Adore You ☼ JJ Maybank

15

[ COUNTLESS OF TIMES ]

"jj, oh, thank god." maya said, running over to the boy after he got off his dirt bike. she pulled him into a tight hug before pressing her lips to his. "oh, my god, what happened to your face?"

"courtesy of dear ol' dad." jj said.

"jj..."

"no time to cry over this right now." jj said, putting his hands on the side of her face. "we need to get to john b's."

☀︎

"it's me, jj, stop, stop, stop, stop." jj said. "fuck."

"what are you doing?" john b said as maya sat back and just let jj do whatever the hell he was doing.

"shut up." jj whispered, then leaned on the old canoes, "see that? they're watching us."

"who?"

"i don't know." jj said, "let's go sneak around to the dock."

☀︎

they had made it to the boat, and stopped at a place near the beach under the trees they used to hang out at a lot.

"first, i almost get strangled to death by kooks, and now i'm on the hook for 30 grand." jj says. "we should just dip."

maya furrowed her eyebrows as john b spoke, "okay, where do you wanna go? hm?"

jj thought for a moment, "yucatan."

"yucatan." john b scoffed.

"oh, god." maya said quietly.

"no, i'm dead serious right now."

"surf all day, and then we can live off lobsters we catch with out bare hands." jj says.

"you just wanna leave because you got your ass beat?" john b asked.

"you didn't see the photos." jj says.

"think about it!" john b jumps off his rock, "if they're willing to kill for the gold then it's gotta be out there!"

"have you lost your mind?" jj took his hat off, "one hundred years, man. for one hundred years, people have been tryin' to find this royal merchant and no one's succeeded. and you think you're gonna be the one that actually finds it?"

"jj..." maya said quietly.

"when are you gonna get in your thick skull that if you keep going down this road, you're gonna end up just like your dad?"

"i can't give up, jj!" john b pushed jj back as maya exhaled sharply, pushing herself off the rock she was leaning on. "the last time i saw that dude, we got in an argument, and then he took all of our rent money and dipped for this royal merchant. and then i told him he was a shit father, and you know how the rest of the story goes."

"bro, that wasn't your fault." jj says.

"it doesn't matter who's fault it is, jj!" john b says. "do you not understand that? i can't give up on the hunt, man. i don't care who's out there, who's gonna kill us. do you understand that? you know that." john b walked off and grabbed his back pack, "look, i've got a plan. you two coming or what? four hundred million, jj. how much do you owe in restitution?"

"come on." maya said, holding out her hand for jj.

☀︎

"ready?"

"can you believe this midsummer shit, man?" john b asked as they walked into the small sandy beach.

"of course we can. happens every year." maya said.

"no matter how screwed up the rest of us are." jj added. "so, like, what's the plan exactly?"

"okay, look, i need you to get this to sarah." john b says, giving him a note.

"ooh, can i read it?" jj says.

"no, you can't read it."

"who's vlad?" jj asked, completely ignoring john b'e request to not read it.

"god, do you ever listen?" john b says.

"hold up." jj said. "are you mackin' sarah cameron?"

"would you just shut up?"

"you're makin' sarah cameron!"

"alright, man. i'm doing it for everyone, okay?" john b turned around, "it's not like i'm doing pogue-on-pogue."

maya stopped in her tracks and pulled her lips into a tight line, not knowing that john b knew that yet.

"shut up, man." jj said.

"what? it's the truth." john b said. "you were the one that told me you've slept together countless of times."

"john, shut up."

maya had tuned out the rest of whatever jj and john b were saying. she was shocked that jj had even told john b they were kind of a thing, let alone that they've done it.

☀︎

"what the hell did you all do—" maya said as the four of them came over to the boat, running away from midsummers.

"no time, get in the boat, come on!"