Tainted

Chapter 41: YOU GOT BURNED

The lights flash brightly behind us as the sirens quickly dull the moment we pull over. John's jaw clenches and unclenches nervously as the officer approaches, that's when I realize that if we get a ticket that my father could trace where we are or worse where we're going.

A soft tap meets our ears and Naomi rolls down the window as the old man glances between all 6 of us, his eyes settling on Jesse for a moment before moving back to John.
"Good evening sir, or should I say good morning," the officer starts off and I bite my lip to keep myself from letting out an annoyed sigh.
"I'd like you to step out of the car please," the officer states once none of us respond.
"Under what charges," Naomi snaps in defense of her best friend.

"Under the charges of drinking and driving," he glares into Naomi's eyes but she doesn't budge only let's out a small aggravated sigh that sounds more like a growl. John slowly steps out of the car and I can tell he's nervous, mostly because it was wine he spilled on the bride which means he was drinking, the only question left is how much has he been drinking?

We all watch as John does the standard testing for drinking and driving, we hear his voice count to ten, then watch as he walks straight and finally he breathes into an odd tube.
"Hey," a small voice murmurs from next to me and my head slowly turns to glance at Jesse, "It's going to be ok," he assures and my eyebrows furrow together in confusion.

"You never tell me that, why now?" I question while remembering all the times he assured me that he couldn't promise me a sound future.
"I was watching him all night, all though he may have acted slightly drunk he wasn't it's just his personality, and the wine he spilled on the bride was his first glass, you can relax now," he confirms and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I glance at John who's glaring intently at the officer who pulled us over for apparently no reason.

That's when John plops back into the driver's seat and he turns to look at all of us, "BAO is 0.01, who wants to drive cause I sure as hell am done for tonight?"

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It's beautiful. That's all I can say, that's all I can comprehend as I stare out at the unending perfectly blue ocean. The west coast sand feels soft under my feet and unlike anything I've seen, I have lived in California once but as pathetic as it sounds I never really made it to the coast due to the fact I had to leave maybe a month after arriving.

Small ripples in the waves make it a work of art as the sounds of the ocean seem almost unreal they're so symphonic. The air smells and tastes of salt, it doesn't make me sick to my stomach like I'd half expected it to but rather lulls me to sleep and keeps me awake all at once as if I'm trying so hard to stay in a dream while my body is pressing me to wake up.

"How long should we stay here?" Naomi voices from behind me to the crew as we all stare in awe at the ongoing ocean.
"I don't think we can stay long," John voices seriously causing me to turn away from the sight that looks like a painting and rather to a somewhat blue looking John and my eyebrows furrow together as to why he'd be sad in such a beautiful place.

"I don't know if the cop put that he pulled me over or not into his data, so it's best if we stay maybe a day or two," John confirms and we all go silent for a moment. I look over to Jesse who seems entranced by the ocean, but in a different way than most, instead of looking in awe at it's beauty it seems he's trying to read it. He's trying to comprehend everything around him something that I was doing just a moment ago, except I epically failed and I can tell he's failing as well.