I'm here // JJ Maybank

21

The group all sat around the fire that the boys made and waited for the big news. JJ had told Amelia on the way here that they were back in the g-game but refused to give any more details.
"Hey. Guys. So like my dads already gonna kill me. So what's this mandatory meeting about?" Pope asked. Amelia looked at john B who sent finger guns to JJ. She looked at the blonde who sat closely next to her waiting for some sort of explanation.
"Might as well tell him, man. Before we're gaffed" JJ said
"Gaffed? What?" Amelia said confused looking at JJ concerned. He nodded his head at her not helping at all.
"You ready for this?" John B spoke.
"Yeah." Kie confirmed also very confused.
"So the gold never went down with the royal merchant." Amelia groaned and looked at JJ disappointed. He held up one finger, telling her to wait.
"Oh my god. Here we go again with this." Pope also groaned.
"No. All right, wait. Here him out, all right?" JJ said to his two friends.
"its been here the whole time. It's on the island." He said proudly.
"Are you serious?" Kie said with her eyes wide "oh my god" she continued. Amelia was not as convinced. She looked at John B unamused, not wanting to go down that path again.
"I'd like to voice my skepticism." Pope said
"Me too" amelia added.
"I'm sure you guys would, but can I please present you with my evidence?" John B said standing up. Amelia looked at pope who looked back at her. She shrugged her shoulders and Pope gave him the go ahead,
"Proceed" He said.
"All right, so in my backpack, i have a letter from Denmark Tanny" He said pulling out a piece of paper.
"Who's the hells that?" Amelia interrupted. John B looked at her and pointed
"Denmark Tanny was a slave that survived the Royal Merchant wreck. Check this out." He said passing the paper to Kie first.
"What?" She questioned, grabbing the paper and looking it over.
"Okay, slaves weren't mentioned as crew members on the ship, but my dad, he found the complete manifest. That was his big discovery. So Tanny used the gold from the merchant to buy his freedom." Kie whistled and handed Amelia the paper. Her and Pope looked it over together, which ended up being unhelpful because it was gibberish.
"After that, he bought his farm. Drumroll please, because that farm is..." they all (except pope who was still looking at the letter) patted their legs for the big reveal.
"Tanny hill plantation." He said. They all stopped slapping their legs. Amelia couldn't have been more lost.
"Tanny hill?" Kie exclaimed.
"Yeah. So, after that, he used his money to free even more slaves, and then he sold a shit-ton of rice, which pisses off all the white planters, and then they decide to lynch him."
"That's fucked up" Amelia whispered to JJ.
"So on the day they were coming to get him, he writes a letter to his son as a farewell,and in the last line of that letter he leaves a coded message about where to find the gold."
"Where" Kie whispers with a goofy grin.
"harvest the wheat in parcel nine, near the water. Except, there's no wheat. You see, wheat is code for gold. Check this out."
"So this is where he's been." Amelia said shaking her head at this whole discovery. John B grabbed the letter from pope and pointed at the drawing.
"The gold is in parcel nine near the water." He said handing the letter back to Pope.
"Holy shit" kie said.
"Oh damn" Amelia said, now understanding.
"All we need is an original survey map of the property and we've found the gold!" Amelia looked at JJ who was smiling big at his best friend. He stood up and marched his way over to John B, engulfing him in a hug.
"Okay, so this might have a small chance of being actually true." Pope admitted reluctantly.
"Dude its like king tut." Kie said.
"An original map is probably on google no? Easy last step." Amelia said to Kie who nodded excitedly.
"I am a genius oh woah! Hello fire! You're near the fire." John B said to JJ as he lifted him into the air.
"J you're gonna burn" Amelia said looked at how close he stood. He placed john B down but held him close.
"I'm so proud of your right now" he said to JB
"Thank you, that's really sweet of you."
"Okay, so, guys. What's the plan?" Pope asked.
"We need a map" Amelia said
"Good question. Sarah Cameron's coming tonight. She'll bring an original survey map-" Amelias jaw dropped at the quick name drop and looked at kie who also looked taken aback.
"Wait wait hold on. Sarah? Wh-why Sarah?" She said. JJ joined Amelia once again and wrapped his arm around her.
"Oh this is gonna be great" he said pulling her close
"Sarah, um she— she got me into the archives in chapel hill yesterday, and that's where I got the letter" John B said, all the confidence he once had now out the window.
"Oh he's macking Sarah!" Amelia whisper shouted to JJ
"You were in Chapel Hill with Sarah Cameron?" Amelia looked amused at John B, ready to hear whatever bullshit he was about to spew.
"yeah um-"
"He was mackin' on her" JJ said fueling the fire
"I wasn't macking."
"You were totally macking Sarah Cameron" JJ shut him down
"Oh yeah, and what exactly have you two been up to huh?" John B said defensively.
"Don't change the subject" Amelia said, also deflecting her and JJ from any topic of discussion.
"I wasn't macking on her okay? I was using her for access."
"There was access all right." JJ said under his breath. Amelia couldn't help but to laugh. Pope watched this whole interaction with an amused grin.
"Did you tell her about the treasure?" Kie asked, still mad mad. Amelia was not fond of the idea of Sarah being involved, but Kie and Sarah have some kind of history.
"I was trying to get into the archives!" John B pleaded
"Is that a yes?" She shouted back.
"I left out key details"
"Yo, what? You let a kook in on our secret? What about pogue life? What about the t-shirt company, bro?"
"I was just using her for information.
"Why don't I believe you?" The rest of the group fell silent, figuring these two needed to hash this out on their own.
"I'm trying to make us filthy rich here. Okay, so that we can pay off a boat, or - or, uh send you to autopsy school to study dead bodies." He said bringing innocent pope into it
"Look you guys know me. Do i look like the type of person to fall for Sarah Cameron?
"Uh"
"Do you want us to answer that, or-"
"One hundred percent" amelia said confidently.
"Amelia. Just just stop." He said mainly to her but also to all three of them.
"Look you don't know her yet. I do! You can't trust her"
"Her brother did hit me in the back with a gold club." Pope said.
"Rafe and Sarah are different human beings. Mel remember after the party? You said you guys hung out." John B said turning his attention to the girl.
"Yeah we did briefly." Amelia said, she looked at kie who sent her an angry look,
"But it was an awful night for both of us so..." Amelia trailed off trying to not upset the girl.
"What did she do to you, exactly?" JJ asked kie
"Great question J" Amelia said also turning her attention to kie.
"She's like a - like a spitting cobra. First, she- she blinds you, and then-" Kie started to explain but immediately lost JJ and Amelia.
"This is a bad analogy" pope said
"Listen to me! Whatever we get, she's gonna try to take" Kie said. Amelia took a deep breath and looked at JJ. She rested her head on JJs shoulder, a headache formed from the bickering, and from the alcohol she had consumed earlier.
—
The group eventually pulled up to where they were meeting Sarah. Amelia at this point was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.
"Hit it, boys! We're goin' recon mission." JJ said opening the back door.
"Yo, uh.. so, uh I think I'm gonna do this one by myself... tonight" John B said looking back at everyone. Kie rolled her eyes and amelia just nodded, honestly was glad to hear it.
"Really?" JJ said
"What?"
"Nothing brother" He said adjusting his hat and reclaiming his spot next to Amelia
"I don't want to spook Sarah with the peanut gallery."
"I take offense to that." Amelia said.
"I just don't understand why we're involving her at all." Kie started again.
"Kie, we're not involving her, okay? It's-its just like a business meeting.. thing" John B said. JJ started to mimic a blow job with his joint next to Amelia who just looked at the boy disgusted.
"Look once we get what we need we cut her loose, all right? Plus we need the map."
"Hm sure" Amelia said nodding her head
"Promise me nothings happening between you two."
"Nothing is happening, kie" he said not looking at her.
"I'm being serious."
"Okay!"
"This isn't about you, and this isn't about us. This is about her. Dude she's gonna get inside your head. Just promise me nothing's happening between you guys." Amelia honestly started to feel bad for kie and was growing frustrated with John B.
"i promise" John B said, there was an awkward silence before JJ spoke
"That was really believable."
"A hundred percent believable"
"I mean I'm fooled"
"Anyways, I'm gonna take care of business."
"You're gonna take care of it so well" JJ said
"Make sure you bring protection to this business meeting JB" Amelia added
"We'll just sit here in the hot ass car" pope said. John B exited the car and left them all sitting there.
"Well this is fun" Amelia said awkwardly.
"Kiara, holding onto your grudge is like drinking poison and thinking Sarah's gonna die" pope said, quite a beautiful way of putting it. Amelia patted JJs legs, motioning for him to let her get up. She stepped outside of the van to stretch her legs and to prevent herself from falling asleep while they wait for john B to return.
"Hey you good?" JJ asked coming up from behind him.
"Yeah, I'm about to fall asleep and its much cooler out here" she said leaning against a tree that was out of view from where Kie and Pope were. JJ walked over to her and stopped so that they were nearly inches apart.
"Whatcha doing?" Amelia questioned the boy
"Ive been thinking" He started
"Thats new for you" Amelia said poking his side.
"You know i have a lot of thoughts, but they are just too complex"
"Oh really. Okay what were you thinking about?"
"Us." He said catching amelia off guard.
"What about us?" She asked, wanting to confirm they were on the same page.
"You know what." He said sheepishly
"Hmm. Ive been thinking too" she said
"Oh yeah?"
"Do you wanna sleep over tonight?" She said with a telling smile. He raised his eyebrows, his mind spiraling at the offer. He always sleeps over, but this invitation felt.. different.
"I do" he said
"Good." She said. She pushed herself off the tree and made her way back to the van, leaving JJ in the darkness.
"Where were you?" Kie asked as Amelia came back into view.
"Trying to prevent myself from falling asleep. I need to change my clothes and wash my face stat." She said leaning on the frame of the van. Kie and Pope resumed their conversation, but it was cut short by the sounds of shouted in the distance.
"Guy shh do you hear that?" Amelia said ushering for the others to shut up.
"Hear what?" JJ asked. The sound of Sarah incoherently yelling sounded out.
"Oh yeah I hear that" they all took off running as fast as they could towards the direction of Sarah's voice. Once they neared the Hawks nest they could faintly make out sarah kneeling on the ground and John B lying still. Amelia gasped at the sight of John B laying unconscious on the ground.
"Sarah what happened?" Pope asked running up to the scene.
"I don't know what to do. He needs help. Topper shoved him." Sarah sobbed out.
"Where the hell is he!"Amelia looked over at JJ who was fuming. She grabbed his hand, mainly for his comfort, but also for hers.
"Please please please get help. I don't care who. Just call someone." Sarah said. Pope went off running back to the van to get a phone. Amelia couldn't bring herself to look at John B's body anymore, she shoved her face in JJs chest and he held the back of her head. Tears streamed down her face and onto his shirt. John B had to be okay.
"Pope hurry!" Kie called out.
"John B stay with me" Sarah said, Amelia turned her head to look at John B again, to double check that this was actually happening. When she turned around she saw Sarah place a kiss to John Bs lips. There was a lot of emotions happening already, and that was the least of the problems. JJ pulled Amelias head back into his chest.
"He's okay, he's gonna be okay." He whispered to her.
"Please don't leave me" she heard Sarah say. A ting of anger coursed through her and she felt the urge to slap the girl. if JJ wasn't holding her so tight she probably would.
"Pope! Come on!" JJ yelled making Amelia jump at the sudden shouting. It felt like forever before Pope came back saying that an ambulance was on the way. Amelia built up the courage and knelt down next to John B. He was breathing, but just looked like he was sleeping. She pushed his hair back and held his hand.
"I'm so sorry" Sarah cried.
"It's not your fault" Amelia said softly, not taking her eyes off of John B. Eventually the ambulance came and Sarah insisted on going with him so that her dad can cover any medical bills. Amelia wanted to kill her, but they all knew none of them were going to be any help. The rest of the group got back into the van silently. JJ drove and Amelia sat in the front with him. They dropped of Kie and Pope at their houses and made their way back to Amelias house. Once they got there Amelia stared at the chateau.
"He's gonna be fine. it's john B" JJ said coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
"He better be. I'll kill him" Amelia said leaning her head back into his shoulder. They stood like that for a while before Amelia started to get in her head.
"Are you still thinking?" She asked him
"More than I ever had before" JJ sighed.
"Me too" She said turning around to look at him. Behind JJ Amelia could see her living room light go on, followed by the front door opening.
"What are you weirdos doing?" Connor said stepping outside. The pair created a respectable amount of distance between them and looked at the older boy.
"John B is in the hospital." JJ told Connor. You could tell Connor was barely awake because his reaction was very delayed.
"huh?" He said
"Topper pushed his off of hawks nest." Amelia filled him in.
"Is he alive?" Connor asked half serious.
"Yeah, the paramedics said he probably broke some things through." Amelia said.
"Oh then get your asses in the house and stop being weird." Connor said disappearing back into the house. amelia and JJ looked at each other and broke out into laughter.
"I think its well past our bedtime" Amelia said starting to walk towards the house.
"I could've stayed up" JJ mumbled to himself, slightly disappointed. They both made their way inside and to Amelias bedroom. JJ quietly shut the door behind him and took his spot on her bed, Amelia went to her closet and grabbed out a fresh T-shirt for JJ and some shorts for him.
"Here" She said and tossed them at him. He peeled off his shirt and Amelia let her eyes wander down his torso. He put on the new shirt and then took off his cargo shorts leaving him in his boxers. Amelia turned around and grabbed some clothes for herself. She couldn't be more excited to take this dress off. She tried to reach behind to unzipper the back, but couldn't reach the backing.
"J can you help me" she said turning to see the now fully clothed boy. He walked over and she turned around. He pushed her hair over one shoulder and slowly unzippered her dress. His hands lingered once he finished, trying to map out his next move. With all the thoughts that raced through his head, the only thing he could muster up was,
"All set" he said and went back to the bed. JJ wasn't the only one who's thoughts were racing though. Amelia felt cold once his hands removed themselves from here back, even more once he walked away. Amelia let the dress fall down to the ground, leaving her back bare and in her underwear. She couldn't see JJ's reaction, but she could basically feel his eyes burning into her. He sat on the bed, mouth agape staring at the girl in front of him. She grabbed her oversized t-shirt and pulled it over her body. She switched off the light and joined JJ in her bed.
"Goodnight" she said softly as she got comfortable in bed. JJ adjusted himself and laid flat on his back, rerunning the beautiful image that is still fresh in his mind. Amelia eventually fell fast asleep, but JJ stayed awake playing every situation in his head, trying to figure out to do about his insanely strong crush on his best friend.