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Esme sat in the back of the van as the pouges were now on the road again. She was leaned up against the window as she was sketching in her book again. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for when she had to apply for art school. Currently she was sketching Pope, who was examining John B's fathers compass in his hand.
"I mean, it's obvious right? A family heirloom? What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B asked in a hopeful tone.
"Yeah. It's possible." Everyone knew John B was stuck in this stage of denial, yet they thought if they pretended John B wasn't crazy it was going to make things better for them.
"It could also be possible you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope commented making Esme look up from her sketchbook. She kicked him with her foot making the boy wince in pain.
"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels. Dank bugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it?"
"I just smoke and draw. Simple as that." Esme shrugged and Jj and her high fived.
(4LIFER alert.)
"I'm not concocting, okay? My dads trying to give me a message." John B denied.
"If it helps you believe, John B."
"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? Look, I'm not trippin' out." Esme sighed and closed her sketchbook.
"It's ok to trip, bro, but—"
"Look, my—my dad is missing okay? Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the closet person to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every morning wondering." John B said. Pope glanced at Esme who shook her head at him, basically telling him not to say anything.
"It's been almost a year." Kie mentioned.
"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility."
"Yeah, could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope added.
"Pope, shut up. Please." Esme begged as she held her head in her hands. He turned around in his seat and lifted her head up.
"You ok?" He asked her.
"I have a migraine, but I'm peachy keens." Esme gave a sarcastic smirk before dropping her head in her hands again. Pope rubbed his thumb over her knuckles and Esme felt more relaxed somehow.
Eventually the van came to a stop and Esme picked up her head to see they were in front of some lighthouse.
"Right. You're gonna post up and look for bogeys, ok?" John B told Esme and Jj.
"Why us?" Esme questioned slightly offended.
"Because you're not coming. There are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do."
