Chapter 2
JJ:
"Don't ever do that again." Kie says once she's done hugging me. "We were so worried. I'm serious. Don't ever do it again." She repeats, face hard. After a few seconds her face drops and she looks at me. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just needed some space." I tell all of them. "I'm sorry. For real." and I mean it.
We all plop down outside on our usual spots, and I tell them where I've been and what I've been doing.
"Well enough of me. What've you guys been doing?" I ask them.
"Besides worrying about you, the usual. Drinking, talking, surfing. Oh and by the way, surfing is a lot less fun without you JJ." Sarah says, from her seat, wrapped up and cuddled in JB's arms.
I laugh.
They're acting like I've been gone for months, but it's nice. Having a real family, people that care whether or not I come home.
We continue like this for a few hours, like we usually do, until we all get tired and decide to head to bed. We all mostly sleep here. Me because, well obviously I can't sleep at my dad's place. Kie because her parents kicked her out, Pope because he likes to, and Sarah because she hates staying with her crazy family. John B and Sarah sleep in the main bedroom, Kie sleeps in the other smaller bedroom, and me and Pope sleep in the living room on the 2 couches.
As I'm lying on the couch, trying to fall asleep, Kie calls me in her room. I hop up and walk into her room. We both sit down on the bed. This is weird.
"I missed you." she says.
I don't know how to respond to that.
"I missed you too." I say, because it seems like the right thing to say. I did miss her, but we never talk like this.
"I'm still mad at you for leaving like that." she says, no anger in her voice.
"I really am sorry." I say.
"Promise not to do it again." she says.
"I promise." I say.
Then she looks me in the eyes briefly and kisses me. I don't pull away, but I don't react either. She pulls away after a second. I look away. I'm not trying to be an asshole.
I look back at her, and she looks confused and upset. Shit. I know it's not right, but I lean in and kiss her back. It's not right because the only reason I'm doing it is out of pity.
I'm not in love with her. I'm in love with him. With Pope.
Pope:
"Guys come on, we're gonna be late." I yell to everybody in the house.
"Shut up, Pope!" Sarah yells back. She walks out of her room now, hair ruffled and the first button of her shirt undone. JB walks out after her, his hair also ruffled and his shirt wrinkled. Ew. Ew.
We all take 5 more minutes to get ready, then we all walk out to the twinkie and climb in. JJ and Kie are sitting a little bit closer than usual. Huh. Wonder what's going on there. JB starts driving, really slowly. Omg.
"Could you pick up the pace, grandma?" I say to John B.
"Omg Pope, you're literally the only person that cares about getting to school on time." Sarah remarks from the passenger seat.
"It's a normal thing to want to get to school on time. Who likes walking into a classroom late?" I question, rhetorically.
"You're such a nerd." JJ laughs.
I look at him and jokingly flip him off. He smiles back at me, then looks away.
We pull into the school parking lot 5 minutes later. We all climb out and walk into the building.
-----
I would talk about how school went but nothing exciting or cool happened. Just another day of classes and note taking.
"So who's excited for the bonfire tonight?" JB asks the group as we're driving home.
Ah yes, the annual bonfire. Every teenager on the island attends the bonfire. Pogues and Kooks.
"You mean who's excited to watch you get into a fight and beat the living shit out of a kook." I humorously say.
"Ha Ha, whatever. I'm not gonna pick a fight this time." He says and we all laugh.
"John B, we've been going to the bonfire every year since we were 13, and you always say you're not going to pick a fight with the kooks, and you always do." Kie says.
"I can't help it, the Kooks annoy the living shit out of me. I have to punch their faces every once in a while to stay sane."
We all laugh. Once we arrive at JB's house, we all walk out to the patio. JJ picks up a blunt and lights it, then takes a hit. He holds it out, offering someone to take it. Kie takes it out of his hand. Then hands it to John B after she's done, John B hands it to Sarah after he's done, and then my turn.
I rarely ever smoke weed, but I do today. I take a hit, then pass it back to JJ.
We continue this way till its burnt out, then light another one, and do the same.
Once it's time to go to the bonfire we all start walking there, it being too close to drive. We all arrive, all of us high.
Me, JJ, and Kie walk over to the drink table and make ourselves a drink. JJ pours himself one, drinks half, then re-fills it all within a matter of 30 seconds. He's been drinking a lot more lately. And smoking a lot more. I hope he's okay.
We all hang out and drink and catch up with the other Pogues for like 2 hours. I'm having a really good time, till I look up and see JJ about 10 feet from me, arguing with a Kook. Rafe Cameron to be exact.
Rafe throws the first punch, then JJ punches him again. Then again. Then again. He keeps going and after a good number of punches, JB tries to pull him off. JJ moves down and punches his ribs then back to his face.
Damn he must be really angry. I run over there and try pulling him off, because Rafe's gonna be really hurt soon. He's still punching him when I get over there. There are other Kooks trying to stop JJ and yelling, but he just keeps going. Then Kelce stands behind JJ and holds his fist out like he's gonna punch JJ, but I punch him first, then I try to pull JJ off.
"JJ STOP!" I yell loudly and kick him off of Rafe. He stands up and looks at me. His eyes are blood red, his knuckles are ripped open and bloody and he looks terrible.
"Guys, we gotta go!" Sarah says and we all run away from the bonfire. We keep running for a few minutes, then stop when we're far enough away. JJ hangs his head low and we're all silent as we finish walking home. Once we're all in John B's living room, JJ starts laughing.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, JJ?" I ask loudly.
"A lot."
"Seriously, what was that about?" John B asks.
"I don't know. I was angry." JJ says.
"What did rafe do to you?" Kie asks.
"Nothing, I just felt like beating someone up. And hey, at least JB didn't pick a fight this time." JJ mutters.
We all roll our eyes.
Honestly I'm a little concerned about him. First, he disappears for days, he's drinking ALL the time, and he beat the actual shit out of Rafe without batting an eye.
"I'm taking the room tonight, Kie. You can have the couch." He says, looking at her. Then he stands and walks into the room and closes it behind him.
"Guys, I'm worried about him." I voice my thoughts.
"He's just being JJ. There's nothing to worry about." JB says and Sarah agrees.
"Yeah, you're right." I say.
It's currently 1:30 am and we have school tomorrow.
"We're gonna go to bed." John B says, getting up from his position on the couch, grabbing Sarah's hand, and heading off to his bedroom with her.
Kie gets up and goes into the bedroom where JJ is. Seriously what's going on there?
JJ:
The bedroom door opens and I'm hoping it's Pope. It's not.
"Hey JJ." I hear Kiara's voice.
"Hey." I respond.
She comes and sits next to me on the bed.
"Are you okay? You're acting different lately." She says.
God I am so sick of everyone asking if I'm okay. Like yeah, i'm just a little depressed. We all get a little depressed sometimes.
"I'm good. Just getting a little sick of people being concerned about me." I tell her.
"Sorry. I just care about you." She says softly, then adds "We all do."
"I know. Thank you."
We just sit there. And sit there. Until she scoots closer to me. I should tell her that I'm not interested, but I don't want to hurt her.
She looks over at me and leans in, like last night and kisses me. I know what I'm doing is wrong, but it also feels wrong to hurt her. I don't know what to do.
After like 30 seconds I pull away, and she looks at me.
"I'm getting tired. Let's talk tomorrow?" I say, hoping it doesn't hurt her.
"Uh, yeah, okay sure." she says quickly, then gets up and walks out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.
I lay down and close my eyes, trying to fall asleep, but i can't. I roll over on my stomach, hoping that will help but it doesn't.
After what feels like hours of trying to sleep, I slowly find myself drifting asleep.
*(AN: PLEASE comment whether or not I should continue with this story. I have no idea whether people like it or not. I'm sorry if it's boring so far, but trust me it will get better.)*