ONLY ANGEL | JJ MAYBANK

CHAPTER TWENTY

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Tangled legs, messy hair,
sun beams on the hardwood floor,
birds chirping, bare skin,
and heat like Collins has never felt before.

All things which the girl listed off in her head the moment she'd woken up without moving so much as an inch because she wanted to soak in every bit of this little slice of heaven she was in before she had to leave it. Collins breathed in the fresh air drifting in through the open window, with a soft sigh in content.

Who knew sleeping with another person in the same bed could be so comfortable? It made more sense in Collins's head for it to be an unpleasant experience, with such limited shared space and a night spent playing a snoozing game of twister trying to find the most comfortable position. Yet much to her surprise, it was probably the best sleep she's had in months, even though it was boiling like a pot of water

A quick glimpse at her solar powered watch prompted Collins to finally depart from tranquility. It was already eight o'clock- that was practically noon in the summer time. There were definitely things that needed to be done and unfortunately, they wouldn't be if she remained arrested to this bed.

Peering up at JJ, Collins nearly melted at the sight of him so sound asleep. This was most likely the quietest she's ever seen him. His soft breaths through his nose were the only sounds emitted from him, otherwise he was silent. She admired his messy hair, a nest of blond that curled over his forehead. She liked the little Cupid's bow that shaped his lips and how he slightly pouted them naturally in his sleep.

She never wanted to leave.

The sound of movement from outside of the room seemed to serve as another reminder that while it felt like a time stood still when it was just her and JJ, the world still moved on around them. Begrudgingly wiggling out from under JJ's arm while trying not to disturb him, Collins crawled out, standing up from the bed once she'd freed herself. With her body finally vertical, Collins took a moment to raise her arms up and stretch, a yawn escaping her in the process. She looked out the window and briefly examined the conditions outside. Just another sunny day in the OBX, no complaints or concerns to be had.

A soft grumble and the shifting of the sheets drew Collins's attention back to the bed, where she saw JJ stirring awake. He blinked a couple of times, his eyes still heavy with sleep before he rubbed his face and pushed his hair up haphazardly. "Is it morning already?" His morning voice was raspy and probably the sexiest thing Collins has ever heard in her life. She almost blushed just for thinking such a thing.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked, combing her fingers through the tangles in her brunette waves. She leaned against the wall adjacent to the window, and glanced between the view outside and her view of JJ.

"I think I'm still dreaming." He murmured, gazing at her with his face half buried in his pillow and a smile tugging on the corners of his lips. She truly looked like an angel the way the sun was shining over her. Collins looked at him before shaking her head with a scoff in disbelief. Even half-asleep he was still flirting in circles around her. "Come back here." He patted the mattress and beckoned her to move closer.

"But it's time to wake up." Collins replied, though her feet still moved like they had a mind of their own in the direction of the bed. She stopped- an action which required full synchronization of both her mind and body- at the end of the bed.

JJ moved to meet her halfway, sitting up and leaning forward to grab her by the hand and tug her to fall into the pile of blankets and pillows. "I'm afraid you've spoiled me. One night with you and now I don't know how I'll ever sleep alone again."

Collins pursed her lips, trying to fight the grin off her face before accepting defeat; why even try to hide it? She wanted JJ to know exactly how happy that made her. "Five more minutes." She relented, before she tumbled into bed once again.

JJ laughed victoriously, enveloping her in his arms while she exclaimed in surprise, before immediately resting comfortably with his chin on her shoulder, his body spooned against hers. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked her inquisitively, a shot of doubt crossing his mind that maybe she didn't enjoy sleeping with him as much as he did. What if she was cursing every second she spent laying with him in that moment?

"I slept like a baby." She answered, and there was a rush of relief that overcame JJ.

Collins held his arm while it was draped over her waist and stroked the back of his forearm absentmindedly with the knuckles of her hand. If they really did lay there for more than five minutes, she was sure to fall asleep. Something about the weight of his body resting on hers just gave her this sense of security that made falling asleep so easy; like nothing could hurt her so long as she was behind this shield.

The same could be said from JJ as he felt himself slowly drift off back into his slumber. It was too good to end so abruptly. This was the best form of therapy than anything money could buy. After all of the shit they'd endured (while mostly because of him), it was the perfect way to end the day and he never wanted it to end. He could smell whatever product she put in her hair to make it so soft and smell so good. It was a comforting smell, a smell that was now imprinted in his brain and he'd think of it whenever he felt like he needed to think back on this moment. If he ever lost control like he did the day before, this moment would ground him.

"We have to get up, JJ. For real this time." Collins said with reluctance.

The blond haired boy took deep breath before moving sluggishly to sit up with Collins before he felt her depart. "Can we at least do this again?" He asked her, his eyes hopeful.

Chuckling softly, Collins nodded. "Sure, but I can't guarantee when I'll be able to. I still have a bed of my own, you know?"

"Yeah, but imagine how much better you'll sleep if we keep this thing going. A good night's rest is important for optimal brain function, which you know you'd need given the career path you're on." As JJ finally got up onto his feet, Collins was able to see his shirtless chest in natural light.

While attractively sculpted, it was painted with bruises that she hated seeing each and every time she laid eyes on them. Her gaze lingered on them for only a few seconds before she tore them away and turned her body around so that she didn't have to look at them any longer.

"I'm gonna go see what the rest of the house is up to." She left while JJ was throwing a shirt on over his head, exiting one room to enter another.

As she checked the place out, she saw that the futon that Kie had slept on, was now just a pile of blankets and a pillow with no body to rest over. The kitchen was empty, the glass of water she'd drank from was still left on the counter, abandoned. The front porch was where she looked next, remembering the place she'd seen Pope drop down and fall asleep at. Only, it wasn't Pope who occupied the room, it was Kie, who sat in the wicker chair with one leg tucked close to her chest.

She glanced up upon Collins's arrival, and her expression was overtaken by a knowing smile, which Collins couldn't help but roll her eyes at while fighting off the urge to flash one herself.

"Well someone's got some explaining to do." Kie teased, as if the whole thing hadn't been her idea in the first place.

Taking the seat next to her, Collins just shook her head. "You are unbelievable, you know that?"

"If by unbelievable you mean I'm an unbelievably good friend, then yes, Collins, I am. Thanks for acknowledging that fact." Kie tipped her shoulder to Collins smugly. "So, what happened? How did it go in there?"

Taking a deep breath, Collins looked back to make sure JJ wasn't eavesdropping behind them, but the house remained empty, indicating that he must've still been in the room and out of earshot. Nonetheless, she kept her voice low as a precaution. "It was nice." She felt giddy just thinking about it, hardly able to sit still in her chair.

Kie gestured for her to continue and elaborate. "And? Did you guys finally kiss, yet? Did you confess your feelings for each other? Did you do anything besides sleep on opposite sides of the bed?"

"We did cuddle a bit." Collins protested in her defense, but she knew that wasn't all the information that Kie was asking for. "And we talked, not exactly about our feelings, but we talked. He's convinced that he's not worthy of me or something totally ridiculous like that. I'm not sure how he intends on changing that, but I don't really know where to go from here."

"Leave it to JJ to decide to be all chivalrous at the worst possible time." Not that Kie didn't approve, JJ was finally giving up his days as a manwhore and making an honest man of himself. It was a matter to rejoice over, really. She was tired of the sleepless nights after a kegger when JJ managed to hook a Touron that they'd hear unholy sounds from at ungodly hours and impatiently wait for them to finally take the ferry back to the mainland where they'd never have to encounter them again.

Collins was good. She was exactly the kind of girl that JJ had needed without searching for. At first, Kie hadn't thought much would even become of JJ's attempts at flirtation, with Collins being too smart to fall for it and all. So then when it did turn out that she was harder to crack than even the rest of them had thought, there was something to respect about that. Not because she wasn't "easy" like most other girls JJ hooked up with, though there wasn't anything wrong with that, but because she made JJ work for it, and in the process of doing so, he was forced to see the person he sought after as an actual human being with thoughts and emotions instead of a body to share a bed with.

So weirdly enough, Kie almost wanted to smack JJ upside the head for only choosing now to be so virtuous that he would be the only thing standing between him and his own happiness. She could see that Collins was ready for the next step, but like the majority of the female population, she wanted the guy to make the first move. She could only help Collins so much to take the initiative, but JJ needed to be the one who finished it. Unfortunately for Collins, Kie didn't think that making a move on her would be on JJ's agenda to becoming a better man for her. Could she somewhat be responsible for this, given that she was the one who'd told JJ to do things by the book, i.e. be a gentleman like the leads in Collins's favorite novels?

This couldn't be a bad thing. Collins didn't need things moving at a fast pace, anyways. Slow and steady was more her style. Now that JJ was on board with that, things could actually be better for them, perfect even.

Collins was still sort of in a dreamy state of being from the whole night to stress out over anything. Even though it would've been really easy for her to overthink about the circumstances between her and JJ, it all felt too discouraging when they'd spent such a good night together. She wanted to remember it as a blissful memory, and not spoil it with her own pessimistic thoughts.

Just as she was about to say something to Kie, the sound of an engine rumbling from down the road captured their attention. Collins could soon make out the shape and color of her older brother's dirt bike driving up to the Château, an odd sight given that his appearance hadn't been expected. Collins stood up and went to meet him outside where he parked his bike on the lawn.

Charlie surveyed the area, taking in all the new stuff that Barry's money had bought them and wondering where the hell it all came from. His internal queries were interrupted by the sound of Collins approaching, and he was prompted to redirect his focus onto her. "Hey," his eyes flickered behind her where Kie was leaning against the doorframe, he raised his hand in greeting. "How's it going, Kie?"

"Earth's still spinning." The girl replied with a little shrug. "As of now."

"What are you doing here?" Collins asked him, not in an accusatory way but in a genuinely curious manner because she had no clue why Charlie would be there in the first place.

Reaching into his back pocket, Charlie fished out an envelope and handed it over to Collins. "Opened that this morning from the mail that came yesterday. Seemed important."

Collins fished for the letter inside and unfolded it out in her hands, her eyes scanning across the paper and processing the typed words. Kildare County High School... guidance counselor Mr. Wilks... fall semester schedule. It was school registration time already?

The letter mentioned that she come in as soon as it was convenient for her, but to come by at least the end of the month. "They want me to come to the school. Probably to pick my classes for the semester."

"Better get that taken care of then." Charlie said, fiddling with his helmet and retreating back to his bike. "I'm already kinda late for work, otherwise I'd drop you off but I figure you'd want to stop home and change or whatever." His eyes scanned over the clothes on her body, primarily on the shirt she wore which was unfamiliar and much too big on her. But then again, Collins liked her tees big like that so he couldn't exactly make the conclusion that it was one of the boys' shirts on that evidence alone. He could however, pinpoint his suspicions based on the fact that when he'd been standing in front of her, she'd smelled like she'd been doused in a can of cologne.

Still, there were too many possible explanations for why she would be wearing another boy's shirt instead of her own, and Charlie did intend on getting to the bottom of that along with how a whole ass jacuzzi appeared on John B's front lawn when he was broke as fuck and living at the Cameron estate. Too many suspicious things going on at once.

Wrapping her arms around herself as Collins was suddenly made conscious about JJ's shirt on her body in front of her older brother, she nodded feebly with a slightly embarrassed smile on her lips. "Yeah, I'll do that. See you tonight?"

"You're on dinner duty." Charlie pointed at her before starting his bike up again. Putting her in charge of dinner ensured that she would be present at home and not away with her friends again. It would serve as the perfect opportunity to finally catch up on everything that was going on with her that Collins hadn't been sharing with him lately. The night before had been the first time in a long time that she'd opened up to him about something happening in her life. Before that summer, she used to tell him everything. Charlie missed that between them.

Collins waved as Charlie started moving back towards the edge of the road on his motorbike, dropping her hand to her side once he'd fully turned away and left them with a plume of dirt and exhaust behind him. Looking back at Kie behind her, Collins was just about to start saying her goodbyes when Kie started shaking her head, still looking out at the road wistfully.

"Collins, your brother is seriously sexy." The girl lusted, still reeling from his perfect head of brown curls and earthy green eyes.

"Ew!" Collins exclaimed, cringing at the idea and shrinking her shoulders. "Do not use words like that in association with my brother. It's vomit inducing."

"I can't tell a lie." Kie giggled, backing up to go sit on her chair on the porch.

"Please try for my sake." Collins scoffed, disappearing to the living room to pick up her bag and clothes before heading back out. "I'll see you later to work on the pulley. This thing at the school shouldn't take me too long."

"Okay, I'll let lover boy know what you're up to." Kie winked at her and gave her a three-fingered wave to send her off.

Collins just smiled, treading off on the beaten path in the direction of her house with a sense of joy in her that she could never seem to ever get used to, not that she wanted to anyways. It just seemed so surreal that she was leaving this place with people she could call her friends and not feel like the scenery around her was about to glitch and her whole life had turned out to be just a simulation.

She thought about her night with JJ and a warm feeling spread all around her. It felt like with more days they spent getting to know each other, the better she felt like she knew him on the inside and out. On one hand, she'd practically memorized which fingers he had scars on, the shades of brown in his hair mixed with golden hues of blond, and the shape of his lips like they'd been ingrained in her mind after studying them for an endless number of times. Then she'd gotten to know who he was as a person, which had been so much different than what she'd thought he'd be. Even though he showed himself to be this unpredictable, care-free jokester on the outside, he actually had so much more to his 온라인카지노게임 than what meets the eye.

She liked his vulnerability, especially with her because it made her feel trusted, dependable, exactly the kind of person she'd always wanted to be to a friend in need. She liked his perseverance, how even when life kicked him while he was down, he still managed to find a way to get back up. She liked his gentle touch, and how she could still feel it lingering on her skin even when it was long gone. She should've said goodbye to him. Now that she thought about it, leaving without any sort of farewell felt so wrong after spending a night together.

As Collins walked through her house and picked out a clean set of clothes, she stopped herself just as she was about to lift the hem of JJ's t-shirt over her head. The sensation of the fabric brushing against her felt almost disappointing to have to take off. She brought a section of it up to her nose and inhaled the scent of boy like she was smelling candles at the store, except it was better, because it smelled like JJ and that was something money couldn't buy.

Begrudgingly, Collins removed the shirt and folded it neatly on top of the pair of shorts she'd borrowed from Kie. She then shrugged on a tank top and jeans that flared slightly at the ends. After she'd done all her other getting ready tasks, Collins headed back out the door and began her trek to the school, thinking about what classes she would like to plan on taking for the next semester. She'd already taken AP Biology, along with AP U.S Hi온라인카지노게임, both of which were the only AP classes that the school offered since there was no more room for funding to put into starting new ones. There also wasn't a huge demand for it either.

She could take a creative writing class? It was an elective, and it was just English, but Collins had pretty much already exhausted all of what their math and science department had to offer. Plus, that kind of thing might look good on a transcript anyways; it showed versatility and she supposed she was pretty into it since she was an avid reader. Writing could've been a good change.

Not to mention that she still had all of her extracurriculars to keep her engaged in all things bio and chem. She already had an idea in the works on what she wanted to do her science fair project on. This year was going to be great, Collins could already feel the difference compared to the year before. This time, she was going into the school year with people by her side. High school didn't have to be so lonely anymore. The idea of it excited her.

The long walk felt almost therapeutic for Collins. After the many times she'd made that exact same march from point A to point B, it'd never felt so calming to be able to accompany herself with her own thoughts.

She approached the double doors to the front entrance of Kildare County High School, and entered the building. As she walked down the big hallway, it felt funny to think that only recently had she drifted down this same narrow pathway through other teenagers and teachers, and she'd felt like ghost in a crowd of people. Collins had lost all hope in being seen, but then, as if the universe had sensed her disparity, her life had taken a complete 180.

The office of school guidance counselor, Mr. Wilks, came up on her right. Collins knocked her knuckles against the wooden door frame, to signal her arrival.

"Come in." The muffled voice from behind the door spoke.

Collins turned the door handle, and took a couple small steps in, smiling politely. "Hi, I got a letter requesting I meet with you?" She waved the letter at him as proof, like he wouldn't believe her anyways.

"Oh, yes!" Mr. Wilks said, then he gestured for her to move further into the room. "Have a seat."

Collins sat down across from him at his desk while Mr. Wilks adjusted his bifocals. He shifted papers around before digging in a file cabinet behind him and pulling out what Collins assumed to be hers.

"Okay, so this fall, any idea on what you'd like to do with it?" Mr. Wilks folded his hands in front of him with an engaged look in his eyes, like he was about to absorb every single word that came out of Collins's mouth. Some probably would've thought that he seemed a little creepy the way he looked, but her guidance counselor had always been a very good advisor to her. Mr. Wilks seemed to care more about his job and what he did with it than a lot of students probably cared to deal with. He was always looking for solutions, offering his ears, and doing literally everything in his power to set his students up for success. And he was probably severely underpaid.

So Collins tried to make his job as easy as possible for him by cooperating and doing what it was that he asked of her when he called her to his office; she was the one who benefited from it most after all.

Taking a deep breath in careful thought, Collins began, "Well, I was thinking of trying some new things this year, like a creative writing class or something in the arts? I mean, there's not really much else for me to take in terms of what I feel would advance me most in science or math, so I feel like those would be my best option. Do something different?"

If there was any year for Collins to do something she'd never done before, this was the year. She'd done more unfamiliar things to her than she had in her whole entire life, so why did that have to stop at school? Collins was ready to emerge from the shadows and start making herself seen in the world she lived in. If public speaking was where that started, then so be it. She was being bold, not exactly taking risks, but taking chances.

"Those sound like great ideas." Mr. Wilks commended with an agreeable smile. "Have you thought at all about possibly taking some college courses? Since you tested out of your grade and Kildare has done all it can to stimulate your knowledge, it seems like that would be the next step, doesn't it? UNC has some great options, or even a community college that I think you would really thrive in."

Collins blushed, then looked down at her hands in her lap. She didn't blush in the way that she was flattered to hear that Mr. Wilks thought she was smart enough to start earning college credits. She more so felt her face turn red because she was embarrassed that she was going to have to tell him that there was no way she would be able to take those classes. The ferry costs alone made it a no brainer that she couldn't afford to do such a thing, let alone the price of tuition, plus all the time it took away from being able to do all of those extracurricular activities that she'd been eager to do. Of course, it would've been an amazing opportunity, and given the resources, she would've done it in a heartbeat, but it wasn't meant to be.

"That would be incredible, Mr. Wilks, truly. But right now, I don't think it would be ideal for me and my family, financially, to start those classes at the moment. But I really appreciate the idea and your faith in me. It's just not a good time right now." Collins pressed her lips together tightly, hating saying the words as she said them. It felt like such a disservice to herself to turn down such a suggestion, but what could she do? There was no way she and Charlie would be able to pull off such a thing.

"You know, if it's the money you're worried about, you just might be in luck, Collins. We've recently received the funds to enact a new scholarship award to academically driven students like yourself, that could have alleviate some, if not all of that financial stress that you mentioned."

Collins furrowed her brows, confused by this news. The school hadn't announced any kind of grant before, but if it was as new as Mr. Wilks had said, then that would make sense why she was so unaware of it. "So, what is it that I need to do to get this scholarship? Write a paper? Go to an interview?"

"All you have to do is fill out this application." Mr. Wilks slid the paper across his desk to her so fast it was like he'd had it ready the whole time. He must've been planning this the whole time and was excited to finally get to help one of his students out. "This just demonstrates need for the scholarship and helps give the alumni donors a sense of your personality and dedication to your education. They really like reading about the person that they're helping with their donations."

Taking the paper into her own hands, Collins scanned the sheet once over quickly and saw just a bunch of blank spaces for her to fill out with answers to questions. This seemed easy enough.

"This sounds really great actually." Collins said in disbelief. This could quite literally, change her life. She wasn't like Pope and was a nominee for a National Merit Scholarship, but money was money, and she could use this to help her get a head start. This was exactly the kind of thing she needed. "So what will the money cover? Ferry fees? Tuition costs?"

"Yes, the alumni will take care of all of that stuff, including test fees, like for the ACT and SAT, application fees, textbook costs, you name it. You also have the option to take classes remotely, just spend a period in the computer lab watching lectures and doing assignments. That way you can still stay active at the school with your other activities."

Mr. Wilks was really boosting this thing up for her. She wondered when the catch would start rolling in, or if one would even come up at all. That seemed a bit hard for her to believe. He'd never steered her wrong before, Mr. Wilks was someone that she could trust. No one else was going to look out for her in the way that he was at that moment. Charlie didn't know a thing about how to get scholarships and Collins barely knew where to even start. Mr. Wilks was her guide light and Collins was going to have to take every word of his advice.

"I'll definitely think about it." Meaning: Collins was going to submit this application as soon as possible. "Thank you so much for this, really."

"Hope you're having a good summer, Collins. Good luck." Mr. Wilks smiled friendlily, while Collins stood up and exited from his office.

She emerged back out into the hallway and just stood there for a second to process everything for a moment. Why did it feel like her whole life was a line of frayed string that was suddenly coming together intertwined? Like it'd all just been one huge tangle of yarns that seemed impossible to undo, but now it was all in neat little balls that were organized by color, weight, and length.

She had friends for the first time in her life, good ones at that and not just some kids at school who used her to inflate their egos and treated her like dirt. She also had a boy- well, he technically wasn't hers, but he had overtaken her mind and sent her heart into a spiral of jumps and flips every time he said her name. Collins still had money problems, that hadn't quite yet been solved yet, but at least now she had solutions. That was better than what she'd had at just the beginning of summer break which was zilch. They had a solid rock of gold worth thousands, a plan to get millions out within no time, and now Collins had a scholarship opportunity to top it all off.

Things were really looking up for her.

Collins began her walk back home, reverting back to her state of deep contemplation over anything and everything going on in her life. The first thing that she really wanted to do was tell Charlie, since this was big news for them especially. She just knew that he would be so excited when she told him and she could hardly wait to see what his reaction would be. The scholarship would take a huge load off of their shoulders; if Collins could just get all the finances involved with just getting into school, then she could then worry about the finances of attending.

And then of course, she couldn't wait to tell her friends, who she had no doubts would be happy for her, too. They were always so supportive of Pope and proud that one of them, a Pogue, was in the running for a National Merit Scholarship. It brought them a sense of accomplishment that they could beat some of the stereotype that followed their kind of people around on the island. Collins wanted to be one of the people that did that.

Step one on Collins's to do list: help build the pulley to extract the gold. She'd already committed part of her day to helping the Pogues out and it was something that she had been eager to do. If they could work the mechanics to pull off such a device, that would be a huge achievement for them, not only that, but the pay out would be insane.

Filling out the application that Mr. Wilks had given her was step two. Collins figured she'd probably need Charlie's help answering some of the financial questions anyways, so it would be easier if they just filled it out together when they had dinner that night.

Collins went straight to John B's house, assuming that everyone would be there still since there was so much work to do on the pulley. She proved herself right when she saw Pope fiddling with the stabilizers on the winch, and Kie standing in a barrel, attaching rope wire through holes at the top. JJ was being productive by the hot tub, soaking his feet in the water and "facilitating."

"Looking good, guys." Collins called over, checking out their whole set up, surprised by how much progress they'd made in such a short period of time. "Someone's been busy."

"Just working out a few of the kinks, gotta do a couple tests runs to make sure it can hold the weight, but other than that we should be good to go." Pope flashed her a thumbs up to which Collins grinned at happily. She was in such a good mood; not only had her day started great, but it seemed to be going continuously well. What more could she ask for?

"How'd your meeting go?" Kie asked from her position which was still in the barrel, securing the rope with metal clamps and screws.

"It was great, thanks for asking." Collins smiled. "I might be eligible for a scholarship so I can start taking some college courses this fall. Mr. Wilks made the process sound super easy, so I'm hoping all goes well after I submit this application."

"Did you just say 'scholarship' and 'college classes'?" JJ's voice came up from behind her and before Collins could turn around to confirm, two arms wrapped themselves around her and she was being lifted up and spun around in a circle before JJ was setting her down on her own two feet once again. "That's awesome, Colls."

Laughing as she smacked away JJ's hands from her arms while he shook her in excitement, Collins shook her head and looked down at the ground sheepishly. "I haven't gotten it, I still have to apply so there's no need for congratulations just yet."

"Still, it's a no brainer that you're gonna get it if school faculty say you should be taking college classes already." JJ looked down at her proudly.

"Way to go, CJ." Pope whooped, giving her a simple triumphant fist in the air. If all went well at his interview tomorrow, they could have two scholarship winners in their circle.

"Thanks guys." Collins said gratefully, her cheeks burning red. "Can I help with anything?"

"You can catch me if this thing craps out on us and I start falling out of this barrel after Pope brings me up." Kie offered, doing the finishing touches on the rope to make sure that they were secure. "Or you could hop in and we can go for a little ride, put this thing to the real test." Kie smiled devilishly at her.

Dropping her bag onto the ground, Collins skipped giddily over to Kie. "The second option, obviously." She swung her leg over the side and climbed in, the two girls squeezing into the one barrel, sitting on opposite sides of the rim.

"Ready, Pope?"

The boy nodded, making a whole big and dramatic gesture when he went to wrap his hand around the handle before he started cranking the winch to pull them up.

"Was it really that smart of an idea to lift the both of you up for the first test?" JJ questioned, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched them rise ever so slowly.

Giggling as she looked down the couple of feet they'd already ascended, Collins shrugged while she and Kie exchanged delighted looks on each of their faces. "Probably not but at least we'll know that it works for sure."

JJ tapped his foot as they just got higher and higher, just like his anxiety levels with every little movement they made in that little barrel, which made it seem like they were about to tip over and crash to the ground at any moment. He would not let Collins fall and break her big, beautiful, scholarship-winning brain. He was ready to dive under her and cushion her fall if anything like that were to happen.

"Be careful." He warned.

"Hey, where's John B for all this? No way he's still out fishing with Ward." Collins looked around, but of course, the boy was no where in sight. No one else seemed to know as they didn't present any sort of answer.

"John B's pulling a Houdini." JJ said with a shrug.

"I got my scholarship interview tomorrow. We gotta get this thing done." Pope urged. Once Collins and Kie seemed high enough and hadn't collapsed into a heaping pile, he started cranking the winch in reverse. "I'm bringing you guys down now."

Kie nodded then saluted him formally and just enjoyed the ride. At least they knew that their winch worked. That was already half their battle won.

"Speak of the devil."

They all turned to see John B himself trudging up to his house with his head down.

"Hey! Dude, I set up the entire winch to pull up the gold and everything." JJ called over, not seeing the distraught in the brunet haired boy's face as John B just blew past them, not even sparing a second to say hello or check out what they were doing.

"No he did not, I did." Pope protested bluntly, he didn't see the look on John B's face either. It didn't seem that John B was hearing a single word they said, nothing reached him.

As Pope brought the barrel down, Kie and Collins climbed out just in time to see John B disappear into his house, still not speaking. Something felt seriously off. They all exchanged strange looks at this strange behavior, and collectively followed their friend into his house for some explanation as to why he was acting this way.

When they stepped into the house, John B was in the living room, rifling through drawers and various places around the room in search of something. He was careless with his movements, not even the slightest bit bothered by the fact that he was making a mess of things.

"Hey, you all right, man? What's up?" Pope asked casually,

"What are you looking for?" Kie questioned next, watching in concern as he moved rampant through his house.

John B moved to the futon and started digging through the cushions until he finally fished out the handgun from underneath the mattress. Collins's eyes widened at the sight. The way John B grasped it firmly in his hand indicated that he had found what he'd been looking for, but why?

"John B, what do you need the gun for?" JJ demanded to know, moving to talk to his friend and stop him from brushing them off.

But John B just shoved JJ aside, pushing him into the futon and stomping forward. When Pope tried to block his path, John B just did the same thing he'd done to JJ and threw him out of his way so that Pope was stumbling back into the kitchen table.

"John B! What is going on?" Kie exclaimed at the same time Collins was yelling, "What are you doing?"

They all hurried to catch up with him, spilling out of the house and back outside to see John B hijacking JJ's dirt bike.

"John B, what the hell?" Kie repeated, hoping that this time she would actually get an answer.

"Ward knows about the gold." John B finally admitted between revs of the engine. He looked back at them with a pained look in his eyes, then said, "He killed my dad."

They all stopped in their tracks at the revelation, too stunned to say or do anything. Was it true? Did Ward really kill John B's father? Was he responsible for his disappearance all this time? And how did John B come to know about this information?

Without wasting another moment's time, John B sped off on the bike, too fast for any of them to catch up. Nonetheless, they still tried as they ran after him, yelling his name to try and get him to come back and explain all this to them so that they could understand what he knew. It was useless though, he was already long gone.

A sickening feeling made Collins's stomach feel unsettled by everything that had just happened within the past five minutes. John B didn't come back with the intent of letting his friends know what he had just discovered about his father's disappearance, or that Ward now knew about the gold they'd been chasing since the very beginning of summer. He'd only come for the gun; he tore his living room apart to find it, then once it was in his possession, he took off in an instant.

That meant something absolutely dreadful, so much so that Collins almost felt like spilling her guts just thinking about it. Wherever it was that Ward was hanging around at, John B was taking that gun he'd retrieved there.

And he planned on using it.