𝐑𝐮𝐧 ✯JJ Maybank

𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 || 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐔𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?

✯♛✯

  "𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 say it again, we can't trust her," JJ called out to his friend from outside, on the deck of the boat. The blonde's attention was focused solely on his lighter as he played with the object, leaning on the edge of the water-vehicle. JJ refused to go into the boat if Francine was in there, so he stayed outside. The girl rolled her eyes when he said that, finding it childish, but she also understood why he was doing it, so she didn't say anything. No matter how much she wanted to.

The girl stayed silent for most of the ride, Pope was driving to the dock near her house.

Francine was completely zoned out, looking out the window not even paying attention to the scenery. Her mind was stuck on one thought, would she be able to tell JJ about everything? She was really hesitant to do so, the fact that he literally hated her was holding her back from trying, and also a million other negative things that were running through her mind. The only thing the boy has said since they sunk Topper's boat was that he didn't trust her and that Pope shouldn't either, and that once they dropped her off she'd go tell her rich friends who pulled the plug.

"Are you gonna do it?" Pope asked the girl beside him, bringing her out of her thoughts about the bitter blonde boy who was standing outside complaining about her. "Like today? Because we're all going to the beach later to surf, and I could help you, you know, apologize."

Francine bit her lip in thought, extremely nervous about the idea that Pope was putting into her mind. There were so many things to think about. Sure, Christopher's plan was to do it spontaneously, which she agreed to, but it seemed so soon. If you would've told her a month ago that she would be speaking with Pope about mending her friendship with the rest of the group, she would've thought you were delusional. A month ago, she was avoiding the pogues as much as possible, knowing that they hated her and knowing that if her mother saw her even looking at them, she'd be grounded for the rest of high school. Now, she was on a boat with two of her old friends, one was out on the deck, avoiding her as much as possible, and the other was sitting beside her, giving her a small reassuring smile.

The more Francine thought about apologizing to everyone today, the more doubtful she got, but she also thought about doing it later and putting it off. She came to the conclusion that no matter how long she left it, she'll probably be just as nervous as she is right now. So with a nod and a small smile in Pope's direction, she came up with her answer.

She's going to go to the beach with Pope, and try to talk to John B, JJ and Kiara about her situation, today. Ripping off the band aid and getting it over with.

"Seriously?" Pope's eyes widened when he saw her nod in response to his question. He cast a glance in the girl's direction, a large smile forming on his face. He was happy that the group could be reunited again, in the past three years, they didn't have that blunt sassy girl that everyone loved with them. He missed it. Pope's smile dropped as soon as he saw her expression turn more nervous than excited, the opposite of what he thought was going to happen. "Hey, don't worry about it, they'll be fine, I'll make sure of it."

Francine pursed her lips, repeating Pope's words in her head over and over again. Hoping that it'll ease her nerves, it didn't work much but she did feel like Pope would have her back if things went the wrong way. She didn't know what'll happen but knowing that one of them would help her out made her feel a little bit more confident in going through with this. Not a lot, but a little bit, she was still on edge about the idea. Francine took a deep breath the only thought in her mind being 'it's now or never.'

With that she nodded again, "I'll do it, but I don't know how they'll react."

Pope shrugged in response, narrowing his eyes in concentration as they neared a dock on the Cut. Francine just noticed that they weren't even going to her dock the whole time, so even if she told Pope that she wasn't going to do it, they'd still end up at John B's. It seemed that JJ didn't notice the direction they were going in either because right after Pope turned off the engine, the blonde boy ran into the wheelhouse. He looked right at Pope, not even acknowledging Francine, JJ furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why are we here?"