𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝟮𝟰/𝟳

Chapter 2

   I was down at Kildare's Sheriff County the next morning with Dad. We were to patrol around the OBX for the morning, to see if anything popped up about Hurricane Agatha or Ms. Lana's still missing husband, Scooter Grubs. I still hadn't told Dad what had happened at the bonfire last night, with the gun being pulled out. I knew that if he knew, he wouldn't be very happy.

We started work early, around 6 AM, and I helped him with paperwork for a few hours in his office, before we would head out for the day.

The problem was, I couldn't exactly concentrate. The stacked papers and files just seemed to get higher and higher by the minute, and the words kept blurring together. I could feel myself starting to daydream a little, and my mind started to wonder towards the subject of JJ Maybanks.

I wondered if he showered often. Did Pogue boys shower? JJ sure looked like he didn't, but in a good way. In a sexy way. The grime on his face added to the sort of relaxed, casual I-don't-give-a-fuck-look. He looked hot, and he knew it. We all knew it.

He didn't seem to ever shave, and I expected JJ to shave as he was a sixteen year old boy. But the only thing that ever grew in was peach fuzz, which I found oddly adorable.

John B could grow a beard, I pondered. I knew Sarah was into beards.

Sometimes I got so mad at him for making me think this way. Why couldn't he just drive off a cliff and be removed from Earth? It would be better if I never had to see him again. It would be better if he just never came back.

Who was I kidding, it would be horrible if I never saw him again!

I wanted him everyday, to myself. I was selfish. There, I'd said it. I selfishly wanted JJ all to myself, just so I could run my fingertips from his shoulder down his flexed bicep, all the way to his fingertips. I could touch the pad of my fingers to the rough calluses of his fingers. I wanted my hand to fit in his palm, to fit perfectly, like we were always meant to do that.

I thought about him, pictured him, cried over him, and still, I had only spoken merely a few words to him. Which, the whole time, we had been yelling at each other. And still, I wasted all my energy and thoughts over this boy, this precious, beautiful, boy, just so that he could be an asshole to me?

I stood up, sending papers flying to the floor.

"Mercedes?" Dad asked, concerned about the sudden movement.

"I've got to go," I ran out of the building.

"Mercedes! You can't just run off!" Dad yelled after me, but I was already hopping into a Deputy's Sheriff vehicle, keying in, and I stepped on the gas pedal and zoomed off.

I was going to be in so much trouble, I knew it. I had just run off on a shift with my Dad, he was already mad at me for skipping to go to the bonfire. And, I had just stolen one of Kildare's Sheriff cars, speeding off to god knew where.

Actually, I was on a mission. I had decided, enough with JJ. I was sick of thinking about him. I wanted this torture over, I wanted this whole thing over. I was tired of thinking about him, I was annoyed that he had managed to overcome my own defenses, that he was able to slither inside and stick to me like glue, forcing my every waking hour to think about him. To think about JJ.

What had I ever done to him? Nothing. Exactly. And it was his own fault that I was spending so much time drooling over him, not mine. I had done my job, all these years. I had done my part, kept quiet, I was a good kid. So what I had done to deserve this?!

I had no idea where JJ lived on Figure Eight. But I did know where his best friend, John B lived. Dad and I had driven over once to talk with John B, when his dad had died at sea and we were to do an investigation.