Chasing The Stars || JJPOPE

SIX

"JJ!" POPE CALLED for the sixth time that evening. JJ had fallen asleep as they kept reviewing the various flash cards Pope created. Pope sat in his desk chair, the only light illuminating the room is his desk lamp, while JJ laid across Pope's bed comfortably.

JJ's head shot up, his eyes barely open, "Huh? What?"

"Focus." Is all Pope told him, gesturing the flash cards. JJ dropped his head, his face pressed on the bedsheets.

"When are we gonna be done?" JJ questioned, his voice muffled.

Pope sighed, seeing how bored JJ was. JJ looked as if he would rather be doing literally anything else in the world. He watched JJ for a long moment, tapping his fingers on the arms of his chair as he sat there in thought.

He set the cards on the desk, "Fine. What do you wanna do?"

JJ's head immediately shot up. A slight smile spread across his lips, something Pope hadn't seen toward him. Ever. His blonde locks were messy, eyes dancing with excitement and a bit of mischief, his smile seeming to dazzle. Pope had almost forgotten the two were supposed to hate one another — JJ seemed friendly for once.

"Come on." JJ encouraged, hopping off the bed with a creak. Pope watched him with furrowed eyebrows as JJ began putting his sneakers on. JJ had worn a gray sweatshirt that day, along with baggy cuffed jeans and his usual (filthy) white sneakers.

"What? Where are we going?" Pope questioned, finally standing up from his chair.

"No questions." JJ wiggled his eyebrows at him, then exiting the bedroom. Pope's eyes widened before following. He immediately grabbed JJ, stopping in the middle of the slim hallway, only feet away from his parent's bedroom. They had decided to watch a movie while Pope and JJ worked in Pope's bedroom.

"My parents will hear." Pope whispered to the blonde boy, dark eyes nervously daring to the Heyward couple's bedroom door. He slowly turned back to JJ, "We're not supposed to leave."

JJ rolled his eyes and whispered back, "Be quiet, then."

Pope stared at JJ for a few more moments, and JJ stared back, before it finally became too much for Pope and he sighed. Somehow JJ knew what that sigh meant, because he began leading Pope out of the house once again. Pope glanced over his shoulder once again, hesitantly following JJ. They carefully closed the front door behind them, Pope filled with worry while JJ seemed to be overflowing with excitement because he was getting away from school work.

It was just beginning to darken outside, the sky beginning to gain a orange and pink color. The spring air had a slight chill to it, wrapping itself around the two teenagers like a cobra would it's prey.

As they walked down the porch, JJ turned to Pope, "So... got the keys to your dad's truck?"

Pope whipped around immediately, whisper screaming, "WHAT?"

"Well how else are we supposed to get to Figure Eight?" JJ asked with a shrug, clearly not seeing what was wrong.

Figure Eight was the wealthy side of the island, aka where the Cameron family lived, along with the rest of their neighboring wealthy families. The only reason Sarah and JJ had ever crossed paths was at the bonfire back when the two were only Freshman, just attending different schools.

"FIGURE EIGHT?" Asked Pope with wide eyes. JJ nodded with a slight smile. Pope shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Can you at least tell me where we're going?"

"No can do." JJ answered with a smirk.

Pope stared at the Maybank boy for a long moment, something he had found himself doing recently without even realizing. He even noticed how delicately JJ blinked.