The Heart of a Pouge - A JJ Maybank love story

Chapter 9: The Bell Tower

Skylar's POV

We had run away from the runway and stopped when we got to the closest garage. We hadn't been there for long until we heard a sound. I look up the sky and I see the plane fly past us. The gold was gone.

'There goes the gold' I sigh going to my knees and punching the floor.
'Shit!' JJ curses, kicking a chair.
'Fuck!' Pope suddenly says. We all turn to look at him and we seen him grab a baseball bag and he starts to smash things.
'Pope!' Kiara yells
'God damn it!' Pope ignores her and continues to go on a rampage, smashing everything in his path. He was turning into JJ.

'Shit! Fuck! Shit!' Pope says over and over again  as he smashes one piece of furniture after another. At every smash Kie, JJ and I just stare and flinch at every crash we hear.
'Damn it!'
'Pope!'
'Pope!' JJ and I yell as Pope throws a trash can before pretty much collapsing on a nearby couch. He had tears stains on his face. Kie and I exchange a look before walking over to our friend.
'Pope' Kie says as quietly as she can.
'Yeah, dude. I was wondering when this was gonna happen' JJ says like it's no big deal walking over to join us before getting out a vape.
'Here you go, chief. A little weed never hurt no one' he says handing it to Pope, a guy who had never smoked once in his life.
'JJ' Kie protests
'Relax, Kie. He needs this' I interrupt.
'You know he doesn't smoke'
'Well, maybe not until today' JJ says as Pope takes it and JJ sits down next to him.
'Pope' Kiara says trying to stop Pope.
'I lost my scholarship' Pope suddenly declares and my heart breaks. He had been working towards that scholarship for months. I remember watching him spend hours writing on endless papers in the hammock. I drop down on the other side of Pope.
'Walked out in the middle of the interview. Every...' Pope says before getting chocked up. I quickly wrap my arms around him in a hug. His head drops onto my shoulder as he says 'It's gone. It's not gonna happen'

'You did that for us?' Kie asks
'No, not for us' Pope says getting frustrated again as he gets out of my grip and walks up to face Kie.
'For nothing' he declares and I jump up with JJ
'I'm here for you, Pope. We're here for you' I say wrapping my arm around him from the side.
'Welcome to my world, okay?' JJ adds joining on the side hug handing Pope the vape.
'JJ...'
'What, Kie? He's right. It doesn't matter anymore' JJ says as Pope holds the blunt up to his lips and takes a puff.
'You don't have to do that' Kie says
'Why do you care?' Pope asks Kie with a rude expression planted on his face. As quickly as he took the puff Pope's face suddenly turns to shock and we all follow his eye and we all freeze.

'Dude!'
'Oh my god'
'Dude, you good?'
'John B!'

We all say as we sprint around to see our friend. Once we reach him I can tell something is terrible wrong. He looked beaten, like he had just experienced something traumatic and his hands were covered in blood
'Is this yours?' JJ asks scared to death
'Whose blood is that?' I ask petrified but John b doesn't say anything, he just looks emotionless at us.
'Hey, you okay, man?'
'John B, are you okay?' Kie chokes

*Siren noises*

We all turn our heads and see the police cars pass by.
'Shit' John b says sprinting behind some of the furniture.

Time Skip

'John B, what are we doing at the police station?' JJ asks. After seeing the police we headed back to Kie's to grab her dads car.
'Somebody's gotta tell them what happened' John b says from the middle seat. I'm sitting behind him with JJ and I put my arms around him for comfort. John b looked so rattled. He needed me. Pope suddenly starts to cough breaking the awkward silence from the blunt he was now smoking.
'Easy there, chief' JJ tells Pope as smoke starts to fill up the car. JJ then leans forward so he's now next to me and so John b can hear him.
'All right. I'm just gonna be real with you right now. You might end up in the lion's den, but you don't go there on purpose. It's fundamental. Just like my old man always told me, you should never ever trust cops, no matter what the circumstance is'
'Your old man's an abusive liar' Kie reminds us.
'I agree with JJ' I say
'Fuck the police' Pope says giving Kie a look. What is going on there. I wonder to myself as I look in between them.
'You goin' to the dark side now?' Kie snaps
'When's the last time the police helped us?' Pope snaps back at her. I look over in JJ's direction and we share a look. There was A LOT of tension between Pope and Kie right now.
'Peterkin looked out for me, all right? Tried to, at least. They need to know' John b tells us and I can see him mentally preparing himself for what was going to go down. Johnny turns to look and me and I shoot him a weak smile. He doesn't offer me one back but I can see him reassuring me through his eyes before he gives all of us one last look and jumps out of the car.