HIIIIII :D chapter 11 here we are!!!!!!!!!! thank u guys literally SO MUCH For 7k reads on the story y'all are unbelievable
n e way THIS is the fun chapter i've been talking about!!!! it's SO long so hopefully u don't get bored but i love this one so much & i hope u do too :)
ENOUGH OUT OF ME GO READ!!!!!!!!!!
ENJOYYYYOYOY -katie <3
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b r i e l l e
I literally feel like I'm on cloud fucking nine right now.
Sitting in the Twinkie with my four best friends and driving around listening to music, I don't know if I've ever felt better in my life. I can't wipe the huge grin off my face that has been stuck there since we got in the van. We don't have to talk to feel comfortable with each other, and I keep catching JJ's eye in the front mirror. My smile only disappears when JJ swings his arm out in front of John B's chest in the middle of the ride.
"Wait wait wait," JJ tells our driver. "Stop here. Stop! Pull over." Seriously blondie? I was having a good time!
I look over to Pope and Kie for some sort of clarification but none of us have any idea what's going on. "Now? Why now?" John B asks JJ as he continues driving down the road that has turned into more of a dirt path. "We're like, five minutes away from where I was taking us."
"I said what I said! Pull over, John B." JJ looks to be about this close to taking the wheel and stopping the van himself. Why can't he wait five more minutes?
John B lets out an annoyed groan. "Fine! Fine." From my seat in the back, I feel the van slow down and veer to the right of the road. JJ is sitting ready with his skateboard, eager to get out of the Twinkie and go to whatever this place is that he made us stop at. Kie quietly asks 'where the fuck are you taking us JJ?' and I just decide not to question it. I hear the radio shut off and JJ swings his door open and he exits the van.
I take this as my cue to slide the back door open so Kie, Pope, and myself can get out too, but I struggle due to the rusty hinges and my lack of upper body strength. Pope senses my struggle and reaches his arm over to help me by putting his hand on top of mine, and together we slide the door open before laughing at my weakness. The three of us hop out of the Twinkie and stand awkwardly with the other two boys, one of whom has a look of childlike excitement on his face and the other who looks like he would rather be anywhere but here.
"Why are we here exactly?" Pope asks JJ with a look on his face that says 'seriously?'. He spins the tip of his skateboard around on the ground and digs a small hole in the dirt with it.
Without answering Pope's question, JJ begins walking through the woods and shouts at us to follow him. Glancing at each other out of mild concern, the four of us do as we're told but keep a solid distance between us and him.
"Wanna maybe like, tell us where the hell we're following you to?" Kie shouts to JJ in front of us. I can't help but laugh to myself at how stupid the five of us must look stepping over leaves and branches in the middle of the woods. John B reaches his hand out for me to take and use for balance as we cross a massive fallen tree trunk.
"We're almost there, I promise!" JJ responds after a few seconds and I hear him laugh to himself now too, likely out of pure excitement just to get to wherever 'there' is. A minute or so later we catch up to JJ who has stopped in the middle of a clearing in the woods. He's standing in the center of a paved road that looks like it could go on forever. He extends his arms out into the air, one hand holding his skateboard, and has the most adorable smile glued to his face as he looks at us. "We have arrived!"
I look around again at Kie, Pope, and John B, but this time the third boy has that same huge grin on his face as he looks around at the trees and road surrounding us. "No fucking way, JJ. I totally didn't recognize this place!"
"No fucking way! You have to be shitting me! A road!" I sort of mock John B in a goofy accent. He looks at me now, puts his hand in his back pocket, and pulls it back out with his middle finger sticking up. This makes both Pope and myself laugh as he compliments John B's maneuver with a 'good one'.
John B goes back to admiring the place, so JJ takes initiative to explain what we could possibly be doing here. "This is where John B and I learned to skate together when we were little." He tells us, dropping his board to the pavement and placing one of his boots on it, rolling the board back and forth. "Figured since we're gonna teach Brielle how to skate, this would be the perfect place." I don't think I've ever felt this special in my life. This is so cute.
I feel my cheeks burning up for some reason, and look around at the group with a flustered smile. "That's really sweet, JJ. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to learn how to actually skate, but I'll try just cause you brought us here." Haven't felt those butterflies in like, ten hours! A new record.
"You'll be good, I'll teach you." He shoots me a gentle wink then turns his head at the sound of Kie's skateboard hitting the ground as she rides down the road without saying a word. He points in her direction and turns back to me and the boys with a confused look. "She okay?"
"I dunno," I reply truthfully, also looking in her direction. She's almost out of sight, a small speck in the landscape who has yet to turn around and come back. She keeps getting weird like this whenever I do or say anything to JJ.
"She'll come back. She always does." Pope assures us as he drops his own board onto the road and jumps up in the air while the board stays under his feet. I don't know any skateboarding vocabulary or any of that shit, but I know that was impressive.
"I wanna do that!" I say excitedly, setting my new penny board down carefully on the ground and attempting to step on it with one foot. It becomes unsteady underneath me and I grab onto the nearest thing, JJ's bicep, for support. He laughs at my failure and flips his own board upside down so it won't roll away while he shows me how to use mine. John B and Pope skate around in zigzags on the road, high-fiving every time they ride past each other.
JJ situates himself in front of my board and holds his arms out in front of me with his forearms facing the sky as if I were giving him a big box to carry. "Kay, hold onto me and step on the board." He instructs me. "You got it."
Without hesitating, I put my hands on his arms and hold onto him tightly, and stand slowly on the skateboard, my eyes completely glued to my feet so I don't take a wrong step. This causes the sunglasses that have been resting on my head now drop down onto my face. Once I've successfully stood on the board, my eyes travel up to JJ's and we smile at each other. "I'm a pro, aren't I?" I ask him smugly. "I could take all of your asses down."
"You're literally better than me!" JJ goes along with my joke, giggling as he speaks. "But first, you have to actually skate. Not just stand."
"Right." Damn.
"Can I...?" He asks me, moving one of his arms out from under my hand and holding it by my waist. He's looking at me with raised eyebrows, not moving until I respond.
"Yeah, anything to keep me from falling!" I tell him with a nod, hardcore doubting my balancing abilities right about now. JJ cautiously moves his arms from their original place and gently puts his hands on either side of my waist, looking back up at me with a reassuring nod and smile.
"Kay, you ready? I'm gonna scoot you down the road a little bit. Tell me if you want me to stop you." I nod again as if to say 'go for it' and place my own hands on top of his as I feel myself moving slowly across the pavement. A little ways off I hear John B and Pope cheering me on with so much enthusiasm you'd think I was an olympic skateboarder or some shit. JJ and I laugh to each other as he tells me that I'm doing good for my first time on a board. He slowly transitions to only keeping one hand on my waist as I do most of the balancing on my own now, and I can't help but giggle at how dumb I must look.
After another minute or so of riding back and forth on the road, JJ slows me down and has me step off the board to try a new skill. At this time, we also hear Kie make her way back towards the four of us on her own skateboard. Pope gives her a passive aggressive 'welcome back!' for her random disappearance a few minutes ago.
"See, you're learning already! You've got the balancing down." JJ assures me again while I smile up at him, and my mouth decides to speak before my brain has a chance to think about what it's saying.
"You must be a pretty good teacher then, yeah?" Was that too soon? Too flirty? Too weird? I dunno. I just regret saying that.
"Guess so," JJ replies with a seemingly nervous chuckle. "Okay, let's get you back on the board, but try standing on it this way." He bends down and turns the board ninety degrees so that the point of it is facing the other way. "Stand on it with just one foot, and keep the other planted on the ground." He sticks his hand out for me to hold as I put my left foot on the pink piece of plastic. I feel him tighten his grip on my hand to keep me from losing my balance.
"Now try pushing off with your right foot, then put it behind your left one on the board. I won't let you go." Whatever you say, blondie! I do exactly what he says, and extend my right arm out into the air for additional balance. To my surprise, I hardly wobble and ride smoothly for a short distance once both of my feet are up on the board. I put my arm up in the air and cheer for myself and I hear JJ whispering a quiet 'yes!' or 'keep going!' every few seconds. I only lose my balance when Kie finally makes her way over to us and I turn my head away from my feet when she speaks.
"She's meeting us at the beach at 1 o'clock," Kie begins in the most monotonous tone ever. At this, I trip over my own feet and fall off, the board rolling backwards behind me and my body wrapped safely in JJ's arms as he caught me before I hit the ground. I slowly stand upright and press my hands against his chest to do so, and we share a quick moment of 'let's-pretend-that-didn't-happen' before we address what Kie said.
"She...?" I question the girl, confused as so why she's being so vague and seems so unhappy. "Do you mean Sarah?" I walk away from JJ to collect my board that rolled into the dirt but return to his side shortly after, glancing at him again to check if he's just as confused as I am, which he is.
"Yeah, Sarah. So y'all can do whatever this is for like, ten more minutes. Then we're going to the beach." Literally what? Did one of us do something wrong? She seemed really excited earlier to meet up with Sarah and stuff, what's going on right now?
"O- okay, sweet! I can't wait!" I chuckle nervously and smile at Kie, still wondering if we did something to set her off. "Are you good, Kie?"
"I'm fine." So basically, she's not fine. Looking up at JJ one more time for some form of reassurance, I decide to get to the bottom of this.
"What's goin' on, Kie?" I walk towards her nod in the direction of a few tree stumps on the edge of the woods. She reluctantly follows me and we sit down on the trees, leaning our boards against them. I sit with my legs extended, resting on my hands behind my back, and Kie sits with her knees pulled closer to her chest with her head resting on her knees. "Did something happen?" I prompt the conversation with a gentle tone of voice, wanting her to know that she can tell me no matter what.
"Really, Bri. I'm fine." Kie tells me with an obviously fake smile and laugh. She messes with her shoe laces and avoids eye contact with me.
"I don't think you're telling me the truth." If I don't get straight to the point, I'll never get anything out of her. "Is it something I did? Or one of the boys?" Kie just shakes her head and lets out a very faint 'no', looking up at me now with just her eyes and keeping her head on her knees.
I sigh quietly, getting an idea of what could be the source of her upset mood. "Is it me and JJ or something? I dunno, I just want to be able to fix it if it's something one of us did."
Kie remains hesitant in her response, opening her mouth and closing it again before she actually speaks. "N- no." I respond with a quiet 'okay', not wanting to aggravate her further. She stands up at this point, putting her board in her left hand and reaching her right arm out to lift me up off the tree stump. I sigh again, audibly this time, and grab my own board before we walk back to the boys.
"I understand not wanting to talk about it when something's bugging you." I remind her, not wanting to force anything out of her. "But you can call me or pull me aside or something if you ever feel like it." I shoot her a gentle smile that she returns, but hers has a lot less emotion in it.
Pope and John B have regrouped with JJ, and the five of us stand awkwardly in a circle without talking. I decide to break the silence with a cheerful proposal. "Y'all wanna see my new skills?" Pope responds with an eager 'yes' and John B dittos his statement. Kie remains silent, so I don't wait for her to respond before looking to JJ. He reaches his hand out to me and I drop my board to the ground, locking our hands together. I step confidently onto the board with my left foot, and after John B's enthusiastic 3-2-1 countdown, I push off with my right foot and begin gliding down the road. I lose my balance at first and tighten my grip on JJ's hand, but find that I regain it quickly and take it upon myself to push off on the ground again.
"There you go!" JJ cheers me on, and I can just hear the smile in his voice without even looking at him. "I'm gonna let go in a sec, but you got it, okay?" I nod to answer his question and after a moment, I feel his hand slowly slip out of mine as I skate now with zero assistance. He follows closely behind me though, with his hands hovering around my waist in case of a wipe out, but I don't need his help as I come to a swift stop after another minute and hop off the board with a confident bow. I'm met with three rounds of applause from the boys and a more genuine smile from Kie, and I thank everyone in a funny accent.
I lift my shades back up to the top of my head and pick up my board, walking back to the group with a smile on my face. "Thanks, teacher." I tell JJ, jabbing him softly in the side with my elbow. I tell myself that his cheeks didn't just turn a bright shade of pink, and turn to the other boys to prevent the same thing from happening to me. I'm met with Pope's hand that is sticking out in front of me and I look down awkwardly, not knowing what do to. I improvise by shaking his hand with another stiff but supposed-to-be-funny bow, and he looks at me like I have six heads or something.
"Oh." He begins explaining. "The pogue handshake. You don't know it yet?"
"I don't know it yet," I repeat him, feeling ten times more awkward than I did a minute ago. "Wanna show me?"
"It goes like th-" Pope starts to demonstrate with his hand, but Kie interrupts him before he gets any further.
"I'll show you!" She offers, sticking her own hand out for me to shake. I look back at Pope as if to apologize and I swing my arm over to meet hers so she can show me the handshake. She does it slowly so that I can see each part, and I clumsily go along with it until I have it down. I turn to John B once I think I have it, and we handshake successfully, but in pogue style of course. I do the same to Pope, and finally to JJ, and I'm met with another round of clapping as I pass the next stage to becoming a true pogue.
Kie checks her phone for the time and lets the four of us know that it's time we head to the beach to meet up with Sarah. I look to John B whose face has immediately lit up at the mention of his crush's name. "Let's go then!" He prompts us eagerly. We all let JJ get a few steps ahead of us so he can lead the way back to the Twinkie, and follow him through the brief patch of woods until we arrive at the van.
Following the same procedure as before, the five of us climb into the van and John B begins the drive over to the beach. The radio is turned up and the windows are rolled down, and I'm feeling just as content as I was on the ride here. Except now I know how to skate, but I still just don't know why Kie is feeling upset.
I think I sorta zone out for the next fifteen minutes, with my head full of different thoughts about JJ and Kie and meeting Sarah, and I eventually snap out of my trance once I feel the van come to a stop in the beach's shitty parking lot. It's full of cracks with random weeds and wildflowers growing out of them, and I have to step over some especially overgrown ones as we meet at the back of the Twinkie so everyone can grab their surfboards. They all left their skateboards in the van, but I decided to take mine with me onto the sand so I don't look awkward and completely empty handed. You look stupid bringing a skateboard to the beach, Brielle. Shoulda just left it in the van.
The five of us walk silently over to the actual beach, and we set up shop at the same area of sand as I did yesterday, except this time none of us are wearing any sort of beach attire as we're still wearing last night's post-storm clothes. Everyone looks down at themselves and back up to each other as I offer a solution.
"If y'all wanna hang here a sec, I can run home and grab your clothes from the laundry room? We can change in the van or something."
"Actually," John B begins, walking backwards now in the direction of the Twinkie. "I think we have a bunch of our bathing suits in the van. Lemme check." When he arrives at the van, he slides open the back door and searches around for a second before shooting us a big thumbs up from afar. He climbs into the van and comes out a moment later in his swim trunks, and Pope takes this as his cue to head over and change. One by one, everyone puts on their suits, and I change last by putting on an extra one that Kie had hanging around.
By the time I exit the Twinkie and begin my walk back to the group, I notice that there's a fifth person with them, and it obviously isn't me. I start to walk faster as I realize who it is.
"There's our girl!" John B shouts to me once I'm close enough to be seen. He throws his arms up in the air and wraps one around my shoulder as I rejoin the group and stand next to him. "Here she is." He addresses the dirty blonde girl who stands on the other side of him. Is that Sarah? Oh my god, she's gorgeous!
I lean out in front of John B to greet the girl and give her a friendly wave as I introduce myself. "Hi! I'm Bri." She's wearing a cute pair of denim shorts and an orange bikini top with a pair of white low top sneakers.
"I'm Sarah," She tells me with the sweetest grin ever. Now I understand why John B has such a massive crush on her.
"Okay, yay for new friends and all, but I'm gettin' in the water." JJ announces, shooting the five of us a finger gun before switching into a jog towards the shore. I watch him for an extra second or two then redirect my attention to Sarah and the rest of the group.
"I think I'll hang back again today." I explain, not really wanting to stay on land but also not feeling like wiping out all day. "Have fun, be careful!" I pull up a seat on the ground, laying my t-shirt out underneath me so I don't get covered in sand.
"Why don't you at least come for a swim?" Pope asks, probably feeling bad that I'll be spending the afternoon alone again. John B and Kie are also hanging back with Pope for a second, waiting for my answer to his question.
Looking up at their hopeful faces, I decide to give in a bit. "How 'bout I come hang on the dock? One of y'all can teach me how to surf another time. " I propose. Pope thinks this is good enough and reaches his arm out to me to help me up. I take his hand and he pulls me to my feet, and together the four of us and Sarah walk over to the water.
"Hey!" I hear Sarah call after me once John B, Kie, and Pope are all in the water. I turn around from my place in the middle of the dock as the girl catches up to me. "I don't know how to surf either." She tells me with a gentle laugh as we walk together now to the edge of the dock and sit down, our legs dangling over the edge.
"That makes me feel better," I assure Sarah, glad I have someone to hang out with now while everyone else surfs. After a brief period of silence between the two of us, I attempt to spark up a new conversation. "Kay, so I don't want this to sound weird or anything, but I've heard a little bit about you from Kie and the boys."
"Really?"
"Yeah! So, I have a Taylor Swift poster hangin-" My sentence is interrupted by Sarah's gasp at the sound of Taylor's name, and I laugh quietly before continuing. "I have a poster of her in my room, and when Kie saw it she said you'd totally love it! I've been excited to meet you since she said that." Without saying a word, Sarah shows me her phone lockscreen with the hugest smile on her face, and I'm met with my favorite photo of Taylor from the Wonderland shoot. "You're literally kidding! That's the same exact picture of her I have in my room!"
"No way!" Sarah replies with another cute gasp and a giggle as she shuts her phone off and leans back on her hands. "I can't believe we've never met before. This is like, too perfect."
"I've been on the island for a little over a month, but I hadn't really had any friends before this group." I explain, not in the mood to think or talk about how lonely my first few weeks were.
"Well, I'm glad we've met now." Sarah tells me genuinely. "Okay. Super important. Favorite Taylor album on three?" She sits up now, eager to know my answer to her question. "One, two, three!"
"1989!" We both shout simultaneously, and I see Sarah's face light up knowing now that we have the same favorite album. "No way!" We say together again, making both of us break into laughter.
"Favorite song?" I ask now, my eyebrows raised out of hopefulness that we might match again. "One, two three!"
"Clean!"
"Out of the Woods!"
This makes the two of us audibly groan but continue laughing, accepting that there was no way we would have the same favorite song. We spend the next hour or so talking about Taylor and the island, and it all became a blur of happiness except for one conversation that stuck out to me.
"So," Sarah begins, turning her whole body to face me now. "Got a crush on any of the boys yet?" Maybe, so what if I do?
"Ummm," Do I tell her? Or do I keep it a secret? I mean, we just met. "JJ's kinda cute." I tell her truthfully, holding back every moment the boy and I have shared over the past week.
"Oooo!" She replies with a goofy accent. "Yeah, he's a sweetheart. All of 'em are, really." I trust that Sarah will keep her mouth shut about what I've just said about JJ, and I smile to myself knowing that I have another girl best friend. "John B's my favorite."
"So I've heard!" I tell Sarah cautiously, debating for a brief second as to whether or not I should have revealed that.
At this, Sarah doesn't hesitate to call us all out for talking about her and John B. "Who told you?! Was it Kie?" She shakes her head with a small smile and I answer her question by letting out a quiet 'maybe'. The two of us continue talking about this for a while until the boys and Kie make their way back onto land.
The six of us spend the rest of the day playing against each other in beach volleyball and taking turns swinging back and forth on the hammock they've tied between two trees on the edge of the beach. I really feel like I've been part of this group for my whole life. I've never felt so welcomed and safe with a group of people before, and I never want this day to end. I don't even really remember much of what happened all day because I was just so lost in the feeling I get from being with my people.
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My memory of the day comes back to me closer to sunset, when the six of us are gathered around a fire that Pope made while we roast marshmallows. I hear my phone buzz and look over to see a text from dad, and my heart drops.
from: dad
to: me
Coming home soon? Beach walk??? Sunset almost over.
received 7:47 PM
Oh my god, how did I forget? I promised dad we could go for our beach walk tonight cause I totally blew him off last night. But here I am again, blowing off our plans once more. I am a horrible daughter, aren't I?
I stand up immediately, grabbing my phone and sunglasses. "I gotta go, guys. I'll see you sometime tomorrow, yeah?" I don't really have time to explain, but I feel bad just leaving unannounced.
"Where ya goin'?" John B asks with a look of concern on his face. "I'll walk with you, it's getting dark." He stands up too and makes his way over to me.
"I just gotta see my dad. Everything's fine, though. You don't have to walk me home, I'll be okay." At this point, I've already started walking in the direction of home, waving goodbye to JJ, Sarah, Pope, and Kie who all return the wave sadly, likely not wanting me to leave. I hear Sarah quietly say 'bye, Bri!" and I return the goodbye with a shaky voice.
"I'm coming with," John B insists gently, catching up with me in the sand. "Are you sure you're good?" He asks once we're a good enough distance away from the group.
"Yeah, I just forgot about something I said I'd do with dad tonight." I tell him honestly, feeling completely shitty when I finally say it out loud. John B doesn't reply to this, cause what are you supposed to say to something like that? The walk home is short but awkward, so I bring up a new topic before we reach our destination.
"Is JJ all set for tonight?" I ask, really hoping the answer will be yes. I take it upon myself to look up at the sky and notice that the sunset is like, 90% gone already. Shit. It's not even worth it to walk faster at this point.
"Yeah, he's good. We're gonna crash at my place. Unless you want me to tell him he can crash at yours?" He suggests in a mocking tone, smirking at me with raised eyebrows. I shake my head and laugh at his stupidity.
"Shut the fuck up," My bold statement makes John B laugh too. "I'm glad he's good for the night." I feel like I have to be careful with what I say about JJ around John B because I know he does not like holding back with his comments about the two of us.
When we arrive at my house, John B stops at the bottom of the porch stairs as I nervously approach the front door. "Thanks for coming with," I tell him with my hand on the doorknob. "I'll see y'all tomorrow? Beach maybe? I dunno. Have Kie text me or something if you make a plan."
He nods with his hands in his pockets and a gentle smile on his face. "We're always together, so we'll figure something out."
"Kay, thanks again! Tell everyone I said I'll see them tomorrow, and tell Sarah I loved meeting her!" Tell JJ I think I might have a crush on him too! I shout to John B as I enter my house nervously, scoping the kitchen for a potentially angry dad. "Dad?"
"Oh, you made it." He says to me from the couch. "How was your day?"
"It was good," I say quickly, wanting to address my tardiness. "Dad, I'm really sorry. I totally lost track of time, and I woulda been here sooner to go to the beach bu-"
"Brielle, I'm over it." Dad shakes his head unconvincingly as I move further into the kitchen and put my things on the counter. "You love spending time with your friends, I get it. It's fine." No, it's not fine. I feel like a total and complete asshole right now. "Look love, I'm tired. I've been working all day. I'll be in my room if you need me, okay?" He stands up and comes over to where I am in the kitchen, kissing the top of my head and walking down the hall to his bedroom before I even get the chance to speak. I still let out a quiet 'okay' even though he can't hear me.
I make my way to my own bedroom now, changing out of Kie's bathing suit into a pair of black sweatshorts and a lavender cropped tank top. I tie my hair up into a bun and look at myself in the mirror for a second, admiring the piece of purple sea glass hanging from my neck and thinking about how much JJ said he liked it.
I pull out the box of movies from my closet and quickly find the disc for Dead Poet's Society. Slowly sliding out into the hall on my socks, I find my way back to the kitchen where I make myself another cup of hot chocolate even though it isn't raining. Once that's done, I insert my disc into the DVD player and take a seat on the couch, only getting about an hour or so into the movie before I hear some sort of loud clanging and a few footsteps out on the porch.
Pausing the movie and putting my now empty mug down on the table in front of me, I cautiously walk over to the window in front of the kitchen sink to see what's going on outside. Before I even get the chance to look around, I hear a knock at the door. Who the hell is at my house at 9 o'clock at night?
Wishing more than anything that there was a peephole installed in my door, I open it just enough so that I can peek out the crack. I'm met with a pair of bloodshot eyes and the faint sound of sniffling, and I can't help but open the door all the way. Keeping both of my hands on the door and looking up at the visitor, I feel my heart drop for the second time tonight.
"Hi."
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UMMMMMM WHO IS IT
i love you forever if you made it all the way through the chapter :D word count is almost 6,000 so thank you if you're still here!
sorry if the story was a bit rushed in the middle, i was super eager to get to the end and didn't want to drag it out much longer xd
N E WAYYYY hope u loved it xoxoxoxo talk to u soon <3