<25>

740 13 1
                                    

"Kie, I beg of you, please drive away." "What?" "Drive the goddamn car!" I snapped. "Okay!" Kie said, quickly starting the car and driving away. "Why are you so scared?" "We are currently harboring a fugitive and we didn't bother to stick around to see if there was a number 2 suspect who goes by the name of Gabriela Routledge." "Okay, well, the first place the cops are gonna go is your house." "So take us to yours." "My house?" "I don't know Kie. I'm panicking." "Look, I've got an idea. And it might seem like a stretch but we are just gonna have to work together to pull it off."

"Okay, John B, please be careful and for the love of God, don't get caught." Kie said, handing him the keys to her car. We watched as he drove off to God knows where. "Okay, now, if there are cops. We haven't seen John B for a few days. You guys had a big falling out when he found out about your relationship and-" "Kie, we got it. JJ and I are kind of the best at lying about things." I said as we all walked down the road in front of my house.

Sure enough, there was a cop car parked outside. The cop got out of the car and stopped us before we got to the door. "Hi. This is my house." "We are looking for a John Booker Routledge and we were told he might be here." "Oh my god! I had no idea. He's my older brother. What happened?" "He supposedly shot the sheriff." "Oh my god. JJ, did you hear any of this?" "No. Not at all." "Do either of you happen to know where he might be?" "No sir. Unfortunately, we had a very large falling out about a week ago." "Do you mind telling me why?" "Not at all sir. Well, you see. JJ was John B's best friend and John B wasn't too happy to find out that we were dating." "Yeah. He had a long talk with both of us, it involved a lot of yelling and a lot of nasty things were said." "He finally told me point blank, to choose between him and JJ." "She picked me." "Well I had to. It was for the baby." "The baby?" "Yes sir. We found out a few weeks ago. It's due in January." "Congratulations." "Thanks. So, can I please go in my house now?" "Sure. But you don't mind if I stay here, in case he comes by?" "Um, I actually think we would rather you not. It's just, a privacy thing ya know." "Yes ma'am." The cop said dryly. "Thank you for all the help. Good luck with the baby." "Thank you." "Have a good day." He said getting in his car and driving away. "How are you gonna lie in few months when you don't have a baby bump?" "I'll say I had a miscarriage. Unless when we get inside and something goes wrong, then I might have one and we can keep up the lie." His eyes got big. "Pope and Kie were told to wait, I feel like we can get in a quickie." He suddenly ran for the house and threw open the door. I giggled and kissed him as I walked into the house.

10 minutes later, I walked out to the back porch where I saw Kie and Pope sitting down, looking very awkward. "Oh. Hi." I said, trying to fix my hair. "Sorry, um, we feel asleep when the cop left. Lying is very hard." "Hey, are Pope and Kie here yet or can we get in another-" "They're here. So we don't have time to nap again." "Hey." Kie said standing up and walking over to me. "Can we talk. Alone." "Um, sure." I said, as she dragged me into my room. I sat down and she stood in the corner by the door. "Don't you want to sit?" "After the graceful entrance made by both of you and the fact that I am standing next to the shirt and bra you were wearing 15 minutes ago, no thanks." "Don't judge. Anyway, what did you want to talk about." "Pope told me he loved me." "What!" "Shush!" She said putting her hand on my mouth. I took her hand off and looked at her dumbfounded. 

"Yeah. I know." "What happened? Like, how did he tell you?" "Well, we were sitting in the bushes, waiting for you two to give us the signal and he just blurted it out." "Just out of nowhere?" "Yeah." "And what did you say?" "I said thanks for the sentiment but I'm not into him like that." I sat there thinking for a minute. "Hello!" "Hold on. If you don't like Pope, John B, or me, that only leaves JJ. Oh my god! Do you have a crush on JJ!" "No. Oh my god no." "Well that is everyone in the group unless it's Sarah and I know it's not her." "Look, it's not that I don't like Pope it's just-" "Oh my god!" "Stop talking." "I don't know. I just feel like now is not the best time." "I don't know. There is no time like the present." "Your brother is the number one suspect for a crime he didn't commit and there are police everywhere looking for him and we are the last people who have seen him." "Right. So what are you gonna do?" "Pretend none of it happened." "Good idea. Just like we are gonna pretend that JJ and I were taking a nap." "Oh , and that you didn't lie to a cop." "Yeah that too." "Good talk." Kie said walking out of the room. She came back in and threw me my bra. "Maybe put on your own shirt. You smell like JJ." "I would still smell like JJ even if I had my own clothes on." "You are nasty." "Thank you!"

Outer Banks ~ JJ MaybankWhere stories live. Discover now