore, but she managed.

 She soothed her breathing until her chest was barely rising and falling. Her arms unfolded, her feet spreading apart and steadying her entire posture. She aimed and shot, the shock travelling up her arm.

 She shot, again and again, the exhilarating feeling of control making her frown when she realized that the charger was now empty.

Delilah straightened. "Simple, isn't it?"

JJ whistled, eying the target and her near perfect score. "You just keep getting cooler and cooler."

She laughed. "Thank you. Your turn."

She handed him both the gun - making sure the safety was on - and the goggles, observing his every movement.

 He placed his hands around the grip properly, but her watchful eye seemed to have him on edge. 

She circled around him, wrapping her hands over his.

"Relax," she teased. "You look like you want to choke the living daylight out of an inanimate object."

He took a deep breath, apparently unbothered by their proximity.  "Yeah. Yeah, sorry."

Moving back, she crossed her arms once again, tilting her head to the side as he stretched out his arms and shot. 

He glanced back towards her and earned a nod of approval. He was a fast learner. 

A movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned, facing Pope, who had tried to blend with the shadows of the forest. She frowned, wondering why he wasn't coming closer. 

Catching her eye, he slipped out of the shadows, flinching when JJ shot once again.

"How long were you there for?" she asked.

He shrugged with what seemed like nonchalance, yet she could sense an underlying emotion. Something like jealousy.

"Hey, man. What's up?" said JJ, pulling down his ear protection.

"Safety!" she shouted, snapping her fingers at him.

"Sorry, sorry," he mumbled, obeying.

"They know," blurted Pope, sending furtive glances around.

JJ frowned. "What?"

"Topper knows I sunk his boat!" With every passing second, he got more agitated, as if every reason why he should be panicking was resurfacing to his brain.

"All right, chill, bro. All right? They don't know shit," coaxed his friend.

"Topper and Rafe mad dogged me," he hyperventilated. "They know. I'm going to lose the scholarship."

JJ gripped his shoulders, forcing him to stop pacing. "Will you get a grip, man. They don't know shit!"

"They have cameras, they could've seen me."

Delilah watched as JJ's grip on Pope's shoulder loosened, as his voice got softer, yet determined. As if he was reassuring his little brother. If the moment hadn't been so serious, she would have found the scene cute. Pope needed that scholarship more than anything in the world. This could ruin everything, and they all realized that.

"You're gonna walk up to 'em kooks," firmly said JJ. "You're gonna look 'em right in the eye, and..."

"Deny the living shit out of it," breathed Pope, slowly getting control over his fear.

Because his eyes didn't lie: he was absolutely terrified. And she hated Rafe for that.

"That's right," encouraged JJ. "Deny, deny, deny. But just for safety, we don't go nowhere without protection." 

He held up the gun, which she snatched away from him.

"Yeah. I'm the protection," she said, staring directly at his offended face as she tucked away the gun.

A hesitant smile appeared on Pope's face. "I think I'd feel safer than way."

"Fine," huffed JJ, leaving them to get the target.

As soon as JJ was out of ear shot, she gently pushed Pope's shoulder, forcing him to look at her. She tilted her head to the side, watching the fear slowly melt from his eyes. "It'll be fine, Pope. I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks, Lilah."

She turned away so he wouldn't see the storm brewing inside her eyes. Her patience was running thin, thinner than ever. She hoped Rafe would have the common sense to let her blow off some steam before giving her a valid excuse and a very long apology. 

If there was, in fact, an excuse. 

Without her consent, the anger turned to sadness.

A/N Hey folks! So, you people may have noticed that my updates have been less regular than at first and I'm sorry for that. School has started once again, but I'll make sure to post an update every week. 

Thank you so much for reading and voting! 

Have a nice weekend, people!  

-Aella