ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER FOUR

•••

A piece of what made Collins herself, was her desire to help people. It was early developed, and progressively persistent in everything she did whether it be at school or at home. Collins Jacobson would not be Collins Jacobson, if not for her charitable heart.

It started when she'd watch whatever VHS tapes they had on hand, most of which were the princess movies that her dad had gotten her when he was still giving her gifts. From a young age, Collins had seen that the princesses were always shown to be such kind and caring role models for her to look up to. They held themselves with such poise and always tended to the forest animals, Collins knew she wanted to be just like them when she grew up.

But then of course, she realized that being a princess wasn't exactly a realistic occupational option for one to have.

So it was at the auto body shop that Charlie used to work at and Collins used to tag along with, did Collins discover her interest in becoming a doctor. She'd sit in the little fold-out chair next to the rusted old frames across from the little box TV that played daytime hospital dramas for hours and hours on end, and she'd just watch with child-like innocence as her dream of becoming a princess turned into a being a doctor. They helped people, they saved lives. It was more magical than fairy dust in her eyes.

And that dream had only gotten stronger with time. It was the only thing Collins had to look forward to with each passing day. She'd taken all of the science and health related classes that their little school had to offer and read medical books when she grew bored of fiction, most of which had actually come in handy when it came to Charlie and his dangerous bumps and scrapes that were inflicted from work or play.

So she'd built up a fairly good foundation on how to take care of people over the years, though very rarely did she ever really put it to any use on anyone besides Charlie and over anything really serious.

In John B's case, he had appeared to be in barely good enough condition to not have to go to the hospital for the injuries he had sustained in his fight against Topper, a fight which could've ended much worse if JJ hadn't have pulled a gun out and scared the living daylights out of everyone. Not that Collins was justifying him using a gun because it truly was a really stupid thing for him to do, especially when it came to the fact that he actually shot the freaking thing.

Even though John B had collapsed in the water after Collins had tried to help him, he wasn't totally unconscious, and he seemed to fade in and out of it pretty frequently. A bruise looked like it was going to form around his eyes but when Collins checked his pupils for responsiveness, the results were favorable to say the least. All they could do was put some ice on his face and let him rest.

When Collins and Charlie got home, neither one had the energy to talk about everything that had happened. It was like once their heads hit their pillows, sleep immediately took over.

Now Collins didn't always remember her dreams. They were always sort of a foggy memory to her when she woke up, bits and pieces of a 온라인카지노게임 that never really made sense in her mind. And Collins thought in pictures, or movies. You know how some people can't really conjure up images in their heads and only think in words? Well, Collins was one of the people who could think of something and actually see it in her head, she could read a description and form a face like it had been pulled from her memory.

And that night, something truly weird was going on in her brain, because when Collins woke up, JJ Maybank's face was the only one she recalled seeing just before the pull of consciousness dragged her out of her slumber. As she opened her eyes with a groggy yawn escaping her lips, confusion immediately took over Collins's face once the realization struck, and she sank into her pillow because she realized just how embarrassed she was over something no one even saw or knew of.

Here's the other thing about Collins's dreams, the only thing she could ever seem to remember clearly about them was how she felt during those blissful moments spent in her own alternate reality. She could always discern whether she felt content during her sleep or if she were frightened from the occasional nightmare. And after she'd come to terms with the fact that she'd dreamt of JJ Maybank, she quickly registered the sort of peaceful happiness that she felt when she woke up, before complete and utter uncertainty had taken over.

She tried to shake off the feeling with cold shower, but even after she'd gotten out and she looked at herself in their water stained bathroom mirror, Collins couldn't seem to brush it off. She'd had one conversation with JJ and she was already dreaming about him. Not to mention that it hardly counted since he was intoxicated during it and most likely didn't even remember a single thing they talked about. She'd known him for years yet she always questioned whether or not he knew her; that was how invisible she'd always been to him.

Even when her brother had been friends with his cousin for about as long as she could remember, and therein knew JJ for almost the same amount of time, it was as if Collins's existence was never known by the boy. No matter how many times Charlie had hung out with Ricky, JJ, and John B- lighting up a joint or supplying them with some beers, Collins wasn't apart of that life, therefore JJ had never had a chance to notice her beyond their Econ class. At least, not until she showed up at the Boneyard last night.

But there was no point in trying to explore why his face was the one she'd recalled seeing in her sleep because nothing was going to come out of it anyhow. Collins couldn't let her mind go wild with the possibilities because she would only disappoint herself in the end either way. Feeling like she'd been acknowledged and admired for once in her life had felt good when it came from JJ, but it didn't mean that he would see her as anything other than invisible like he always had since they were kids. The sooner Collins came to terms with that, the better.

"Got any plans for today?" Charlie asked her, his voice coming out in a croak from only having woken up just a few minutes ago.

Collins slid past him through the bathroom doorway and she shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno, might try to stop by the library and look through some of their old ACT study books. Other than that, not much."

"Sounds good." Charlie nodded while squeezing a glob of toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

Collins hovered by Charlie and watched him carefully. He was acting so nonchalant, like they hadn't witnessed a shooting the night before the last and helped carry John B's body into his van so his friends could take him home. A part of her wanted to bring it up, at least talk about it because she still wasn't feeling too great about the whole ordeal and Charlie was just sweeping it under the rug. But she didn't want to start anything by doing so because she didn't know what kind of dust she could be stirring up if she did.

"I'm gonna head out then, I'll see you later." She slung her bag of books over her shoulder and headed for the door, receiving a similar response in goodbye from Charlie that echoed from the bathroom through shaving cream coated lips.

Following the dirt road leading into town, Collins's sneakers treaded down the path and she held her book in front of her. She'd taken on her other books and set Treasure Island aside for the time being because she didn't want to finish it quite yet. It was a short book and she wanted to savor the ending for just a little bit longer before she returned it, so she was divulging into the rest of her selection as a sort of distraction.

She was so distracted in fact, that Collins hadn't even noticed and been completely oblivious to the rusty Volkswagen van that had come rolling past her when she was walking alongside the road, John B at the wheel and JJ in shotgun.

As he drove away, John B glanced back in the rearview mirror and spotted Collins's wavy brown hair in recognition, then turned over to JJ with his brow raised. "Hey, that was CJ."

"Who?" JJ asked as he fiddled with John B's dad's compass, which they'd found in the sunken Grady White after he'd went scuba diving for it.

"Seriously, dude?" John B questioned with a sigh, snatching the compass back before JJ broke it like he tended to do with valuable things, except pretty much all of his friends had established that the compass was worthless in monetary value. Still, it had sentimental value. "I thought that it was just because you were too drunk to remember but I guess you're more oblivious than I thought."

Scowling at him, JJ wrinkled his nose indignantly. "Okay, what was that for? Oblivious about what?"

"Point proven."

"What point, JB? You're not making any sense right now, bro." JJ questioned in annoyance.

"You were so interested in my love life with Kie, but oh, have the tables turned now, haven't they? " John B taunted with a satisfied smile. "You had major eyes for Collins Jacobson last night, a girl you've gone to school with since pre-K, and you don't even remember her. Therefore, you are as oblivious is, as oblivious gets, JJ."

"Okay, I vaguely recall speaking with a girl, but JJ-the ladies man- Maybank, does not get 'eyes' for anyone without remembering them." The blond boy huffed with a shake of his head.

"You did for C-J." John B sang teasingly. "You wanna talk about how I get around Kie, well let's talk about how fucking starstruck you were by Collins because you couldn't even hear me tell you who she was from how heart eyes you were for her."

"Wait, are you talking about the Charlie and Collins Jacobson who live in that tiny little shack on the cut?" John B nodded bluntly. The gears seemed to be turning in JJ's head as he tried to pull whatever file he had in his memory on the name Collins Jacobson, but in true JJ fashion, it was a goddamn mess in there. "You still got that yearbook Pope left in here after he got second place in that stupid science fair?"

Furrowing his brows in deep thought, John B shrugged and kept his eyes on the road while he said, "Yeah, probably."

JJ twisted in his seat and started to crawl into the back of the van, shuffling through the rest of the junk that they had sitting back there until he uncovered the book beneath a pile of sandy towels and empty beer cans. Sitting back in his seat once he had acquired the yearbook, JJ began to flip through the pages until he reached the H-O section of their class that year and he scanned through the names until he found who he had been looking for.

"You're fucking kidding me, right? That's Collins Jacobson?"

John B peered over at the picture then nodded in confirmation. "I'm telling you, JJ, you were all over her last night."

"Now when you say all over, do you mean like all over?" JJ rubbed his hands over his chest in a sexual manner and with a sort of grave expression on his face because he took matters like this very seriously. "Because you know me and-"

"I mean you thought she was like an angel walking on earth, that's how 'all over' her you were." John B interrupted bluntly before JJ could finish his dirty minded sentence.

"Well, I am stone cold sober and the thought still stands. How does a girl like that spawn from the deepest darkest depths of purgatory which is our side of the island?" JJ held up the book and pointed at a picture of Collins posing for a photo with the rest of the science club, Pope was standing on the opposite end of the group with a nerdy grin on his goggle-shielded face. She had a soft smile on her lips and somehow she still looked radiant wearing the same goggles that Pope wore that made him look even geekier than he already was.

It was easy to miss her. Amongst the group, she blended into the line of figures like uniformed soldiers wearing lab coats and goggles. But take a closer look and she falls into perfect focus while everyone else around her goes blurry, practically nonexistent. She was a hidden gem of beauty in a crowd of nerdy awkward smiles and stiffly posed pubescent boys. JJ supposed that had to have been why he hadn't noticed her sooner. Who would think to look for a girl like her with a bunch of geeks?

"I wonder how things went with her last night if you still barely even remember her after having a full-on conversation."

"I'm pleading the fifth on that one, bro." JJ sighed before closing the book and tossing it back where he'd found it.

"You sat behind her in Econ for a whole semester and you're telling me that you never even knew her name?" John B stared in complete and utter disbelief at his best friend.

"Don't even hold that one against me, man. You know I didn't pay attention to anything that happened in that class." He scowled a little bit as he said it, before he added, "Plus, I did know her name, because I know Charlie. I've just never noticed her before and put a face to the name."

With that, JJ gazed out the window with his brows knit in deep thought, which had become subjugated to Collins Jacobson. Her yearbook photo smile was engrained into his mind and he couldn't shake his curiosity over how he hadn't noticed her sooner. He knew Charlie, he could recall several encounters with the older brother and would even go as far as referring to him as a friend due to his companionship with his cousin, Ricky. They'd smoked together during breaks in his shift at Heyward's and exchanged joking remarks because Charlie could be a smartass sometimes and JJ liked to challenge that. But despite this, never once did Collins ever come up in those memories.

"I guess she is pretty quiet." John B stated, which was the only logical explanation for Collins's unfamiliarity to JJ. "I probably wouldn't know her either if it weren't for Charlie. You seriously don't remember talking to her that night?"

"Honestly, the whole Topper almost drowning your ass and me pulling a gun on him kind of overshadowed everything else that happened that night." JJ said pointedly, then once he focused really hard and searched his memory for any recollection of the angelic face he'd just seen in their yearbook, only then did he find a faint memory involving her that night. It all looked blurry when he tried to picture it in his head, like faceless figures illuminated by an orange fire light. Yet pieces came together like a scattered mess in his brain regarding a girl who could've been Collins, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure. "I don't think I fucked things up too bad. We might've talked about surfing?"

"You think you'll ever talk to her again?" John B asked him with a suggestive smirk on his lips. "Because if you're gonna push me and Kie, it only makes sense if I shove you and CJ. It's like, against nature's will if I don't."

JJ swatted John B on the shoulder before rolling his eyes and sinking into his seat. "Why do you even care so much? Clearly, I've only acknowledged this girl once in my life. That doesn't really constitute as a reason to try and hook me up with her."

It was a valid point which JJ was making. John B knew this, but he'd decided to blatantly ignore it and keep pushing anyways because it was always fun playing matchmaker, especially if it kept JJ off his back about making a move on Kie. Not to mention that Collins was a good candidate to try and pull the reins back on his best friend. Collins was a girl that you could settle down with. She wasn't crazy like most of the girls JJ seemed to be into; her calm and down to earth personality could compliment JJ's eccentricity. They could be a match made in heaven.

"Collins is cool, alright? Clearly you like what you see, I'm just throwing it out there that it might not be a bad idea to shoot your shot on this one." John B shrugged his shoulders casually, trying not to let his eager seep out of him too much.

"If she remembers as much as I do about our conversation, then there's a slight possibility that I actually have a chance with her." Meaning that the less of an impression that he made on Collins, the better, which was quite different from his normal approach to dating. "But come on, when have I ever struck out on a girl?"

"Kie." John B deadpanned in reminder.

"Kie does not count." Except it kinda did.

But if there was one thing JJ knew came pretty easy to him in life, it was girls. He never had trouble picking one up nor did he ever have trouble keeping them around- if anything, his biggest issue was shaking them off. He'd gotten the skill of charming the ladies down pretty quickly and it had become a simple affair for him when he was picking up a pretty girl at a party and taking her back to the Château for the night. And very rarely did it ever happen when he found himself feeling like he struck out a little, but given the circumstances of the night he and Collins had spoken, JJ figured he had an excuse for his minor lapse.

He did have to say though, Collins Jacobson was a bit of a shock to him. It didn't happen very often where a girl as stunning as her slipped past unnoticed by him but even JJ had to admit, he wasn't the most perceptive guy on the block and he'd fallen asleep in Econ more times than he could count.

There he goes again making excuses for himself.

The truth is, Collins and JJ didn't exactly have that much in common. In fact, they were pretty much total opposites besides the fact that they both were as local to the cut as one could get and they both had pretty crappy father figures and moms that were no longer apart of their lives. In the grand scheme of things, Collins and JJ had very different views for how their life would turn out and how they were going to get there.

JJ didn't really have a plan all made out for himself; he mostly just liked to play things by ear, live in the moment. He figured he'd stay in school unless he wanted to be shipped off to the mainland like John B was deathly near to, then if he actually graduated, he'd work a couple jobs to keep himself afloat. And maybe life would throw him a bone and he'd win the lottery or something and suddenly become filthy rich enough to have people who would spit on his shoes if he asked because he had so much damn disposable income that he'd think, 'why the fuck not?' What's the point of having money when you've barely had any your entire life, if you're not gonna use it irresponsibly?

In Collins's case, she was going to get out of that shack of a house she and Charlie lived in and leave Kildare county and all of its 온라인카지노게임book socioeconomic rivalries behind her. She'd go through college and join some clubs where she'd meet people that she actually had a lot in common with and feel like she finally belonged somewhere for once. And then she'd become a doctor, find her specialty in med school, make enough money to support her and Charlie alone and pay him back for all of his hard work to get her there and she'd feel like she could finally breathe after years of questioning how they were going to budget their money to make sure they had enough money to pay the gas and electric. She was prepared to have to work for it, and she knew that it would take a lot out of her but it would be worth it in the end.

That's what made Collins and JJ so staggeringly different; their interests and goals alone proved how incompatible they were. It explained exactly why they had never been apart of each other's lives perfectly; it's because they lived completely different ones. They experienced the same hot summer days, yet JJ was up to his usual mischief with John B, solving the massive mystery that was his father's compass which had somehow found itself on a Grady White and nearly gotten them killed by some randos in the marsh. And he went through all this because JJ liked adventure, and burying his head in a book was the last thing he imagined spending his summer doing.

Meanwhile, under that exact blistering sun that shined down on the island they called home, Collins was doing exactly what JJ hated: reading. She also had a notebook in her lap and a pencil in her hand, scribbling down answers to questions from the ACT practice test book she got from the library. Studying: another thing that JJ hated. The opportunity for adventure didn't exactly present itself too often when you don't have friends to go on them with. Therefore, Collins had a lot more free time on her hands to study, which she didn't really mind, but you know, it was boring to a guy like JJ.

She'd spent a good couple of hours sitting under the shade of a tree that was probably older than the town based on its gigantically thick trunk. She'd done the math and reading portion of the practice test more times than she could count and was now onto the science section.

She found herself stuck on the same question for the last ten minutes because she couldn't seem to get her curiosity over John B's condition off her mind. She and Charlie had just left him after that night at the Boneyard. She hadn't seen him since and Charlie never mentioned any update on how he was doing so Collins had been left to mull in her own troublesome thoughts without any answers. She'd hoped that if she stuck around by the beach that she'd see him and his friends sprinting out into the water with their surfboards in hand, but no luck.

Finally, she just decided that she would go and see for herself. She wasn't going to get anything done if she didn't and she knew that she wouldn't be able to rest until she knew he was okay. She'd just swing by his house and once she saw him doing whatever it was that he and his friends liked to do and could see with her own two eyes that he wasn't concussed or suffering from internal bleeding, then and only then, would she stop worrying so much.

That's the fairy tale princess part of her that's taking over; the one that dotes on others and doesn't just do things for an ulterior motive. Collins cared way too much about people for a person that didn't feel like she had a lot of people who cared about her. It was one of her many flaws that could soon lead to her downfall if she weren't careful.

As she walked back to her neighborhood where John B's house resided not too far from hers, Collins thought about how weird that night had been. From JJ chatting her up, to a Pogue versus Kook brawl, then to JJ whipping out a gun like he was some sort of cowboy on the loose. It seemed strange to her that the one night that she decided to actually go to a party, chaos ensues like the universe is telling her that it's not her place to be there and she never should've tried to make it one. She could tell after everything happened that Charlie felt a little guilty about bringing her there, but how could he have known something like that would happen?

Sometimes Collins thinks that Charlie underestimates how much she can handle in a situation. He'd spent so many years protecting her from that kind of stuff that it was understandable for him to think that she would crumble from something so stressful. But he'd forgotten that she'd grown up and had acquired the common sense that not all was sunshine and rainbows in the world; stuff happens. The real world was full of crime and danger and she knew that. Now, she hadn't experienced all that much first hand since he'd done everything in his power to make sure that she didn't, but Collins had seen how much it affected Charlie to know that it wasn't to make light of.

Collins thought a lot more and a lot harder about all of the things that had been wracking her brain those last few days while on her way to see John B. It was quiet for a Thursday afternoon, but she sort of liked it that way because it made her thoughts feel so much clearer. The cut didn't have as much bustle to it as its opposing side, people didn't really hang around outside their houses to greet their neighbors or tend to their gardens, so Collins was able to walk in peace by herself.

When she neared the old fish shack that John B's dad had made into a comfortable home, it initially looked as though no one was there. But John B's giant van was sat in front and the door past the porch was wide open, indicating that he must've just been inside.

Collins stepped onto the porch apprehensively, moving towards the entryway leading into the house and stopping just outside like an invisible line was preventing her from taking any further steps in. She knocked her knuckles against the wooden frame and waited for response. "Hello? John B?" Nothing.

Faint voices drifted out from further into the home and Collins should've known better than to pry. Yet she still took that single hesitant step over that invisible line mentioned earlier and moved closer to where she thought the voices were coming from.

"If it is a clue, maybe it's an anagram?" She could hear what sounded like Pope's voice saying through the thin walls.

"Yes, perfect, you need paper." John B's voice came next, and that's when Collins finally steps into view at the edge of the door, peering over at John B and his crew with a sudden thump persisting in her chest.

She should have anticipated that he'd be with his friends, she very rarely ever saw him without them and their presence made her feel all the more embarrassed for just showing up unannounced. Why did she have to be such a dork? And now that she was suddenly standing in front of all of them, the realization that she was now the freak who invited herself into people's homes dawned on her, and Collins wanted nothing more than to actually become as invisible as she normally felt was.

No one had noticed her yet, they were too busy focusing on some sort of puzzle like she'd heard them mention before. Collins could still make it out of there unscathed. She was just about to turn and leave before anyone saw her, but as her eyes locked gazes with the familiar blues of JJ Maybank's, it was as if her feet had frozen in place. She just couldn't seem to move them, it was too late, she'd been made.

"Hey." He said, his voice catching and his juul caught in between his teeth as he said it. As he cleared his throat, a small puff of smoke escaped past his lips.

At his random greeting and distracted look from what they were doing, everyone else simultaneously turned to follow JJ's gaze until they all landed on Collins. She feigned a small smile at the uncomfortable draw of attention to her and held her hands behind her back while she fidgeted with her fingers.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to barge in." She said apologetically. "I was just checking to see if John B was okay, but by the looks of it, you seem pretty fine. so I'll just go. I'm really sorry for coming in."

She moved to turn on her heel but came to an abrupt stop at the sound of John B's voice. "Collins, it's no big deal." He assured her, which loosened the anxious knot in her chest but it didn't totally go away. She'd probably be kicking herself over this for the next couple of sleeps. "Thanks for checking in, I'm okay, just got this shiner to show off."

He motioned to his left eye that was surrounded by a dark circle in the shade of violet purple and Collins resisted the urge to wince at the sight. "Yeah, that's a nasty bruise but it should go away in a couple of weeks. Just gotta make sure you tell people you won."

John B just chuckled before turning his gaze over to JJ and casting him a sort of knowing look. JJ shifted his gaze between John B and Collins before smiling sheepishly and bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head and mess with his already disheveled hair.

"'Sup?" He said coolly, and Collins could see in her peripheral vision, Kie facepalm her forehead while Pope shook his head in dismay.

But Collins just looked at him with the same amicable look on her face that she always tried to evoke without even really trying, and tried not to blush too profusely- as if she could even help it. "Um, I couldn't help but hear that you guys were working on an anagram? Anything interesting?"

"Yeah, it's for a--uh, game that we like to play." Pope explained briefly with a small cough like he was trying to clear his throat but in reality, was just trying to play off their situation and throw off any suspicion that Collins had. Although he was failing miserably and if John B were sitting next to him, he'd kick him in the shins from under the table.

However, Collins wasn't ever really one to expect the worst in people, so she didn't immediately think that Pope was being ill-mannered towards her. She kind of just thought that he had a tickle that was bothering his throat.

"Oh, cool." There was a second of silence amongst them that lingered in the air and Collins took that as her opportunity to save herself from any more embarrassment. "Well, I'll leave you guys to it, let me know if you ever figure it out."

"Wait," JJ blurted out before she could take off and before he could stop himself, "maybe you wanna take a stab at it? Pope's got a pretty smart brain but it's a real dud some days."

"I'm literally just sitting here."

Shrugging her shoulders, Collins's lips turned up just the slightest and she felt a tiny bit happier to be invited to help them with their special game. "Sure, I guess, uh, what's the anagram?"

"Redfield." Kie told her before showing her their attempts so far on the sheet of paper in front of them. It wouldn't hurt for them to ask her for help; they didn't have to share the real reasoning for it and perhaps Collins could actually crack it and help them get one step closer to figuring out the mystery behind John B's compass.

And maybe they would do it to help JJ out a little because if this is how he planned on flirting with her, he was going to need it.

Studying the word carefully, Collins stared at it hard in concentration and began spewing out any ideas that came to mind. "Fred lied? Um, freed lid? Redd life?" Even as she said them she knew it didn't make sense, and by the looks of everyone around her, it didn't make sense to them either.

"How can you concentrate with that thing constantly crowing at you?" Pope huffed as he tried to block out the sound of squawking from outside.

"JJ loves the rooster."

"I love the rooster." Kie chimed in in defense.

Collins peered out the window to look at the animal in question and watched as a big dark truck came rolling up to the house. "Looks like you've got company, John B." She told him absentmindedly, before turning back to the anagram.

Tension was suddenly heavy in the air as the Pogues went to look out the window and spotted two men get out of the truck to walk up to the house. "Guys, is that them?" Kie asked, too scared to hide the worry in her voice as they all exchanged wary glances.

From what Collins could see, no one was happy with the new arrivals and no one had been expecting it. She watched in confusion while Pope shook his head nervously and Kie's breathing became erratic. JJ, he started pacing the room with a troubled expression on his face like he was in deep, uneasy thought.

"John B, I told you." His voice had become wracked with panic. "Why does it always--"

Before he could finish his question, John B grabbed JJ by the shoulders and stared at him hard with a grave look until JJ was backed up against the wall. "JJ. Hey, look at me. Where's the gun?"

"The gun?" Collins echoed with concern, standing up straight as she looked around for some kind of explanation, but now wasn't exactly the time for her to start asking questions when the Pogues were too preoccupied with danger to give her answers. Their lack of response only made her mirror their fearful reactions to whatever was going on.

JJ tried to pull it together and think of where he had put the firearm but couldn't seem to gather his thoughts quick enough. Why couldn't he remember?

"Now you don't have the gun, the one time we need the gun?" Kie asked him with trepidation in her quivering voice.

"It was in my backpack," JJ articulated, closing his eyes as he retraced his steps, "and then I-- it's on the porch." John B ushered him to go and get it, leading to JJ quickly slipping out of the room to retrieve the weapon.

"Why are you getting a gun for those guys?" Collins questioned in bewilderment, trying to make as much sense of the situation as she could from what she had seen and heard thus far, but pieces of the puzzle were missing. Her heart rate had picked up its pace and she was digging her fingernails into the palm of her hand just to remind herself that she was still there, that this wasn't some nightmare, and if the pain she was feeling was real, then so was the potential for more. Collins wasn't really good at coping with tense situations.

"John Routledge!" A voice suddenly bellowed from outside, and Collins couldn't help but jump in her skin at the alarming sound.

JJ came scrambling back into the room, empty handed because he had been just as scared as everyone else by the yell and was too late to get to his backpack before the men had approached. "They're on the front porch, guys." JJ whispered after shutting the door and pressing his back against it while the threatening shouts from the two men boomed from the living room close by.

"We gotta leave." Kie hissed before pointing at the window.

Pope and JJ immediately rushed to lift up the pane, but struggled to open up their only way out. Collins watched with fists clenched tightly at her sides, nails still digging into her skin because she was starting to totally and completely freak out. She didn't understand what was going on, why these men were here, and what they wanted to do with John B. All she knew was that everyone else was scared and they needed to find a way to escape and they needed to do it fast.

"What's happening, what's taking so long?" Kie asked in a hushed voice.

"It's painted shut." JJ breathed, and Kie quickly went to find something to cut through the paint.

Figuring that she should help instead of just standing there, Collins immediately began searching for something they could use to chip away the paint. Her mind was a jumbled mess but it still managed to subconsciously move her body to root around for any sort of tool. Shuffling through the piles of papers cluttering the desks and shelves, Collins's hand grasped onto a letter opener hidden beneath the folders. She nearly dropped it onto the floor from how sweaty her hands were where it was sure to clatter and give them away, but luckily, she was able to tighten her grip around the handle and hold it securely.

"Here, take it!" She whispered and passed it into Kie's hand while she continued to look for something similar she could use to help.

The sound of the door knob rattling and a giant thump against the door made everyone freeze where they were and look at John B and Pope who stood guarding the door. They each had a finger pressed to their lips to signal them to be quiet.

"You better not be in there!"

Just then, there was a crack as the wooden door nearly split in the middle with the heavy force being thrown into it, and two boys that had been standing in front of it quickly scattered across the room to flock to the window that was nearly free.

As the last of the paint had been chipped away from the bottom of the window, they were finally able to lift it up and quickly climb out, one by one.

"Come on." JJ said, the words barely audible as he helped Collins step through the opening and duck out until her shoes hit the grass and she was out of the room. He followed after her last, tugging the window back down so that it was closed before grabbing her and pulling her towards the chicken coop in John B's backyard.

John B, Kie, and Pope had already taken hiding in the small space, leaving Collins and JJ to squeeze in next to each other. Collins felt like her heart was in her ears from how loud she could swear it was beating. And her mouth had never felt so dry before in her life, she tried to swallow but it was like all the moisture had disappeared. Her failure to swallow just led to the lump in her throat solidifying itself and remaining in place. She didn't dare try and clear it away with a cough and make any sound. Even just breathing felt like she was walking on a tightrope between life or death.

They had escaped the room, but they weren't in the clear yet; not until those men were gone. If they were found in their little hiding spot, who knows what would happen? From the tiny opening on the side of the coop, Collins could catch a glimpse of the men trudging out of the house with armfuls of books and boxes from what she assumed to be from the office they had been locked in moments before. Something seriously fishy was going on and Collins could tell that everyone else had an idea on why those men were there, they just weren't telling her.

She suddenly flinched as the rooster that had been incessantly making noise earlier, started again, causing everyone to feel unnerved by the attention it was attracting. "Do something, Pope. Shut him up!" JJ snapped lowly.

"What do you want me to do?" The boy hissed back helplessly.

"Pet it or something, talk to it, I don't know." Kie shot back with a frightened look in her eyes.

"You do it!" Pope pointed to JJ.

Collins just watched as the boys exchanged indignant glares with one another before the rooster released another loud crow and she could suddenly feel her heart sink with fear. Her lip trembled and she squeezed her eyes shut to hold in her tears, and with one glimpse, JJ saw how scared she was and how her fear was reflected in his friends around him. He then grabbed the rooster to try and calm it quiet, but the bird only made more noise. Feeling like he didn't know what else to do to protect them, JJ squeezed his hands around it's neck and forced it down on the ground until they heard a soft crack and then silence from the rooster's unmoving body.

As JJ slumped back against the wall of the coop, Collins couldn't take her eyes away from the dead animal in his hands without feeling remorseful. Within a few seconds, the sound of a car pulling away signaled to them that it was safe for them to come out and the men had finally left. Despite this, no one moved for a good while just in case, and maybe because they were all still trying to recover from the event that had just occurred and pull themselves back together again.

Maybe Charlie was right, Collins wasn't ready for the real world.

•••

i knew the chicken might be a controversial writing choice but I just felt like I had to do it. not for the sake of it being a stupid romantic gesture where jj kills the chicken because collins is afraid, but to stay true to his character and what he would be willing to do for his friends. it's one of my favorite things about jj !