I'm here // JJ Maybank

12

I woke up on the hammock in the backyard. On the opposite end laid JJ who was still sound sleep.
Today we all have work, so decided push off testing out the drone to tomorrow. The night before me and the boy had fallen asleep outside but only me and JJ were left. I tried to get up as slow as possible to not wake the sleeping boy. Kind of an impossible task on a hammock bc the second I put my feet to the ground the whole thing tipped to my side and caused JJ to roll over, almost falling off.
"Morning" I said brushing his hair out of his face. He groaned and tried to get comfortable again.
"You should probably get up bud" I say fully standing up now that he's awake.
"No" he said throwing his arm over his eyes.
"You have work. And so do I so I have to go get ready. If your still out here when I'm done I'm gonna kill you" I say because knowing him he will sleep through his shift. I leave him and walk over to my house to go get changed. I take a quick shower to refresh my curls and throw on my uniform. I look at the clock and see that I have an hour until I have to be at work so I quickly pack up some clothes for the party tonight as well. I'm working a double so I've left a note for Andrew to let him know that I'll meet him there.
Once I'm ready I walk out the back door and see that JJ is still asleep on the hammock. He starts work in 40 minutes so he also needs to get a move on. I walk over the hammock and push it slightly making him roll off and land face first onto the ground.
"I warned you" I say staring at him. He lays there still not saying a word.
"Cmon get up" I say going over to him and grabbing his arm.
"Mel I am gonna kill you" he says still face down in the ground.
"I'd love to see it. Now cmon you have 20 minutes before you have to go" he lets me pull him up to his feet. His eyes look so tried but he is still sending daggers with his stare. I shake my head and push him toward the chateau to go get ready. He slowly makes his way, dragging his feet with each step.
"I'll see you tonight." I say walking towards my bike.
"Wait tonight? You don't want me to get you after work?" He says now fully alert. I realize that I never told JJ about the party.
"Yeah I'm uh going to a party tonight. Andrew invited Me" I say timidly. JJ raises his eyebrows and looks at the ground. I just know he wants to scold me already.
"Your going to a kook party? With Andrew?" He said very judgmentally.
"Yeah. He came into the wreck and invited me. Thought it may be fun. I don't know. I could just leave if it's not." I say feeling weird about going all the sudden. I want to go but the way that JJ is looking at me right now is making me feel stupid.
"You do you I guess" he says and walks into the chateau, letting the back door smack against the frame. I watch him disappear into the house and let out a big sigh.
—-
Work goes by slow, but at least Kiara is here today. I get about $70 in tips by the time my shift is over, enough for get some food at least. I go to the bathroom and change into a white tank, shorts, and an orange bra that peaks out the bottom a bit.
"How do I look?" I ask kie giving her a twirl.
"Gorgeous as always." She says smiling at me.
"Ok well I guess I should get going." I say giving her a nervous smile. She stands behind the counter rolling silverware and looks at me knowingly.
"Please be careful. I'll be at John Bs for a while but you can always run to my house if the kooks spook you okay?" She says. I roll my eyes and smile at her. I pull her into a side hug and plant a big kiss to her cheek.
"I know mom. I'll be safe. Love you" I say and skip my way out of the wreck and back onto my bike. The trip is kinda far, but the breeze of the night air and the silence calms me.
Now, I used to go to every party on the island religiously, but the pogues intervened and told me I was being destructive or what not. I may have been, but I'm my defense partying and hooking up with people felt a lot better than sitting in my empty home wondering where my parents went.
Me going tonight is nothing like that though, which I don't think they understand

It's not hard to find the house once I get into the neighborhood. Cars are parked all the way down the street and loud music can be heard coming from the backyard. A few people are in the front yard, but not many. None that I recognize anyways. I walk through the house and try to find at least someone I know. I spot Andrew talking to Topper and Sarah near the drink table. Just perfect. I turn around and see a unclaimed bottle of vodka sitting on a table. I check to make sure no one has spotted me. I crouch down behind a nearby couch and grab the bottle and take a long sip. I'm gonna need some liquid courage to go into that group.
"Slow down there tiger" I hear from behind me. I turn around and see the three have made their way over to me. I choke slightly on the liquid and look up at them. I smile sheepishly.
"Hey! Crazy seeing you guys here" I say standing up and fully acknowledging them. Andrew wraps his arm around my shoulder catching me off guard. Sarah looks between the two of us and raises her eyebrows at me, and I do the same to her.
"Amelia is making a comeback I see" topper says gesturing to the bottle that's still in my hands.
"Who said she ever left. Want some?" I say and hold the bottle to them. They both shake their head. They've always been so boring. I take another sip and then pass it to Andrew who then also takes a sip. I stare proudly as he pulls away and makes a disgusted face from the burning alcohol.
"Ok I'm gonna show Miss.Amelia around." He says pulling us away from the couple. I don't bother smiling at them I just let him pull me.
"I got nervous when you weren't home" he said as we walk through the giant house.
"I'm sure. You got my note though right?" I say hoping he didn't think I blew him off until just now.
"Yeah. And your crew was in the backyard. Friendly people" he says sarcastically. God I hope they didn't say anything too bad.
"Yeah, well not a good track record between us and you guys" I say and he nods.
"Well I guess you and me are different then." He says letting me go and standing in front of me.
"I guess so." I say. He continues to show me around and then eventually we stop and get a drink. I make conversation with some other girls I know from school while Andrew goes and talks to some of his guy friends. At this point the alcohol is starting to take effect and i am extremely social-able. I walk myself over to where Andrew is talking to his friends and wrap my arms around his waist.
"Hey there" he says draping his arm around my shoulder.
"Amelia, haven't seen you at one of these in a while." Rafe says smirking at me. My face drops when I realize he was in this circle of people. I stand up straight and shrug at him.
"I brought some coke if you want. Could be like old times." He says holding way too intense of eye contact.
"I'm good but thanks for being oh so generous." I say sarcastically.
"Fix me one" Andrew says. He releases me and goes to sit on the couch. I stand behind the couch and watch Rafe use a credit card to form a thin white line with the powder. Andrew takes a rolled up dollar bill and plugs one nostril, he snorts the powder and pulls back. He wipes his nose and sniffles then throws his hands in the air. Borderline ick right now.
"HELL YEAH" he says standing and high-fiving Rafe.
"Ames you sure? I got one this one just for you" Rafe says winking at me. Anxiety stars to fill my chest as I look at the powder.
"No Rafe" I spit out before the pushover side of me could get a chance to speak.
"Hey come with me" Andrew whispers in my ear. Rafes gaze still fixed on me and I nodded my head and let Andrew take my hand. He pulled me through the house once again but this time he brought me into an empty room. I walk in and hear the door close and lock behind me. I nervously chuckle at the awkwardness in the room. I feel Andrews hand find their way to my waist, pulling me back to him. He trails his hand from my waist to my arm and takes the drink out of my hand, placing it on the nightstand. He guides me to the bed and sits, pulling me onto his lap. I let him, not finding any words. I don't want to do this, but I feel like my ability to speak has been taken away. Andrew continues to feel all over my body then quickly moves in to kiss me. I kiss him back as we quickly start to make out. My mind is racing, not out of lust or desire, but of anger at myself for doing this again. I guess this party is the same after all. My subconscious helps out and I place my hands on his shoulders and push myself back.
"Sorry. I uh," I shake my head no letting out an awkward laugh and he doesn't say anything. He just looks up at the ceiling annoyed.
"We should just go back out to the party" I say standing up. He scoffs and shakes his head.
"Your kidding right." He says now looking straight at me with furrowed brows. My hands shake as I fiddle with my bracelets, I feel anything but powerful for saying no in the moment.
"Did I do something? Is it me? Because according to everyone else you normally just hand it out within the first 10 minutes. So what's the problem?" He says now fully standing up. I look to my left and see a bathroom, I quickly walk in there and close the door behind me putting my back to it. My breathing is unsteady and my heart rate is accelerated. I can hear him on the other side of the door pacing, which only makes my nerves worse. I continue to listen to him, waiting for him to calm down or even leave. I hear a plastic bag crinkle and then pop open. I slightly crack the door open to see what he is doing and catch him dropping something into my drink and swirling it around. All the nerves in my body are replaced with adrenaline. I fully push open the door and watch him scramble to hide whatever he just put in my drink.
"What was that?" I say pointing to my drink.
"Nothing. It was nothing. Cmon let's go back out there" he says picking up my drink and handing it to me.
"What did you put in this?" I say holding my drink out to him.
"What are you talking about? I didn't put anything in your drink. Can we go now?" He says avoiding eye contact.
"Drink it then" I challenge.
"Stop acting psycho okay. Let's just go have a good time." He says trying to wrap his arms around my waist again. I throw my drink in his face and he stumbles back in shock.
"How fucking dare you. You are a piece of shit Andrew." I shout in his face. He clenches his jaw and shakes his head, letting the liquid drip all over the floor. I push him out of my way and he falls onto the bed. I don't even know if he's following me as I storm out of the house and to the front. I pass rafe and topper on the couch still obsessing over his fucking cocaine.
"Ames you change your mind?" Rafe calls out to me. Topper throws his head back after snorting a line and gives his head a little shake.
"Go fuck yourself rafe" I say not slowing down at all. I make it to the front yard and it's finally semi quite. I take a deep breath and wipe the tears off my cheek that fallen without me realizing. I hear sniffling to my left and see Sarah Cameron sitting on the curb crying.
I look around and see it's just us. I make my way over to her and plop my ass right next to her on the curb.
"Fun night?" I ask her. She looks at me and rolls her eyes. I probably deserve that response.
"What do you want Amelia" she says.
"Your crying on the curb alone. Just wanted to check in" I say. She analyses my face and I watch her do so.
"You were crying too" she points out.
"I guess we both had fun nights. What happened to you?" I say sending my gaze forward.
"Why do you care?" She scoffs. Damn she is not letting us have a girl to girl moment.
"Because maybe your situation will make me feel better about mine." I say joking. She obviously didn't find this funny and stood up abruptly.
"Ok ok sorry. I'm just trying to be nice" I say reaching out and lightly grabbing her wrist. I really am not ready to go to John Bs and face all the 'I told you sos'. She huffs and sits back down next to me, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"I told topper I wanted to sleep with him, but then I backed out cause it's my first time and I was scared and he got mad." Sarah said holding her head in her hands. Men truly are trash I guess. . I hated topper before and this just solidifies that. I'm honestly not surprised either, seems to run in the friend group.
"I'm sorry. Trust me, you won't regret waiting. I wish I did." I say truthfully. "Andrew tried to hook up with me, but I said no. He then slipped something into my drink and told me that I'm the one who's supposed to be easy." I said feeling the tears welt back up in my eyes. Sarah's story didn't make me feel better about my own. In fact it made me feel envious of her, she has more strength saying no than I do.
"That's awful Amelia. You should report him for real" she says as if it's that easy.
"Yeah just to be told that it's my fault, that I lead him on or whatever. He's right though, I have a track record." I'm not ashamed of how many guys I've hooked up with, it's actually quite impressive. I just hate when they use that fact against me for their benefit, as if it is something I should be ashamed of.
"I'll help you." She continues. I look at Sarah, completely shocked by how genuine she sounds. This isn't the kook princess I've been pinned against my whole life. I stand up before this newly blossomed acquaintance becomes real.
"Thank you Sarah, but I'm a pogue. No one will care, trust me... And do yourself a favor and leave Topper. He's a shit person. Get home safely okay?" I say starting to walk away.
"Thanks Ames. You too" she calls out. I grab my bike and head back to Chateau, mentally preparing for snarky comments from my friends.