After arriving home rather late after the eventful kegger, Maisie wanted nothing more than to sleep in and have maybe some greasy bacon for breakfast, but the girl was unfortunately called out early to a mandatory meeting with her favourite Pogues at The Château.
After leaving a rushed note addressed to her Father on their fridge when Maisie realised he was still asleep, the girl tip-toed out the front door and hopped onto her bike peddling as quickly as she could towards John B's home. The wind blew her blonde hair behind her, as a calm breath passed by her lips with her mind trying its hardest to relax. Maisie had a vivid dream the night before of herself completely punching Topper senseless which was something she was extremely excited to relay to her friends, knowing they would get at least a chuckle from her dream. But once she dismounted her bike at The Château, all happiness drained from her eyes once she felt the tension exhuming from her friend group.
"Hey, guys?"
All eyes quickly landed on the cautious Maisie, as the girl ran her hand through her windswept and tangled hair. The tension and frustration was clear amongst the group, Maisie feeling quite left out and awkward. "What'd I miss?"
Without even missing a beat both JJ and John B began talking rather loud and fast at the same time, both extremely frustrated. Maisie flicked her eyes to look at Kie who had a grim smile on her face, clearly fed up with the pair of troublemakers. Maisie held up her hands after the chatter kept going, looking at John B to speak for himself. Something which caused JJ to let out an exasperated groan, as he walked over to the edge of the porch where the others were seated.
John B gave the blonde boy a look as he began speaking, before turning to face Maisie who had barely walked away from her bike. "I'm calling off the search. Something that JJ thinks is stupid to do"
"Yes!" JJ counterattacked quickly, throwing his arms out in a frustrated manner, wanting to strangle his friend till he got some sense in him.
Maisie furrowed her eyebrows at what she was hearing, but after John B explained further what had happened in the morning with Peterkin, the girl scratched her cheek in thought. She could see where the boy was coming from; potential protection from CPS, and the opportunity to stay here? It sounded like a no-brainer. But on the other hand she had to agree with JJ, Peterkin was a cop and around here they lied; a lot, so it seemed like a double edged sword in Maisie's eyes.
"Look" the girl began, feeling all eyes on her as she stepped up to the porch, leaning against a beam. "I understand where you're coming from, but I'm not sure we can entirely trust them?" Maisie gave John B a soft look as she crossed her arms across her chest, hating the look the boy had on his face, but after JJ let out an aggressive "thank you" at the brown haired boy, Maisie continued; but not after shooting JJ a look. "But I want to trust you. So if you want to trust Peterkin and stop searching we can do that for a few days".
The Pogues looked from Maisie to John B quickly, as though to gather the pair's reactions to what the other was saying, but it was quickly followed by a scoff coming from none other than JJ Maybank.
"You believed a cop, John B? An actual cop!" He exclaimed as he threw a rock across the yard laughing.
"All I gotta do is stay out of the marsh for a couple of days, and she said she'd help me out!" John B sighed, as he stared at his friend with a frown. Maisie looked from Pope to Kie who both shared looks of exhaustion, the trio already gearing up for another blow up from JJ, who just seemed to be slowly turning more reckless and argumentative ever since they found that gun and the money.
"I should've just let Topper drown your ass"
Maisie let out a groan of disappointment at what the boy had just said, the rest of the group allowing frustrated frowns to fall onto their faces. Hearing the noise, JJ flicked his eyes towards his friend and felt his heart pang with guilt slightly as he saw the disappointment in her eyes. But he couldn't back down, he was far too stubborn.
"They always win don't they?" JJ started as he stared into Maisie's eyes with his eyebrows furrowed before he glanced over to stare at John B.
"Kooks vs Pogues. They always, always win!" The boy aggressively smacked a fishing buoy that was hanging from the archway of the porch, Maisie flinching from the harsh movement.
"It's okay!" Kie yelled at JJ but this only seemed to fire him up more because he spun around and began fuming; pointing to the group one by one.
"No it's not okay! They don't want us going down into the marsh that means there's something there, something valuable!" He puffed angrily, flicking his eyes back and forth from person to person before staring back at John B with a defeated frown.
Maisie stared at her friend feeling compelled; she wanted to investigate whatever this was, she truely did. It gave her and her friends something to do over the summer with it also allowing her to stop wallowing in her own self pity, but if it meant the potential for John B to be taken away by CPS, she wasn't so sure if she wanted to risk that.
"I get it, you're the golden boy" JJ said looking directly at Pope who looked just as conflicted as Maisie when he stared back at JJ. "You have way too much to loose".
"And you, you're already rich as fuck away, why bother" he flicked his eyes to look at Kie who, quite differently to Pope just looked fed up with the whole conversation all together. Maisie stared at JJ just waiting for her time to be called out and when she met his eyes, the girl swore that they softened slightly before he put back on his façade of anger.
"Maisie you're the perfect daughter, you wouldn't want to disappoint your dad" JJ basically spat, the spite radiating off him as Maisie's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe him. Maisie wanted to yell at him and tell him how stupid he was being, to just simply let out all her anger at the audacity this kid had, but his next sentence caused her anger to turn into betrayal almost.
"John B, you and me got nothing to lose! Nothing."
Maisie's shoulders fell as she stared at JJ. How could he say that?
Of course the pair had something to lose. They had three other friends that were standing right there and supporting them but it wasn't necessarily John B that she was particularly upset with, he didn't say what was said- it was JJ. Sure he had a deadbeat dad but Maisie was the one who was always there when he didn't want to go home, or when he just wanting someone to talk to and hang out with instead of being in his house by himself. She was the one to invite him over for movie nights and dinners; she was the one who would dance around with him in her room as they screamed along to songs; the one who would make sure he remembered to shower and eat and to try to not be so hard on himself; she was the one who would listen when he just wanted to talk about his mother dying because she understood.
So this hurt.
Letting out a scoff Maisie tore eyes away from JJ and began walking over to the end of the dock, not bothering to hear the end of the conversation. Frustration was just taking over.
On one hand the girl felt utterly ridiculous, like she was completely over reacting from the situation, but on the other she felt valid, she had every right to feel upset with her best friend after he insinuated that he has nothing left to lose; which included her.
Dipping her feet in the water Maisie let out a sigh as she rested back into her hands. With every minute that passed the annoyance she felt wore off, and it was met with embarrassment; she had totally overreacted. But her thoughts were cut short by a body plopping down next to her, already knowing it was JJ just by the sound of his footsteps. Looking to her right she stared at the boy beside her whom just stared out onto the water.
"I'm sorry Mai" she heard JJ breathe from next to her, the boy's shoulders slumping forward slightly.
"I didn't mean it. You know how much you meant to me, hell you're my best friend okay?"
"J, I know. I'm sorry" Maisie smiled slightly, looking directly at JJ who turned his head to look back at the girl.
"I over reacted. I was being stupid".
Allowing a small smile to grow in his face, JJ held up his pinky to the girl, turning his body to fully face her. Maisie rolled her eyes at JJ's antics but a wide smile grew on her lips quickly. She knew exactly what he was doing. When the pair were younger, whenever someone said something stupid to offend or upset the other they would make ridiculous pinky promises to try and cheer each other up. But they hadn't done this in years.
Locking her pinky in his the pair stared at each other for a minute or so before JJ spoke up. "I, JJ Maybank solemnly swear that I will always be there to look after you protect you" the boy smiled, before allowing a smirk to grow on his face. "And I swear to always stare at your boobs when I get the chance"
Maisie swatted the boy with a fake offended look across her face, JJ letting out a loud boom of laughter at her reaction. Chuckling as well Maisie straightened back up and turned to sit cross-cross facing her friend.
"I, Maisie Lynn Edwards solemnly swear to always protect and love you" she smiled as the pair stared straight into each other's eyes, but it was quickly morphed into a cheeky grin as the girl said the next few words. "I also promise to always give you the best hugs in the world".
Taking JJ by surprise, Maisie quickly jumped up and flung her arms around his shoulders, the quick action causing the boy to topple back on the dock, the pair of them giggling away.
"You're one of the best things in my life yanno?" JJ sighed happily as he tightened his arms around the girl's waist as a large, content grin grew on Maisie's face.
"I know"