Adore You ☼ JJ Maybank

1

[ TO JOHN B ]

maya thatcher walked slowly through the chateau as she looked around at different things that belonged to their friend and his father.

she swallowed harshly, stopping in front of the fridge. on the front, a magnet bottle opener held a polaroid in place. maya's shaky hands reached up and touched the picture—it was taken by big john routledge in the backyard. on the left sat kiara in one of the foldable chairs with a peace sign thrown up. behind her, jj stood with a wide, cheesy grin as he held maya's legs. the girl with pink highlights on his back with her arms around his neck and stuck her tongue out at the camera. pope sat beside kiara on the ground with his arms lazily wrapped around his knees with a soft smile. john b was to his left, an arm slung around pope's shoulders with a smile.

maya sucked in a breath, blinking away the tears that burned her eyes.

"that was a good day," jj whispered from behind her.

the girl didn't respond, but took the picture down and held it in her hands. she shook her head, other hand gripping the handle and pulling the fridge open. not much was in it, but she grabbed a miller lite can. she didn't care about the very real possibility of it being expired as she cracked it open.

she turned around after taking a swig, looking up at her boyfriend. the corner of his mouth tugged over and he reached out, pushing a piece of her hair out of the way. she looked away from him and sighed.

grief was a hard thing to deal with, especially when it was someone you were so close to... someone you thought of as family, no... someone who was family.

maya had known john b. routledge since first grade after jj had met the boy and clicked instantly, then introduced maya to him and they became a trio. maya had always seen john b as her brother, whether that was younger or older was debatable, but he was her brother nonetheless.

walking outside where pope and kie were, maya tried to shove down every emotion that fought to pour out of her. jj was close on her heels, the same thoughts running through his head.

pain stung in the back of maya's throat trying to keep tears from forming as she watched pope carve the tree in front of them. after, her eyes were stuck on jj as he burnt the numbers and letters into the tree they had agreed upon.

2003 - 2020 JOHN B ROUTLEDGE P4L was now burnt into the tree.

after he was done, jj stepped back in line with the others. he took a flask out of his pocket, raising it in the air and speaking, "to john b."

"and to sarah." kie added with a sad look on her face, looking to maya for comfort but the shorter girl's stare was stuck on the tree. kiara then turned to pope, getting a small, sad smile from the boy as he raised his beer can.

maya stood in silence, her mind racing with thoughts but not being able to grab onto a single one. she missed her friend—her brother. she even missed sarah, the blonde girl she thought was annoying at first but grew fonder of as the summer days passed before their disappearance.

maya downed the rest of drink after glancing at the box in kie's hands. she looked down at the picture in her own hands before reaching over and placing it on top of the other belongings that reminded them of their missing friends.