SINK OR SWIM, jj maybank

c h a p t e r s e v e n

The teens didn't want to wait around the chateau any longer, and with John B finding the name Redfield, he knew it had to be the Redfield Lighthouse.

They were all shaken up over what had happened, so the twinkie was mostly filled with silence as John B drove down the road towards their next clue.

Kie was sat in the front seat next to John B while Pope, JJ, and Teddie all piled into the back. Teddie's eye were set out the window, watching the landscape pass by as John B sped along. Her mind was going a million miles a minute and she couldn't focus on one thought for too long. She hated the way she felt in Lana Grubbs house, and she kept wondering if the older woman was okay. She hated the thought of her having to clean up the house on her own, after what the two had just gone through. And as much as she didn't want to have to go back to that house, she didn't want Lana to have to face that alone. With that thought in her head, she decided she'd stop by when the teens were done and help the woman clean up.

She kept trying to shake the feeling of the man's hands on her skin, but it was as if it was branded on her. All she wanted to do was take a hot shower and scrub her skin until it was raw. Maybe then she'd finally feel safe again.

"Teddie!" JJ's voice snapped loudly, breaking the girl from her thoughts.

"Huh? What?" She asked, moving her head to see all of her friends staring at her and JJ holding his hand out to offer her a hit of his joint. "Oh uh, no thanks."

"You good? You spaced out there on us." Kie asked her friend in concern.

"I'm fine." Teddie said with a small smile. The teens saw her lie from a mile away, but didn't push the matter any further.

John B sighed as he slowed the bus to a stop. "Here we are, Redfield Lighthouse."

"Woo!" JJ exclaimed, clapping his hands together before throwing the van door open and jumping out. Kie was rolling her eyes as she stepped out of the drivers seat while John B walked around to meet the group.

"Yeah, uh JJ maybe you sit this one out." John B suggested.

"What? Why?" JJ asked defeatedly. Teddie couldn't help but grin at his wounded puppy dog face.

"JJ, here's the thing." Pope started, throwing his arm over JJ's shoulder. "There are dependent and independent variables. You, my friend, are a dependent variable."

"What does that even mean?" JJ muttered, dropping his head as Kie laughed.

"So uh, how about Kie and I go and you three wait here and man look out?" John B suggested.

"I'm down with that." Kie nodded, moving to stand beside John B.

"Of course you are." Pope mumbled under his breath, but Teddie caught it with a quirked eyebrow.

"If anything happens, dip and we'll meet back up at the Chateau."

"Yeah, okay." Pope nodded.

As their two friends walked away, Teddie moved back into the twinkie, letting her thoughts take over. Pope was playing with a hackie-sac and talking to JJ, while the later boy stared at Teddie in worry. He wanted so badly to ask if she was okay, but he already knew the answer. He knew she'd say yes, but he also knew that'd be a lie. He made a note to get her alone later and ask, maybe then she'd open up a bit.

"Are you even listening to me?" Pope asked annoyed.

"Yes, dude," JJ sighed. "As per usual you're bitching about your merry scholarship-"

"Merit." Pope interrupted.

"which is so stupid because we all know you're literally going to have the best damn essay and get the scholarship no problem. Why are you so worried?"