The Cool Kids - JJ Maybank

John B and Sarah?

“It’s obvious, right?” John B asks while we’re all stuck in the van. I glance at Pope who is staring the compass down. “A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? I mean,” I look at everyone else, “he had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?”

Kiara looks down. “Yeah,” she says, “it’s possible.” Taylor frowns at her and I realize that the brunette is more than aware of the fact that she shouldn’t be adding fuel to John B’s fire.

And Pope decides to destroy that fuel source, “It could also be possible that you’re concocting wild theories to help, you know…” John B says his name warningly. “Deal with your sad feels.”

I don’t want to be in this van anymore. The way John B’s so sure that his dad is alive and left the compass as some kind of clue to where he is… it makes me think of the two months after Jake’s death and how no one believed me. He’s where I had been. But I can’t just leave so instead, I twirl the knife I had taken from John B’s place.

“You know how I process my sad feels,” JJ says. He takes another breath of his joint. “Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that how I-”

“I’m not concocting, okay?’ John B says, interrupting JJ. He breathes in deeply. “My dad’s trying to give me a message.” He keeps driving, glancing back at us.

Kiara licks her lips, trying to figure out how to make whatever she’s about to say sound nice. “If it helps you believe.” And she has failed.

Taylor offers, “We don’t know what this feels like for you. But you’re not exactly helping us figure it out.”

“I don’t know a therapy session, okay?” He demands. “I’m not trippin’ out.”

JJ quietly says, “It’s okay to trip, bro, but-”

“Look, my-” His voice breaks. “My dad is missing, okay?” My eyes cast to the floor when he looks back. “Missing. You don’t know what it’s like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened.” Taylor’s knee bumps mine, causing me to look up. She meets my eyes and I start to wonder if she knows what I went through. “Just wake up every morning… wondering.”

I almost wish I could have that hope for Jake. I wouldn’t have gotten put into a mental hospital because no one believed me that he was killed and not by himself. I would still have hope that he is out there instead of knowing - instead of feeling and remembering - exactly how he died.

“It’s been almost a year,” Kiara states softly.

“Hey, he could have been kidnapped,” JJ adds suddenly. “That’s definitely a possibility.”

Slowly but surely, the others start to put their own ideas of what could have happened into the van. Their voices not really overlapping but still starting to get overwhelming.

“Can we please stop?” I ask quietly, pressing my fingers to my temple. I can feel everyone except for John B look at me and I keep my head down as my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

Kiara asks, “What do you think the clue is?”

“Redfield,” John B answers seamlessly. “Redfield lighthouse. That’s my dad’s favorite place.”

He pulls into the lot outside of the lighthouse and parks the van. Once the others are out, I follow. JJ offers me his hand as if I’m too short to get out of the van without help.

“Seriously?” I question.

JJ glances behind me and I suddenly remember Taylor’s presence. Before I step down to get out of her way, John B slams his door shut, causing her to fall forward and into me. I stumble out of the van, grabbing JJ’s arms frantically until my feet are on the solid ground.