Heated Lies (Jiara)

Wake Up

"How do you know everything?"
His voice was small, and it matched the way he felt. He'd pick at his nails as he spoke, but it didn't reduce his anxiety in the slightest.

Shoupe avoided eye contact, choosing instead to look at the tally marks etched into the concrete. He wasn't sure how JJ would react, knowing it was Kiara that told him everything.

"It was obvious." He wasn't blatantly lying, it really was relatively obvious. But it was Kiara that had gotten him to see that.

"Really?" JJ's voice got weaker. "I swore I hid it well."

"A facade like this don't last forever." The man stood. "I can't sit here all night, son. I'll check on ya tomorrow morning."

JJ only nodded.

***

Kiara woke up extremely late. It was around twelve noon the next day when she heard the bus arrive at her home. She hadn't packed last night, that was for sure, but when she sat up, she knew her parents had done that for her.

"No, no, no, no, no..." She was whispering to herself, trying to get her brain to wake up.

There were two black suitcases near her bed frame, and an outfit laying on her desk chair. When she got closer, she saw a blue plaid skirt and a white button up.

She was convinced this had to be a dream. It was quite literally her worst nightmare. Then her mother was knocking on her door, sounding anything but happy.

"This is the last time I will call you, Kiara! You missed breakfast! The bus is here! GO!"

Her heart leaped into her throat. This was fucking real.

***

"How did things get so screwed up so fast?" Sarah sighed against her boyfriend.

"I don't know... I thought things were so normal. It's like an episode of Stranger Things, everything is crammed into one instance and I have no clue what's going on."

Pope thought about John B's description. It grew the ache that lie in the pit of his stomach.

"Why is no one talking about Kiara leaving?!" He might as well have yelled at them. "JJ's gone, Kiara's gone, and we're just sitting here doing nothing?"

"We're mourning." John B groaned. "R-I-fucking-P."

Now Pope was glaring at him. "So that's it?" His hand collided with the Routledge boy's chest, making Sarah sit up rather quickly.

"I'm sorry, do you have a million dollars in bail money laying around for JJ?" John B spat back. "You want to march into a girls school? What's the plan? Act gay??"

"Better than no plan at all!" Pope exclaimed. "We should at least try to earn some money for our guy. Then he can help us get Kiara."

"How are we gonna do that?" Sarah asked quietly. "My dad is kind of off limits as far as cash goes."

"Does Rafe still have drug money?" John B inquired.

"And why is getting a job off the table?" Pope pulled out his phone, quickly typing something while his two other friends watched.

"Y'all are both 16, right?"

They both nodded, and Pope continued typing. Within seconds, he'd had job applications up for them both.

"Yeah," Sarah took the phone from his hands, "but won't it take a while to earn that much money?"

"I really don't see any other option." John B looked apprehensive, so Pope sighed. "We'll keep brainstorming, until then, what's y'all's social security number?"

***

JJ waited a long time. Shoupe would check on him, and he hated that it was almost a comfort. It was becoming unbearable. He actually wanted tell Shoupe the truth, to show him the scars and bruises.

The thing was, he couldn't help but debate on the logic in his choice. He'd grown up defending his father. It was all he'd ever known.

Wether he liked it or not, snitching was a betrayal.

But he'd gotten close to calling Shoupe back over. Too close. Who but Luke himself walked through those doors, stopped both his actions and his heart.

Shoupe was already helping at the front counter, asking what he wanted and why he was there.

"Troublemaker of mine got close to confirmed custody, that right?" His voice was rough, but sober.

Something in JJ's throat really didn't feel right. He felt awfully sick. And then he met eye contact with the man that had quite literally ruined his life.

Luke didn't even look at his eyes, only the visible scars and his son's split lip. The boy's hand flew up to his chest, trying to subside the growing pressure there.

It wasn't working. Struggling to breathe came next, and now he was panicking. He backed into a corner just to try and press himself further into the wall.

Luke licked his lips pretty quickly, breaking his stare to look back at Shoupe. At that point, JJ could only make out a wheeze. It seemed like his short run was over.

Then the Sheriff was by his side, unlocking the cell door to stand him up right. Luke just watched, almost suspiciously, like he didn't believe what he saw.

Like he thought it was pathetic. JJ had no doubt in his mind that's exactly what he thought.

"Breathe, dammit!" Shoupe had harshly patted his back, unknowingly hitting a sore spot where Luke had kicked him.

Even Luke cringed at the boy's choked cry, but he was coughing afterwards, finally getting some air back into his lungs.

"You alright, son?" Shoupe broke JJ's thoughts, subconsciously pushing the man off him.

"Fucking fine." And his shell was back on. "Don't call me son."

JJ watched as he stood beside the student, sort of shocked at his change in attitude.

"You here to bail him out?" Shoupe actually sounded out of breath, turning back to his father.

The older Maybank didn't help matters. He shook his head no, looking like he'd had a terrible taste in his mouth.

"The fuck would I do that for? He'd never learn."

JJ didn't realize until much later that he'd had a panic attack. Silent tears shattered a lot of his anger, but he still found himself punching the walls until his knuckles bled.

Even as the station cleared out, and his frustrated yells died down, he had a deeper hatred for his own actions. And of course, that's when Shoupe came back.

"Son-"

He was still crying. He was sweating. He looked absolutely exhausted. There was only one difference, and it surprised Shoupe like nothing else. His shirt was on the floor.