SEVENTEEN LIKE A CAR CRASH
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One of the more surprising things about the night was a phone call from Kie about an hour after the party. He shouldn't be too surprised considering they were pretty much friends, he just hadn't expected to hear from her after the events of tonight with John B. Norman couldn't be too sure John B hadn't tried to turn the group against him yet.
"Dude, listen, John B told me what happened and he's freaking out. We're supposed to meet Sarah because she's giving us the plat map for Tannyhill because John B thinks the gold is there because of some letter he found," the girl explained, her tone rushed and quiet as if she was trying to keep somebody close to her from hearing her. "I'm sick of all this mess with you guys and you know you're part of the treasure hunt now whether you like it or not so just get here, please. I'll send you my location, but you guys all need to talk this out I don't care what it takes. For the sake of the treasure hunt and for the sake of my sanity."
He had barely gotten a word out, but once she finished he didn't know what else to say other than, "Okay."
Moments later, she texted him her location and without even thinking he grabbed his keys and drove to the spot.
"Is that her?" he heard JJ ask, but the question was answered when he slid open the door of the van to see Norman. "Oh, hey, what are you doing here?"
He noticed the way John B froze in the drivers seat as soon as he realized who it was. His head whipped around, but there was no anger or malice in his expression. Just confusion and mild annoyance.
Trying to look as stoic as possible, Norman answered, "Kie called me, she told me I'm a part of this now."
John B furrowed his brow at the girl to which she just shrugged, "You want Sarah to be included? I get Rocky."
"You know what you're doing, Kie, don't lie," the boy groaned, "Just because you don't like Sarah and I doesn't mean you get to play matchmaker."
"Hold on, didn't you just say nothing was happening with you and Sarah?" Pope asked, his expression perplexed as his eyes darted in between John B, Norman, and Kiara.
"And what's happening with you two?" JJ added on as he motioned between Norman and John B, "What have you guys not been telling Pope and I? C'mon, no secrets, guys."
John B sighed before admitting, "I'm bi, Norman and I had a thing. Now Sarah and I have a thing. There, no more lies. Kie, you know it was uncool of you to call him. Norman, why the fuck did you even come?"
He didn't have an answer for him. Norman knew he should just give up, but he didn't want to. Sarah wasn't going to stop him from at least trying to get what he wanted. Maybe that was a bad way to look at it, but he didn't care at this point. This had all gotten far too complicated for his liking.
"Wait, hold on, hold on, how long have you been holding onto that one?" Pope questioned, now looking wildly between Norman and John B, "Were you ever gonna tell us?"
"I just did," was John B's response to which Norman let out a small snort. "What are you laughing at?"
Before he even knew what was happening, a loose fit of laugher passed Norman's lips as he shook his head, "When did this get so fucked up?"
No one could answer his question because John B had apparently had enough. He grabbed his bag and opened the door saying, "Enough of this shit, I'm gonna go take care of business."
"You're gonna take care of it," JJ teased, "after dropping that total bombshell."
"We'll just sit here... in this hot car," Pope sighed, "While we revel in this mess. Thanks John B."
However, the boy was already gone. Norman shook his head softly, muttering to himself, "Wow, this was a mistake. Thanks, Kie."
"Hey, don't blame me for the fact that you and John B can't get your shit together," the girl scoffed, "Okay, guys, if John B had to date a Kook, Sarah or Rocky?"
"Rocky," JJ nodded with no hesitation.
"Yeah, yeah, Rocky," the other boy agreed.
"Seriously?" Norman asked with a raised eyebrow, "JJ, I thought you hated me."
The blond shrugged, "Yeah, but Sarah's super fucking annoying. So, like, I'd rather it be you."
"You came, that says everything, trust me," Kie observed, "The way he was talking... it was like he was confused more than anything. Something tells me things aren't gonna work out with Sarah the way he wants them to."
"I'm not gonna be his second choice, Kie," Norman sighed, looking to the two boys he asked, "That's fair, right?"
Both of them nodded. Outside, they could hear the sound of another vehicle pulling up. With a furrowed brow, JJ looked outside before turning back to face them with a worried expression.
"Uh, guys? I'm pretty sure Topper just pulled up and is definitely gonna find Sarah and John B up there... together," JJ remarked, "Oh, this is not gonna end well."
"Shit," Norman cursed, "I'm gonna follow him and make sure he doesn't start anything. You guys stay here. It's dark and storming so the less people out in the dark, the better."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Kie stated as the boy stepped out of the van with a nervous shudder, looking back at the three remaining of the group before walking off down the trail he had seen John B and Topper go down earlier.
He tried to be as quiet as possible he seemed to stumble upon the view just as Topper did. Sarah and John B were talking about that looked far more serious than a conversation about the plat map.
Just as Topper was climbing up to get to them, he heard Sarah exclaim, "I saw you kissing Rocky!"
"Oh, shit," Norman muttered as he heard the rest of the group come up behind him. Turning to Kie he whisper-shouted, "Dude, what part of stay in the car do you not understand?"
"The part where we got curious and don't take orders from you," JJ said with a shrug.
While they were looking away, Topper had made it to the top. Of course, it was right while John B and Sarah were arguing and there was a storm going on and everything was overall going absolutely horrible. To make things even worse, Topper was too drunk to understand what they were arguing about.
"I knew it, Sarah, I knew you were lying to me," the boy slurred, getting the attention of the other two who hadn't yet noticed he was up there. "You're a stupid, lying whore. You know that?"
"So, first I'm a prude and now I'm a whore?" Sarah scoffed, yelling loud enough to be heard over the storm.
"I should go up there and stop this, this is my fault," Norman exclaimed, but Kiara held him.
Shaking her head, she said, "I don't trust the soundness of that tower, one more person and with the wind from the storm, that thing could come crashing down."
"She's right," Pope intruded, "The wood's rotted from years of storms not to mention it's just old in general. It's not safe."
"Topper, stop, man!" John B yelled, getting everyone's attention again as the two boys started shoving each other. It was like watching a car crash, you knew terrible things were happening but you just couldn't look away. The amount of miscommunication between the three on the tower alone was enough to start a storm of their own.
"Enough!" Sarah shouted to get both of the boys to stop and stumble for a moment, "I kissed John B because I was bored of you Topper. You're a selfish asshole who cares more about controlling me than anything! I kissed John B because I thought literally anyone could be better than you, but it doesn't even matter now because he's gay and even then, I'm still breaking up with you! I may be a whore, but you're a fucking asshole, Topper!"
Normally Norman was incredibly annoyed by anything that came out of Sarah Cameron's mouth, but even he had to admit that monologue was kind of amazing. It was nice to see a douchebag like Topper get put in his place -- especially by his own girlfriend. It was an explosion he hadn't really expected from the girl, but it was appreciated.
"Woah, woah, Sarah, I'm not --" John B began, but he was cut off by Sarah holding up her hand to stop him in his tracks.
"John B, I don't care if you're gay or whatever you're about to tell me, I saw you kiss Rocky. It's not like you were cheating on me, we were barely even together, but it's clear that from what I saw, I was just the replacement until you two finally got over yourselves and I don't care! All I care about is that you stop acting like prideful douchebags! God, I'm so sick of men!" Sarah exclaimed in yet another outburst no one expected.
"When did you guys kiss?" JJ whispered in Norman's ear.
"Seriously? That's what you're worried about right now?" Kie whipped around to smack the blond upside the head, "God, this is a mess. At least we don't have to deal with the Sarah problem anymore."
As they were talking, John B must have stumbled and crashed into the railing because once Norman turned back around it was already too late. The railing broke off and John B went tumbling to the ground with it. With a sick thud, the boy hit the ground.
Instincts kicked in as Norman went running. The boy was hardly conscious, clearly fading in and out. It reminded Norman of the first night at the Boneyard party where he cradled a half-conscious John B on the shore.
"Kie, call 9-1-1!" Norman exclaimed as he ran to check the boy's pulse, sighing with relief as he found one loud and clear.
"We... we have to stop meeting like this," John B muttered but it was faint and slurred and it was clear he may have suffered a concussion. As soon as the words left his mouth, he passed out.
Norman sighed, of course everything had gone to shit in such a short amount of time. Before he knew it, Sarah Cameron was at his side, looking over at John B.
After a moment she looked over at Rocky, saying, "I know this is a bad time, but we're really just waiting on an ambulance so... if you want him --"
"He's not mine to have, Sarah, he's not like an object we can toss back and forth."
"Let me finish!" she exclaimed, "I don't... I don't think he really liked me. I think he was just trying to hide the fact that it was you, but he thought you didn't want him or something, I don't know."
After a moment, he made the connection, "You heard us."
"Saw you, actually," she sighed, "Just... take care of him. He's kind of an idiot."
"Yeah, yeah he really is."
this fic really said Sarah Cameron rights... just kidding she's a cheater we don't stan