★★★
★★★
They gave me a week to sort everything out. At the end of that week and all the processing, I got emancipation, and I was at a loss for words when I got the confirmation letter delivered to the Chateau. Our house... for now anyway.
Helen was brought in for the court date and seeing as she had no common sense whatsoever, she showed up drunk. That was more than enough for everyone to see what I meant by "unfit guardian".
Since I was now technically the owner of the home, I could come and go as I pleased, and so could everyone else. Kie and Pope were finally jailbroken and could get away from their houses and parents when they needed to.
JJ was considering emancipation for a while, but he was turning 18 soon enough, so he thought of holding off. I also knew that no matter what his father had put him through, JJ had something deep in his guarded heart that felt for him.
I understood that because Luke was his father after all, but I think the reason I was so done with Helen was that she was only my aunt. We were already so disconnected and this was the very last straw for us.
Now that all the craziness had died down a little bit and summer was once again meaningless, we had nothing to do except what we knew. We went out on the boat and tooled around for a little bit, Pope behind the wheel and the rest of us sitting around.
Kie and I were in our bathing suits tanning and JJ was scratching something into his lighter. He was obsessed with that thing, I swear. I got up after about twenty minutes and reached for the sunscreen. I needed at least 15 SPF so I didn't fuck myself over and burn horribly.
It was a spray, and I almost thoroughly covered myself, asking Kie to get my back. She covered me and moved my bikini bottom ever so slightly to cover the rest of me. When I realized where she was looking, I knew why I heard a small gasp escape her.
"What's this?" She asked, poking my hipbone. I looked back, looking at the small tattoo I had there and I chuckled. "Oh, my stick and poke," I said lightly, not even realizing they had never seen it. It was a small pentagram I stuck into my hip at fifteen and restuck in the beginning of this summer.
"Is that the Satanism star thing?" Kie asked, a little confused about why I had that on me, but I laughed at her assumption. "Wait, no way, let me see," JJ said and Pope protested that he also wanted to see but couldn't because he was driving.
"No, it's the Wiccan pentagram," I said laughing at their skepticism. They would think I was a Satan worshipper. "You're Wiccan?" Kie asked, and I shrugged.
"Not technically but I share some of their beliefs. I can't call myself Wiccan because I'm not one hundred percent that through and though, you know?" I explained.
"How have I never noticed this? We've gotten...pretty close, you'd think I would see it," JJ said, sneaking in a little suggestive comment that I slapped his arm for. "Stop it," I said, and he snickered at my embarrassment.
"I find it hard to believe you have no tattoos," I said to Kie, and she shrugged. "I want one so bad but my parents would throw a fit," she told me.
"What would you get?"
"'Bob Marley' except each word is other either of her ass cheeks," Pope said, both him and JJ laughing and falling all over each other. I covered my mouth to quiet my laughter too, but when Kie let a laugh slip I didn't need to hide it anymore.
When we all quieted down and Pope put his hands back on the steering wheel. That was probably not smart to let go of, but I brushed it off. "Are those all of your tattoos?" She asked and I nodded.
I was really only skilled enough to poke one tattoo into my skin, I didn't want my dumb ass risking anything else.
"I think it's hot that you have a tattoo," JJ said with a smug smile, and I chuckled at him. "You have to think that, you're my boyfriend," I said, debunking his statement.
He shook his head with an exaggerated frown, "Not true. I could be dating you and think you're the ugliest girl in the world. Maybe I'm helping my homies by keeping you off the streets."
My mouth dropped open in shock at his words, I was stunned by his joke. "Wooooow," I dragged out, crossing my arms at his attitude. "You're such a dickhead," Kie said to JJ, five-starring his leg again, and I smiled smugly at him.
"My guard dog's looking out for me," I said, motioning to Kie, and he sighed.
"Sorry," He huffed, and I rolled my eyes.
"It's okay. It's probably a better time than ever to tell you you're just a friend anyway," I said, feigning a nonchalant attitude.
"Woahhh," He started, and Pope shook his head, laughing. "That's screwed up. Don't- don't mess with a man's head like that," He said.
"Yeah... wait... you thought we were- Oh my god!" I dramatized, bursting out laughing with Kie now to further my performance, "You thought we were together?! Oh, honey, no, no, that is not what's happening here," I said.
"Oh, shut the fuck up," JJ said with a boisterous smile, walking over and tackling me. "Get off, fatty!" I yelled from underneath his body weight, and he shook his head no. "Nuh-uh, not until you apologize and say we're dating," The lard ass said from on top of me.
"I don't want to," I said stubbornly. "You have to," He said, messing up my hair, and I whined at the touch. "Stop!" I whined sharply, trying to elbow him and get him off of me, but to no avail.
"I say concede," Pope suggested, and I sneered at him mockingly, this was so unfair. "Yeah, Stevie, I think you should just lie to him," She said, mouthing the last three words. I nodded with an exaggerated wink and turned to JJ as best I could from under him.
"JJ? Baby? What was I thinking? We're dating, no, no, we're fated to each other for the rest of our lives. I love you, I'm sorry," I said, pulling out my famed puppy dog eyes he could never resist and I used on the rarest of occasions.
He tried to act all tough for a second or so, but eventually gave in. He stood up, extending a hand to me and helping me up, kissing me on the lips quickly. "That's what I thought," He said triumphantly, and I rolled my eyes, looking back at Kie to trade winks with her once again.
"He bought it," I whispered obviously and JJ shook his head again. "I can't-" He said, pulling his shirt off and discarding his shoes, jumping off the boat and into the water. "Woah, what?" I interjected, knowing this was out of bounds.
"No fair, you handle boat problems on the boat, idiot," I said, but he refused.
"No, I wanna swim now, sorry, I can't hear you," He protested.
"Fine," I said, walking to the edge of the boat and jumping in after him, swimming over to where he was floating around. "You suck," I said, referring to how he made me do all this physical exercise to get to him.
"Right back at you, buck," He said, splashing me.
I got deja vu suddenly of one of the earliest times we ever really hung out. Our first night-surf session ended with splashing back and forth and eventually becoming more comfortable with each other.
It felt nice to remember that time.
I wanted it to go back to how carefree we were.
I pulled JJ into a kiss in the water, and he smiled into it. "I take it we're not 'fighting' anymore," He said with air quotes, and I chuckled.
"No, not anymore," I said, kissing him again.
★★★
Hey...
How y'all doin'?
*Me walking back in with another chapter after not updating for a solid week*