𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚 // 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

08

John B sighs as we search the wreck with the drone.

Nothing.

I wrap my arm around the boy and lean my head on his shoulder. "Look, It's not there. Just- just pull the drone up." JB says, defeated. "We can do another pass, recharge the battery. Look we can go back down!" Pope says, looking to cheer up John.

JB runs his hands through his hair and JJ yells at us. "We've done it three times. There's nothing there."

"Not helpful JJ!" "Shut up!" The blonde looks at Kiara and I and shrugs. "What? It's true." "The gold could be buried! We don't know." Ki says from next to me, still holding onto some hope for JB. "If it was there it would've been found on the metal detector okay? Somebody beat us to it." "Or it was never there." JJ mutters.

I walk over to John b while he pulls his hood up and pull him into a hug, he buries his head in my shoulder as I rub his back reassuring him that it isn't the end of the world

"Hey Jack?" J calls me over. I skip into the sheltered area of the boat, hanging my hands around his neck and leaning my head on his shoulder. "Come over after?" He asks. "Dad's not home?" "Nah, he hasn't been for a few days." "Yeah sure I'll come." JJ lets me drive on the way home, and we take my truck back from Heyward's.

I run onto JJ's porch, feeling oddly tired after a small jog, I lie down on the chair that's sitting there and close my eyes. "Hey you all good?" "Yeah, yeah I just feel like I can't really breathe." JJ grabs my hand. "Is it a panic attack?" "No, I don't know what's happening. I can't breathe." "Jackie tell me what else you feel." "I feel- I feel nauseous, and my chest hurts. So bad. I can't breathe JJ." I cry. "I know Jack. I know. C'mon let's stand up." He takes my arm and leads me inside, through a hallway and to his room. Posters hanging off the walls and a small desk sitting in the corner.

I stumble when he lets go of me a bit and lies me on his bed. "I'm gonna grab you some water Jack." I give a weak nod as I cough. Blood spraying my forearm. I look down and quickly rub it off onto my pants before JJ gets back. J comes in with a plastic garbage can and a small glass of water. "Drink this slowly or you'll throw up again." He says, handing me the cup. "Can I lie down?" He asks softly. "Yeah." JJ lies down beside me and pulls me close. "Tell me one of those crazy stories that you do." "Have you already heard about the one from when I was 10?" "At the skatepark? Yeah." "Okay, let me think."

"So there was this one time, like two summers ago.." JJ begins, his voice a soft whisper. "Kiara, JB, Pope and I are out on the boat, and John B steals a pack or two of beers from the fridge for us. So at this point, Pope is out of his mind drunk. All we can do is just watch him try to dance his way into free food--" My eyes feel heavy as I close them, and give in to let sleep take over my body.

I wake up alone. A soft blanket wrapped around me and my body cold from the lack of touch. Taking a deep breath, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and get up, wincing from the pain in my stomach. I walk over to J's closet and pull out a new hoodie and a football jersey from the rack. I slide them on and pull my hair back before reaching for Pope's hat and making my way outside.

I lean my body up against the corner of the house watching JJ shoot an old teddy bear with a smile on my face as I watch him talk shit while he's hitting the toy square in the face.

"JJ! Jackie!" Pope runs up to us and yells over the noise. "Hey Pope what's up?" I ask. JJ turns around and faces us. "They know." "What?" "They know." I walk over next to J and lean against him. "Chill bro, they don't know shit alright?" "Topper knows I sunk his boat." "How would he know?" I ask. "We triple checked, no one was around." JJ sighs. "How do you know they know?"

"Because Rafe and Topper posted outside of Heyward's and mad dogged me." "They what?" I say, genuinely surprised. "Oh I'm gonna fuck their middle school looking asses up."