𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗗𝗔𝗬, 𝟮𝟰/𝟳

Chapter 19

 I ran through several red lights, cut through old dirt roads, and kept pressing and pressing down on the gas pedal, trying to go as fast as I could back to where the Twinkie was. For all I knew, the Twinkie would have sunk through the mud, and the tide came in while we were out dropping off Luke Maybanks.

We crashed through the forest, screeched to a stop, and jumped out of the Mercedes (the car Mercedes, not the person Mercedes).

"Where the hell have you guys been?!" Pope who never got mad screamed at us.

I crashed through the trees, stopping at the edge of the huge swamp. John B, Sarah, Pope, and Kiara were all sitting on top of the Twinkie, and John B looked passed out, covered in blood.

"What the fuck happened?" Both JJ and I made moves to step into the marsh to get to the Twinkie, but everyone started yelling at us to stay back.

"There's an alligator," Kie warned.

"It nearly ate John B," Pope added.

Though Sarah and John B were currently "broken up", she looked a deathly white color, and was holding a piece of cloth around his leg, lips pressed into a thin line. It was obvious to anyone that she still cared plenty for him, especially when hurt.

JJ and I rushed to hook the Twinkie up to the Mercedes (the truck, not me), and JJ hopped into the truck, and slowly but surely, pulled the Twinkie out of the marsh.

I helped John B into the Twinkie, putting his arm around my shoulder as he limped inside into the back. Before everyone could get into the car, I pulled Pope to the side, so that we could talk in private.

"Pope I ..." I fingered with the top of my shirt, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay," he smiled kindly. "I know what you're about to say."

"You do?" I said, shocked.

"I predicted it," he shrugged modestly. "And I'm not that stupid. Listen ... us ... were ... well ..." he trailed off.

"Just isn't going to work."

"Exactly," he nodded.

"Pope, I'm sorry. About everything. This whole thing was stupid. I—I was using you to get back at—well, it doesn't matter now. And Kiara was right, in the end." I said.

"I'm not as daft as you think, c'mon, you've got to give me some credit." He joked, but I didn't crack a smile. "Mercedes, I'm not stupid. I knew you were pissed at JJ, and I was hurt because of Kiara. I get it, alright? Let's just move past that ... as friends," he emphasized on the friends part.

"Sure," I agreed, though everything didn't feel that wrapped up. I knew Pope had feelings, deep down, but he never really shared them. He'd been heartbroken when Kie had rejected him, it had crushed him. And I was sure this would definitely put a dent in our friendship, even if he didn't show it.

After that conversation with JJ in the Mercedes truck, I had decided it was unfair to Pope to treat him like that. So I'd decided to break it off with Pope. Though our conversation had gone considerably well, I still had a nagging feeling that Pope was definitely hurt. We would never be able to be just Pogues, hanging out, we'd always have our past "fling" hanging over our heads, a constant reminder.

It'd been selfish to use him. Even though he had said he knew the whole time, and yeah, he'd been pretty hurt because of Kiara too, I had still made a stupid, selfish decision.

Besides, it hadn't even worked! I don't know what the fuck I had been thinking, but apparently JJ thought that kissing me would be like kissing a "drowned rat". I had thought it'd been working at the start, JJ had been acting pretty rude to me, though he calmed down after a while. He'd been able to hide his emotions a lot better, I guess. Or he was just unaffected as I thought he would be.