𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 - JJ Maybank

Chapter 30: P4L

Grace was awoken to the sound of John B calling out for Sarah. She groaned and pushed a hand over her eyes to block out the sun.

"Jesus B, you're so loud," she grumbled.

"Oh, thank god!" he swam his way towards Grace. 

They were who knows where in the middle of the ocean, floating around next to their turtled boat.

John B swam over to Sarah and shook her still body. Grace looked away from her sister. She was glad they had miraculously stuck together despite the raging waves but now she was more concerned about their livelihood. As much as she loved the ocean, living in it wasn't quite her idea of a fun time.

Sarah shook her head and coughed making Grace release a sigh she didn't know she was holding. Unconscious and dead bodies freaked her out and she was relieved to see that her sister was neither of the two.

John B wrapped Sarah up in a hug, "It's alright, I've got you."

Grace frowned. She definitely didn't want JJ to be stranded in the middle of the ocean but she also hated that he wasn't with her. They had always been practically attached at the hip, especially when stressful situations arose. They'd always rely on each other for support and now they were separated in their time of need.

The water was calm now. Almost as flat as a lake. It was like the ocean was taunting the trio. Showing just how calm it could be really rubbed in the disaster of the previous night.

"JJ's gonna kill me," Grace sighed as she swam over to the couple. "Unless we die out here first," she added as an afterthought.

"No one's-"

Sarah cut him off, "There's a boat!"

She was right, a large shipping boat was on the horizon.

The group all began yelling and waving their arms. They were but a speck in the grand scale of the waters and the boat didn't seem to notice them.

Sarah quickly turned around and grabbed the gold out of John B's bag. He had strapped it to himself tightly before the boat went under. She began waving the gold in the air, reflecting the sun's rays in the boat's direction as they continued yelling.

"Hey!"

"Help!"

To their collective disappointment the boat continued moving away from them.

"Shit," Grace groaned.

Sarah began crying. Tears streamed down her face as her breathing quickened. Looking at her sister inspired tears of Grace's own. She just wanted to be home. Not at Tannyhill or Rick's or even the Chateau, she wanted to be with JJ. She didn't care where. They were lost out at sea but Grace was lost in her own way. John B and Sarah had each other. They could rely on each other, vent to each other, cry together. Grace didn't have that. She loved the couple. One was basically her brother and the other was her sister but it wasn't the same. 

JJ had always been there. Since the moment they met in the fourth grade he'd been a constant part of her life. He'd been there on Christmas morning. Ready and willing to cuddle up and binge Starwars together. 

He'd been there when her mom got diagnosed. He biked over the second she got home and took her out surfing to clear her mind. 

He'd been there when she bought her second guitar with her own money and she called him over to come see it. He had no idea what was so different about that guitar from her first one but shared her excitement nonetheless. 

He'd been there when her mom died. He ran to her house the second Rick's car pulled in the driveway and held in his tears in order to be strong for her.