Waves

s i x

~PRESENT~

"Hi, JJ."

Amelia felt her insides turn inside out, her heartbeat quickening and her palms becoming sweatier by the second as she stared at those blue eyes, gaping at her in pure disbelief. Part of her wanted to turn and yell at Sarah for swearing that JJ wasn't going to be at John B's. The other part of her wanted to throw herself into JJ's arms. But all she could do was stand there, her feet frozen in place, not being able to wrap her head around the fact that JJ was standing in front of her.

JJ continued to stare at her, eyes scanning over her face in shock, not a single word escaping his lips. He was speechless, taking in the appearance of the girl he was once in love with standing before him. He never thought that he would see her again.

She felt Sarah appear behind her, and she whipped herself around quickly to come face to face with her, and Sarah's mouth dropped open as she laid eyes on JJ. "Oh, my God." Sarah spoke, just as in shock as JJ and Amelia were. Amelia's eyes closed and she bit her bottom lip as she realized that Sarah really didn't know that he was going to be there.

John B quickly rushed behind JJ and looked to Amelia, his eyes darting around her face, before mouthing the words "I'm sorry" to her. "Hey, um. Sar, did you not get my text?" His eyes shifted to Sarah, looking frantic as he ran his hand back through his hair.

"I guess this was a bad time for my phone to die."

John B threw his head back, his hands covering his face then quickly running down over it. "Well, um. Come in."

Amelia looked from John B back over to JJ, the look of surprise still prominent on his now pale face. He stepped to the side, allowing Amelia and Sarah to pass him and step into the house, his eyes never leaving Amelia.

"I'm so sorry. I texted Sarah telling her not to bring you. His dad was home and he needed to come here." John B whispered quickly to Amelia before JJ closed the door and stepped into the house.

Amelia sat down on John B's couch, Sarah quickly sitting down beside her before JJ could. Amelia looked to the floor, trying her hardest not to look up and meet JJ's eyes. She couldn't believe that this was happening. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat, telling herself in her mind that she wasn't going to throw up.

John B's voice broke the tension. "So, uh. Where do you guys want to eat? I was thinking we could go to The Wreck. They're having that barbecue party there tonight and I think it would be fun for us to-"

"Are we seriously not going to talk about this?"

Amelia's eyes shot up to meet JJ's. She looked over his face, seeing his eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at her. "Were you ever going to tell me that you were back?" His eyes shifted from Amelia, to Sarah, and landed on John B. "Were either of you ever going to tell me that she was back? Clearly you both knew."

"JJ-" Amelia started to say, searching for the right words.

"Sarah, maybe we should give them a minute. We'll go wait out in the van." John B spoke, reaching down and grabbing Sarah's hand, pulling her to her feet. Amelia grabbed Sarah's arm, standing along with her.

JJ quickly stepped toward Amelia, grabbing her arm to keep her from walking out the door. Sarah and John B's faces were as surprised as Amelia's was at JJ's gesture. "No, we're going to talk."

"What do you want me to say, JJ?"

"I dunno, maybe a 'hi I'm back?" He said, not letting go of her arm, his nostrils flared as he stared down at her in annoyance. "Even a kick to the balls would've been nice."