everything about you •• jj maybank

nine

"You kissed John B?!" I whisper- yelled at Kiara as the two of us cleaned some dishes in the back of the Wreck.

She pushed her finger to her mouth quickly and shook her head.

"Will you keep your voice down? I don't want my dad to hear any of this, he'll go ape shit," she huffed, looking around her before continuing. "And I didn't kiss him... he kissed me."

I scoffed and grabbed another plate from the dirty stack and ran it under the scolding hot water.

"Did you kiss him back?"

"I mean, I did but- I don't know, Josie. I pulled away like right away," she explains, shaking her head at the memory.

I bit the inside of my cheek as we both glanced at each other and I smiled softly to myself.

"Don't start. It didn't mean anything," she warned.

"I'm not starting anything, but I thought there were rules. No Pogue on Pogue macking, right?"

She quickly nodded, grabbing the plate from my hand and beginning to dry it.

"There are rules, and that's what I said to him too. You know? These guys are my friends. I don't want him to get the wrong message."

I nodded softly at her words, letting out a sigh. "I understand,"

I immediately thought of Rafe and pinched my eyes shut. I really hope me saying yes to Midsummers didn't give him the wrong impression either.

"How did it make you feel?" I asked her quietly.

"It was weird! It was just- I don't know. It made me feel weird. And now I don't want things to be awkward between us and I'm just kind of freaking out about it," she admits, shutting off the water and wiping her hands on a dish towel nearby. She turns her body to me and leans against the counter. "This... this is why we have rules."

I chuckle softly and take that as my opportunity to wipe my hands off as well. I cross my arms over my chest and lean back against the counter, staring up at the ceiling, debating whether or not I should tell her about Rafe.

I decide against it and let out a loud sigh, wiping my hands together.

"Well, we can't change it now. Let's just move on from this, kay? I'm sure John B already forgot about it," I shrug.

She nods and we both walk out into the main area of the restaurant.

It had not been a busy day for us. Each of us had only had a handful of tables throughout the day and our shift had been coming to an end. We had spent the last hour catching up on all of the dishes to kill time.

It was eight o'clock at this point, the sun was still out, but the sky was beginning to turn a pretty shade of yellow and orange, preparing for the sun to set. All of the chairs were being put on the tables so that the floors could be swept and mopped. Kiara had begun to spackle a spot on the wall as I wiped down the bar.

The two of us were humming a song that was playing on the radio. Occasionally one of us would look up at each other and smile.

The doorbell does a little jingle from across the room and Kie and I turn our heads. I grin as I see Pope making his way towards us.

"Hey, Pope!" I smile, resting the washcloth down and leaning forward. "What are you doing here?"

He has a nervous look on his face as he breaths out and rests his hands on the bar.

"John B needs us to go help him," He begins and I look to Kiara, who stares blankly at Pope.

"Not tonight, Pope," she breaths out.