[ AUGUST 6TH, 2020 ]
↳ TWENTY-TWO DAYS LATER
THE POGUES:
KIARA'S BACKYARD
The past twenty-two days flew by faster than anyone had the chance to realize. But that's just the way summer usually went. Things felt better between the group since they began feeling comfortable enough to talk things out. Previously, each of them was bottling up their true emotions. Now, they could confide in each other if need be. And, okay, maybe there was sort of a strange dynamic shared every once and a while since there were now a friend group devised of two couples, but it was alright. They were dealing with it in their own special ways.
August had started and Athena genuinely thought it was still July. She had stopped counting down the days until her returning flight and now everything felt more than jumbled. The fear of leaving JJ was too overwhelming though, so she forced herself to turn away from calendars and to stop checking the date on her phone.
The fourth of July genuinely felt like yesterday, but here they were now in the dead of August; the 'Sunday' of months.
"Toss me that?" JJ asked, pulling Athena from her thoughts. His right arm was extended and his fingers pointed toward a rope laying next to Athena's feet. She leaned over and obliged without hesitation or ceasing her conversation with Kiara- even though she wasn't giving it her full attention anyway.
"No, I stopped playing the spring season of freshman year. Right in the middle."
"Oh shit. Why in the middle?" Kiara asked, kicking the soccer ball back to Athena.
They had been like this for about fifteen minutes now. They stood barefoot on the damp grass, gently passing an old and withered ball back and forth. Athena never missed a beat. She chased after every one of Kiara's messy passes and sent it directly back in front of her every time, while JJ stood on the dock below them doing whatever it was he was doing as they all waited for Pope to arrive in his father's boat.
JJ and Athena had arrived to Kiara's separately. Athena showed up on a blue beach bike that her grandmother had purchased her a few weeks ago. (Without any request from Athena). And She got there much earlier than JJ, who walked to Kiara's house after his shift ended at a store a few blocks away. He already knew the way to her house like the back of his hand, but the kids had been spending much more time there recently so now it felt like a second home- second to the Routledge shack.
"I had this really big competition coming up and needed extra time to practice. I don't know, my coach got, like, super pissed that I was skipping practices so much. I couldn't take him anymore, so I just quit."
"Competition?" Kiara asked, stopping the ball with the wrong part of her foot before she kicked it back towards Athena's general direction. The ball landed a few feet away from her.
"Surfing," Athena explained as she moved closer to the ball. "I only placed third, though."
JJ laughed from the dock. Athena said third as if it were a bad thing. As if she didn't do absolutely amazing. In reality, she probably deserved first, but he and she had actually had this discussion before. Athena was surfing this competition in a heat with girls not only twice her size (but that was given because she wasn't the tallest girl in the bunch.) No, the girls were also two years older than her. She had been surfing up two entire years. Maybe it doesn't seem like a lot, but it makes all the difference.
"What's so funny?" Kiara asked, finally stopping the ball for good and sitting on the edge of the grass, motioning Athena to follow. They let their legs dangle over the wooden dock, looking down at the boy who sat cross-legged with his rope.
"It's funny because she's not telling you the whole story," he informed her. JJ quickly swiveled his head back toward the water, spotting Pope about ninety seconds out. He stood up, waving his arms above his head. "Ahoy!"
"I was with people older than me. Big deal?" Athena dragged, ignoring her boyfriend, who was now making a strange squawking noise and mooning Pope.
"You got third, Athena. You were barely fourteen years old and going against sixteen and seventeen-year-olds." JJ smiled up at her, obviously proud, but Athena just laughed him off. Considering his ass was now out, it was a very difficult task for her.
"Okay, whatever. Let's help Pope tie off."
They listened to her without protest. Kiara jumped off the grass in her backyard and landing on the dock, rocking it back and forth in. JJ pulled his waistband back up and helped Athena down as Pope pulled in smoothly and just about five minutes later, he was off the boat and they were ready to go.
"Up for some paddle boarding?" Kiara asked as she tugged off her shorts, throwing them on the boat's stern. They landed in direct sunlight, crumpled in a ball.
"Always," Athena said with a smile.
Her shirt had been off a while already and was lying somewhere near Kiara's pool on a wicker chair. Athena claimed it was because she needed to even out her tan, but in reality, it was just way too fucking hot to leave on much longer. Her hair was twisted into two braids that fell to either side of her head, her bangs flopping down just above her eyes.
"Good," Kiara laughed as she jumped off the dock.
JJ and Pope looked at each other and then all the way over to Kiara's back porch where the boards and paddles sat by themselves.
"What are you waiting for?" Athena asked, getting ready to dive after Kiara. "Go get them!"
"Not it!" JJ yelled. "I'm fucking jumping in with my clothes on, move." JJ shoved Pope out of the way and did exactly what he promised; jumped in with his cargo shorts and a tee shirt, which instantly began see-through. His hat was tossed off to the side before he jumped and his shoes were already sitting by the pool next to Athena's shirt. She squealed as her boyfriend landed right next to her, splashing her refreshingly.
Pope groaned and started making his way back towards Kiara's house, kicking his flip-flops off in the process. He jogged atop the soggy grass, feeling the sunshine on his forehead.
They stayed in the cannel water for hours. It didn't matter that boats passed. It didn't matter when they got thirsty or hungry. It didn't matter when JJ was standing up and paddling for so long that his shoulders were starting to sunburn. It didn't matter when Athena's arms cramped or when Kiara felt her legs go numb. Nothing mattered. Because the water was warm, the sun was shining, and the group was together. They had their trifecta of perfection.
The past few weeks, this was the way things were.
They would stay together for hours; laughing, singing and playing. Talking. Cheering each other up. They were leaning on each other and getting through this the best, and only, way they knew how to. JJ and Athena. Pope and Kiara. All four of them. Twenty-four, seven. It was like the earth was knocked off its axis for a few days and then single-handedly put back on by the four of them.
Whenever they were apart, things felt drab for each of them. Melancholy. They needed each other to feel whole again. It replaced the gap left by John B and Sarah when they vanished.
Athena didn't get home that night until almost two am. Her legs and arms were burning from so much treading and paddling and her eyes stung from the salt water, her hair was sprinkled with sand. But she was happy. She showered and then didn't fall asleep until almost four because as she lay there with the covers drawn up to her chin, all she could think about was how John B and Sarah had possibly spent their day. Their night. The past few thirty days. How?
And were they as happy as her?
[ AUGUST 21ST, 2020 ]
↳ FIFTEEN DAYS LATER
THE POGUES:
SOMEWHERE ON FIGURE EIGHT
"Now which one?" Athena asked, tugging on the straps of her backpack. The same white canvas backpack with the hand-stitched-on patches and all the pins. It held her sweatshirt, water bottle, and wallet, with JJ's hat was velcro-ed around the little strap on the top. His juul also sat in the front pocket along with his house key and phone. It all bounced around together as Athena stomped along the pavement.
The Pogues hadn't been doing much of anything lately. Beach trips, sleepovers, day drinking, surfing, and napping. All they ever did, before the Royal Merchant shit, I guess. However, today they decided to switch things up and do something a little bit more exciting. So now, here they were, walking through a church parking lot on Figure Eight trying to decide which ride to go on next, however, Pope and Kiara didn't seem too keen on any of Athena and JJ's suggestions. The two of them were in their own world, and had been for quite some time now.
Pope and Kiara were walking hand in hand beside JJ and Athena. The two of them shrugged and went back to arguing over something that Athena hadn't quite picked up on yet. It upset her how much they'd been doing that lately. Fighting. It reminded her too much of her parents in the weeks leading up to the divorce. The yelling of nothing in particular, the name-calling, the dirty looks. It wasn't how summer was supposed to be.
Every year, the catholic church of Kook-landia held a charity carnival event. Rusty rides and cotton candy machines to help raise money for the church and all of its services- like, the weekly soup kitchen, monthly donation drives, and annual midnight runs. JJ wasn't sure how much of the money from the carnival actually went in their pockets though.
Athena's town back home had the same kind of annual family fun fair, but it was nothing compared to the Kildare one. There was almost triple the rides and games here and her entire town's population didn't hold a candle to the amount of people parking the parking lot today.
JJ smiled down at Athena.
They were walking a few inches apart, JJ placing his right hand on the small of Athena's back every now and then to avoid bumping into people. They weren't holding hands like Pope and Kie, but it didn't make much of a difference. Plus, it looked like Pope was cutting off Kiara's circulation with how tightly he was holding onto her fingers. No, Athena and JJ were with each other and that's all that mattered. That's how summer was supposed to be.
Athena had on her vans, a pair of blue flowy shorts, and a white crop top. Her hair was down, but being held out of her face with a baby blue bandanna she tied into a headband that morning. It was a cooler night though, and she was a few shivers away from reaching into her bag and pulling out her Quicksilver hoodie.
"Ferris wheel?" JJ suggested, leaning behind Athena so he could glance over at Pope. He wasn't paying much attention. Whatever, she thought. At least someone was trying to help her out here.
"Uh, sure. We don't care, JJ." Pope answered, waving off his friends. Kiara seemed to be growing more annoyed every second her boyfriend's attention wasn't fully devoted to their conversation. Or argument. Or whatever.
JJ made a face at Athena and let out a cat-like noise, earning a giggle. "They're both so feisty today, I don't know." JJ mocked.
"Let's go," Athena decided for them as she suppressed her laughter. She pulled JJ along toward the ride. Pope and Kiara followed, but this time at a slower pace, causing them to fall slightly behind the couple. "Kinda tense, no?" Athena asked softly once out of earshot. The screams of little kids on rides and the sound of music drowned out their voices anyway.
"Lovebirds, I guess," JJ slipped his hand into Athena's now, intertwining their fingers and giving her a gentle squeeze. "Can't all be like us, baby."
She blushed but smirked at the same time. Athena looked behind herself and over to Kiara. She wanted to shoot her a questioning thumbs up or something, make sure she was okay, but now she was on the war path with Pope, it seemed; her cheeks bright red and hair unquestionably unruly.
All four of them waited in like for the ferris wheel for twelve minutes. They laughed and talked, Pope and Kiara eventually got over their little blip, whatever it was. They had been doing that a lot lately too. Getting over it smoothly before falling right back into it as soon as they were left to their own devices for more than thirty seconds and JJ was actually beginning to grow tired of having to put himself in the middle of their fights.
"You okay?" Athena finally asked.
Her and JJ were sitting in the ride's cage. The uncomfortable cushion beneath them faltered as Athena shifted to look at the boy, the cart tipping forward as she leaned on the bar going across them. The ride had yet to begin, but more kids and families were still being loading in and strapped on.
He nodded and smiled before asking her the same question.
"Yea... just thinking, you know?"
JJ looked at her. He wanted to ask 'what about' but that tended to throw them into a downward spiral of sadness lately. Every time that JJ promised himself he wouldn't cry in front of Athena, he did. He wanted today to be different. It was supposed to be their fun, fair day. If he asked her what about, it might cause her to get all sad on him. And JJ had a good sense of these things. August was winding to a close now and what if she brought up how she was leaving soon? They hadn't spoken about that yet and JJ really wanted to put it off as long as humanly possible.
"Nothing bad," Athena insisted, feeling JJ tense up beside her. "Just.. I don't know why Pope and Kiara fight so much. I feel bad is all. I mean, we don't really fight."
"Yea I was actually thinking the same thing before," JJ added. He felt himself let out a puff of air in relief. "You do get annoyed with me sometimes, though." JJ was dead serious. She did get annoyed sometimes, but they have little spats. The normal, perfect amount of them. And then they apologize and work through it- talk it out. With Pope and Kiara, it's another story. It's like a never-ending game of cat and mouse.
"Oh, but so does everybody." Athena, however, was not being serious. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips and her eyes were filled with mischief as they reflected the carnival lights.
"Hey, what? What's that supposed to mean?" JJ asked as he looped his arm around Athena's shoulders.
"You're annoying!" She laughed.
"Yea, well at least I'm a good kisser," He fired back, poking her in her side like he always did. She squirmed and grabbed his finger.
"Said the guy that told me I was the good kisser in the middle of the fucking street."
JJ hadn't been too fond of that memory. He tried to push it away out of sheer embarrassment, actually. Of course, he was glad he complimented Athena, and loved doing so, but that one had magically escaped his lips and he felt as though it wasn't something he should've shared in the middle of the fucking street, there's a time and a place, after all.
"Got me there."
"I mean, if anyones the bad kisser, it's you." Athena looked off into rest of the fair. Popcorn stands, hotdog booths, zepplies, fried foods, rigged games, a Tilt-O-Whirl, Zipper, ticket booths, and so many different lights and sounds. There was a live band playing on a makeshift stage all the way on the other end of the parking lot and a firework show was scheduled for a half hour after the fair was supposed to close. Though nobody really ever left the fair until hours after.
"Prove it." JJ demanded, pulling Athena's gaze away and back to him. She wore a full blown smirk now and her cheeks were violently pink, but her eyes were full of that very same mischievous look.
"Damn, okay."
Athena grabbed JJ's face and put their lips together desperately. It was almost as if they hadn't kissed all summer, when they really had kissed a matter of minutes ago on the bumper cars. Not like this though.
JJ's arm that was around his girlfriend previously snaked it's way down her backside as the other reached for the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him.
Athena kept her hand on JJ's cheek, pushing him into her harder and bit down on his bottom lip. He groaned as she pulled away.
"I hate you," he laughed. "You always pull away."
"Maybe if you were nicer to me I wouldn't pull away."
"Noted."
[ AUGUST 26TH, 2020 ]
↳ FIVE DAYS LATER
JJ AND ATHENA:
AT ATHENA'S GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE
Athena sat perched in her bedroom window seat, clutching her brown stuffed dog, Brownie, and watching as JJ jogged across her dewy front lawn, illuminating his path with only his hand-held, industrial sized black flashlight, kicking dirt up behind him as he ran.
JJ was about to crawl through Athena's window for the very first time all summer. Normally, they'd both be too afraid of her grandmother and the consequences that would inevitably spring from being caught. However, it was now 10pm and besides this break-in, their only other options were to hang out with Mr. and Mrs. can't-stop-fighting-for-five-seconds or not see each other at all. And they were desperate for some alone time. They hadn't gotten more than an hour or so since the fourth of July. Now? Now they could.
JJ scaled the side of the house, nearly losing his footing on two separate occasions before finally tumbling through the open window and right next to Athena on her baby blue cushion.
"Hello," he mused, placing a disgruntled kiss on her temple.
"Hi, sweaty," Athena giggled, whipping JJ's own sweat back onto his shirt with the backs of her hands.
He stood and shook his head back and forth like a dog, sending both water and sweat droplets everywhere.
"Ewww," Athena groaned, putting up both hands to shield herself from the filth. "Stop," she whisper-yelled. There was no reason though. Athena knew that her grandmother was sleeping right about now and, either way, her room was on the absolute other side of the house and two floors up. Sound wouldn't penetrate the thickly layered walls.
"You, stop." JJ laughed, sitting himself back down next to his girlfriend. "You didn't even hug me hello." He fake pouted as he finished his sentence and tugged off his sneakers.
"Maybe after you dry off," Athena tossed him the towel that she always carried around when it rained. Today it wasn't raining more like misting underneath a heavy fog. It was interesting North Carolina weather, but it only reminded Athena of home. (Not that the weather would've been normal for San Clemente this time of year, either. It was just Athena's favorite. She's an autumn lover, what can I say?)
JJ accepted the towel and dried himself fully before throwing himself onto Athena's bed.
It was bigger than the one either of them had at home. Covered in throw pillows and two stuffed animals Athena brought from home along with this perfectly fluffy, crisp bedding and about a million blankets. It was insanely comfortable, anyone who sat on it for even a second can admit that, but it made Athena miss her rock-solid mattress and flat pillows.
"Hey," Athena cried. "Don't crush my throw pillows."
JJ was laying on his stomach face down and he didn't bother looking up as he launched one of them over at Athena.
"Hey!" She protested again, scooting over to the bed and flopping down on top of JJ all the same. He didn't falter under the weight of her, and Athena liked that, but in reality she weighed almost nothing to JJ. Athena stuffed her face in the crook of his neck and whispered, "don't throw my throw pillows, please."
JJ smiled as Athena kissed him right underneath his ear, the feeling of her cool lips against his sticky warm skin tickling him and sending a happy chill throughout his body.
"Well why are they called throw pillows if I can't throw them? It's a stupid paradox."
"No, it's not."
"Great comeback," JJ laughed, rolling onto his stomach so that he could face Athena. She landed on top of him again, this time with their bellies smushed together. JJ propped Athena's head up with both of his hands, staring into her eyes and smiling. "You are stunning." JJ stated after only a moment of looking at her.
She sat before him, her dark hair wet and curly. Notes of her coconut shampoo and strawberry body wash filling the room. Athena had on pajamas; a too-large USC Nursing School crew neck from the 90's, courtesy of her Uncle Frank, over a white tube top and her pale yellow running shorts, bringing out both the tan and sunburn on her legs. She certainly didn't feel stunning, with her ratty clothes and pimple cream on her chin. Her glasses propped up on her nose for once, her wet hair tangled down her back.
"Thank you," she responded politely despite herself. "You reminded me though. My grandma's making me pick out clothes for back to school-"
Athena was met with an extremely loud groan before she could even finish her sentence, along with an excessive eye roll before JJ grabbed an actual pillow and wacked Athena with it.
"At least let me finish," she begged, laughing, crawling back on top of him, this time, straddling his waist with her legs on either side. JJ liked that. He sat up after her, resting his hands around her waist. Now he was all ears. "Do you want to help me pick some stuff out? I know it's stupid, but I hate online shopping."
"Yes, gimme." JJ held out one of his hands for Athena's phone. It was tucked into the waist band of her shorts on the left side. It always was. "And it's not stupid."
Athena handed over the phone and thirty minutes later, they were laying on their backs and scrolling through the Abercrombie and Finch website with about seventeen of the ugliest pieces of clothing in universe in the cart, all in Athena's size. The only light that filled the room was that of which came from Athena's cell phone, the sun having been long since set.
"JJ, stop it," she cried through a laugh as he placed an insanely bright traffic-cone-orange pair of knee-high boots into the cart. "I hate boots.
"So keep them for special occasions! Yeah..." JJ paused, hesitating for a mere moment before adding, "You can wear them the next time you see me. That's a special occasion, is it not?" JJ was back to scrolling through the clearance section of those same mind-blowingly ugly clothing options. He clicked on a lime green denim jacket lined with a maroon fur and snorted. "Look, you can wear this on Christmas."
"J," Athena sat up and pushed the phone away from his face.
She had been taken aback by the comment about seeing him again. Though they hadn't directly been discussing her going home soon, they both knew it was the unavoidable impeding fate. There was no denying that she would be on a plane returning home in exactly a week.
"What? What's wrong?" He asked, now tossing the phone fully aside and sitting up after her. "Did I do something?"
"No," Athena smiled at him and brought her hands up to cup his face before kissing his cheek happily. "No, you're perfect."
He smiled up at her before asking, again, what had happened to change the mood.
"Well... I mean, I just was talking to my mom the other night and she mentioned possibly coming up here for Thanksgiving break. You know, so we can spend it with my grandma? But that's not so bad... right? I mean, it's better than waiting an entire year. And if we come up for Thanksgiving, maybe that means Christmas too? And spring break? And there's also February break, I forgot that, I guess, and then-"
JJ cut her off, kissing her on the lips and smiling into it.
The kiss caught her off guard, but eventually, Athena melted into it, placing both of her hands, which she was previously using to place emphasize on certain words during her tangent, on JJ's chest until she pulled her lips away and wiped them with the back of her hand. JJ laughed.
"You don't need to worry," he promised her. "I'm going to miss you so fucking bad, but we're going to see each other again, Thanksgiving or not, I can promise you that, 'Theen." JJ grabbed one of her hands and held it tightly. "Long distance is hard, I get that, but it's you and me. We got this."
Athena nodded to him and JJ realized for the first time that she was crying. She was probably crying since the beginning of this conversation and especially during her long-winded ramble before. She only talked like that when she got nervous.
"You know how much I care about you, right? How much I care about us? and this?" JJ motioned around them, but Athena already knew he was referring to their relationship. She knew all of this already. How much he cared. How much he... liked her. "Athena?"
She looked up at him again, this time the tears nowhere to be found. She pushed them down, refusing to cry in front of him. Not right now.
Athena was many things, but clueless wasn't one of them. She wasn't stupid. She new what she felt for JJ and she also knew that he seemed to feel the same ways; even if he didn't know how to say it out loud. But right now this conversation seemed to be leading to him figuring out how.
"Athena... look," JJ sat up on his elbows, bringing one hand up to Athena's shoulder. "I-I love you. And, I do not care about California or New York with your dad. I don't care about long distance. I don't care if I never fucking see you again, just... I need you to know that I love you. No matter what happens between us this week, or-or after you leave, just. I love you." JJ's fave flushed as he realized the gravity of what he just said and looked sheepishly over at the wall before deciding to make light of everything. "I can't afford plane tickets, but maybe I'll convince Pope to just build me a fighter jet."
Athena leaned over, not even bothering to respond yet and pulled JJ in. She stared into his eyes, searching for any hint of a lie, but she found nothing. Her lips tugged up into the biggest smile JJ had ever seen her wear, and his mimicked it soon after.
Finally, Athena closed the gap between them and hooked their lips together. JJ drank her in, hungrily. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and grabbed her hips, pulled her up from her spot next to him and placed her firmly in his lap without pulling away from their kiss.
"JJ..." Athena began, breath had been taken from her and she grasped at the skin of her neck, inhaling deeply. It felt like someone had cracked her chest and she could finally get air in for the first time in years. It was like she just had the revaluation of a lifetime. Athena buried herself in JJ's chest, throwing her arms around his neck now, leaning over to be closer. As soon as she did so, JJ threw himself around her just the same, engulfing her in the world's biggest hug and pulling her even closer. "JJ, I love you too and I'm so fucking sorry that I'm leaving in a week."
"Shut up." He demanded, "Don't talk about you leaving. Not right now," JJ kissed her again, this time it was clear that the conversation did not need to continue with words, but that it could pan out this way.
Athena's hands moved frantically down JJ's backside, tugging at the hem of his shirt. 30 seconds later, it was off and Athena could feel the heat radiating from his body, even though the room was a mere sixty-five degrees with the air conditioning blasting.
JJ tugged his hands through Athena's hair as she bit down on his lip. He groaned, bringing his hands up to her chest and disconnecting from their kiss. He dragged his lips down her next, feeling her shiver at the tickle of it before she let out a sigh. JJ left a trail of kisses as he worked his way back up to Athena's lips.
This time, it was JJ's turn to tug at her shirt and Athena giggled as he pulled the hoodie off and hastily tossed it a few feet away- neither one of them watched or waited for it to land- their lips instantly reconnecting and chasing away that giggle.
Athena could feel the heat from JJ's legs, even through his blue flannel pajama bottoms. Needless to say, JJ could feel hers as well. Neither one of them were embarrassed by this, though. It was only turning JJ on more. He pushed down on Athena's hips and she trailed her tongue against his lips, earning a smirk, before JJ finally pushed her off of him and laid her on the bed.
"Covers or no covers?" JJ asked, running both hands through his hair.
"Covers," Athena decided instantly. "This room is freezing."
JJ nodded and grabbed a white, fuzzy blanket from the foot of the bed, throwing over the both of them, then leaning over to suck on her neck again, this time being met with something a little more desperate than a sigh.
JJ brought his lips back up to hers and his hands down to her waistline. His fingers danced on the patch of skin right above her shorts. Athena squirmed at the tickling sensation.
"Too much?" JJ asked gently as he pulled his face a few inches from hers. "Say the word, baby. We can slow down. I promise."
Athena violently shook her head and grabbed at JJ's neck, pulling him back to her.
"No. Don't stop," she pleaded.
JJ only nodded quickly before putting those naughty fingers back where they were, this time daring to plunge underneath the fabric of those yellow shorts. He felt her wetness through the cotton of her Calvin Klein's and felt proud of himself for being the one to accomplish this from her. Carefully, he dragged his middle and ring fingers overs that sweet spot from the outside of her underwear. Athena's kisses felt more sloppy now. Still, JJ didn't stop. The fingers of his other hand unclasped her bra from underneath her tube top and he tossed it to the side- more gently than the sweatshirt from before.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear. JJ was kissing her again before she could even respond, but he already knew what she would say. More gently than ever this time, he used his tongue to part her lips and quickly dipped it into her mouth, taking her bottom lip and softly clamping down.
Athena's heart was racing and her fingers were shaking, but she wanted to at least try and keep up with JJ. She placed the thumbs of both of her hands up on JJ's waistline; mimicking the placement of his own fingertips before she felt his plunge into her shorts. JJ's breath hitched, feeling that same tickling sensation on his skin as Athena moved her fingertips across his abdomen.
He took this as a green-light to pull Athena's shorts down to her knees, leaving her laying there in just her tube top and underwear, though it was too dark to see much of anything, JJ still knew she looked stunning and felt himself blush. He felt absolutely giddy.
Athena's fingers pushed at JJ's pants.
He smiled and they stopped kissing, yet again, as he leaned himself back to pull them off without hurting Athena. She caught her breath, finally, as he did so. Now he was hovering above her in just his boxers.
"Let's make this even, shall we?" he asked once his pants were thrown some distance away.
"What's in it for me?"
"I feel like you can assume," he smirked again, but this time, so did Athena.
JJ pulled her up onto her elbows and then kissed her, passionately. He waited for her to relax a bit before testing things, hesitating at the top of her shirt on her back and then pulling it all the way up over her head before letting her lay back down against the sheets, re-dragging the blanket above their heads. The space between the two grew smaller as JJ pressed into his girlfriend, sliding one hand between her thighs and the other underneath her bare backside.
A couple seconds later, JJ pulled Athena's shorts from her knees and launched them aside as well.
"Even steven," Athena whispered, forcing herself to not take her arms and use them to cover her entire body. She knew it was too dark anyway. And she knew JJ would only insist that she was hot or beautiful or hand her an infinite string of positive descriptions.
"Even steven," JJ agreed. He kept his hand on the outside of Athena's underwear, rubbing small circles onto her. She was wiggling underneath him from all the pleasure.
JJ pulled his other hand slowly out from underneath her and used it to drag along her chest now, palming one of her nipples. Athena's breath quickened and she pulled JJ closer to her with one hand, her other still over his boxers. A sloppy kiss was given, Athena's one hand moving from around his neck all the way up into his hair, tugging slightly.
"You know," JJ began. He pulled his face away, his breath hot against Athena's cheeks. "I don't know what I would do without you..."
[ AUGUST 30TH, 2020 ]
↳ FOUR DAYS LATER
THE POGUES:
SOMEWHERE ON THE CUT
The sound of rain.
Crashing against the windows, the roof, the concrete. Puddles in the road. Streets flooding on the cut.
Waves slamming into the shore. Crashing. Exploding. Water shooting in every direction.
Violently. Wind thrashing at the hurricane-proof glass lining the houses.
Cold.
So, fucking, cold.
JJ wrapped both arms around Athena as they stood there, on the beach, her hair whipping wildly around her face- the entire surface area of her body growing numb from the temperatures. Kiara put her arms around her neck, both and Pope shivering, their bodies clinging to the thermal activity of their small, sandy steps. Pope's rash guard and Kiara's wetsuit were doing little to keep in any semblance of heat now, but it didn't matter. Adrenaline was beginning to serve as a binding agent between skin and warmth.
Pope and Kiara stood a ways off in the distance, an awkward space apart from each other, eyes dashing between Athena and JJ, only connected through this.
The smell of high tide.
Millions of clouds covered the entire sky, all merging into one grey-black mosh pit of water color. No light was let through; though it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon, it probably could've passed for the dead of night. The angry sky was stark dry of any light, but rain persisted. Horrific winds carried the sharp grains of sand in every single direction. All four teens were squinting to see anything, but between the drops of rain and sand, visibility was at a big, fat zero.
Athena was set to leave in just three days, not to return for a while. Weather that while would be the three months until Thanksgiving or all the way until next summer? That was still unclear. All Athena knew was that she was no longer planning on getting revenge on her mother for forcing her to spend her summer out here in Kildare.
So, anyway, they were going to surf the surge. Kind of like a very last hurrah type of thing.
Offshore winds, double overhead, individual waves twice the significant wave height. Unpredictable and violent; JJ was scared. He'd never been scared of the ocean before, at least, not that he could recall of. But as he stared off into the distance, trying to remember a time in which he'd seen conditions even half as crazy as these, he realized that he simply couldn't. The last time OBX had a storm, it wasn't packing even a quarter of the power behind it that this was. Whatever this was, actually.
His head was, without a doubt, spinning now- back flipping with every inhale, but Athena was ready to go. Despite being unfamiliar with the local weather patterns and this ocean as a whole, she wasn't scared. Not even in the slightest. As anxiety flooded JJ's heart, Athena stood there, calm. The waves looked inviting; a nice challenge to end her summer of surfing in North Carolina. She had only three (full) days left, and the next two were already completely planned out.
Today was surfing the storm.
Tomorrow was all planned out by JJ, and had been for about two weeks. Time was catching up to them, finally, after three short months. A few days ago was when both Athena and JJ had the epiphany that she'd be leaving sooner rather than later, (that night ended in an overwhelming amount of tears and hugging). In addition to the fact that she was leaving. Her flight back home wasn't some mythical monster looming in the shadows, but a real, actual, booked-and-paid for thing. She was leaving. Their never ending summer was coming to an end. But not yet.
"Are we doing this or not?" Athena yelled over the rolling thunder. She brought her right arm up to shield her eyes from the painful rain. Her knees felt week as she turned to face JJ. "Come on!"
"I don't know, dude," he shouted back. His voice shook as he spoke, but Athena couldn't possibly blame it on fear. Her JJ? Scared of the waves? No way! No, she thought for sure it was the rain causing some distortion of his voice. "Maybe this is a shitty idea?"
However, behind him, Pope and Kiara were already turning away from them and back to their boards.
Athena looked up at JJ, confused. Wasn't this his idea in the first place? Why would he want to back out now? He was so excited thirty minutes ago when they were at John B's house when JJ even suggested surfing this storm. So, what had changed?
All four of the kids had slept at the shack last night in anticipation for this very storm. Athena knew her grandmother would never let her out of her sight in these conditions. So, she hatched a plan. Just like she had been doing all summer. They slept at John B's the night before only to "oversleep" the morning of and call her grandmother at around noon (after a morning or ignoring angry text messages, begging to know her whereabouts), to inform the woman that she had seemingly gotten herself "stranded" at "Kiara's house" because she couldn't let Kiara- or her parents- drive her home with this weather. Athena really was a certified genius.
"Are you alright?" Athena asked him, loud enough for possibly the whole world to hear.
"No, yeah. I just have a bad feeling."
"Oh," Athena's face relaxed a bit at learning this. She wanted to melt into floor, relishing at the fact that he was nervous. How adorable? "I won't let anything happen to you. Neither will Pope or Kie!" Athena dropped her board and velcroed her leggy onto her ankle, all the while the biggest smile was plastered across her face.
"No, I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you, genius... What if something happens?"
This was the raw truth. JJ had no care for what happened to him on that beach. He didn't care if he split his head open on the reef and died, as long as Athena was alright. As long as she walked away unscathed and happy. Of course, if it meant that much- which JJ knew it did- having caught a few good waves too.
"JJ," Athena laughed. "I'll be fine!" She yelled.
"You can't do CPR on yourself, can you?" He asked. His face was stone cold serious, but Athena laughed at the absurdity of the question anyway.
"No! But I'm not CPR certified. I didn't renew it this year like I was supposed to!"
"Ugh, Athena. You're making it worse!"
Pope and Kiara jogged over now, fully suited up. They looked between their two friends with questioning glances.
"Second thoughts?" Pope asked as JJ tugged on his navy rash guard.
Athena answered for the both of them, promising that everything was fine and that they were perfectly ready for this, excited even, perhaps overselling slightly. But Athena was so fucking pumped. There was no denying that much. Despite JJ's efforts.
"Come on," Athena pushed. "Realistically speaking, how bad's this gonna hurt?" She laughed as she yelled over the storm and sirens crying out in the distance. The sound had made Kiara's blood run cold. Athena was still a bundle of excitement and anticipation.
"How badly do you care?" He yelled back, peering at his girlfriend through the blond locks that ran across his eyes and dotted his vision.
"You know me so well," Athena cooed. She leaned over, pushing up on her toes, and placed a kiss on JJ's cheek. His skin was cool and soaked beneath her lips, his smile spreading with her touch. "Shall we?" She asked before the innocent peck could turn to more.
"I hate you sometimes... But we shall," JJ bent over to grab his board, finally prepared to take this storm on. Bring it, bitch, he thought, repeating it over and over again as they stomped their way to the shore. This storm was his for the taking. JJ was well-aware, and now, for whatever reason, he wasn't as nervous as before about something happening to Athena. They were only young once, after all. Plus, she did leave in a handful of days. This was the best way to send her off. He knew her. He knew this was the only way they could spend this day, with these conditions, in this exact spot. There was no changing Athena's mind.
"You love me," she corrected, her feet hitting the water now. It felt so good to be able to make that correction, to say the words out loud, to actually admit it and let it sit in the air between them. They loved each other. This was real now. It was real before, but now she didn't have to be embarrassed or confused or upset by her feelings, and could actually say it to JJ's face. She loved him. He loved her. It was that easy.
The four of the kids walked to about knee-length water in three and a half seconds. The tide was extremely high and the waves were even higher. The conditions were utterly sick with barely any time between the near thirty-foot waves.
Pope was the first to catch a wave, riding it for only a few feet before jumping into the water and forfeiting his right to ride it all the way into shore. It was too scary. The waves were violently crashing on the shore, sending the white water miles into the air.
One after another, they took turns catching waves, nobody beating out Athena and her gracefulness in even the most terrifying of conditions. She rode hers farther than the rest of them, but nowhere near the point of a crashing wave, refusing to taste the consequences of falling in a break and making contact between her face and a sandbar.
They waited, wave after wave, for something big. Sure, the thirty-footers were something, but now they were doubling in size and starting to become something more. Something powerful. Something horrific.
Athena was the first to attempt her foot at something closer to a forty-foot wave. It toppled over, wiping her out for the first time since she was maybe ten years old. Even with that, she refused to slow down; the need to fill her veins with the adrenaline rush of standing up and dropping in on something so massive.
And finally, here it was: the wave she had spent her entire life searching for. Nearing the fifty-foot mark, it angrily barreled towards them. JJ saw the wave and knew before it even registered within him that Athena was going to try and chase it down.
"Hey," he called. "Hey!" Athena whipped her head around and stared at JJ, who sat there on his board, hands cupped around his mouth, yelling. Kiara and Pope had their eyes trained on their friend's back, the two of them thinking the exact same thing. "Don't you dare, Athena," JJ pleaded. "I promise you, it's not worth it."
Kiara swiveled her body to face Athena and only Athena. Pope noticed and his heart skipped a beat. This wasn't going to turn out good. He knew it from the moment Kiara's face fell.
"You know I have to," Athena reasoned.
This he did know. But honestly, he wished he didn't. It would've been so much easier to just printed like he didn't know how badly she wanted this. This wave meant enough to Athena that she was actually volunteering to risk her life for it. It would've been so much easier to act like he was clueless and just swim over to her and carry her to shore.
But Athena turned and dug her hands into the water, ripping them behind her while gritting her teeth. Her nose was numb, her toes were pricked, her hair was practically frozen. But she felt none of this as she paddled like a beast for the wave. The sounds of Kiara, Pope's, and JJ's protests were drowned out by the crashing of thunder above. The entire earth seemed to be illuminated by the lightning as Athena finally stood up on her board, her legs feeling stronger than ever.
"Woo!" She yelled, dragging a hand through the water as the wave barreled over her. "This is sick!" The rain poured on as she dropped in, sending droplets into her eyes like crazy.
Athena blinked hard, trying regain at least half of her vision, but it wouldn't work. She couldn't lean over and rub her eyes or she would be sent flying off her board. But if she couldn't find a new way to see, she might be met with the same fate either way. Frantically, Athena shook her head, sending her way off balance and stumbling, the board threatening to shoot out from under her.
"What the fuck do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" She mumbled this under her breath, depute the fact that nobody would hear it either way, the words all slurring together and into one. "I can't see anything. I'm gonna fall."
Athena's heart raced as she zipped through the water. It was so salty that she could literally taste it through the simple smell of it. It would sting more in her eyes than the rain was right now, but for some reason Athena found herself longing that it was the salt water lining her eyelids instead.
Her fingers shook as she stumbled again, this time causing her to lose her entire footing, the board shot out from under her and about fifteen feet in the other direction.
"Fuck!" Athena screamed as she fell the ten foot drop from the peak of the wave into the ocean. The second the skin of her back hit the water, pain filled every inch of her body. Water filled her lungs, and that salty-smelling saltiness filled both her eyes and nose, replacing the rain. Every inch of her burned.
The exact instant Athena wobbled on her board, JJ felt a hole slice right through his stomach. If someone had told him that his guts had spilt onto the ocean floor, he wouldn't have doubted it for a second. It was almost as if the storm around him had given way and everything vanished; everything except his Athena. The impending doom had reached up and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Athena!" JJ screamed. His vocal chords were raw and he already could sense the pain he'd be in tomorrow. "Athena," he yelled, again. Quickly, he dove off his surfboard, honestly not caring what happened to it, and pushed after the girl. Kiara and Pope chased, not far behind. All three of them screaming their friend's name. Neither of them missing a beat. "Athena!"
"Where is she?" JJ screamed. "What the fuck? What the fuck? Guys, what did we do?" His voice was high and it didn't even sound like him anymore. It was the volume of of king kong's, but it could've belonged to a little boy.
"There!" Pope yelled, his right arm outstretched and his finger pointing towards an un-moving object in the sand.
The waves had thrown her up and pushed her out onto the shore. She laid there, hair a mess and covered in sand. The waves violently lapping over her body. There was no way she could breathe with the amount of water splashing over her face with the break of each wave. She looked in the most possible pain anyone could image. Crimson pooled around her and washed back out into the ocean. This was not okay.
JJ ripped off his leash, the velcro instantly floating to the surface of the water and bobbing behind him. He didn't care about his board right now, and though the future was unforeseeable, if the fucking thing cracked in half and floated all the way to Indonesia, he probably wouldn't care. The leash would only hold him back and he knew that he needed any semblance of help he could get.
JJ's limbs tore the water with razor-sharp precision for someone so nervous. He raced to shore without even daring to poke his head out for air, every inch of him on fire. Push, he thought. Get to shore now, rest later. Nothing was in his mind except Athena. She laid there, sand covering her limp, bloody body, soaking wet and pale.
Pope and Kiara paddled to shore, hurriedly and sloppily. Kiara chocking back sobs and Pope a ball of anger as they let their boards dangle behind them, neither of them thinking about removing their leashes.
All of their blood was pumping in their ears, hands shaking, hearts racing, eyes wild. Fuck was the most anyone could manage to say as they climbed out of the ocean and onto the sand. JJ instantly found his footing the second the water was shallow enough and found himself sprinting at an Olympic pace all the way to where Athena laid.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck." He said, throwing himself down onto the sand. "Shit!" Instinctively, JJ pulled Athena into his lap, shaking her and trying to get her to wake up.
"Stop," Pope yelled over the wind. "Leave her head alone! Don't touch her." Now he was sprinting, his feet wildly kicked up the soaking wet sand behind him. Kiara followed en suit.
JJ froze in his place, unsure of what he did wrong or how to fix it. Should he remove Athena's head from his lap? Lay her back down? Blood was flowing steadily over his legs though. The warmth of it against his goosebumps from the frigid temperatures was making it extremely hard to concentrate on the answers to any of his questions. To focus was to die.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Pope mumbled. He had no energy left in him to yell the words. He leaned over, placing both of his hands on his knees and panting. "Okay," he sucked in a huge deep breath as Kiara threw herself down right next to JJ. "She hit her head," Pope observed, pointing towards the cuts and the blood lining her scalp and forehead. "You could paralyze her. You need to just let her lie steady."
JJ looked up, his eyes pooling with tears. Or maybe that was the rain? It was hard to tell. No matter what it was, he was obviously turning a new shade of green- something no human should be. His hands were ferociously twitching up and down as he held them away from the girl piled on top him, his legs folded in an obviously uncomfortable way underneath him. Pope took in the whole scene with a spiked ball in his windpipe.
"JJ," Kiara tried. Her voice was soft and nearly inaudible against the harsh rain and crashing waves as she placed a steady hand on her best friend's shoulder. "She's going to be alright." Though even as she said it, it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone.
"Yea," Pope cooed. He lifted Athena gently off JJ's lap and laid her back down in the sand. "Do you have your phone." JJ nodded, slightly. It was barely even visible. "Call an ambulance."
"What?" Kiara spat. She wasn't honestly anticipating an emergency call right now. She wasn't sure what Pope would want the phone for, but of all things, that? "We're on the cut, Pope!" She yelled. "They don't even come here fast enough when it's fucking beautiful out. It's literally the worst weather ever."
"Pope-" JJ started. Instantly, he was cut off.
"JJ, I swear to God, if you don't call me an ambulance right now-"
"Listen to me!" Kiara demanded. She stood up, leaving JJ behind, to face off with Pope. He stood there, his eyes flickering back and forth between Athena and Kiara every two seconds. His mind obviously traveling at light-speed.
"I am!" Pope yelled. "Shut your mouth for five goddamn minutes. She obviously needs CPR, she's fucking blue but I don't want to fucking paralyze her for the rest of her goddamn life."
"Pope," Kiara yelped, her feelings obviously crushed more than she had ever expected from Pope. With the adrenaline coursing through her veins right now, however, she couldn't find it within herself to drag all of it up and create a fight now. She didn't have wits to even care. To even want the simplest of apologies.
"What do we do?" JJ cut in, catching the both of them off guard and pulling them out of their thoughts. "What do we do? What do we do?" JJ asked, the words spilling over in more of a yell form than anything. "Pope," he demanded. "I need you to tell me what the fuck we do. Right now. Can I just give her CPR? Or Mouth to mouth?"
"JJ, stop, man. I need to just- I need a second. Call me an ambulance." His tone was urgent, pleading. "Please? I'll-I-"
"Pope, I trust you, man, but how fucking long is that gonna take?"
"See?" Kira asked. She was back in the sand now, JJ squinted over at her and realized that she sat there, clutching Athena's cold, left hand in both of hers. the gesture made JJ's stomach lunge.
Pope shook his head and then pushed JJ behind him, falling to his knees at Athena's side, right in the red-stained, soggy sand, and started pounding on her chest with the heels of his hands, pushing hard. As JJ watched, the only thing he could think was that if she survived this, her ribs would be so broken it would hurt to breathe. She might just wish that they left her to drown.
With his mind spiraling now, JJ inhaled sharply. Bursts of salty aluminum hit his nostrils like a truck. The air around him suddenly seemed thicker than it was before. The rain, heavy, the thunder, louder. A burp wiggled it's way up his throat, his stomach dislodged underneath him. With one swift motion, JJ put his left hand in front of him, doubled over, twisted his body to face away from Athena and threw up. All the while, Pope trudged forward.
Athena's body was softer than Pope had expected. Her body was clear pile of nothing but flesh and muscle. When she entered a room, she was clearly always the strongest. A faint six-pack and a jawline that could slice diamonds, but now? She felt like a pillow underneath his pushes, bloated and full of water. With every single pound, blood spirted out of the scalp and into the sand, only to be quickly washed away by the surf.
Kira instantly pushed herself up and over to JJ, bringing both of her arms around him and holding him as he cried violently into the crook of her arm. His entire body shook and she sat there with him. His face now beet-red.
[ AUGUST 30TH, 2020 ]
↳ TWO HOURS LATER
THE POGUES:
KILDARE COUNTY HOSPITAL
Pope preformed CPR until the world shifted underneath him. His arms gave out. Along with his core, lungs, and just about every single bone in his body. He refused to give up until he heard the wailing sirens in the distance, the world turning black and his head hit the sand. He woke a few seconds later to a paramedic only a few years older than him handing him a heating blanket and a Poland Spring water bottle. The words of everyone around him morphed into one voice and his ears rang out. It sounded as though he were under water.
All three of them rode with Athena to the hospital in the ambulance. They must've been traveling a hundred and ten miles an hour, the sirens blaring and whining as they did so. Kiara held JJ the whole time. He clutched a pink basin labeled throw up in thick, black letters. The entire thing was full by the time they arrived.
Kiara left the ambulance first, followed by Pope and one paramedic. Athena was wheeled out on her gurney, with JJ by her side. This time he was the one holding her hand, her Pura Vida wax bracelet rubbing against his thumb. The EMTS that carried out Athena had tried swatting it away multiple times, but their efforts were entirely ignored. Either way, they knew exactly where this was headed.
Athena was pronounced dead the second she was set in the hospital room.
JJ didn't stop crying until Kiara's dad showed up, screaming about how stupid they were, but holding Kiara in his arms just the same and letting her sob on him like a little kid. Pope sat beside them in a waiting room chair, his face still pale from passing out before.
Nobody could get him to eat anything after he woke up. Nobody could get him to do much of anything actually. He just sat there, his eyes wide, blood caked on his damp rash guard and dried to his hands, all the way up to his elbows. Later he would drunkly confess to JJ that, even though it's cliché, he never realized how much blood was truly in a human being. Especially someone so teeny tiny.
Athena's grandmother showed up a little while after, wide-eyed and confused. JJ wasn't sure who had called her, or where they even got her number from since Athena's emergency contacts were her mother and father. He often found himself wondering what it would be like to find out the daughter you sent away for three months died three days before she was supposed to return home because her stupid boyfriend thought it would be a great idea to surf- and oh, by the way she had a boyfriend.
Or what it would be like to answer that phone call. And then have to call your mother and explain it.
"I'm Kiara's father. Mr. Carrera," he had introduced himself with a handshake. The grandmother had accepted, her face breaking the second they touched. "Your granddaughter... I-"
JJ tuned out the rest. He didn't want to listen. He didn't have to. It was bad enough to be so unsure of what he was supposed to do. He and Athena had still been hiding their relationship from her grandmother ever since that day at the midsummers party, so to announce it now, while she was finding out that she died? It was just absurd.
All of it was.
Athena Priactia was a force unlike any other. She was a hurricane in JJ Maybank's life. She came in at the start of summer, creeping up on the boy, then ripped through his life, tearing up every little thing in her path, until finally, she was gone, leaving behind nothing but the damage in her wake and forcing Pope and Kiara, the clean-up crew, to sift through the wreckage.