SHOOTING STARS ✰ jj maybank

045. BON VOYAGE

"Where the hell were you guys?" Pope shouted to his friends as they climbed out of the truck.

"Paternal complications." Kie pointed at JJ.

"Luke was at the Chateau." The blonde boy explained to his friends. He and Scarlett began grabbing the supplies from the back of the truck.

"Oh, great! While you were having family time with your pops, John B got bit by a gator." The dark-skinned boy exclaimed, clearly annoyed that this was the result of his friends being so late.

Their expressions faltered.

"Like, for real?" JJ's eyes shot towards his best friend, concern laced in his features.

"Does it look like we're joking?" Sarah gestured towards John B's bloody leg.

"Holy shit, JB. Are you okay?" Scarlett immediately questioned the brunette boy.

"Never better, Star." He muttered and squinted his eyes shut from the pain.

"Okay, what the hell happened?" Kiara yelled at her friends in shock.

"What happened? I got bit by a gator!" John B shouted at the girl.

"He got bit by a gator!" Pope and Sarah's voices overlapped John B's.

"I dunno why I'm being yelled at. I put my ass on the line." The curly-haired girl yelled at her friends who were all sitting on top of the Twinkie.

"You're being yelled at because it was twenty minutes—"

"We got here as fast as we could."

Everyone began yelling at each other. Scarlett ran her hands through her hair and over her face. "Oh my God." She muttered.

JJ couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up!" He exclaimed and everyone immediately stopped yelling. "Seriously, guys, I can't take it anymore, all right? Everyone just cut it out for a second." He walked a few feet away and leaned against a tree.

Everyone had their heads hung low, ashamed of how often they had been arguing with each other recently.

JJ started again. "Look, I just helped my dad leave this island for good. Like, he's not ever coming back. He's straight-up like the Spanish. Just, Bon voyage."

Everyone furrowed their brows when JJ spoke those last two words.

"That's not the right language," Sarah whispered to her friends, causing small smiles to grow on their faces.

"All we got... and I know for a fact all I got is you guys, okay?" He looked at Scarlett and gave her a small smile before looking back at the rest of his friends. "You're it. And I've come too close to losing you, all of you."

He turned to Kie. "I mean, shit, like you almost drowned. Pope, you were kidnapped. Sarah, you've been shot. John B, you were almost dinner for a freaking gator, bro. And Star, I did lose you for a few minutes, and those were the worst few minutes of my life, okay? So this blaming each other is some Kook-ass bullshit, all right? We don't do that. Okay? We're Pogues." JJ thought for a moment. "Sorry, that was a lot right now. I didn't mean to..."

Everyone looked around each other and they all shrugged with impressed smiles on their faces. Everyone began clapping.

"Yeah. All right." The blonde boy laughed.

"Well done." Pope praised JJ.

"I gotta be honest. That was the best freaking speech you have ever given." John B spoke. "Also, you should think about, like, a Rosetta Stone because your Spanish and French are flip-flopped."