Wild Heart | Jiara

Chapter 24

"Ew, look at my face in this picture." Pope leans over to see the selfie I took not even five seconds ago. "I try to be cute and then these pictures give me a reality check." I'm not looking at him, but I'll bet everything I own that he's shaking his head right now.

"You know you're beautiful Kiara. Stop it." I turn away from my phone to see him resume playing Mario Kart. "Now if you could be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate." I roll my eyes and go back to taking selfies.

Summer is coming to a close. School starts again in two weeks. Normally that would be a total bummer, but this summer hasn't exactly been one for the record books. I almost lost my best friend, we fought so much. But then again it wasn't all bad. I started dating a guy that I never thought at all I would fall for. There's a certain freedom I feel with him that I've never experienced before. I've talked to him about going on a road trip, but with school right around the corner, I know my dad won't let that fly. He is starting to warm up to J though, that's progress. They aren't best friends or anything, but he doesn't hover that much anymore whenever he comes over.

I hear a text message come through and smile assuming it's J. I furrow my brows when I see it's my dad telling me to be home for dinner. That's weird. He's usually still at The Wreck at that time. I don't give it any further thought and tell him I'll be home soon. I sigh and lay back on the bed. Pope is still concentrating on the game, so I open Instagram. I immediately click on JJ's story and see that he's at John B's smoking a blunt. He asked me if I wanted to go with him, but I decided to spend some time with my best friend. All of my free time is spent with JJ, so I don't want to neglect Pope even more than I already have. I click 'like' on Sarah's recent mirror selfie that she posted. I spend a few more minutes going through Instagram before checking the time and deciding I should head home before my dad starts calling me.

"Hey Pope, my dad insists that I be home for dinner. So, I'm about to head out." I sit up and see him pause the game.

"I feel like I hardly see you anymore. Promise we'll hang out again soon?" he gets up to stretch.

I smile at my best friend. "I promise I'll come over again soon. School starts soon and we'll be seeing each other every day anyway. How about you give me another surf lesson when we see each other again? I'm choosing to forget the fact that the first round went so terrible."

He chuckles. "I do admit I started losing patience with you after a while. I'll be better this time since I know what to expect."

I roll my eyes and raise my middle finger. "You're the worst teacher ever. But I can't help but keep coming back for more." I stand up and slip my flip flops on. I walk towards Pope and give him a hug. "Love you. I'll text you after dinner."

"Love you. See you later." He sits back down and starts another round of Mario Kart.

I say goodbye to the Heywards as I'm leaving the house. I smile to myself as I get inside my car. I don't bother with the aux cord and just let the radio play this time. I automatically switch to J's favorite station. He's been really into Reggae lately and it's starting to rub off on me. It's all we listen to whenever we're in his car.

I'm pulling into my driveway quicker than I expected. I grab my phone and lock the door after I'm outside my car. I take my time walking up the steps to the front porch and set my keys down in the bowl once inside the house.

"Dad?" I get no response and check the kitchen. The kitchen is empty, but I see the back door is slightly ajar. I head that direction and see my dad sitting in a lounge chair but he's not alone. I've just placed my hand on the doorhandle when I see my mom sitting in the chair beside him.