Chapter 34- 10 months later
song
Modern lonliness
Lauv
Maddi's Pov- *in this story the Pogues and kooks go to the same school*
"Topper get up, we're gonna be late" I yell to him throwing on a shirt over my head. He was asleep on the pullout. He groans and rolls over.
"I don't wanna" He whines. I go over grabbing a pillow and hit him over the head with it.
"Get up, we got school" I tell him. He rolls over and glares at me.
"I hate you" He seeths.
"You love me" I make a kissy face at him , he throws the pillow at my head making me scoff.
"Somethings burning" He says sniffing.
"Ah sh*t" I say running into the kitchen and pulling out burnt toast from the toaster. I lay them on a plate and groan.
"Good job" Topper claps while laughing. I flip him off before going to the fridge and pulling out two apples. I throw an apple at him which he catches in the air.
"Get dressed I can't be late again" I tell him. He runs back into the livingroom throwing on a different shirt almost tripping when trying to get it. I laugh at his franticness before walking to the door. He grabs his keys and we get in his car.
It's been 10 months since John b went missing. He was presumed dead and I don't know what to believe. It's also been 10 months since JJ and I broke up. 10 months since I hung out with the pogues. We kind of fell apart after everything. Or more like I did. Pope, Kie and JJ still hang out just not me. I haven't talked to JJ since we broke up. I see him around school but he ignores me. Kie and I have some random shifts together at the wreck but we don't really talk either. Pope is the only one i'm still connected to. We go on coffee dates twice a month. He fills me in on everything with JJ and Kie. I don't think Kie or JJ know. JJ basically hates my guts. I don't blame him it was my fault but it still hurts. Kie sides with JJ since I pushed her away along with JJ. JJ went back to his old ways sleeping with everygirl he sees. After a summer I decieded I needed to get back to normal. Well as normal as I could without the pogues and John b.
Topper and I have gotten really close. He spends most nights at my house since his parents are rarley there. He's my bestfriend. Not in a romantic way like JJ but more like Pope. We spent most of the summer at the chatuea. He helped me through everything. When we went back to school I realized he was my only friend. The pogues hung out together at school so I couldn't hang with Pope. But it worked out because I realized Topper doesn't have anyone else either. As for Dcs, Uncle T came down a couple months ago for a check in so I have them off my back for now. It's late april, a few more weeks of school. Schools been hard. People either give me sympathetic looks or make fun of me. Only a couple people pick on me. It's not bad, I never told Topper because he would go crazy. My life has gone back to - well not normal but okay. I miss my friends and I really miss Johnny but i'm really lucky to have Topper. We had eachother and that was okay. I go to John b's grave once a week. I've seen Kie and Pope there a few times but never JJ. I try to go at nights so no one else is there. Topper goes with me some and sees his sister. It's weird talking to an empty grave, it still doesn't feel like he's gone. Maybe i'm just going crazy who knows.
Today was supposed just like every other day. I get up usually late, wake up topper, go to school, either go to the beach, on the boat or just chill, and then go to sleep. We pull up at the school just like every other day.
"Welcome to hell" Topper mutters banging his head against the steering wheel.
"Oh come on top atleast you have me" I pinch his cheeks and he gives me a sarcastic smile. We get out of the car and walk past the courtyard. I see Kie, JJ and Pope sitting at a table. Kie and Pope on a bench. Pope has his arm around Kie. They got together after everything and I couldn't be happier. JJ is sitting on the table with his elbows on his knees.
"Hey Maddi" Pope says.
"Hey" I say softly. Kie gives me a soft smile and waves. I return the action and then turn to JJ. He glares at me. His eyes cold and empty. I turn back to topper and he looks at me with worried eyes.
"You good?" He ask.
"Yeah" I nod. We walk into the school building and go to my locker which is stuck... again.
"I hate this locker with a passion" I groan.
"Here let me" He opens the locker with ease and gives me a smirk.
"Okay let me rephrase, I hate you with a passion" We both laugh as I pull books out of my locker. We head to class. The rest of the day goes normally until 5th period. I go to my classes, eat lunch outside with top, cheat on a test. The usual stuff.
I get to fifth and sit next to topper. Kie, Pope and JJ sit at another table across the room. The class starts and I zone off until I hear a knock at the door. A police officer walks in. He goes over to my teacher and whispers into his ears. Topper grabs my hand under the table sensing my anxiety. The teacher scans the room and locks his eyes with mine. I sqeeze Toppers hand even tighter.
"Maddi Routeledge, this officer needs to speak to you" The teacher says my heart drops. I look over to Topper who just nods.
"Um-o-okay" I mutter grabbing my books off my desk and putting them in my bag thats hanging on the back of my chair. When I turn around I make eye contact with JJ who's next to Pope and Kie. They all mimick the scared/ confused facial expression I have. I stand up grabbing my bag brushing my hair out of my face and walking to the front. I look back before walking out. Kie gives me a reassuring smile. They lead me to a private office used for college interviews. I see officer Shoupe sitting in the chair. I sit across the table from him cautiously.
"What's going on Shoupe?" My heart pounding out of my chest as I tap my foot anxiously. Shoupe stiffens up as he takes a deep inhale.
"There was a fisher who boated out to an island yesterday" Shoupe pauses.
"And" I ask my heart beating faster than I thought possible.
"He found the boat..." Oh god.
"Were there bodies?" I ask sucking in a deep breath. Each time I took a breath was harder than the last. It felt like a ton of bricks was on my chest.
"No but-" After he said that everything was a blur. My ears rang as I stood up. The bell must've rang because I saw a bunch of people walking past the window on the door. My face went white as a ghost. I stumbled to stand up and threw my bag over my shoulder.
"Maddi wait" Shoupe called after me but I ignored him. I opened the door and walked out. Throught the crowd of people walking past me I saw Topper, Kie , Pope and JJ on the other side of the hall. JJ was leaned up against the lockers. Kie had her arms crossed like she always did when she was worried and Pope had her in his arms most likley trying to calm them down. Topper a couple feet away looking around the hall.
The door shut behind me and they all whipper their heads in my direction. JJ pushed off the locker when they saw me. All the blood drained from my face must've let them know something was wrong. I stood their frozen with my arms wrapped around myself. A few tears escaped but I couldn't say anything.
"Maddi?" Topper asked softly. I looked to him with soft eyes before stumbling into his arms. Sobs left my mouth as he wrapped his arms around me. People moved around us but we stood there. Kie came over and rubbed my back. Even though we haven't talked in forever she was still there for me. Pope stood behind her. JJ just stood there looking at me.
"It's okay" Kie soothed rubbing my back. I could feel the stares of people but I didn't care. They found the boat. Those words circle my mind as I cry. I sniffle once more before wiping my eyes and looking to everyone. I couldn't rid the feeling I had.
"I'm sorry" I whisper. They all look at me with pity, exept JJ. He doesn't even look at me.
"Hey no, it's okay" Pope tells me. I nod wiping a few stray tears.
"What did they say?" Kie asks moving back over to Pope. Her wraps his arms around her. I miss that, when JJ did that. I look back over to him who looked away from me immedietly. I sigh before looking back to them and then up to Topper. Everyone else was in class now. Topper stood next to me with his hand on my back for comfort me. I take another shakey breath before looking towards them.
"They found the boat"
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I really love Topper and Maddi's relationship. I used this chapter to kind of explain what happened in the 10 months and how they all act now. Make sure to Vote, Comment and add to your reading lists!