DESIRE - JJ MAYBANK

-or he's just dead- CHAPTER 10

"I mean, it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. I mean, what better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" John B said as he was driving the Twinkie.

"Yea. It's possible." Kie said.

I could tell that she didn't believe his dad was still alive but didn't want to hurt him, so she just agreed with it.

"It could also be possible that your concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope said.

"Bro you know how I process my sad feels? Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it." Jj said as i rolled my eyes at his comment.

"I'm not concocting ok? My dad's trying to give me a message." John B looked back at us.

"If it helps you believe John B." Kie said softly.

"Look, I-i don't need a therapy session ok? I'm not tripping out." John B told us.

"I beg to differ." I mumbled.

But everyone heard me. Kie shot me a look to shut up.

"It's okay to trip bro but-" Jj said but John B interrupted him.

"Look, my dad is missing ok? Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened." I actually did know what that felt like. My dad was my best friend and in just a few hours everything changed. He was gone. "Just wake up every morning, wondering." Jj looked at me. He knew what I was thinking.

"It's been almost a year." Kie said trying to reason with him.

"John B, look, i understand. Okay? I-i lost my dad too alright? He was my best friend. But you need to accept it and move on." I said.

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." Jj said.

"Yea could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere." Pope said.

"Absolutely. Uh... or Atlantis." Jj said agreeing with Pope.

"Or he's just dead." I said shrugging.

"Liana." Kie said signaling for me to stop.

"Look what do you think the message is?" Kie asked John B.

"Redfield Lighthouse. That's my dad's favorite place." He replied.

We all opened the car door. We looked up at the lighthouse. "You're going to post up and look for bogeys ok?" John B said to Jj.

"Wait.. why me?" He asked.

"Because you're not coming." John B told him.

"Why not?" Jj asked him.

"Jj listen, there are independent and dependent variables, and your an independent variable. We don't know what you'll do." Pope explained to Jj.

"Shut up. Just shut up!" Jj yelled at Pope.

"Listen to me for a second. Just listen!" John b yelled. "Pope and Lia, you guys stand look out it's Jj. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back at Jj's house."

I nodded. I knew John B just wanted to be alone with Kiara so he can make a move on her. I could tell that he liked her.

"Great." Kiara said as her and John B walked toward the lighthouse.

"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and i'm trying to keep felonies down to a minimum." Pope said.

"All right, would you just shut up already?" Jj said.