𝓓𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 ~ 𝙺𝚒𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝙲𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚊

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓮𝓷𝓽𝔂

'I mean it's obvious. Right?' John B states, breaking the silence & causing me to jump. We're all piled into the van & driving down an older looking road. John B & Jj are sitting in the front, while me, Kie, & Pope are spread around in the back.

Pope is holding the swinging compass in front of his face, studying it, while I sit next to him, Kiara across from me. 'A family heirloom. What a better place to hide a message?' John continues.

'I mean there are way better places but.' I trail off grabbing my phone from my back pocket. I'm not sure how I still have signal since nobody else does & we were in the middle of no where. I stare down at my lock screen, looking at the picture of our friend group back home. Slightly smiling at it I unlock my phone to check if Elizabeth texted me & as I was expecting, she hasn't said anything.

I try to text her again & see if maybe the message just didn't go through but my texts turn green. She blocked me.

The guys & Kie are still talking, but I was off in my own world.

I scoff turning off my phone completely & shoving it into the back pocket of my shorts. Pointless friendship I guess. I lay my hand on my thigh messing with the bottom of the shorts. When I look down I noticed the shorts don't cover my cuts very well & the slightest movement that brought the shorts up would expose them.

'Hey.' I whisper trying to get Pope's attention. He turns around to me signaling for me to continue. 'Do you have a jacket in here that I can wear?' I question using my hand to cover the cuts.

'You're cold? It's like 90° outside.' He replies, furrowing his eyebrows.

'Yeah it's just a little chilly. Plus I kind of regret the outfit choice.' I explain, trying to come up with the best excuse. He signals over towards the bench where there are a bunch of clothes piled up.

It looks like mainly jackets & shirts so I just dig through the pile until I find a navy blue hoodie. It smells of Old Spice cologne & weed, with a soft tint of saltwater. The smells gave off the idea that it is likely Jj's. It has a small logo in the corner that reads Kildare County Surf Shop. I slip it on just as we pulled up to a lighthouse.

'What are we doing here?' I ask John B seeing as though I missed that part of the conversation.

'Redfield Lighthouse. It's my dad's favorite place.' He replies looking back at me. The confusion still rests inside of me, but I figure I'll eventually piece things together.

We all get out of the van as we study the lighthouse standing in front of us. It's grey & white with a white fence surrounding it.

'Why are you wearing a hoodie?' Jj questions as he turns to me & notices my change of clothes.

'Oh I just got kind of chilly.' I lie again. I'm not ready to tell him what truly happened.

'How? It's almost 100° out he-' but before he can finish his sentence John B cuts him off.

'Look you're just gonna post up & look out for bogeys, okay?' John B asks walking over towards Jj.

'Wait. Why me?' Jj questions, hurt obvious in his voice, as he knew the reason.

'Because you're not coming.' Pope says lightly trying not to make him mad.

'Why?' Jj retorts, slightly yelling.

'Look Jj. There are independent & dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do.' Pope tries to explain. Jj is looking from Pope to John B as I fiddle with the sleeves of the hoodie trying not to get involved.