ELEVEN, kook life
( episode five & episode six )
☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎☀︎
CASSIE HAD FALLEN ASLEEP IN THE WAITING ROOM OF ST. OLIVE'S HOSPITAL. her dress was dirty, her makeup was all smeared off, the bruises on her neck were showing through, and she didn't even know where her heels were. "cassie." the bright fluorescent lights hurt her eyes when she opened them. "cassie."
it was sarah. cassie sighed at this, wiping her eyes. "he's waking up." she informed her.
cassie shot up, walking barefoot down the hall to his room. sarah followed after, a few feet behind.
in his room, john b was waking up, looking around disoriented. cassie sighed a sigh of relief.
"hi." sarah said, smiling.
"hi." he looked around for a second more. "where am i?"
"st. olive's." sarah answered. "you fell from the hawk's nest."
"topper pushed you." cassie bitterly corrected.
"you have a concussion and a broken wrist." sarah continued. he fell ten feet and came out with barely even a scratch. it was the john b routledge blessing; his actions never had consequences. the cassie routledge curse was that everything seemed to have a consequence for her.
beeps from the machines filled the air. john b took a minute to look at the cast around his arm. "whoa." he muttered.
"pretty cool."
he sat up slightly, mumbling, "we need to get outta here, cass." he sat up even more. "dcs is gonna find us—" he tried to remove the wires from him frantically.
"hang on there, kid. hang on." a new voice said. cassie turned to see that it was ward cameron, entering her brother's hospital room. "sarah told me everything. about your little adventure, about you running from the dcs, about how you were protecting her in the tower." cassie eyed sarah angrily. "john, i believe i owe you an apology. you were honest with me about a small indiscretion, and i went ahead and fired you anyway. and i shouldn't have. unfortunately, from time to time, i have a bit of a..." he took a deep breath. "short fuse. ask her." he motioned to sarah.
"it's true." sarah nodded.
"i'd like to make up for it, if you'll let me. i spoke with sheriff peterkin, and... i've offered to be your legal guardian, if you'll have me."
cassie's jaw dropped in shock. "what about me?" she asked, knowing that the man was only talking to john b.
"well, i don't have the room for two more," bullshit, he lives in a mansion, cassie thought to herself. "but, i've come up with a plan so that you two— plus your daughter— will be safe and housed."
evelyn walked in the room, grace's hand in hers.
cassie wanted to cry. she didn't want anyone becoming her legal guardian. she only had one year until she was 18.
maybe she'd be okay living with evelyn. but she didn't want to be a burden.
"can we go talk in the hall?" cassie asked, teary eyed. evelyn nodded and walked out of the room. cassie followed, wiping her tears as inconspicuously as she could.
"look, i know you don't want to say yes, but you have no other choice, honey," evelyn whispered, rubbing cassie's back. "i'd been thinking about this for a while but i knew you wouldn't accept the help."
"i just don't want to become a problem for you, y'know." cassie muttered, eyeing some of the nurses passing by. "my problems are my problems."
"cassie. you're still a kid." evelyn reminded her. "even if you don't feel like it, or people act like you aren't— you are."
"but i'm a mom first."
"i know what it's like." evelyn assured her. "i just want to help you, cassie."
hearing this made cassie burst into sobs. she had always viewed evelyn as the only mother figure in her life, so these words made her crack. her stubborn and hard shell crumbled, and fell into a million pieces at her feet.
evelyn wrapped her arms around the girl as she cried, rubbing her back and kissing the side of her head softly and gently. "it's all gonna be okay."
"mommy, it's okay," grace said comfortingly, wrapping her arms around the two women.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
EVELYN THOMPSON WAS OFFICIALLY CASSANDRA ROUTLEDGE'S LEGAL GUARDIAN.
she knew if she tried to fight it, things would just end up worse, and since john b didn't fight ward on it, cassie didn't fight evelyn on it. at least she didn't have to live with rafe.
they had gone to the chateau to grab some things for the meantime, before they actually moved in.
"i'll move my office into my room and that can be grace's room." evelyn said off handedly, as if it were no big deal, while she set down her things and closed the front door behind her.
cassie stopped, turning around to face the woman. "no, evelyn, it's really fine." she assured her, shaking her head. "me and grace can share a roo—"
"you're under my roof now, so no arguing." evelyn teased, smiling. cassie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. "come on, i know you want your own room."
cassie did like having her own room, but she didn't want to take up more room in evelyn's house than necessary. having her move her office into her bedroom and let grace have it was taking up a lot of space and energy. "we can share a room, evelyn. we've always shared a room up until a few days ago."
"well, let's ask grace." evelyn suggested, kneeling down to be eye to eye with the small blonde. "do you like having your own room?"
"mhm!" grace happily exclaimed, her lamb nearly flying out of her hand.
"do you want your own room in this house?" evelyn asked, eyeing cassie with a mischevious smile.
"yes!" grace replied, jumping up and down and clapping her tiny hands together.
cassie rolled her eyes, kneeling beside eveyln and grabbing her daughter's attention. "gracie, would you rather have your own room or share a room with mommy?" she asked, taking grace's hand and holding it tight.
grace thought for a second, before firmly answering, "own room."
evelyn took grace's small backpack off of her back and stood up, smiling. "so, that's that." she announced, jokingly dusting off her hands.
"okay, whatever," cassie sighed, shaking her head.
"it has a connected bathroom, so you'll still have easy access to her." evelyn informed her, nodding.
"i know," cassie said, grabbing grace's backpack. she took her own off and set them on the couch. "we'll sleep in the guest bed tonight, then tomorrow we can grab our real furniture."
"if there's anything either of you want for your new rooms, let me know. look online, we have internet here." evelyn said, rubbing cassie's back. "i know this isn't your ideal situation, but it's a home. with a lot of amenities. take advantage of them please."
"oh, i am so taking advantage of your fancy espresso machine." cassie commented, chuckling.
evelyn laughed, watching as faith, who was hanging out on the couch— with the babysitter, filling in for cassie's now empty position— and grace hugged and greeted one another. she then pulled cassie into the kitchen. "what's with all this?" she asked, motioning to the girl's bruised neck.
cassie bit her lip, debating telling her the truth. but, then again, she was living under evelyn's roof now and did she want to start that with secrets?
"jj and pope got into a fight with rafe cameron, max, topper thorton, and kelce davis." she explained, her voice very low. "i got involved and rafe choked the shit out of me."
evelyn grew very extremely worried at the girl's words. she took it all in for a second, a look of confusion written all over her face. "jesus." she finally said, examining the bruises again. "you said max was involved?"
cassie nodded, sucking her teeth. "he's a dickhead." she groaned. "we talked at midsummers and he was absolutely terrible."
evelyn pulled cassie into a hug, rubbing her back comfortingly. cassie had noticed she always did that, and she loved it. "i'm sorry, cass. maybe you could press charges?"
"no." cassie firmly answered, pulling away from the hug to look at evelyn seriously. "just drop it." evelyn, although confused, nodded, still rubbing the girl's back.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
"I'M SORRY, YOU'RE STAYING WHERE?" kie questioned john b, as she walked past him. john b sat at the counter and the other three, excluding kie because she was working, sat at a table in the empty restaurant.
"tannyhill." answered john b.
kiara stopped in her tracks, grabbing a tray of waters for the group. "so you're living with sarah cameron." she concluded, stone faced.
"okay, look, the only reason i'm living there is because her dad bailed me out, right?" john b reminded her, standing up. he walked over to the table, slowly, continuing, "and it's way better than foster care, which, by the way, is where i was about to go if ward didn't—"
pope cut him off, totally uninterested, "hey, so do you have a membership to the clubs now?"
"i don't know, pope." john b muttered, sitting down.
"what about those golf carts they drive around? you get one of them?" jj asked, taking a sip of his drink. he stood behind cassie's chair, rubbing her shoulder with his free hand.
"does it come with a sweater-vest, or do you have to go buy one of those on your own?" pope continued to tease.
cassie chuckled, although she felt a little unnerved with the fact that john b was staying with the camerons. there was something off about that family— something behind the picture perfect image that seemed strange to her.
"look, you promised." kie said, bringing the topic back to sarah. "you said you weren't with her."
"bro, just own it." jj chimes in, nodding. "she got you."
"yeah, just like my sister got you." john b sassily snapped.
cassie and jj shared a look, before cassie informed him, "i didn't get him. and you know that, dumbass, you're just grasping at straws because you and sarah are together and you're a big fat liar." jj put his hand out in front of her and she smacked it.
"oh, if you didn't get him then why do you two sleep in the same bed, every night?" john b retorted, furrowing his eyebrows.
"butt out, john b, jesus!" cassie groaned, crossing her arms across her chest.
"look, if you wanna hang out with her, that's fine." kie went on, changing the subject back once again. "but i'm letting you know now that i'm not doing anything with sarah."
"do you guys see her here?" john b asked rhetorically. "no, right. okay. a little focus would be fantastic." he looked to jj, asking, "we've got the map, right?"
"well, it's all out of whack 'cause the guy was ganja'd when he drew it." jj commented, looking at the map in front of pope, who sat beside cassie.
"says the guy who's ganja'd right now." cassie countered, rolling her eyes. she laid her head back on her chair, staring up at the boy who stood behind her. "hypocrite."
"oh, really, i'm a hypocrite?" jj asked, a hand over his heart, offended.
"yeah, you are." the girl replied, smirking.
kie cleared her throat loudly, pulling their attention back to the map. "it's 'cause the coast has changed." she informed the blonde.
"so we just have to look for landmarks that haven't changed." pope added.
john b's eyes widened, then he suggested, "what about the old forts?
"battery jasper." kie determined, pointing to it on the map.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
AFTER SOME MORE DRIVING AROUND, WHICH HAD BEEN THE MAJORITY OF THE TREASURE HUNT HAD BEEN, AT LEAST TO CASSIE, THEY ARRIVED AT BATTERY JASPER. "we're in battery, right here." pope said aloud, his finger traveling along the map as he tried to figure out where they were. "so if this is parcel nine, then it's somewhere northeast of here."
cassie stood behind jj, who had his arms draped over her, as they watched their friends try and figure everything out. cassie was terrible with direction, so she couldn't help, and pope preferred jj to stay far away from him when he did things like these.
"somewhere over there." kie pointed off in the distance.
"right." pope confirmed.
"over there?" jj questioned, confused. "guy's, that's not tannyhill, that's a subdivision."
"tannyhill plantation was the entire island. it got sold into smaller pieces over time." john b informed him, knowingly. cassie wasn't sure where he kept all this random knowledge stored in his brain, especially because he made such terrible decisions.
pope looked back down at the map, running his finger along a drawing. "so we're just looking for an old stone wall." he commented.
the three actually figuring things out gathered their things and headed back to the twinkie, jj and cassie followed. cassie stayed quiet, her arm crossed and her eyes focused on the path in front of her.
"what'cha thinking 'bout?" the blonde asked.
"just... everything." she vaguely answered, shaking her head. she looked to him, trudging through the dirt. "we're living with evelyn now," she informed him, although he already knew. "it's weird."
"yeah, you're a kook princess now," jj teased, making her roll her eyes.
cassie stared ahead of her, at the backs of her friends in front of her. "she keeps offering to buy me all this stuff." the girl commented. "she's already put me on her spotify premium family plan. it's nice, but weird."
"that sounds good to me," jj told her with a shrug.
the girl nodded, still not looking at the boy beside her. "it's nice. but, it's weird." she paused, taking a breath. "it feels like my whole world has been turned upside down. more than it already has been this year."
jj understood, nodding his head compassionately, but he had no clue what to say. he stopped walking, which made her stop as well. "what are you doing?" she asked.
his mind went blank. he wanted to make her feel better, but it seemed like the words were getting caught in his throat. "uh, cass... i— um..."
"what?"
he stammered some more, before eventually deciding to drop it. he held his hand out for her to grab. she did, interlocking her fingers with his and they continued walking behind the group to the van.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
"OKAY, SO THE ROAD SHOULD SPLIT UP HERE." pope told john b, who drove the twinkie around the twisty dirt roads quickly. "alright, you're gonna take a left."
he took a sharp left and there was the stone wall they had been searching for, but cassie made a face of horror when she realized what was on the other side of the wall.
"that looks like a stone wall to me." jj announced.
"are we sure this is it?" cassie asked, nervously.
"this is it." pope confirmed.
"that's crain house." cassie informed them, although john b and pope had already recognized that.
everyone got out of the car and stood in front of the wall. "are you kidding me?" kiara asked in disbelief."
"worst-case scenario." jj sighed in annoyance.
pope looked at the house, asking, "why'd it have to be here... of all places?"
cassie nodded in agreement, nervously fiddling with the straps on her tank top. "i'm not going anywhere near that house." she announced to her friends. "this is probably even too close." she took a large step back, closer to the twinkie. the horror stories that had been spread about the crains and their house was enough to send shivers up cassie's spine.
"me neither bro." jj added. he took a step back to where cassie had, looking to pope. "i heard that mrs. crain buried her husband's head on the property."
yet, somehow, ten minutes later, the group trekked through the crain house yard, cassie and jj together.
"look, you guys know whose house this is, right?" kie asked as she cautiously walked around the yard.
"oh, yeah. no, i do." jj assured her, nodding.
cassie, who was behind kie, jj beside her, also nodded, telling her, "anybody else who knows whose house this is wouldn't step foot on it. but of course, john b loves to put us in life threatening situations, so he—"
john b cuts his sister off, saying, "honestly, i don't really believe the stories of this place."
jj brought a finger to his lip, shushing the boy at the end of the line. then, he turned back to the girls, questioning, "which stories did you hear?"
"the one where she killed her husband with an axe and that she's been holed up ever since." kie answered. "on certain nights, when the moon is full..." jj leaned in intrigued. "you can see her in the window!" the girl whispered, teasingly, waving her fingers in his face.
"no, kie, it's not funny, 'cause it's all true." jj sternly told her. "i swear to god, guys, this is all real. i knew hollis." he flinched at a statue, putting his fists up in surprise. "jeez!"
"wait, you knew hollis crain?" pope questioned, furrowing his eyebrows.
jj pulled cassie close to him by her waist, answering pope, "yeah, dude."
pope pushed the boy back a bit, asking him, "dude, how do you know hollis crain?"
"she was my babysitter, man." jj answered. cassie wasn't sure why jj had never told her this before. she looked up at him, interested. "she told me all about it." he went on, dramatically. "told me the truth... about her mother and what happened in this house."
kie and cassie glanced up at the second story, where a curtain moved. they shared a look of terror, both intently listening to jj's story. "so as a kid, she heard all these stories that her mother killed her father, and... she was a murderer and all. hollis didn't believe it." he paused for dramatic effect. "until that night."
"what night?" john b asked, although unphased and not scared like the rest of his friends.
"it all came back to her." he told him. he looked back at the house behind him. "when hollis was six years old, she heard her parents arguing downstairs. so she goes downstairs to see her mom washing her hands in a sink..." another pause. "full of blood."
john b nearly rolled his eyes, he wasn't believing jj at all.
"her mother just says that she cut her finger." jj continues. "the next morning, she says her father and her split up. but then, hollis noticed something. her mother going into the parlor constantly, in and out and in and out with plastic bags." he was an amazing story teller, if cassie was being honest. "weeks pass, and hollis decides to use the outhouse. and as she's using it, she looks down, and there, in the outhouse, is her father's head, looking straight back at her."
"god, you are so full of shit." john b groaned.
"dude, i swear to god, man." the blonde promised.
although john b may not have believed jj, pope definitely did. "did she call the police?" he asked jj with wide eyes.
"she didn't have time—" jj started, before john b stepped between them and started walking towards the house. "wait, hold on! dude!"
jj pulled john b by his shirt. "what?" he asked, irritated.
he looked down at john b's cast, asking, "you sure you wanna do this?" the brunette furrowed his brows. "she's an axe murderer. you got a cast on."
"i don't give a shit if she's an axe murderer, okay?" john b finally snapped. "i got nothin' to lose, right? you comin' or what?" he then ducked down and creeped around a corner. pope and kie followed, hunching over as well.
jj looked to cassie, who crossed her arms against her chest, telling him immediately, "no."
"i'll protect you," the boy whispered, holding out his hand for her to take.
cassie groaned, looking at her friends who had all joined in on her brother's stupid plan without thinking. she hated the way john b had that effect on people, and she hated that jj had the effect to convince her into john b's stupid plans that she otherwise wouldn't be convinced into. she grabbed the boy's hand, ducking down.
"hey, come here." john b urged, gesturing for everyone to come in close. "so here's the plan. we need to look for the wheat near the water like it said in denmark's letter."
"okay, like, what kind of water? like, pond water?" pope inquired, raising a brow.
"bong water?" jj suggested jokingly, making everyone look at him in confusion and annoyance.
john b shook his head, telling them, "no, it... it just said look for water, okay?"
kie sighed, telling the boy, "that's the shittiest secret message ever." she began to make her way through more grass.
"you wanna complain a little more, kie?" john b retorted, following her. "nobody said it was gonna be easy."
cassie rolled her eyes, groaning, "god, is he on his period?"
pope looked to the two of them, telling them, "i'll search the northeast quadrant, you search the northwest." cassie and jj looked at each other in horror.
as pope began to walk away, jj corrected him, "the decapitation quadrant!"
cassie let go of jj's hand to put both hands over her face, shaking her head. "i need to stop letting you people talk me into things." she mumbled, underneath her hands.
the pair looked around cautiously, no water to be found.
after about ten minutes, john b motioned everyone over. "hey, psst!" he whispered. he stood in front of what seemed to be a wooden door to the basement. "hey, come on. it's the only place we haven't looked."
jj tripped over some of the overgrown foliage as the two walked, making cassie look around nervously, in case mrs. crain heard it.
they hurried into the basement, crouching down since the floor was raised up. "down came mrs. crain and cut off all our heads / up came the sun and dried up all the blood "
"i hope you know i hate you," cassie muttered, stepping off of the raised part and finally standing up straight. the boys, who had gotten flashlights from john b, flashed them around lighting up the dirty, old basement. "i don't see any water, jb." she commented, taking a look around.
"another dead end?" kie sighed, shaking her head.
jj touched an old rusty pipe, observing aloud, "there's not even water on the pipes."
"there's no water here." pope conclude, looking at john b with a stale face.
"not a dropamino." jj added.
kiara was the most pissed out of everyone. "know why we didn't find it?" she asked john b, fuming. "bad karma."
"oh, god. here we go." john b muttered under his breath.
"you know, we had a good thing going. and then you decide to rope in barbie, and now the trail's gone dry." kie explained. "coincidence? probably not."
"this is exactly why i didn't wanna tell you about sarah." john b said, as the two stepped closer to one another.
"yeah?"
"yeah."
"what the hell's the deal? what's going on with you?" john b questioned.
"nothing." kie answered defensively, shrugging her shoulders.
cassie grimaced at the thought of mrs. crain hearing them. "guys, maybe now's not the time to do thi—"
jj pulled her back towards him, whispering in her ear, "just let it play out."
"nothing? is it because i kissed you? is that the problem?"
kie slapped him across the face, leaving him stunned. the boys both exclaimed loudly in surprise, as cassie's jaw dropped in complete and utter shock.
"oh, shit!" pope blurted, putting a hand over his mouth.
"that echoed, dude!" added jj in disbelief.
kie reacted to neither comment, instead she stared right at john b, who was still processing the slap. "stop treating me like i'm some girl that's obsessed with you instead of your best friend who's actually trying to look out for you." she told him, sternly.
"that's my girl." cassie whispered, smiling.
john b finally looked back at kie, asking, "did you, uh... hit me?"
she held up her hand, a squashed mosquito was stuck against her palm. "skeeter."
"skeeter?" john b asked.
"yeah, you see it?" kie asked, looking down at her hand.
then, john b smacked kiara's cheek, which everyone had the exact opposite reaction to. cassie lunged for her brother, but jj pulled her back.
"where's your proof?" kie questioned, running her tongue against her teeth in irritation.
john b held up his hand, showing her a mosquito. "skeeter."
"yeah?" kie smacked john b's chest. "there was probably one right there."
he smacked her arm, telling her, "yeah, there's one right there."
"yeah, really? you saw that?" kie asked, getting up in his face.
john b gently touched her forehead, although he made it seem like a slap, continuing, "on your forehead."
"you're dead. that's it." kie told him, backing up. "today's the day that you die." cassie and pope swatted at mosquitos flying at them. "today's your funeral. one bandito."
"these things are a freakin' swarm!" pope said, nearly tripping over some floorboards as he tried to get away from the bugs.
"hey, shh! keep it down!" jj told him, swatting a mosquito away from cassie.
"hit me— even on accident— and there will be no trace of you ever found." the girl told him, smashing one in between both hands. "god, why are there so many mosquitoes in here?"
then, the gears started turning in her head.
"seriously. tiny vampire bats. just leave me alone." jj added. pope shared the same gears turning look as cassie, which made her walk over to him, her finger rubbing her lips as she thought. "oh, my gosh! okay, can we leave? 'cause i'm already itchin' to leave. haha, punny."
"don't mosquitoes like water, pope?" cassie whispered, as the boy stared down at some floorboards in front of them.
"mhm," he muttered, stepping up onto them. he cautiously stomped his foot against them, underneath sounded hollow.
"i just found mrs. crain's voodoo doll, guys." jj announced, holding up a very old baby doll.
pope dropped a tiny pebble in between the boards. it made a splash at the bottom. there was water at the bottom of whatever this was.
cassie and pope scrambled to move the things off of the boards, frantically. everyone looked at them in intrigue, stopping what they were doing.
"hey. help me move this." pope told john b, who was shushing him. "help me move this."
"okay, just... quiet." john b told him, as everyone started to help move all of the extra wood and metal and clutter off.
kie shushed them, telling them, "guys! guys! she's probably right upstairs." they moved the boards and uncovered a well.
"well, well, well." pope muttered, a smile creeping onto his face.
"that was a good dad joke." john b told him, cassie nodded in agreement.
no one's eyes left the well, even as they spoke to each other. "they built this part of the house right over it." kie commented, shaking her head.
"this is where she hid the bodies." jj said in a deep tone. everyone told him to stop, annoyed with the storytelling that was spoiling their finding. pope shoved at his side, scolding him. "no, i'm dead serious." he continued, straight faced.
"stop it!" kie groaned.
"it was never an outhouse."
"she probably doesn't even know it's here." kie told him.
cassie nodded, adding, "if there is gold down here and she knows it's here, she would've found it by now."
pope smiled, looking to john b. "we found water." he told the boy.
"we're gonna need a really big rope."
☀︎☀︎☀︎
"NO EFFING WAY."
john b had told his friends he needed to get something, and to meet up at the chateau. now, the pogues, with the addition of sarah, sat on john b's porch, while kiara paced back and forth, angrily. "you brought her here? so what? she's in on this now?" she asked, enraged.
cassie sat on jj's lap in the old armchair, with pope on the arm. john b sat on the arm of the couch, next to sarah, who sat with her arm propped up to hold her head.
john b looked to pope for help, to which he responded, "i dunno."
"look, all i care about is her cut comes out of your share." jj announces.
cassie nods in agreement, adding on, "seriously. she doesn't need anymore money."
"you know, i don't remember taking a vote." kie started again, turning to john b. "this is our thing. a pogue thing."
"i gotta say, i'm just a tad uncomfortable with all of this." pope spoke up.
"thank you!" kie said, looking at john b with a see? look.
"when are you not uncomfortable?" john b snapped.
"i don't know, i rode here on the back of jj's bike pretty comfortably." pope informed him.
jj nodded, telling everyone, "it's true. most relaxed i've ever seen him."
john b stared forward, dryly telling them, "that's cute, guys." if the situation wasn't so stressful, cassie would've laughed, but instead she stayed silent.
"you know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought her."
sarah finally spoke, telling kie, "stop talking about me like i'm not here!"
"then leave!"
sarah scoffed, turning to john b. "i told you."
"told him what, exactly?" cassie asked, immediately ready to defend kiara.
"oh, did you tell him that you're a liar?" kie questioned, tilting her head.
sarah stared back at kie with venom in her eyes. "no, that you're a shit-talking bitch, kiara."
cassie leaped up but jj pulled her back down, for the second time that day. "let them hash it out on their own." he whispered, before pulling a wad of one dollar bills out of his pocket. he held them up for pope to see, telling him, "my money's on kie."
pope began to reach for his shirt pocket to pull out a bid of his own. cassie grit her teeth as she watched them argue.
"everybody shut up!" john b yelled, breaking up the fight and the betting. "kie, you are my best friend, right? and sarah, you're... you're my..." he paused in confusion on if he should label them or not.
"say it." sarah whispered, smiling.
"you're my girlfriend." he finished.
kie looked at them the way medusa would. jj and pope shared a look, pope muttered, "oh... that's new."
cassie just couldn't believe her brother. "she's your girlfriend now?" she questioned, chuckling. "what was all that talk about you were just using her for information? that you were just getting the map and then she'd be gone. that it was like a business deal?"
everyone went insanely silent. you could hear everyone's breath as they all looked around, waiting to see what would happen.
"you said you were using me?" sarah asked john b, not sure if she should be furious or hurt.
"no." john b lied.
everyone assured him that he did, in fact, say those things and he raised his voice once again, telling everyone, "look, love just walked in, okay?"
"oh, vomit." kie muttered, making cassie chuckle.
"i didn't expect it. it just... it kind of happened." he continued. he looked to sarah. "and i'm not gonna deny it. right?"
"oh! that's corny." whispered pope, a lot louder than he intended.
"look, cut the bullshit, john b. if she's in, i'm out." kie announced.
john b shook his head, telling her calmly, "kie, i'm not doing this."
"you are gonna decide!" kie told him, her voice growing in volume.
"i can't!" he stammered.
"i'm very interested, actually. me or her?"
"both."
cassie now sat back in jj's arms, sighing at how big of an asshole her brother was. a sharp whistle escaped pope's mouth.
"went for the hail mary." jj whispered loudly. the boys were the peanut gallery today, clearly.
kie exited without a word, obviously seething. cassie, through the screen, watched her walk down to the dock.
sarah turned to john b, furious as well. "it'll be cool, right?" she asked, most definitely reciting something he had promised her earlier. she paused and looked around, before finally telling him, "i'm gonna leave."
"sarah, don't." john b said, although it was clear all of his energy was gone.
"gonna let y'all chat. let me know."
and then they were both gone. john b smashed his head against the wall behind him, something he definitely shouldn't have done because of his concussion.
"i'd just like to say, you handled that beautifully."
☀︎☀︎☀︎
THIRTY MINUTES LATER, JOHN B, JJ, AND CASSIE SAT IN THE KITCHEN. pope had gone to talk to kie, which he insisted upon-- over cassie, who had originally offered to. when he came back, john b tossed a water bottle at him, asking, "what'd she say?
"that you're an idiot." pope replied, catching it.
cassie hoisted herself up onto an empty counter. "ain't that the truth?" she said, shaking her head. "i mean, seriously, you're following in my footsteps."
"that's not true," john b assured her. "sarah's not getting pregnant."
"you never know," cassie shrugged, biting a granola bar she had found in the cabinets. "i was on birth control when i got pregnant with grace."
"oh shut up, i am not having a baby." john b firmly said.
cassie finished her granola bar and tossed the wrapper into the trash. "i can tell you what you are doing though," she started, crossing her arms. jj offered her a beer but she wasn't in the mood so she shook her head. "picking kie."
"it's a no-brainer." jj added, leaning against the counter beside cassie.
"look, i can't make a decision." john b informed them, taking a sip of his beer.
"so what? we're just dead in the water because you're pussy-whipped?" jj quipped, shrugging.
"you're pus—"
cassie immediately cut her brother off, "will you just drop it already? this is not about me, this is not about jj— and by the way, we're not dating, so stop using that as your comeback every single time we call you out— this is about you being a shitty friend because you wanted to drag sarah into this."
that shut john b right up.
"we can't do this without kie, and you know it." cassie continued, narrowing her eyes on him.
"and i can't do it without sarah."
cassie rolled her eyes, asking her brother, "please remind me how long you've even known her for, again? maybe four days at most?"
"shut up, cass." john b bitterly snapped. "they both have to be in on it."
"well, good luck with that." pope told him, opening up the freezer.
"you know what? i know this was my fault, all right?" john b finally admitted, jumping up. "but it's our problem."
"wh—"
john b quickly cut off the girl, just as she had done to him, "cass, shut up. i've got a plan. and you three shitheads are gonna help me out."
cassie got up, walking to her brother with a smile on her face. "absolutely not." she said sweetly, patting his back.
☀︎☀︎☀︎
CASSIE DIDN'T WANT TO GO 'HOME' JUST YET. she was taking in the chateau before she eventually needed to be home for dinner at the thompson's. she laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, full of glow in the dark stars.
the door opened and cassie didn't even check to see who it was. she just stared at the green stars, feeling total tranquility.
"you miss home?" jj asked, laying down beside her. she nodded, still not looking away from the ceiling. "not used to the kook life?"
"not even a little." cassie answered, covering her top lip with her bottom.
"y'know, john b's plan might actually work." jj informed the girl, shifting on his side to face her.
she chuckled, shaking her head. "they always do." she muttered, turning to face him. he looked confused about what she meant. "i've never met anyone else with as much luck as john b." she rolled back onto her back, to look at the ceiling some more. "let me guess, his plan is to lock kie and sarah in a room together and not let them out until they reconcile?"
"bingo." jj replied. "how'd you know?"
"twin telepathy or some shit." the girl answered, rolling her eyes. she pulled herself up to sit, holding her knees to her chest. "you wanna come have dinner with me at evelyn's? i'm dreading it."
jj sat up, now beside her again. "sure. why're you dreading it?"
"because it just feels wrong."
jj nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. she laid her head on his shoulder, affectionately. he loved when she did that.
he loved her.
"cass," he started, anxiety taking over immediately. there was no way to do this without fear. but he wanted to get the words out so badly.
"hm?"
"you mean so much to me." he managed to get out.
cassie smiled, reaching for the hand that wasn't draped around her. "you mean so much to me." she repeated, intertwining her fingers around jj's. "you're my very best friend."
"you're mine." he told her, leaning his head against hers. "i... uh, i... um," shit. it was happening again. the words were stuck in his throat again and no matter how hard he tried to get them out, they wouldn't budge.
"what's up?" cassie asked, still looking forward. she squeezed his hand comfortingly.
he stammered some more, but eventually gave up soon after. he took a deep breath, telling her, "nothing important, i guess. we should probably get going, to make dinner on time."
he was putty in her hands, acting a way around her that he had never acted like before.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ HARPER SPEAKS
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