[rosemary] .jj maybank.

chapter fourteen

after the pogues successfully got the drone, they all decided to go to the wreck to get some food. "stealing drones makes you hungry," kiara commented as she got out of the van. "hell yeah, i'm starved," rosie agreed, waiting to get out of the van after jj and pope.

"what i would do to a beer and shrimp and grits right now," jj said. "it would not be pretty."

"hey, dad," kie said, greeting her dad as she walked by the counter. "hi, mr c." rosie greeted as well, following after kiara; the three boys trailing behind rosie. "hi girls."

"how'd we do?" the carrera girl asked, inquiring about the restaurant, letting the boys wait by a random table. "didn't turn over once."

"aw, that's too bad. if i had a whack load of money, i would totally spend most of it here... if that's any consolation," rosie said randomly. kie and mr carrera chuckled softly. "it's the thought that counts... and it's probably just bad luck because of the storm," kie reassured, hugging her dad.

"yeah, i'll be sure to tell the banks that."

"guess now is not the best time to ask for free food for me and my friends?" kie asked hopefully. "look at them. they're greedy pelicans."

"true. they really are. but... it also doesn't mean they should starve, mr c. money is really tight right now," rosie laughed, then spoke softly hoping that mr carrera would sympathize.

"i understand, rosemary. but, that's not–" he sighed, "can you excuse us for a moment, just so i can talk to kiara?" rosie nodded and smiled softly, "for sure, i'll be with the greedy pelicans."

rosie stood beside the boys, choosing to rest her head on john b's shoulder as she waited for the outcome. from the corner of her eye, she could see the three boys wave or throw a peace sign in mr c's direction, causing her to look up and wave too. kiara hugged her dad, a smile on her face as she pulled away. "rosie, come help me bring the food out." kie called to the girl.

the five pogues sat quietly for several minutes, devouring their food before john b and jj got into a minor food fight. whenever john b or jj's backs were turned, rosie would throw a fry at each of them and blame it on both boys. however, after a few times, the two boys finally realized and decided to throw some of their fries at rosie. "ha, you guys are trash! i caught most of them," rosie laughed victoriously.

afterwards, once it calmed down again, kie decided to get up and dance, encouraging john b to join her. rosie thought it was cute but her heart broke for pope once she saw him watching the two dance. she had had a feeling that pope liked kiara for a while now but seeing him watch her with such admiration, her theory was confirmed.

rosie turned to jj, taking her legs off his lap. "save me a dance, jj. because i really want to but i'm gonna dance with pope first, okay? i'll be back in a minute." rosie kissed jj on the cheek softly, standing up and walking up to pope. the blonde boy was conflicted at first, not understanding why he was the second choice but once he saw pope and the sad expression that was etched on his face, he started to connect the dots.

"pope, may i have this dance?" the freckled girl asked sweetly, holding her hand out for him. pope visibly hesitated but she was persistent.
"i appreciate it, rosie. but i don't want a pity dance," pope sighed, his shoulder hunching forward slightly. "it's not a pity dance. i wanna dance with you. i just simply love my friends, pope. you can't blame me for wanting to dance."

"well, what about jj?" pope asked.

"what about jj? he can wait. i asked you first. plus, jj sucks at dancing."

after that very tiny amount of convincing, pope chuckled and willingly went to dance with rosie, alongside john b and kiara. for the few minutes that they danced, rosie would constantly look at jj– winking at him or blowing kisses in his direction while pope couldn't see. jj blushed at her little actions, his heart pounding at just the thought of her.
"hey, pope. let's get jj to dance with us. see if we can convince him and maybe teach him some moves."