SARAH SPENT the night at her own house for a change, as she mourned over her father's death with her family. Aurora thought that was a better decision than spending the night with the Pogues, who all hate Ward's guts. John B and Sarah hadn't spoken since the incident, so Rory watched the boy overthink in silence as he rested on the HMS Pogue.
JJ fished over the deck, as he broke the silence, "Do you think he deserved it?"
"Are you joking?" Kie questioned, "Of course, he deserved it."
"I've never seen anyone blow themselves up like that." Pope added.
JJ scoffed, "Cross that one of the bucket list."
"JJ!" Kie warned, as she sat down next to John B, "Are you okay?"
"It's not me I'm worried about." John B replied tonelessly, as watched Sarah ride her bike towards the Chateau in the distance. He cleared his throat, "Can you guys give me a minute with Sarah alone?"
"Sure, man." Pope nodded, as the group followed him as he headed inside the Chateau. Rory looked at Sarah, praying she would look back but her eyes were stuck to the grass as she walked towards the boy. The Pogues knew what was going to happen by the look on Sarah's face- they were going to break up.
"Why'd Topper even have to be there?" Aurora asked in frustration, as she sat down on the couch, "The guy's everywhere."
JJ glanced at his sister and wriggled his eyebrows up and down. He teased, "Looks like you have competition-"
"Shut up." Rory threw a pillow at the boy, who lobbed it back at her.
"Wait, what?" Kie questioned in shock, her jaw dropping to the floor, "Hang on a minute, you like Sarah? Again?"
"No. No-"
"Have you seen the way she looks at her?" JJ asked Kie, as he turned to Pope and held his face sarcastically. He imitated, "Oh, Sarah. You're perfect for me."
"You're perfect for me too, Rory." Pope cooed, "Let's get married and-"
"Shut up!" Rory threw a pillow at them both, "You're not funny, you know that?"
"I thought you hated her?" Kie asked curiously, as she plonked herself in between Rory and JJ, "Didn't she, you know, cheat on you with Topper?"
"Yeah, but... I don't know." Rory shrugged, "Things seem different this time."
"She's the one, Pope." JJ teased, "She's different to the rest-"
Rory leant over Kie to slap her brother around the back of the head, "I don't sound like that."
JJ smirked, "You kinda do, though."
Aurora stuck her middle fingers up to her brother, before she brushed her hair out of her face, "If any of you tell her, I will hunt you down and murder you. And don't tell John B, got it?"
"Got it." Pope nodded, raising his hands in the air in surrender, and the rest of them nodded.
***
The breakup hit John B hard, so he spent most of the night alone or drinking alcohol and pretending he was okay. His head rested on Rory's shoulder as they both slept on the couch, until they were awoken by Pope and Kie,
"Hey, we gotta go to school." He had to practically shake Rory's body to get her to open her eyes, "We have a geometry test in 30 minutes."
JJ rolled off of the couch, thudding on the floor with a groan and inaudible complaining. Kie passed Rory some clothes as she stayed on the couch, "Get dressed, Rory. I'll meet up with you guys later."
Pope guided JB out of the door, not giving him any time to get dressed out of what he wore yesterday, "Come on, we're gonna be late."
Rory sat on the edge of the couch, staring at the floor for a moment before Kie had to dress her herself. She crouching down, putting a white top over Rory's head to go over the top of her bikini.
"Im starving." JJ crawled back to the kitchen, "I need some pizza."
"No, you missed breakfast." Pope insisted, holding his hand as-well as John B's. JJ managed grabbed a slice of cold pizza as Pope dragged him out of the door, "Rory, let's go."
"Okay, mom." Rory sighed as she stood up reluctantly, as she quickly bent down to grab her red converse so Pope wouldn't drive off without her.
Because JJ fell asleep the whole journey to school, Rory ate the cold pizza crust he had left. She looked back at John B from the passenger seat and watched him swipe through pictures of him and Sarah- her heart sunk. Aurora threw her cigarette out of the Twinkie window as Pope parked the van. Geometry was first, so the Pogues (minus Kie) walked to class together, then they dispersed to their seats.
"It's nice to have you back, Mr Routledge." The teacher chirped, placing a sheet of paper on everybody's desk, "Just in time for our first quiz."
Rory's head snapped up from the desk at the word quiz as she looked at Pope in disbelief, "A test?"
"I told you we had a test." Pope whisper-yelled, "I told you-"
"No you didn't!" John B whispered, as JJ glared at him in frustration.
After an hour of staring blankly at a piece of paper, Rory was saved by the school bell. During geometry, John B got a note inviting him to the Bonfire by a girl in their class- Rory wanted to go with Sarah, but she knew it would never happen. JJ followed JB through the corridors, "Well, I think she meant to give it to me, so we're all good there. We're going."
"Mr Heyward, Mr Routledge, Miss and Mr Maybank." Mr Sunn greeted, as he guided them into his empty class, "Just the students I wanted to see."
"Wish I could say the same." Rory replied sarcastically, as she perched on a desk.
"I have a question of a historical nature for you. I digitise documents for the Maritime Museum, and in return, I've been given access to the archives." Mr Sunn explained, unlocking his cupboard to retrieve a box, "And I found this."
"A box." John B deadpanned, as they gathered around the object Mr Sunn was holding.
"It's more than a box." Mr Sunn exclaimed, as he opened it, "Go ahead, Mr Heyward."
Pope slowly took out the object from inside the box, carefully taking it out of its plastic bag. He looked at the brown book in admiration, as he slowly opened it, "Whoa."
"It's a diary. The author's unknown." Mr Sunn stated, as he placed down another piece of paper, "However, this is an example of Denmark Tanny's letter. Compare the writing."
"No way." Pope breathed, "This is Denmark Tanny's diary." He flicked to a page within the diary of a drawing of a boat and a captain, "Guys, this is Captain Limbrey."
Rory stared at the pages in shock, when a drawing of a wheat symbol caught her eye. She looked at JB, who had noticed the same thing. She smiled slightly at Mr Sunn, "Thank you."
Mr Sunn nodded in appreciation, as he looked at Pope, "It's important to know your own history."
The teacher left the students in shock, shutting the door behind him. Pope pointed to another drawing, "Look, it's the cross of Santo Domingo. It was on the Royal Merchant."
a/n:
just gaslighted my mum to let me have a day off school #pro
also please follow my tiktok @_tvd.ed1ts_ :)