Chasing Sunshine | JJ Maybank

42 // The Runway

The next day, it was well into the afternoon by the time my brain decided to wake the rest of my body up; it had been ages since I'd slept in but I must have really needed it because I had managed to sleep through two missed calls from Rosie and three from James. I sat up straight in bed when I remembered that I was supposed to be at my place like three hours ago, making JJ (who was still asleep, obviously) groan and blindly flail around to grab my arm to pull me back into bed. I pressed the RETURN CALL button under Rosie's name and prayed I could find some shred of cell phone service. Luck was on my side and the call connected on only the second ring, but her voice on the other end was scratchy and hard-to-understand. I gathered that the gist was something along the lines of why aren't you here and where have you been?

I almost opened my mouth to say that I would get dressed and be there as soon as I could, but hesitated when I looked down at JJ's sleeping form next to me. Nothing sounded more appealing than spending the rest of the day with my friends after the shit-show that was last night and nothing sounded less appealing than wasting a perfect summer day hauling boxes back and forth. So I only partially lied, saying that I had forgotten my friend was up for a very important scholarship and we were all taking him out surfing afterwards to celebrate but that I would meet James and her both once the sun went down and we could get dinner together. I threw in a few apologies here and there for making them worry and eventually I had convinced her.

After having no such luck convincing JJ to get out of bed and join me in my pursuit of a meal, I found Kie already in the kitchen, blowing the steam from a fresh-brewed cup of coffee. She was still in her clothes from last night and I almost offered her something of mine to wear before remembering most of my things were either dirty also or back at my house. All I got as a greeting was a small smile over the rim of her mug, but her eyes still seemed troubled; apparently the full night's sleep hadn't been able to shake off last night's confrontation.

I pulled the cereal from the cupboard and tried to make conversation as I searched for a clean bowl. "What time did John B come in last night?"

She shrugged. "He didn't. I went outside this morning to see if he had fallen asleep outside but he wasn't there. Must've dipped before we woke up," she answered and I whipped around to look at her, concerned that maybe he had changed in his mind about going after Ward, but she quickly added upon seeing my expression, "The gun's still here, I already checked. The van's gone so he probably just went for a drive or something."

I relaxed slightly with a relieved sigh before resuming my breakfast-but-technically-lunch making. She took another long drink from the coffee clutched between her hands, looking down at the deep brown beverage when she asked nonchalantly, "Have you heard from Pope today?"

I finished adding milk to my Cheerios and turned around to lean against the counter and face her. "No, but the cell service is still spotty. He wouldn't have tried to text us or anything. Interview's probably almost over by now, now that I think about it." She just nodded in agreement, going back to staring into space and lost in thought. I swallowed the spoonful of cereal I had in my mouth before looking her over once and adding, "You know Kie, he was out of line last night. He shouldn't have said those things to you."

"He was right though, about me not being there," she mused quietly, gaze still fixed to some random spot on the floor, "I was trying to pretend to be something I wasn't and I forgot about you guys."

"Hey," I admonished, setting my bowl down and crossing over to her when I saw guilty tears begin to spill from the corners of her eyes, "You were there for us, you've always been there for us. So maybe we didn't hang out as often for those couple semesters, but never once did I think you forgot about us. Kie, you were at a different school and life was...complicated back then. I can't speak for John B but I know the first couple months after my mother died, I didn't even want to see or speak to anyone."