Chasing Sunshine | JJ Maybank

31 // Parcel Nine

"Rise and shine!"

JJ's sing-song voice pulled me rather unceremoniously from my slumber and when I didn't move to get up right away, he plopped down at the end of the couch and tickled the bottom of my feet until I finally squirmed away. I sat up, meeting his way-too-chipper attitude with a sideways glare before squinting around for where I had sleepily tossed my glasses last night. JJ chuckled a little bit, grabbing them off the end table and handing them over to me. Once the world came into focus and I finished a big yawn, I finally spoke. "If I'm going to be honest, this was not what I was expecting from you this morning."

Not only was he awake before I was, but from the looks of it, he was completely ready to go. Already dressed in one of his never-ending supply of faded marina t-shirts and a pair of trunks, his eyes were bright and both of our bags were sitting smartly by the door. He tutted with a cheeky smile while standing up and holding out a hand to haul me to my feet. "You know, I can be on top of things when I want to be Sunshine."

I rolled my eyes and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth while he went into the kitchen. I raised my voice so he could still hear me from across the house and said,"What time did you even get up?"

"Eh, just a little bit ago," he replied. I heard him start rummaging around in the cabinets presumably for some breakfast. My response was delayed for a minute or two while I scrubbed away my morning breath but I spoke again as we re-joined in the living room.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were excited to go."

He didn't miss a beat before answering through a mouthful of Cheerios, "Sure, I like hanging out with you dumbass."

"You're a dumbass," I brilliantly countered, plopping my duffel bag on the couch and pulling out my last clean pair of worn denim shorts and a flowery crop top, internally reminding myself to run a load of laundry when we got back. My hands fell on two different bikini tops, both of which were my favorites, and I hesitated as I looked between them, trying to decide which I wanted to wear.

"The blue one," JJ answered out loud, and my eyes immediately flew up to see that he had been watching me the whole time. I quirked one eyebrow with a small grin and he cleared his throat, gaze flickering to the dark, navy swimsuit held in my left hand. "It's a-uh...good color on you."

The comment nearly stole the breath from my lungs but I barely managed to play it off casually with a small half-shrug. "Oh, okay," I mumbled, shoving the peach-colored one back into the bag and finding the matching bottoms for the blue one. I quickly changed and soon we were out the door. JJ offered to drive us over on his scuffed up, red moterbike leaning against the house. I took a deep breath that he didn't notice before swinging my leg over the bike to sit behind him as he kickstarted the engine. You're doing this. You're going to tell him. Today.

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My master plan hit a small road bump pretty early on when I caught sight of Matthew's truck parked in the back lot, cursing myself that I hadn't thought about him being here. I pretended not to hear JJ's small huff of annoyance as the bike's motor shuddered off and chose not to comment on the way he stared at the car like it had personally insulted him.

Once inside, I called out, "Rosie! Hello?"

"We're back here!" I heard her voice shout back and I gestured with my chin that JJ should follow me through the hallways of the building to the back pools. We consisted of Matthew and Rosie who were gathered around the release equipment I had helped her lay out the night before. She approached as we walked up, wiping her hands on her pants before greeting us with a smile. "I see we have company."