Junie - JJ Maybank

40

Three days later...

"Kids... kids, wake up."

I jump awake to the sound of my dad's voice.

"What? What is it? Is the boat gonna blow up again?" I ask, panicked.

He shakes his head with a smile, "no, I see land."

I gasp and jump out of the bed. JJ groans from his spot as I run above deck and look ahead of the boat.

A warm feeling fills my stomach when I see Kildare in front of me.

Everyone steps behind me and I can't stop smiling.

I'm finally home...

My dad throws John B the rope to tie it to the chateau's doc. I bounce with excitement and don't even wait for him to tie it off before running off of it and bolting towards the house.

I go to the door and jiggle the doorknob but it doesn't open. Instead of finding the spare key that we have hidden in the garden, I open a window and climb into the house.

I am instantly hit with the smell of the chateau that I didn't know I would miss so much.

Excitement fills my body as I run to my room.

It is an absolute mess. There are stuffed animals, books, and clothes all thrown on the ground.

When I moved in with the Cameron's, I didn't take all my stuff and I never cleaned my room here after so everything is still a mess.

I touch every single thing in my room. I touch books, stuffed animals, pillows, blankets, clothes, my desk, everything.

I continue to touch everything until I turn around and see JJ leaning against the doorframe.

"I missed my room." I tell him with a grin.

He pushes off the doorframe and walks a few steps into the room as he speaks, "really? I couldn't tell."

I giggle then jump into his arms. I wrap my legs around his waist and he nuzzles his face in the crook of my neck. I feel his kisses before he pulls away.

"I love you," I tell him.

He grins at me and glances at my lips, "I love you too, Junie."

I lean in and kiss him then he puts me on the ground and we both walk out of my room.

We pass John B in the hallway and he hardly notices us as he rushes to his bedroom.

When I get in the living room, I see everyone standing there. My dad is looking around the house with awe as everyone else examines the place that we haven't seen in months.

We all admire the house for a while until Pope tells everyone that him, Kiara, and Sarah should get home.

We all pile into the Twinkie. I didn't know I would miss this piece of junk so much.

We go to Pope's first because his is the closest. We all go into Hayward's store and the boy working the register is a kid that we go to school with.

He looks up from his comic book and his jaw drops when he sees us.

He stutters through his words, "w-wha-what are you guys doing here?Where have you been? We all thought you guys died or something-"

"Ryan," Pope stops his talking, "I will tell you everything another time. Where are my parents?"

He points in the direction of the back door, "your dad's out on the doc."

Pope rushes through the back door, all of us following him.