𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍 𝐁'𝐒 death, I had changed. I was not the same person that I was before. The shock of losing him really affected me. I missed him a lot. Not that I would show it much.
It felt like my world had shattered into a million pieces. His absence left a void in my heart that seemed impossible to fill. Every day, I would wake up hoping it was just a bad dream, but the reality hit me like a ton of bricks. It was as if a part of me was missing, and I struggled to find my footing in a world that suddenly felt so empty. But amidst the pain, I still had my boyfriend and my sister.
We had carved out a heart in the tree trunk with John B imprinted. Each of us buried something that reminded us of him.
And today was the first day of school. I didn't want to go but Riley convinced me. We had both been staying at the Chateau with JJ or he would stay with us at our house.
I clambered out of Kiara's truck, falling into my boyfriend's body. There hadn't been a day since he died that I wasn't intoxicated. Today, my eyes were bloodshot and I was very out of it.
"Chill out," Kiara spoke up, noticing the state I was in.
I ignored her comment, not fully hearing her anyway as I leaned further into the blonde who had his arm wrapped around my shoulders.
The crowd soon enough erupted in whispers at the sight of us and we immediately noticed a memorial for John B in the centre. It has a surfboard with his name and flowers. It was nice of them to do, but not something I was prepared for seeing that morning.
"I feel like people are staring at us." The curly-haired idk spoke as she glanced around.
JJ nodded in agreement as I turned around in annoyance to face the crowd, "Yes, hello. We're here. Move on." I yelled, causing their heads to turn away from us and back to their previous conversations.
"I've gotta get to class," Pope said before making his way through the double doors.
"Come on pretty girl." The boy spoke encouragingly, pressing a small kiss to my cheek.
𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐀𝐓 in the back of history class with mg knees pulled up to my chest as I doodled through my workbook. I hated history before and recent situations only made me hate it even more. I yawned boredly, earning a glare from my teacher before my phone buzzed from the table.
Strangely, JJ, Kiara and Pope's seemed to have got a notification as well, "Whose phone was that?" My teacher asked, "Nobody? You will be tested. Now, to recap, who was Diocletian?"
I glanced over to my boyfriend who sat in the chair opposite me. I picked up my phone to see the four of us, plus Liv and Riley, added to a group chat with an unknown number.
My heart began to race at the unknown. I hid my phone between my legs to open the message.
The blonde boy crept over from his desk to mine so he could stand behind me. We both opened the message to reveal a photo of John B and Sarah. Very much alive. I silently gasped at the sight, unsure of what to think.
"What the fuck?" I muttered under my breath.
I glanced to my boyfriend's phone who had been sent the exact same photo. The two whose desks was nearer the front turned around to face us to which we both nodded in response.
I sighed heavily, not bothering to say anything to my teacher before leaving the classroom followed by my boyfriend who had stopped to pick up his bag. I hadn't bothered to bring in anything other than my lipgloss.
Kiara and Pope followed behind us as we ran through the corridor and into the courtyard.
"Is that even possible?" Kiara asked, "Shoupe said that they didn't make it. He said that."
Pope shrugged, "Okay, but I think we're overreacting right now because we can't rule out the possibility that this could be some weird, cruel hoax."
"I'm just gonna ask." The girl spoke as she sat down on the blue bench table.
"What of its actually hun though?" I asked hopefully.
"Then, I don't know, okay? I don't know." The Heyward boy replied as Kie began to type.
I ran a stressful hand through my brown locks as JJ pulled me into his chest, peppering kisses down my neck to calm me down.
"He's typing," Kie spoke nervously. My heart rate rose rapidly at her words.
The Routledge boy replied asking for JJ. Everyone's head snapped to the Maybank as he typed his response.
The group all burst into a fit of giggles at his response, "It's him." I realised.
"It's him." JJ grinned, pulling me into his body and picking me up happily.
Tears began to spring in my eyes as the curly haired girl brought me into her arms, followed by Pope.
"Laying super low in Nassau." Kiara read out from her phone.
I frowned in surprise, "How the fuck did they get to the Bahamas?"
JJ chuckled, "Can't kill a Pogue, dude."
I pulled my phone back out from my back pocket when I noticed Riley calling. I was quick to answer the phone, "Riles?" I spoke into the phone excitedly.
"Is it actally them?" She asked, equally as excited.
"Yeah," I confirmed, "He's alive."
Riley screamed out in happiness from the other end of the line. And in that moment, I knew everything was going to be okay.
𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐃 to meet up after school outside The Wreck. Since Liv still went to the Kook Academy, Kie had gotten in contact with her and told her to meet us.
The girl was growing on me. I think the fact that she was grieving over Sarah brought us closer together in a way.
"Kiara, I do need those setups done by five." Her mother called out to her from the window.
She hummed, "There are other people that work here."
"None of them are my children." She shot back playfully.
Pope sighed, "I feel that. On a deep emotional level, I understand that."
Olivia chuckled sarcastically, "Can't relate."
"So are we going to the Bahamas or what?" JJ asked.
Riley frowned, "And how do you plan on getting there, J?"
"There's no way we're getting to the Bahamas." Pope laughed.
"John B will get nabbed sooner or later. So if we're gonna clear his name, we need to have done it like yesterday." Kiara spoke up with a frown.
JJ suddenly shot up from his seat eagerly, "I'll tell you how we do it."
"So you have it all planned out?" Liv asked in surprise.
He nodded in response, "We kidnap Rafe."
"I'm sorry, what?" The Heyward boy scoffed in disbelief.
He shrugged, "We kidnap Rafe, tie him up and stick a gun in his mouth. We just gotta wait until he starts squeaking."
I smirked, "I'm good with that."
"You know, tortures a war crime." The blonde girl informed us.
Pope nodded in agreement, "Yeah, so how do you two plan on clearing John B's name from a prison cell? Because that's a felony."
I huffed, "You just make it so complicated."
JJ sat down beside me as his arm wrapped comfortably around my shoulders, "What do you get, Pope? I was just trying to keep things simple. One stop and we're done."
"Guys, all we need is a material witness." Riley spoke up, "You guys told me you saw Wards plane fly right over your heads with the gold inside and clearly he didn't fly it. If somebody else flew it, they were there on the tarmac and saw Peterkin get murdered. We just have to find whoever it was and get them to confess on record." She explained.
I gasped, "Why are you actually smart?"
Kie frowned, "How do we do that?"
Pope shrugged, "A little light espionage."
"A little ghost recon," JJ smirked.
"Woogity woogity?" Pope smiled.
JJ yelled happily, "Woogity, baby."
𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 who flew the plane, we gathered into the truck and made our way to his house. I sat in the boot with JJ as there wasn't much room in the back as Riley and Liv sat there with Pope and Kie in the front.
"If this guy flew planes for Ward, he's gotta be pretty tight-lipped," Pope spoke up.
JJ nodded as he cocked the gun, "So then direct approach gets my vote."
"No." Liv immediately yelled anxiously.
"What?" Kie scoffed in disbelief.
Riley rolled her eyes, "Put the gun down, J."
"Guys, we've gotta keep this simple or else we're never gonna get John B off." He protested.
Pope cut him off, "Or we just tickle the wire."
"What?" I frowned at his words.
"We tickle the wire. I plant my phone into his car and then we listen in on your airpods." He explained as he held the speaker up to Kiara, "Say something."
She shrugged before speaking, "Something."
Her voice echoed through the phone for a moment. The Heyward smiled, "Okay, we have audio."
We then pulled up to a rather large Kook house, "I think that's his house." Olivia told us.
Kiara stopped the truck as she parked a few paces behind the front door, "All right, honk or yell if you see anything suspicious." Pope told us.
"Don't do anything dangerous." The curly haired girl spoke, seeming genuinely concerned.
He chuckled, "Come on, I'm not Hayley or JJ."
I laughed sarcastically in annoyance as he left the car.
"So," The blonde boy began, "How's it been going with Pope?" He asked the Carrera.
She shrugged uncontrollably, "It's good."
The two had shared a kiss after John B left on the Phatntom and appeared to have a small fling going on, "In the bedroom is he like kinda freaky, because it's Pope, you know?"
Riley and I chuckled loudly at all his questions, "Why are you asking?" Kiara grimaced.
He shrugged, "Just kinda curious. Spitballing here."
"We don't need to spitball. We could sit in silence." She shot back.
I hummed at her words before bringing JJ's lips to mine in a sweet kiss. Riley gagged fakely, "Not in front of your sister, please."
I pulled away from the boy as he started to speak again, "Kie, ranking wise-"
She cut him off, "Oh, you're still asking."
He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm just curious. Is John B better?"
The girl turned around in shock at his words as I burst into a fit of giggles followed by the blonde boy.
Eventually, Pope came back into the car and noticed the fact that I couldn't stop laughing, "Are we all good?"
Kiara grimaced in embarrassment as she leaned back into her seat.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 now set as I prepared to call Gavin's phone. JJ's hand folded his arms in a grump, "Why does she get to tickle."
"She's the best." Olivia backed me up with a smile, "And the scariest."
"Should I do an accent?" I asked.
Riley nodded, "Definitely disguise your voice."
I put on an awful English accent, "How would you like me to talk? Like this?"
"Not like that." Everyone immediately denied.
the blonde girl shrugged, "Just talk. It's not like he knows you."
I nodded nervously before pressing his number. He answered almost immediately, "Is Gavin there?" I asked harshly.
"This is Gavin. Who's this?" He replied.
"I know what happened on the tarmac," I spoke.
He chuckled nervously, "Whose this?"
"It was Rafe Cameron." I continued, "But you already knew that, and you lied about it. We're gonna prove it. You could have saved her, Gavin, and you didn't. And you're not getting away with this."
"Listen to me. Who is this?" He began to yell into the phone before I hung up.
"How was that?" I asked the group.
Liv nodded, "I was scared. It was good."
Pope nodded proudly, "Yeah, we tickled the wire. Phase two complete."
It didn't take long for his car to pull out of the driveway, causing us all to duck in our seats.
"He didn't see us." The blonde boy confirmed as he drove past us.
"Yeah, go," I told Kiara.
"Wait, Kie, my seatbelt." Pope panicked.
Riley laughed, "Are you seriously buckling up right now?"
"Yes, I am." He replied.
I rolled my eyes, "You don't need it right now."
Pope suddenly sat further up in his seat, "He's talking to Ward." He informed us, "Get closer I can't hear." Kiara began to drive faster to get closer to the man, "He's talking about negotiating something. Renegotiating." He paused, "Gavins got the gun that Rafe used to kill Peterkin. I think he's trying to use it as extortion. As leverage."
"He's pulling over." Kiara panicked.
The dark skinned boy nodded, "Yeah, he's panicking."
"Do I pull behind him?" She asked.
Riley shook her head, "Just go around the block."
"We're gonna lose him," Kie spoke worriedly.
"I can't hear anything. I'm losing the signal. I can't hear. Shit." Pope spoke.
We suddenly pulled into a construction site, "What the fuck?" I muttered.
"Pull in and back up," Liv told her.
"Are you kidding?" Kiara yelled in annoyance when a truck came up behind them.
Riley jumped out of the car in annoyance to speak to them as Pope took off into a sprint.
"We're going after him, right?" JJ questioned.
I nodded in agreement as we all began to run after Pope. JJ held my hand tightly.
We ran around the back of some Kook houses. We finally reached Pope who was crouched behind a bush, "He's meeting Ward right now. We have to go."
𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄
how we feeling about riley being a pogue????