JJ and a Routledge

Skool Skipping

I groan and roll onto my stomach as something scratches me on the cheek. I instantly slap it away and I hear Pope complain. "Coral, come on, we're gonna be late we..." I flip him off before snuggling into the pillow beside me. "JJ! Is he alive?" 

"I don't know." I hear John B reply, clearly not very awake either. I start to sit up and take in the rest of the house. Kie and Pope looked like they'd been up for hours, JJ was still passed out next to me, and John B was putting his shoes on. 

"Damn it I forgot school was a thing," I complain, getting up to find something decent to wear. I really don't feel like getting dress-coded today. I eventually find a baggy T-shirt and a random pair of denim shorts that are most likely Kiara's. When I go back out to the living room JJ is being dragged out to the door by Pope, with John B following them both, Kie is chilling, she doesn't even go anymore. 

"I'm starving I need pizza!" JJ calls out, trying to reach for the very far dining table which so happened to be right next to me. 

"I got you!" I tell him, grabbing a slice for him and me. I forgot what hunger was for a minute, this Pogue life really doesn't give you time to eat. I take a huge bite of mine before heading to the door. 

JJ smirks, he looks drunk, and he probably is. "Coral, babe, you're a savior." We both get weird looks from everyone around, including my own. I freeze up for a second before taking another bite of pizza and exiting the Chateau.  

I handed JJ the pizza in the Twinkie, which he engulfed, and then went back to sleep. He looked absolutely ridiculous and I had to take a picture, so of course I did. New profile pic. I was surprised my mom was still paying my phone bill. Speaking of phones, John B kept on checking his, still waiting on Sarah to come around and I felt worse about giving him any hope every time he did. 

Pope was driving, and he heaved to a stop when we got in the parking lot, making JJ slam forward, and he was somehow still asleep. "Let's go. Up and at 'em, boys." I give Pope a glare as I hop out. "And girl." He gulps, before banging on the side door to get JJ and John B out. 

I only had one class with the Pogues so, I spent the whole day with the kids in my grade who were way too annoying. The boys would either bully the shit out of me or try to ask me out, both equally annoying actions. The girls would ask me what it's like to basically live with John B, JJ, and Pope, and I always told them it was shit. They would constantly ask me to put a word in for them which I pretended I would do, but never actually did. The teachers were shit too, always getting on to me for the dumbest shit, like chewing gum, showing my collarbone, texting, not paying attention, and sleeping. Sure, at first I wanted to try to do good, but I had no motivation whatsoever. One time, a teacher asked me to stay after class and told me, and I quote, "You have so much potential, Coral, you are just hanging out with the wrong people, you aren't trying." 

I met back up with the boys at the end of the day, who were all squawking about the note that a girl gave John B in geometry. She invited him to the bonfire tonight, which he didn't seem interested in at all. On the other hand, JJ and Pope were all for him moving on from Sarah. That's when we ran into Mr. Sunn, the teacher's class we all skipped today, even Pope, who said he wasn't feeling good. "Mr. Heyward, Mr. and Mrs. Routledge, Mr. Maybank!" Mr. Sunn calls out to us and our first instinct is to run. "Just the students I wanted to see." He laughs and grabs John B's shoulder. No escape now. He almost shoves him inside, and Pope follows in right after. 

"Wish I could say the same!" JJ pats his shoulder while Mr. Sunn guides us into his classroom as well, me not too far behind. 

"I have a question of historical information for you gentleman." I glare at not Pope, but Mr. Sunn this time, who pauses. 

"Right, and lady." He sighs before continuing. Why does everyone seem to be forgetting I am not a Pogue boy, like come on, we're not that similar. "I digitize documents for the Maritime Museum and in return, I have been given access to the Archives." So far this seemed a little boring, for me at least. "And I found..." Mr. Sunn opens up his huge supply closet and reaches for something very close to the door. "This." A box. 

"A box." John B looks bored out of his mind, I'm just praying this isn't like an extra assignment or something. 

"More than a box." Mr. Sunn rolls his eyes at my brother as he passes us, putting the box on his desk. Of course, the four of us follow him to it. 

"That's a good start," I mutter, suddenly a tiny bit interested in what Mr. Sunn was about to show us, and why he chose us to show in the first place. He turns on the small light by his desk and slowly lifts the top of the box off. We all lean in to get a look. 

It was some sort of journal, maybe a diary. It looked really old, I think that if I touched it, it would crumple in my hands. "Go ahead, Mr. Heyward." Mr. Sunn encourages Pope to reach for the journal, which he obviously obliges to. 

"Uh... careful with that." John B mutters, taking in the olden look of the outside of the journal alone. It was in a small plastic bag, which Pope carefully took out of. There was a small knot tying the book in place, and Pope was fiddling with it. 

"Whoa." He mutters under his breath. 

"It's a diary." Mr. Sunn tells us, "The author's unknown." Pope slowly and gently unties the knot and then opens the diary up to the first page. No fucking way. On the first page, was the one and only wheat symbol. I gasped, this is Denmark Tanny's diary. I mean, this old thing could have the answers to everything. 

"Whoa." John B whispers, making me glance at him for a sec. He hasn't even blinked since his eyes landed on the symbol. Mr. Sunn rushes back into his closet. 

"And this is a sample of a Denmark Tanny letter." Mr. Sunn comes up behind JJ and Pope and sets it down in front of them. It was a printed copy. "Compare the handwriting." Little did Mr. Sunn know that the second we saw the wheat symbol we knew exactly who wrote this diary. 

"No way," Pope whispers, picking up the book while John B stretches for the printed paper. 

"It's nearly identical." Mr. Sunn tells us. 

"This is Denmark Tanny's diary," Pope mutters, in disbelief. Wasn't that already obvious? "He flips to a page and points at a sketch of a man. "Guys, that's Captain Limbrey." Good thing Denmark didn't become an artist, his people's sketches were basically stick figures. "August 6th, 1829." Pope leans against one of the desks behind him, also leaning into the diary.

"Wait, that's the year the Royal Merchant went down!" I exclaim, and then it hits me. "Guys! That's also the year the cross went missing. Do you think..." I drag out my sentence, hoping they get what I'm implying. 

Mr. Sunn clears his throat, I think he can tell this is something way bigger than he thought. "I thought you might find it interesting." Pope doesn't even look up at the man while responding. 

"Thank you so much for this." He seemed to still be focused on the pages, and that's when Mr. Sunn leans in toward Pope. 

"It's important to know your own history." A smile plays on the teacher's lips and Pope finally looks over at him, hella confused. He doesn't say anything else, he just walks out of the classroom. We stand in silence for a second, until Pope finds something. 

"Oh my God, Coral you were right. It's the cross of Santo Damingo." We all lean over his shoulder now. As I said before, Tanny was shit at drawing. Disfigured men were picking up the cross. 

"Holy shit." John B mutters. 

"It was on the Royal Merchant! Coral, you were spot on." I feel like this whole time I've only made small contributions to finding the gold or, now the cross, this felt like a big moment, and even though we would've figured this out minutes later, it made me feel warm inside. I suddenly understood why JJ always wanted to "do something right for once." Praise feels great, I almost forgot what it felt like.