PAPER RINGS ༄ ❀ JJ MAYBANK & KIARA CARRERA

08.

           When they were able to leave the long boat ride, the four wasted no time in hurrying towards Charleston. the were in the same positions they were before, all squished together uncomfortably—especially Nadia was sandwiched between JJ and Kiara, her legs were crossed over each other once again to create more room for the rest.

she looked up from the letter Pope was sent, relieved at seeing the sign that indicated they were close. she may have been uncomfortable, but she was more bored. her bag that contained all the items to keep her occupied were on the back of the truck so it wasn't so cramped.

Kiara huffed in annoyance, brushing some hair out of her face "guys, i've read this thing like a thousand times and it still doesn't make any sense"

"i mean the Limbreys own like, half of Charleston." she continued, pursing her lips "what do the Kook kings of Charleston know about a murder on Kildare Island?"

"Yeah." JJ agreed with her "and why you specifically."

Nadia hummed, nodding her head along with them "i know, i mean Pope you are a very special person but this is very weird."

"please some alone?" Kiara read out with a look of disbelief "that's hella sus."

"i was thinking the same thing." Pope spoke up, agreeing with their suspicions "I think it's because—" the boys sentence was cut short by a loud hissing noise coming from the front of the truck.

"what was that?" Kiara asked, startled a little "Pope, pull over."

Nadia's eyes widened as smoke started to flow out of the hood, some coming in from the open windows "holy shit—that's a lot of smoke."

"Pope!" JJ started coughing, scrunching up his face "i've got sensitive lungs man!"

Nadia didn't have time to give him one of her weird looks as Pope sped into the grass on the side of the road. "i'm pulling over!" the Heyward boy declared, turning his wheel a little fast making a bumpy stop. Nadia seen something fly off the back in the corner of her eye but she didn't have time to see what it was.

Pope finally was able to acknowledged the amount of smoke coming from his fathers truck and panic started to flood through him as he stepped out quickly "no, no, no!"

"it's gonna blow up, it's gonna blow up!" Kiara repeated, tugging on Nadia's arm to make her come outside with her. both girls stood outside of the smokey truck, their arms intertwined as they watched wide eyed.

"it's not going to blow up." JJ said calmly to calm their nerves but let out a laugh at their panic expressions when passing them to go pick up the thing that fell off. "you probably unhooked the radiator, Pope."

"I haven't seen this before. You knocked the whole hubcap off." JJ mused, clapping his hands together with a smile as he picked up the piece that fell off the tire.

Nadia sighed, looking to her friend who stared at the truck in shock and utter disappointment "we probably won't make it to the meeting tonight, Pope."

Kiara shook her head "there's other options." she suggested "we could um...public transportation, or we could hitchhike, or possibly rent bikes."

Nadia grimaced, "i don't know how to ride a bike." she admitted, getting a weird look from Kiara "you can't right a bike?" Nadia shook her head truthfully making the girl smile a little "i'm going to have to teach you."

Nadia smiled at her before looking to JJ who was checking out what was wrong under the hood. "Yeah...it's the radiator." he confirmed taking a close look.