"Tell me about him," Brenna smiled over at John B once the two were back in the van.
"If you promise to tell me about her," John B smiled as he sped off toward his house.
The two spent the whole drive telling each other about their parents.
Brenna told him about how her mom would take her to concerts from the moment she was born.
John B told her about his dad and how he'd always make sure he made chocolate chip pancakes for his birthday.
Brenna shared every detail about how her mom was so passionate about her work, aka cooking, she was a chef.
John B shared stories about helping his dad find the royal merchant all the time.
They shared everything they could think of about their parents. Brenna was dying to meet her dad when he came back. And John B was sad he never got to meet his mom, as cool as she sounded.
"Thanks," John B smiled looking over at Brenna. The two now sat on the couch on his porch waiting for the rest of the group.
"No, thank you," she smiled over at him, she leaning against the arm of the couch while John B lounged on the other end.
"Hey-o!"
Brenna looked towards the voice that belonged to JJ who was followed by Kiara and Pope.
"Hi," Brenna smiled at Kiara who walked right up behind her.
"Hi," Kiara smiled, bending over giving her a quick peck before taking a seat on the couch between the two brunette teens.
"Wait, rewind," John B said pointing at the girls, "What was that?"
"Don't ruin it dude, let's see how far this goes," JJ said, putting his hands behind his head as he took a seat in the corner.
"Don't be a creep!" Brenna glared at JJ.
"Hey I'm just lookin for a show," JJ shrugged in defense, causing him to get a pillow thrown at him by Kiara.
"We're kinda dating now," Brenna shrugged, looking at Kiara for reassurance, Kiara nodded proudly, "Oh and JB and I are siblings"
"Huh?" all three of the other teens said looking between John B and Brenna.
"Twins," John B clarified.
"Huh?" they all said again.
"Me and him," Brenna pointed between herself and John B, "Have the same mommy and daddy," she explained slowly.
"How the hell did y'all figure that out?" Kiara asked.
"I found a copy of my birth certificate in his dads office and then we compared them," Brenna shrugged.
"Same day and time?" Pope asked for clarification.
John B and Brenna nodded.
"I'm seven minutes older though," John B shrugged acting proud.
"Oh shut up," Brenna playfully rolled her eyes at him.
"Have you talked to your Uncles?" Kiara asked looking over at Brenna, her hand on her ankle.
"Not yet, they think I'm currently getting ice from Heyward's," Brenna explained.
"So uh this gold we got," JJ started to chance the subject.
"Sarah's bringing a blow torch so once she gets here we're good to go," John B explained.
The five of them hung out for a bit before Sarah made her way to the house, supplies in hand.
The three girls sat in the van while the boys talked about how to melt the gold.
"That's 50 feet down, and they're using a 100-foot rope," Kiara explained the plan, while Brenna held the paper with the terrible drawing on it, "So I guess this little wagon will go straight to the gold room"
"Who drew this shit?" Brenna laughed sitting on the floor of the van. Sarah also laughing at the terrible drawing.
Kiara and Sarah on either side of her, as they all looked at a chicken scratch drawing of a pulley system.
"Who do you think?" Kiara giggled, looking down at the brunette, the two holding each others gaze for a second.
"100% Pope," Sarah smiled.
"We can't pawn this if there's a giant wheat symbol on it," JJ said tossing down the three gold bars they had acquired on the floor of the van.
Brenna picked up one of pieces of gold, running her finger over the pressed in symbol.
"It's gonna work," Kiara said holding up a blow torch.
"I don't think I like you holding that thing," Brenna joked, looking at the torch.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't hurt you," Kiara smiled, "Him, maybe," she looked up at JJ, who held up his hands in defense.
Brenna stood smiling beside a just as smiley Kiara while they melted down the gold. Sarah and John B watched from a far, Pope beside Kiara and JJ on the other side of Brenna.
A while later the whole crew piled into the van and headed towards the pawn shop.
"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ teased Kiara as they all got out of the van.
"Like you could've done better," Kiara rolled her eyes.
"I could have," JJ said proudly, "I took a welding class"
"You, in a class, yeah no," Brenna pointed at the boy confused, he nodded.
"Why do I have to pawn it off? How did I get this job anyway?" JJ asked, the melted gold still in his hand.
"'Cause you're the best liar," Pope shrugged as they all followed JJ into the pawn shop.
Kiara took Brenna's hand in hers pulling her towards the CDs, the others all spreading out around the store as JJ went to the front desk.
"Afternoon, ma'am," JJ said to the women behind the counter.
Brenna rested her head on Kiara's shoulder, her arm woven around her waist, as she watched JJ.
"That ain't real," the women scoffed when JJ set down the large hunk of gold on the counter.
"That ain't real?" JJ questioned.
"It can't be," the women shook her head.
"Feel how heavy it is," JJ suggested, leaning on the counter.
The women picked it up as JJ looked over at his friends, a proud smile on his face.
Kiara chuckled quietly at the blonde, before pretending to look at the stuff around the store again.
"Ooh! The acid test," JJ cheered, "My favorite, guys," he looked around at his friends.
"Well, it ain't plated, and it ain't painted," The women sighed after doing the said acid test.
"Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long," JJ shrugged.
"What the fuck," Brenna mumbled, giggling at his word choice. Kiara took the girls hands in hers leading her towards another section of stuff.
"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," the women observed.
Brenna stopped running her hand over a red ukulele that sat on the shelf to listen to JJ, curious how he'd cover this up.
"My mom," he said, sadness in his tone, "She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to melt it down"
He almost sounded like he was going to cry, "To "consolidate" it"
"He's really good at this," Brenna whispered to Kiara who nodded.
"The best"
"Okay, to be honest, ma'am," JJ continued his story, "It's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's."
Kiara shook her head at the boys story.
"Give me a minute," the women said to JJ as she came from around the counter and headed to the back of the store.
"Take your time, ma'am," JJ nodded.
"You know how to play?" Kiara asked quietly, while Brenna still eyed the bright red ukulele.
"My mom taught me," Brenna nodded.
Kiara kissed her cheek quick before sliding behind her to look at something that caught her eye.
"I talked to my boss," the women announced when she came back.
Brenna zoned out for a minute, thinking about her mom sitting on the balcony of their small apartment back in Texas, she remembered her mom playing the ukulele and singing her to sleep, or when she'd come home from school her mom would be casually playing on the couch.
Brenna started to wonder who had thought her, she remembered seeing a ukulele in her grandparents house, did her grandmother play? Is that how her mom learned? Her mind was wondering until someone called her name.
"Ren! C'mon," John B called, all of her friends were now exiting the store while she still stood in one of the aisles.
"Sorry," she shook her head walking towards the door.
"You good?" he asked quietly when she slipped passed him and out the door.
"Yeah," she nodded going towards the van.