𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄 , 𝐣. 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤 ⁽¹⁾

𝟐𝟗. 𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄

"What?" JJ asked, stunned by Elle's sudden statement. "What do you mean?"

Elle sighed slowly. "I did it. I caused the fire. I killed my mom. And really, I don't even care."

"Hold on, slow down." He said, shaking his head profusely. "You, Elle Wright, burned your own house down? That's kinda hot."

The girl glared at him. "JJ! That isn't hot. I'm a monster! A murderer, and I don't feel any remorse for what I did." She stopped talking there and just stared at the wooden floor.

JJ wrapped his arm around her once again. In all honestly, no matter what Elle did, no matter the crime, he would never stop being in love with her.

"Elle," He started. His voice trailed off, signaling that we wasn't completely sure what to say. "I—uh
how did you do it?" He asked, going completely silent.

She hesitated before answering. "When I got home, after our fight..my mom was passed out on the couch. I went to help her get more comfortable. I cleaned the kitchen, put blankets over her, like i'd don't a thousand times before. This time, though, I noticed a small cigarette on the ground. It was almost put out." She stopped speaking for a minute.

"I was so mad that night. At everyone and everything. I was mad at my mom for everything she had done to me, I was mad at you for our fight, and I was mad at my dad. Since he died, everything got worse. It was his fault my mom is like this. I figured that there was no better time to do something like getting back at the world. So, I left the cigarette there, still slightly red. I put a piece of paper next to it to help ignite it, and I went to bed, locking my door in the process." Her raspy voice was flat.

JJ's eyes were wide. He hesitated before saying anything. "Well, technically you didn't light it on fire. You just left something from your drugged out mom."

She nodded. "My mom is dead because of me."

"Look, Elle, as long as i've known you, you've been so understanding and considerate of your mom, despite all she's done to you. I'm one to know about shitty parents. I'm not saying she deserved it but—-"

Elle shook her head. "No, she did. She deserved it completely. That's why I don't care about what I did. She hurt me, so I hurt her back."

The two of them spoke in unison. "Law of the jungle."

Elle turned to him and frowned. "JJ. You can't tell anyone about what I did. I'm serious."

JJ held up his right hand and joked. "Scout's honor."

"JJ." Elle scolded, holding out her hand and flicking her pinkie forward. "Pinkie promise. No Pouges. No John B, no Pope, no Kie."

The blonde inched his hand forward, interlocking his pinkie with hers. He raised his other hand to his forehead and saluted. "An annual Elle and JJ secret. What else is new?"

——————
July 14, 2015

JJ and Elle ran breathlessly across Figure Eight, only ever glancing back when they had too.

The slid into a small alleyway between a restaurant and some random store. Elle put her hands on her knees and took her inhaler from her pocket.

"Crap." JJ said, glancing around the corner to see Topper and Kelce looking around for them. They were angry, and were yelling their names.

Elle took the inhaler out of her mouth and slipped it back into her pocket. "JJ. What were you thinking?!" She asked, slapping his shoulder.

"I wasn't!" He replied with a quick whisper-yell. "You were supposed to stop me!"

The girl ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "I was supposed to stop you?! Why would I stop you?! They deserved it!"

"Then perfect. We agree on something." He said, turning away from the corner and against the stone wall of the store next to them.

The two had been waking through Figure Eight, picking out the houses that they would live in together if they became rich. They would get a huge mansion and live there with all the young Pogues, no parents.

It was fun until Topper and Kelce walked up to them, started picking on Elle for her cheap looking clothes, and made fun of JJ for the small cuts on his face, from a fight with his dad a few days prior.

That, was when JJ reached towards Elle, grabbing the water bottle from her hand and unscrewing the lid. In the spur of them moment, he threw the water all over the two Kooks, leaving them (and their expensive belongings) drenched in water. That's how they ended up in this random alley.

JJ turned to Elle and stuck out his pinkie, nodding towards his hand. He knew that John B would scold them for being irresponsible, and that it'd be their fault for getting mixed up with the Kooks, again.

"Pinkie swear." He said, still out of breath. "Pinkie swear that you won't tell John B."

Elle nodded and stuck her hand out, mirroring the blonde boy. The two interlocked fingers and and shook their hands, signalizing the thing that was never, ever, meant to be broken.

The pinkie swear.

—————-
AUTHOR SPEAKS !

shorter chapter bc i didn't know where to take this after the flashback.

elle insanity era

the maywright pinkie swears >> you

i love them ok bye

xoxo, kenn