The Cool Kids - JJ Maybank

JJ Takes the Fall

My walk home physically is uneventful; but mentally exhausting. My thoughts are shifting between thinking about the missing gold and the way everything my brother and Tasha worked for... is gone. More so than I realized until I'm downstairs.

My blood runs cold. My heart drops as I take in the empty secret room. All of Jake's notes; all of Tasha's comments; every piece of them is gone from the walls, the tables. The only thing that seems to be intact as when I had left it is the bed. Cries want to come up and out but I can't seem to let anything go.

And then I notice the hair clip on the ground. I pick it up, knowing exactly who it belongs to. But this means that I hadn't been diligent enough when visiting down here. My mother must've seen me. Or my dad. Maybe even Dean. They'd all want to get rid of an area full of Jake - especially of Tasha - and must've been curious about where I've been going. They must've thought this is where I've been spending all my time. I suppose that's good in a way: they don't know that I've been hanging around the Pogues or that I've been helping them follow in Jake and John B's dad's footsteps or that I've been falling for JJ Maybank in my free time. All good things, I suppose.

Regardless, I lie on the top of Jake's bed, thinking over everything that's happened recently. I cuddle into his pillow and realize this is probably just the beginning of what's going to be taken from me because of what I've gotten into. I've already been injured. People are hunting my friends and I. All so I can continue what Jake started - what I got thrown into a mental hospital over, technically.

And, surprisingly, I don't have any regrets as I remember the good I've gained. Real friends. Freedom. Adventure. Closure.

. the cool kids .

You know, I go to Sarah Cameron's place for some peace and some food and somewhere away from my family drama only to be interrupted by Ward's angry calls and Sarah herself bursting into the kitchen in a panic while I'm trying to steal some of her food.

"Sarah, I was-" I frown as she quickly grabs a bottle of vodka, a first aid kit, and a washcloth. "What do you need those for?"

"John B is bleeding on my couch," she says, a little out of breath.

"He's what?"

I follow her into a nearby room and find myself staring at John B Routledge on one of the Cameron's couches as she sits next to him. "Uh, hi," he says, waving.

"Hi," I reply, waving back.

"Lift your shirt," Sarah tells him. He does so without question.

I see the blood. "Oh, my God. What the hell did you do?"

"It's complicated, Ghost, okay?"

"Complicated?"

"Yes." He breathes in when Sarah's fingers barely go over his skin. "Complicated." The way he looks at her is adorable in a gross way.

In a way, I don't want to have to watch. "I'm gonna go back to stealing your food, Sarah. Call me if you need anything. Or don't. I think John B will gladly fill any and all of your needs."

"Gwen!" Sarah exclaims while John B has almost the same tone when he says, "Ghost!"

"I'm just saying."

. the cool kids .

When Kiara invited me to the movie in the park, I knew it'd be a perfect excuse in case John B asked me to come along with him and Sarah for whatever they were planning on doing. Sure, I'd like to join in the Merchant plans he's probably got cooking but I also want to push the two of them closer. So, when he asks about it, I tell him I've got plans.