"I mean it's obvious, right? A family heirloom. What better place to hide a secret message? He had to know it would get back to me right?" John B droned on from the driver's seat in the van. Cassidy sent a pitiful glance to the boy before resting the back of her head against JJ's chest. She hadn't left his side since the incident earlier that day. It had come as a big shock to the rest of the group when she mentioned her past, as none of them really knew anything about her past and she never talked about it. The group didn't press her and she had no intention of explaining it to them at that moment so she had stayed silent and clung to JJ until she calmed down. The second John B realized that she was calmer, he rushed all of them into the van without any explanation.
"Yeah, it's possible," Kiara responded without much confidence.
"It's also possible that you're concocting wild theories to help with all of your sad feels," Pope informed him, voicing all of their concerns. John B seemed really rattled and desperate and it made Cassidy worried that he would end up being disappointed.
"Bro, you know how I deal with my sad feels. Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies, that's how I do it," JJ announced to the group with a smirk on his face that earned him a chuckle and light shove from Cassidy who was sitting on his lap.
"I'm not concocting, okay?" John B defended, turning back to look at his unsure friends. "My dad's trying to give me a message."
"If it helps you believe, John B," Kiara responds glumly.
"Look, I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not tripping out. Look, my dad is missing, okay. Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish and then have no idea what happened. Just wake up every day wondering," John B told the group sternly, more trying to convince himself than the others.
"Hey, he could've been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility," JJ responded, trying to reassure John B but ultimately failing.
"Yeah, he could be in a Soviet Union sub getting interrogated by the KGB somewhere," Pope adds, earning him a glare from Cassidy.
"Knowing big John, I'm sure he's off in Hawaii somewhere with a nice corona in his hand just trying to find a way to get back to you," Cassidy said gently, placing a reassuring hand on John B's shoulder and giving it a light squeeze as she tried to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, definitely. He could also be in Atlantis," JJ said, trying to help but just sounding ridiculous which makes Cassidy let out a quiet giggle.
"Look, what do you think the message is?" Kiara asked the boy incredulously, becoming fed up with all the secrecy about where they were headed.
"Redfield.Redfield lighthouse. It was my dad's favorite place," John B explained as the van drove past a rusted sign advertizing the lighthouse. Cassidy had never been here before, but she had heard all sorts of stories about JJ's antics at the lighthouse.
The van pulled up to the lighthouse, and Cassidy was underwhelmed by the small and run-down lighthouse. The group jumped out of the van and before Cassidy could do the same, JJ pulled her back into the van and gave her a quick peck on the lips that sent her heart racing. She furrowed her brows in confusion but he only gave her his signature grin and jumped out of the van. She quickly followed the boy out of the van and peered up at the lighthouse, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. From the looks of it, the hurricane had done some serious damage to the thing and it looked pretty unstable.
"Right, here's what's gonna happen, you're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?" John B instructed JJ, Pope, and Cassidy.
"Wait, why us?" Cassidy asked the boy annoyed, placing a hand on her hip and looking at the boy sassily.
"There are dependant variables and there are independent variables. And JJ is an independent variable. We don't know what he'd do," Pope said, trying to break it down to the couple. "And Cassidy, he wouldn't stay down here if you were going, so you just have to stay." Cassidy rolled her eyes and nodded reluctantly.
"If we get split up, we meet back up at Cassie's house, okay?" John B asked the group and they all nodded in return. Cassidy was sure that her mom would be asleep this early in the day, so it shouldn't be a problem. Kiara and John B walk towards the lighthouse and slowly fade out of her line of vision. Cassidy turned back to the boys and decided to make her way back to the van and sit on the seats with a blanket covering her that she had left in the van a while ago.
"I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay, and I'm trying to keep felonies to a minimum," Pope complained as he hops into the van next to Cassidy and got out his pad and paper that he took everywhere those days.
"All right, will you just shut up already," JJ asked, getting annoyed at the boy. JJ stayed outside and used a pool ball to play soccer and bounce it up and down on his foot. Cassidy threw the blanket off of her lap and joined the boy on the grass, quickly stealing the ball away from the boy. That was all it took for an all-out soccer match to begin with Pope occasionally intersecting as the referee. However, this referee was a bit biased and only called fouls on JJ and would give Cassidy free points for "looking cute". This got on JJ's nerves to no end until he eventually gave up and decided to sulk in the van while Pope and Cassidy just chuckled at the boy's anger.
"Oh come on sourpuss, you're just mad cuz I kicked your ass," Cassidy said smugly as she climbed onto JJ's lap. JJ never minded having the girl on his lap, as she was so small it felt like practically no weight. JJ just shook his head in fake frustration but he couldn't stay annoyed at Cassidy for long so he ended up breaking out into a smile.
"No way. You know I could beat you any day in soccer. Just not with a rigged judge," JJ retorted, sending a glare to Pope who was looking at the couple amused.
Before Cassidy could argue, the sound of cop cars filled the once quiet forest and Cassidy could see the police lights quickly approaching the lighthouse. The three friends immediately were filled with fear and looked at each other frantically.
"We have to leave," Pope said quickly, jumping into the driver's seat and starting the engine before either of them had the chance to respond. Cassidy was about to yell out for the boy to wait, but the words got caught in her throat and she realized that this was their only option. She couldn't risk something happening to Pope's scholarship and she definitely wouldn't let anything happen to JJ. She had hope that Kiara and John B would be able to get out of the mess, and so she just sent an approving nod to Pope. JJ looked at her incredulously, confused about why she wouldn't stick around to wait for Kiara and John B. She just shrugged at him and turned around to look at the lighthouse that was quickly receding in the distance. Pope gunned the van until they were a safe distance away from the lighthouse and he eased up.
"I guess it's off to Cass's house, then."
YOU ARE READING
Anchor // JJ Maybank
Fanfiction"Shit Cass, you're like my anchor." Cassidy had moved to the outer banks in an attempt to outrun her past. But maybe, her past had followed her anyways. What happens when what was supposed to be the best summer of their lives turns into a treasure...
