JJ and a Routledge

Disappointment?

We quickly made it to the ferry, according to Sarah the tickets sell out fast. As we're running up to the stand we see the worker packing up his stuff to leave. "Wait, wait, are you sold out?" John B asks. 

"You four aren't the only ones trying to get off the island," The man grunts, leaving. 

"God damn it." John B bangs his hands on the stand. 

"Oh shit." I hear JJ mutter, running his hands through his hair. 

"Um..." Sarah says, awkwardly. John B then looks off at the ferry. 

"Hey, you guys, follow me." He grabs Sarah's wrist dragging her along. JJ and I give each other a look of 'disgust' and run after them. "So, have you ever been on a tug boat?" He asks her. 

"A what?" She furrows her eyebrows. "You're not serious." She states as we all quicken our pace. 

"We just gotta talk our way onto this barge." JJ nods as if it was easy peasy. "I got this." He tells us. 

"These are our people." John B says to Sarah, cracking his knuckles. "You two just wait." 

"Hey, cap!" JJ walks up to the captain.  I hear bits at pieces of the conversation but then we lose sight of them, due to a crowd of workers. When we see them again, the captain is shaking his head. 

Sarah and I smile at each other. "So much for their people," I smirk, Sarah chuckles. 

The boys walk back to us, in defeat. Sarah and I burst out laughing. "So..." Sarah smiles as if we don't know the answer. 

"So..." John B replies. "They're booked." He nods. 

"Who?" I ask them. "Your people?" I laugh.

"What, you guys got a better idea?" JJ looks at me. I think for a second. 

"Yeah." I smile. I quickly find 4 raincoats, that make us look like we could be an adult working. "Okay, each of us grabs a tank, and acts natural." We walk in single file, with the other workers, tank in hand. We quickly put them on the boat, we're on. 

JJ and John B usher us into the engine room, we then hear a worker say they're gonna go down there, so we hide in a closet with flashing red lights. John B closes the door and puts a finger to his lips. 

We stand still as we hear the engine workers, suddenly the ship moves, and I almost fall back into the shelves, luckily JJ wrapped his hands around my waist, steadying me. I sigh in relief, looking up to meet JJ's eyes, which were already staring at me. I quickly back away, mumbling thanks.

"It is too hot in here." I groan quietly, fanning myself. JJ and John B already took their shirts off. How much I wish I could do that now if only I was wearing a sports bra. 

"What is the hottest you've ever been?" Sarah asks, wiping the sweat off her face. 

"Right now." John B answers without a hint of hesitation. 

"Same." she nods. "Do you... I don't know, wanna play a game?" She looks at the three of us. 

"No, I don't." JJ sighs. John B nods in agreement. 

"Cool." Sarah fans herself. "So, there's this game my sister and I play. It's called truth or dare, except there's no dare." 

"So it's just truth. Sarah that's truth." JJ groans. 

"Yeah. Do you want to play truth?" 

"Sure." John B sighs, JJ and I look at each other and finally nod. 

"You get the first question." Sarah declares, looking at JB. 

John B pulls out a Russian accent. "Why did you kill Demetri?" I immediately roll my eyes, knowing that this is some flirting game they're having. I roll my eyes at JJ as wipe the sweat from my face. Finally, their charade was over. 

"My turn," Sarah demands. "What did you two see in the painting?"

John B sighs, "Look, we can't tell you, okay?" 

"Why?" Sarah asks. 

"It's for your own safety." 

"Okay, but something made you guys want to go to the archives, obviously." Sarah tries to get more out of him.

"Someone who was meant to be dead wasn't," I answer her. 

"Like you guys' dad?" Sarah asks. 

"That's my dad," I mutter. "And no, not his dad." John B looks back up at the ceiling, not at Sarah. 

"I'm sorry." She mumbles. 

"No, it's fine." John B closes his eyes. 

"No, it's not, I'm such an idiot." Sarah groans. "That was a really dumb thing to say." You would think she would drop the topic, but surprisingly not. "I couldn't imagine losing my dad." I forgot for a second that she had two parents in her house, I heard that she had a stepmom, but still, two guardians, everyone else in this small closet had uncaring or dead parents. John B opens back up his eyes as she says this. "My whole family would fall apart without him. Everybody thinks he's this really rich guy, but he's from the cut, like you guys." That, perked my interest, just a little bit. "And he's busted his ass for everything we have." 

"You appreciate him." John B looks up at her. 

"Yeah." Sarah nods. "I do." 

"That's how I feel about my dad." John B closes his eyes again. 

"Is that what this is about?" For some reason, I felt like JJ and I were intruding on their conversation. I look over at him, to realize he was already looking at me. I scootch a little closer as John B and Sarah continue their deep conversation. 

"Hey there," I smirk. "Do you feel like we aren't meant to be here?" 

"One hundo percent." He smiles back at me. 

"I wish I could take my clothes off right now." I groan, wiping sweat off my face again. 

"So do I." JJ smirks. I give him a slap on his arm. 

I don't know why I brought up what I did, but I was curious. "So... what's going on with you and Kiara?" I mutter. 

"Huh?" His stare at me intensifies. "What do you mean?" 

"I just- I thought you liked her," I reply. 

"Well... to be honest," great, here comes the disappointment, but I guess I need it. "I used to, but recently, I think I like someone else." He smiles. 

"Oh?" I smirk, hiding the disappointment."Who's this mystery girl?"

"Well, she just, I haven't even known her for that long, but there's something about her that just makes me feel safe. I- I just want to be around her all the time. I wish I met her sooner, she's super similar to me but different at the same time. I like her a lot." He leans in a little closer to me. My breath hitches. "Any idea who it is?" He asks, I could feel his breath on my lips. I gulp. 

Finally, my voice comes back, "You're breath stinks." He rolls his eyes laughing. What am I gonna do about this blue-eyed boy?