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//chapter twenty-eight • the flu and outer banks blues
RAIN POURED IN the days after John B was arrested. It was like the weather was matching the mood of all of the teenagers who'd just seen their friend get arrested, beaten up, and put on trial. But no matter how loud the rain got outside, nothing was as unsettling as the silence that took over the Pogues as they tried to figure out how to help their friend.
Sarah bites her nails, and then shakes her head. "I'm gonna testify under oath. I was there. I just need to get a hold of my sister."
"Sister?" JJ repeats.
He's been antsy since they came back home. Keeps taking his hat off and putting it back on━ backwards, as it is right now. Keeps pacing back and forth, fidgeting with whatever he can find. From Sarah's point of view, she doesn't know which one is scarier; him, or the way Andrew just sits there, eyes vacant, jaw set.
Still, when Sarah approaches, he doesn't react. "Andy, do you have your phone?"
Andrew absentmindedly hands it to her.
"Wheezie is the only other person━ that didn't have a concussion━ that knows Rafe wasn't home that day." Sarah informs. "They may not believe Andrew but Wheezie is a more trustable source."
"Wheezie? " JJ repeats, looking skeptical and agitated.
"I don't know what else to do," Sarah confesses. "I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out."
Sarah goes into the house, near the window, as Andrew puts his head in his hands, closing his eyes for a moment. He's got a headache and his entire body felt cold. "It's not your fault, Sarah." He called out weakly.
JJ, though, scoffs. "Wheezie? Yeah, that will work." He shakes his head. "Well, she's right about one thing. We gotta do something. Our boy is a PO-dub right now, okay?" What does that even mean?
Andrew grits his teeth, to the point that it hurts his jaw. "This isn't a movie, JJ."
He scowls, taking his cap off again. "He's held captive by the enemy right now, maybe even scheduled for execution━ are we just gonna sit here?"
Kie stands up, fed up with everything and everyone at this point. "What's the plan?" she asks, venomous. "We start by kidnapping Shoupe?"
JJ falls right into her trap. "Maybe. Like, that's not the worst idea actually."
"What?"
She blinks. "Oh it's not?"
"No!"
"That is actually the worst idea I have ever heard." Pope interjects.
"It's pretty bad." Sarah agrees.
"You know what? Please, just stay out of this, okay?" JJ whips back around to look at the Heyward boy. "Pope, look. We've been doing everything your way and how has that been working out?"
