quit - jiara

chapter four: poguish rush

A/N: you may want to do a little reading backwards for this chapter since it's been a little while since i updated, especially if you've read feel something and questions (so you don't get mixed up)

enjoy <3

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kiara's head spins as she lays on her bed, after her shift. her limbs are aching, not because she's been on her feet all day- it's pure exhaustion. it's been weeks since she's gotten good sleep.

a knock on the door startles her, she shoots up into a sitting position and clears her throat, 'come in' she calls out.

mike makes his way into her room, 'hey honey' he greets her, smiling softly at her.

'hi dad' she pulls a smile on to shoot back at her father, 'what's up?'

he opens his mouth to speak but holds it open for a second before anything comes out, 'i have something for you. it was dropped off at work today.'

'dropped off? by who?'

he pulls the envelope from behind his back, 'i don't really want to give it to you, if i'm completely honest- but i do have a soft spot for that heyward boy' he almost sighs the words coming out of his mouth.

'it's from pope??' she repeats back, her mouth dropping agape.

'john b actually', he grits his teeth.

she tries to grab it from his hands but he puts it back behind his back, 'now i didn't read this letter out of respect to the privacy of a dead boy' he tells her, 'but whatever it says. don't get pulled back into their trouble, or we'll be looking at you moving to a proper college again'. as he finishes speaking he chucks the letter on her bed and walks out.

'online college is proper college' she mutters under her breath as he leaves, no need to say her dad isn't pleased that she didn't go to some prestigious college- and the threats to change her plan were frequent last year.

she lets that go soon, because the letter is burning a hole in her bed. she rips it open and reads it, she lays back again and takes in every word. she breathes in as she reads what's in it, she's not sure she should- but she has to get down to the cut, ASAP.

her parents are both sat downstairs, it's late and she needs to sneak out. something they always end up finding out about, but can they blame her for wanting to know more about her ex friend's death.

as she creeps downstairs and towards her car her mind retains the image of the letter she just read, specifically the three names signed at the bottom- jj's reminded her of his note in the guest book for john b's funeral, it's using a different pen as the writing is blotchy, it's probably using the fancy ink pen big john kept on his desk, she can imagine him reaching for that in preference to a ball point pen. pope's is in his normal neat handwriting, he added a little smiley face to the end which made her smile. john b's is the biggest, he also wrote the rest of the letter- his name burns a hole in her heart, it feels weird holding something he held not long before his death.

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the chateau hasn't been swooped up by anyone yet, it's still intact, just as it's always been. kiara had originally thought it'd be reclaimed at some point, but maybe not.

she checks the letter in her hand, the top corner reads a date in mid august- before his death- so it must've been written part way through john b, jj and pope's royal merchant search. the letter just said to come to the chateau at midnight- it's not quite midnight but she's here. she can her chatting around back, but she's frozen in place.