"Oh, I'm falling to deep.
Without you, I can't
sleep."
"OKAY, SOMEONE NEEDS to get firewood, someone needs to find something to eat- watermelon or something, and whoever's left needs to stay here and wait for Sarah, okay?" John B concluded, standing up from his spot on the ground.
"I can go get firewood." Kie volunteered.
"I'll go with her." JJ agreed, to Red's visible dismay.
"Uh... I'll go find something to eat." Red stood up, brushing herself off. "John B, wanna come?" She asked, earning a nod from the boy adjacent to her.
JJ looked at her with the same expression Red had just done to him. A mixture of unnecessary jealousy and confusion. In Red's mind, a little jealousy is just an easier way to match someone's puzzling ways of affection.
"Great, I get to play babysitter." Pope groaned, Bennie, pretending to be shot in the heart at his comment.
"If anything I'm babysitting. Now I have to sit here and listen to you whine about your merit scholarship." Bennie matched. "In fact, my understanding is 70% of the time that's what you talk about. The other 30% is just lecturing us."
"Oh- Really?!"
"Alright, you kids have fun." Kie crossed her arms, walking in the opposite direction that John B and Red.
"So, how you likin' the pogue life so far, Red? Catch me up." John B started, walking further into the wooded area of the marsh with the blonde. "What does Shoupe think?"
"Uh... He doesn't actually." Red responded, letting out a sarcastic chuckle at the sore subject. "I left home a couple of days ago. After Gavin got shot he didn't believe me or do anything so I kinda just... left. I hope you don't mind a temporary roommate at the chateau."
John B nodded with a grin, fist-bumping the girl walking adjacent to him. "Part-time roommate, full-time best friend." Red smiled at the boy's comment. "So, how are things going with you? JJ said you transferred."
"Yeah, I did," Red replied. "My friend Max was how we found out who was on the tarmac the day Peterkin was murdered. He's basically my only friend there and I'm not mad at that."
"What about... Y'know stuff with JJ." John B asked, not really catching the blonde off guard as she expected the question she gradually got more comfortable answering eventually. "I mean, I know what he said-"
"What did he say?" Red asked, suddenly more anxious.
"I'll tell you what he said if you tell me what's going on on your side."
"You first."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if I tell you first then your not gonna answer my question." John B tilted his head.
"I pinky promise that I'll answer the question, Red promised, linking her pinky with the boy next to her.
"So if your lying I get to break your pinky." John B joked, pulling down her pinky as if trying to break it. "No fingers crossed."
"Okay." Red put her hands up in defense. "Now tell me!"
John B breathed in, "You can't tell him I told you this but he said that you guys talked a few nights ago and settled on 'just friends' for now because you broke up like two weeks ago."
"And?" Red questioned in anticipation. "Did he say anything else? Like what he thought?"
"Why?" The boy asked, suddenly realizing why Red was so curious. "You still like JJ, don't you?"
"I didn't say that."
"Yeah, well you didn't deny it either."
Red sighed, "Fine. Maybe just a little, but what do you expect? We like just broke up going back to friends never works out. And it's not like I want to start a relationship again... I just wanna know where he's at."
"Well, R.L., JJ feels the exact same way." John B nodded. "Well... he's not exactly sure either. We're all just going through a lot."
Red nodded in understanding, "Yeah. You're right." Red picked out a few coconuts from off the ground, checking to see if they rotted. "Will these work?"
"And these?" John B added, pointing to a mango tree. "Yeah, I think we're good."
The pair soon headed back to camp where JJ and Kie had already arrived with firewood. John B and Red set down the fruits, going to sit down as a break before a boat could be heard approaching the group, containing Sarah who didn't seem hurt.
"Sarah!" Kie held her arms out, the boat coming closer and closer as the teens stood up, ready to greet her.
"You made it!"
"What happened?" John B asked, walking back towards everyone with Sarah.
"You guys were right..." Sarah said quietly, almost in tears. "It didn't work."
"It's okay... we'll just have to find another way." Red comforted, hugging Sarah's side, happy to know she was okay.
"Well, then that settles it, guys." JJ approached the two girls from behind. "Now y'all need to load up in the paddy wagon and get the heck out of Dodge right now.
"Right, You guys are gonna need supplies. We're gonna have to split as soon as possible." Pope reasoned, Getting Bennie's attention from beside him.
"Wait, wait, wait. Split? No, we're not 'splitting again. Not after what happened last time." Bennie stated, almost whining. "And I'm not about to lose my brother again. Let's just... figure something out."
"Guys, I think it's too late." Kie voiced, staring out into the distance where police boats could be seen and heard.
"They followed you here?" Asked John B, the boats getting closer and closer. "It must have been your father."
"We're gonna have to find another way out of here." Pope nodded.
"Stay on the beach with your hands in the air!" One boat demanded through the megaphone, but as far as Red knew, the pogues didn't obey the law. Why start now?
"Go, now!"
"Run, go!"
The pogues scattered, running up the beach and further into the wooded area. Red grabbed onto JJ's wrist for stability, barely able to keep up with the boy as he ran quickly.
The officers yelled in the distance as the teens ran across the water, hurrying eachother up even as they entered the trees.
Kie and Red checked up on Sarah and John B frequently, as they were in the front and John B was assisting Sarah in the back.
The teens tried to swim across the water and almost didn't make it as red felt her legs give out from exhaustion and her eyes go blurry. It had been days since she'd slept and the running certainly wasn't helping.
Red stopped moving, sinking further into the water as her vision went dark and she tried to fight her way back up, but she was simply too weak to do it on her own.
It took a couple of seconds for the group to realize Red's absence, but as soon as they did, they were almost out of the water which sent them all into a haze, JJ swam back through the water at the sight of Red's beige blonde hair, swimming down underneath the water to reach her and pull her back above water.
Red heard her name rapidly being called by the pogues as they continued rushing eachother out of the water. She felt her face being lightly tapped by presumably JJ whose face was blurred and her voice was shut out by the constant ringing in her ears.
She reached her hand up to the back of his neck, feeling herself being pulled out of the water as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"JJ." She called, hearing other people's voices around her.
"Yes, yes I'm here just... just hold on."
Red soon heard sirens and the group's chatter about being cornered before she gained most of her sight back but was still unable to process anything that just happened as she was still about to faint.
JJ stabilized Red against the tree as she tried to catch her breath. Red could hear JJ say something before he pulled out the gun, and wiped it off. JJ cocked the gun before John B stopped him, taking the gun from him and dropping it on the ground.
"It's gonna be alright." John B whispered, Shoupe's patrol car now approaching. John B covered the gun with his foot. "Here we go."
"John B!" Shoupe called the group now coming out from behind the trees. "Step out of the clearing! Get down, do not move."
JJ stayed behind Red, knowing at any moment she could pass out, needing something to stop her from falling. "I'm surrendering!" John B called.
"Don't move!"
"Hands up, John B!"
"The rest of y'all stay right where you are! Keep your hands where we can see 'em!" Shoupe ordered.
"Listen, Shoupe. I wanna testify!"
"It's about time. Get down, do not move a muscle." Shoupe responded, pointing his pistol at John B, knowing he'd never dare to pull the trigger. "Everybody else, don't move!"
Just then, a cop approached John B from behind, trapping him in a headlock and pulling him back, pushing him against the ground even to Shoupe's protest.
The teens screamed for the cop to stop, and even Shoupe yelled for him to quit it, finally stepping in but being pushed away by Thomas.
"This is for Peterkin," Thomas muttered, decking John B in the face, knocking him out.
Red couldn't take it anymore, although now she was at gunpoint, her ears rang louder and now JJ was removed from behind her, leaving no one to catch her fall if she dared to fall.
Her eyes blurred, looking over at JJ who glared at her back, knowing what was coming. "JJ-" Red blinked hard, trying to snap back into reality but fell backward, barely in time for JJ to rush over, almost missing her as police yelled at him, but he yelled back in defense and didn't let go of the girl he now sort of just cradled in his arms with her feet still touching the floor.
"That's it," Shoupe muttered, approaching the police and the duo and attempting to take Red from JJ, but JJ pulled her away from him. "Let go of her right now." He demanded.
"Why don't you go do your job and train your guys not to hit teenagers." JJ snapped back, still not letting the girl go.
"Red needs to come home, and unless you want to go to jail, your gonna let go right now, Shoupe demanded, less of a question than an order.
"No, 'cause she doesn't want to go home, Shoupe," JJ shouted. "She's stayin' with us."
That was Shoupe's final straw before he could grab his daughter from the blonde, ordering the rest of the cops to get JJ on his knees despite his best efforts to gain possession of the girl again.
Shoupe threw Red into the passenger seat while being yelled at by the teens who watched as Red was carried away.
Red was still passed out until she heard the car turn on, the other teens were still on site, but Red was about to be escorted off by Plum.
"What's going on?" Asked Red, still drowsy from exhaustion.
Plum didn't answer, but once the teens realized Red was awake, they began yelling for her to exit the car, but Plum locked the doors, beginning to drive away and lecture the girl as if she was her mother.
But Red knew a much simpler way to exit a cop car. Plum didn't realize that you could unlock the car from either side as Plum had a newer version of a patrol car. The only problem was that the car was still moving.
But taking a risk was worth it, especially now. Red unbuckled, and unlocked the door, sprinting out of the car and back over to where only the pogues were now that the rest of the cops were.
It took every ounce of Red's strength to fight her way back over to JJ who immediately took her in, making sure she was okay before they hid from Plum's car quite easily.
"Where's Bennie?" Red managed to spit out.
"They took her in for... questioning since she was a witness," Kie explained. "You need to sleep, Red. You're exhausted."
"Mhm..." Red agreed, ready to pass out into a deep slumber.
"Yep... Let's get you to the Chateau." JJ nodded, helping the girl walk back to the boat and soon approach the Chateau on the boat.
When entering the Chateau, JJ knew Red wouldn't be able to stick around for a chat as she desperately needed sleep.
Red sat down on the bed, realizing she was unable to sleep despite being so exhausted, "JJ." She called, getting the boy's attention from down the hall.
His blue eyes shot up at her, almost anticipating her question. "Yeah?"
"Could you... Uh- stay for a bit." Red didn't have the time or the brain capacity to think about the embarrassment she might have been putting herself into because if Red remembered her words on a regular day, she would cringe. "I want to lay with you."
JJ's gaze softened, nodding his head gently and walking towards the bedroom, positioning himself onto the bed beside the girl, who immediately melted into his warm embrace just like nights earlier.
Almost immediately, like some sort of spell, Red fell into a deep sleep, leaving JJ only to reminisce about what they could have been if he didn't do what he did.
It almost felt like wanting something you can't have, but not knowing that he could have it if he just asked.
JJ sighed, playing with the girl's hair before he could get some sleep of his own, still not forgetting about his best friend who was likely being questioned as the pair slept.
john b and red >>>>>
I love how they're talking about
jj while jj is talking about her
lmaooo