𝙎𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙏𝙀 || jj maybank

twenty three.

『 tarnished, unworthy ! 』

* ‧̍̊˙· 𓆝.° 。˚𓆛˚。 °.𓆞 ·˙‧̍̊

SPENDING THE MORNING WITH HER FRIENDS WAS JUST WHAT LIV NEEDED. They had gotten up and ate breakfast together, and then all moved out to the yard. Liv sat with her knees pulled to her chest, watching wistfully as JJ waxed his surf board.

"That's a lot of wax on your board," Pope spoke up. "Put too much wax, and it's gonna be slippery."

JJ looked up from his work slowly. "Are you telling me how to wax my board, Pope?"

"I'm just saying that's a lot of wax—"

"No, no, no," JJ turned to face the boy. "You're telling me how to wax my board. You kidding me?"

"That's a colossal waste of wax," Pope shrugged.

The sound of a car horn interrupted the argument, making JJ perk up a bit. "Did you hear that?" The honking continued, and the teens all looked over to see the Twinkie pulling up. "Hold on. Am I dreaming?" JJ grabbed Liv's hand and pulled her out of her seat as they all looked over in complete shock.

John B jumped out of the van and skipped over to them, announcing, "Guess who's out the clink, boy!"

They all embraced, laughing as they celebrated their best friend coming back to them. "How'd you do it?" JJ asked as they broke apart. "You bust out?"

"Uh, they dropped the charges," John B says quietly, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh, so you're telling me I did all that work for nothing?" JJ furrowed his brows.

Liv just shook her head as JJ tried to argue with Pope and Kiara about how his plan was amazing, and took his hand in her own.

"Wait, where's Sarah?" John B's voice cuts through the air. "No... no, no. Where's Sarah?" He asks again, the smile wiped from his face.

"She went to go meet Wheezie last night. She didn't come back," Kiara admits.

An awkward silence erupts around them until JJ suggests they go out on the boat and just enjoy the day as they waited for Sarah to show up. Everyone agreed, and slowly made their way to the HMS Pogue.

They slowly start to converse again, albeit John B stays silent. JJ places a pair of sunglasses onto Liv's face so they rest on the bridge of her nose, then ruffles the top of her head. She pushes his hand away with a pout, but he just grins at her and sits down in the boat.

"So, Sarah just dips and doesn't call?" John B questions, clearly still confused as to why she left.

"Yeah, man. She just left her bag. Didn't tell anybody."

John B paces on the dock. "Okay, dude, I— I really think Ward got to her. I mean, the dude tried to have me killed in jail."

The Routledge boy's big news made each teen turn to look at him. "What?" Kiara said softly.