One of Two // JJ Maybank

the runaway: one

the next morning and afternoon went by pretty smoothly, jj went back to john b's after sleeping at my place for the night. i tried to look for john b but i couldn't find him.

dad had told me about what happened with john b and i was off the rest of the day. so, i hung out with sarah for the evening and ended up falling asleep in her room. while we were sleeping, i heard the door open and footsteps come to the edge of the bed.

me and sarah both looked up to see john b, glaring at us angrily. i looked down to john b's hand to see a gun hidden ever so slightly. "why do you have a gun?" i asked worriedly.

john b's eyes had tears in them. "did you two tell your dad about the gold?" he asked simply.

sarah shook her head quickly. "where's that coming from." she whispered.

"answer the question." john b said angrily. "about the gold."

we both shook our heads. "no, we didn't." sarah replied.

john b breathed heavily. "then how'd he know, hm?" he asked quietly.

he then grabbed me and sarah, both startling us and gasping. "ow, john b." i whined and sarah did the same thing.

his face got closer to ours as we were terrified. "if life outside the bubble wrap scary for you two?" he questioned.

"sarah, spencer!" i heard dad shout from below.

i looked towards sarah who had the same look in her eyes. john b grabbed our arms and took us outside and behind the bushes where no one could see us. "your dad... killed my father." he said as soon as we were outside. my eyebrows furrowed together and so did sarah's as he continued. "i need you guys to listen to me. look, i think they were working togetherto find the royal merchant. there was some sort of conflict, and nobody knows what happened to my dad besides scooter grubbs."

"stop." sarah said, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"look, he was apart of this, okay?" john b whispered, looking at me. i shook my head. "i figured it out on the boat, your guys' dad tried to kill me."

i scoffed and shook my head. "he wouldn't hurt anyone!" i said defensively. "he told us you stabbed him."

john b furrowed his eyebrows. "what are you talking about?" he replied. "he killed my father."

sarah looked disassociated and grabbed my hand, stepping back from john b. "we don't believe you." she said. "no, you're a liar!" he tried to grab both of us as we tried to escape from his grasp. "get off of us!" she shouted.

we heard our back door open with our dad calling for us worriedly. "spencer, sarah!" he shouted, looking around frantically.

me and sarah ran towards the back, getting away from john b quickly. "spencer! sarah! ward, they're right here." rose came running up to us, scanning us for injuries as they led us back inside.

dad made us go into his office and sit on the couch. me and sarah both had tears running down our faces. i didn't know how to feel when john b told us that our dad killed his. it was a mess. "john b was here, wasn't he?" he asked us both.

sarah shook her head and sniffled. "no." she mumbled.

"girls, please don't lie to me." he said frantically.

i scoffed. "okay, then don't lie to us." i argued. "tell us what happened on the boat!"

"girls!" dad shouted at us. "i wanted to take the boy fishing. you saw that, alright? i did it because the boy needed a father figure." he explained. "so, out we go, and it was great. it was." i bit my lip and turned to sarah who was glaring at our father. i furrowed my brows as he continued. "and then he just starts... drinking,and then, at a certain part, he starts accusing me of these...insane things." i pinched the bridge of my nose. "and the more i try to calm him down,the angrier he gets, till finally, he attacks me!"

sarah scoffed and shook her head. "john b wouldn't do that." she argued. "even spencer knows he wouldn't."

dad looked over to me with a look and i shrugged. "sarah's right. john b wouldn't randomly attack someone out of the blue." i defended.

i watched as dad paced back and forth, putting his hands on his hips as me and sarah watched. "you two don't believe this?" he asked, lifting up his sleeve to see where john b 'attacked' him. i looked away immediately. "do you want to see the one on the deck of the druthers?" me and sarah both rubbed the temples on our heads. yelling gave us both headaches. guess we got those genes.

"stop!" sarah shouted, covering her face.

i did the same, looking up. "please, just please stop yelling." i said, before looking back down.

i heard dad exhale before he knelt down before me and sarah. "i'm sorry, girls." he apologized. "i don't mean to yell. john b is not who he says he is okay?" i looked up with a confused look as sarah did the same. "i mean, if you heard the crazy things he was saying on that boat."

sarah sniffled. "like what?" she asked with a demanding manor.

"like i killed his father." dad said with no empathy. "did he tell you two that?" he looked to me. "spencer, did he tell you?" me and sarah stayed silent as he sighed and faced sarah. "i know you have feelings for john b, and i know how strong that can be, especially at you two's age... but, sarah, he's dangerous right now."

sarah's face was puffy from crying and so was mine. i felt terrible for her. "i don't know what would happen if you made him angry, and i just can't have that." he added, then looked at me. "i need you two to promise that you'll stay completely away from him, and to stay here until this whole thing blows over."

i didn't say anything, but sarah stood up and grabbed my hand, making me stand as well. "no." sarah replied. "we need to be alone. i think that's what's best."

dad sighed again as me and sarah walked out of the office and into the kitchen to grab snacks. "do you think dad was telling the truth?" i asked quietly.

sarah shuffled around, grabbing some chips and strawberries. "i don't even know what to believe anymore." she answered. "we have two people telling us opposite stories, and nothing is adding up."

i nodded, grabbing two cups and a liter of soda as we walked upstairs to spend the rest of the night with each other.