Brother's Best Friend || JJ Maybank

Episode 5. Midsummers | 20

Julianne Bailey Routledge

We headed to the party shortly after, the party already being in full swing.

"Look! There's Pope!" I told Kie, spotting Pope.

Kie walked up to him, faking an English accent, "Excuse me, sir. Do we have to shuck these ourselves?" Pope turned around, "'Cause it might mess up my costume."

He smiled, "We wouldn't want that now, would we?" We did our handshakes, him still laughing, "That accent was bad."

"Yeah, it was. I was gonna let it go."

I looked around, turning to them, "You ever seen this many Kooks in one place?"

Pope nodded, "Yeah. Last year."

"We're in the lions den." Kie stated.

"Exactly." Pope closed the grill, "Hey, have either of you heard from JJ?"

Kie looked down, "No."

They looked at me and I shook my head, not knowing what to say.

Kie sighed, "He'll be all right. He's got the survival instincts of a cockroach."

Pope shook his head, "It's all my fault."

"You didn't do this, Pope." I tried to reassure him, "Topper almost killed us. Remember?"

He didn't reply, and clapping began as Ward Cameron and his wife came through the door. Rafe, Sarah, and Wheezie were right being them.

"Here come Lord Capital and the Exploiters." Kie said, making me snicker.

Pope looked at Rose's large headband, "She's gonna poke somebody's eye out with that."

Kie and I laughed, silence bestowing us once again. It was crazy to me that all of these people here lived like this everyday. I remember Sarah would always talk about how awful it was to try and be perfect all the time. I wondered if everyone here felt the same.

I grabbed Kie's hand, looking at Pope, "I'm going to steal her for a bit."

I pulled Kie into the sea of people, twirling her around. We danced like idiots until I spotted a familiar blonde head talking to Sarah Cameron.

Kie noticed, turning around, then looking back at me.

"What is he doing here? Talking to her?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "I don't know." She hit my shoulder, "Ow! What?"

"Go after him!" She said with a 'duh' tone. I groaned and she nudged me toward him, I now noticing that he was running inside, Topper and Kelce following. I dashed after them, going as fast as my heels would let me.

I took a shortcut, finding JJ passing the stairs.

"JJ!" I shouted.

He turned around, grabbing me to pull me with him.

I stumbled a bit and he stopped, "J, we gotta go faster."

I groaned, "My heels!"

"Screw the heels!"

I kicked off the shoes, both if us making a run for it again. He pulled us into the men's locker room, trying to get us into a stall. When all of them were full, we turned a corner, bumping right into Rafe.

"Hey, guys, what are you doin' in the locker room? Especially you, young lady."

JJ shoved me behind him, backing us away from him and Kelce. A man pushed me; JJ and I were stuck. JJ and I were tossed to the floor, JJ making a sarcastic remark about their outfit.

Kelce grabbed JJ, putting him into a chokehold.

"Let go of him!" I yelled, trying to shove Kelce off of him. He sent an elbow into my face, another guy catching me and hold my hands behind my back. My elbows were bending in an inhuman way, making it feel like they were about to snap.

JJ struggled in Kelce's grip as Rafe pretended to be holding a golf club at us.

"Very Rafe of you. Five on two?" JJ choked out.

Rafe groaned, "If you could please stop talking? It's very disrespectful. I'm trying to hit a ball. Wouldn't have to hurt pretty little Julianne over here, now would we?" He threatened.

I stomped on the guys foot who was holding me, making his grip loosen. I used this opportunity to thrash in his grip, but it didn't work. He grabbed my arms tighter, tossing me to the floor and pinning me down.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have done that. Where's JJ's gun when you needed it?

Rafe laughed at my attempt, "Awe, real cute, Routledge." He got up into JJ's face, "Your face looks really bad. Starting to look like your dad a lot more."

The lights flickered and a voice boomed, "Gentlemen!" The boys dropped JJ and I and the guard noticed me, "Lady? Is there a problem here?"

I pulled myself off the ground, straightening out my dress.

"Pardon us, Officer." JJ said, pulling me close to him, "No, there's not an issue. I just- Oh, actually, yes. No, there is an issue. Uh, we got a criminal trespass in progress here. Beep! Call it in, right? Blatant disrespect for private property."

Rafe nodded, "Yeah."

I caught onto what was happening as JJ continued, "We're in violation of all kinds of shit, sir, but these young gentlemen."

JJ fixed Kelce's tie and he huffed, hitting JJ's hands off, "Don't touch my shit."

"Caught us, sir, and they're about to take us away. And that's what you should do, escort us out of here." The man grabbed us and JJ taunted the boys as we left, "You powerpuff girls have fun."

"Aye, Julianne, you look pretty hot for a Pogue!" Rafe shouted at me. JJ ripped out of the guards grip, going to hit him. Kelce and the guards stopped him, the boys yelling at us as we were dragged out.

When we made it outside, JJ began talking to some people, "Mr. Dunleavy, I see you got your drink. Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that." He took the drinking, taking all of it in one, "It's okay everybody! Leave it to the men and women in uniform!" 

The man grabbed our arms, dragging us through the people as he kept shouting, "Rose! You look like lady liberty!" I couldn't help but laugh at him; He was right.

"Let go of them! You can't just boot them!" Kie shouted, "I invited them here. I'm a member of this club." Kie's parents were trying to reason with her, but she wasn't listening.

JJ pushed the guard, picking me up and pointing at Kie, "Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixon's, Kie. Pope, you as well, all right? Rixon's cove, let's go." He began to walk backwards with me still in his arms, "All right, Kie, come on. Workers of the world unite! Throw off your chains!"

Somehow, John B was here too, JJ setting me down to talk with him. Kie ran over, despite her parents protest, and I wrapped my arms around her, swinging her like an idiot.

These were my best friend, despite anything going on in any of our lives.