Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 25 - Dead Calm || Part 2

"Look, he'll come around, all right? It's... He's doing a JJ thing." John B explained as they sat in the chairs of the restaurant.

"You think he'll go home?" Kiara asked.

"There's about a zero percent chance that JJ goes home," Pope explained.

Elizabeth sat back with her legs across on the chair across from her, not entirely paying attention to the conversation. All she could think of was JJ yelling at her as if she was nothing.

"You alright?" John B asked, knocking her from her trance.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. I'm good," Elizabeth stated.

"He's going to be fine," John B assured her. "He gets like this sometimes— overwhelmed, taking everything personally. Don't stress over it."

Elizabeth shrugged, "Whatever."

Pope looked around before speaking, "Okay, it's too dangerous to pawn this thing off piecemeal. So our best bet is to go down there and get the rest of it. Bring it all up at once. Put it in... in a safe or a vault or something. I... I don't know. Just until we can find someone who won't rip us off. I can figure it out tonight, get it done, and we can be out there tomorrow morning."

"All right, let's do it. Easy," John B stated.

"What about that thing with my dad?" Sarah asked John B.

"What thing?" Pope asked.

"I have to go fishing with Ward," John B explained.

"You can't get 400 mil 'cause you're gonna go kill fish?" Environmentalist Kiara came out. "Make something up!"

"Look, I... I have to, okay?" John B began to explain. "He... he saved me, all right? If it weren't for Ward, I'd be in foster care. So... I have to go. Plus, it'll be better to do it at night."

"Fine. Fine, go fishing," Pope obliged

"And at least JJ will probably have washed up by then," Kiara stated. Elizabeth stood up from her chair and left her friends, deciding to go for a walk. The girl walked down a dirt road, attempting to clear her head from the events that occurred earlier. Despite their strange relationship, Elizabeth couldn't believe that he had blown up on her the way that he did. Elizabeth hoped that JJ was alright-- wherever he was, but couldn't help the stinging feeling in her chest as she replayed his words in her mind. She had only tried to help him, and thought she was doing the right thing.

A loud noise caused Elizabeth to turn her head to look behind her. Two bikes came up from behind her, only one of them noticing that it was her. An uneasy feeling filled her stomach as she began to walk backwards. One of the bikes spun around to face her, causing a vast amount of dirt to fly through the air. Rafe took off his helmet, smirking at the girl while the other bike turned around after him.

"Hey Lizzy," Rafe called out to the girl, who crossed her arms.

"Rafe," Elizabeth deadpanned. "How can I help you?" The second boy took off his helmet, revealing the face of Elizabeth's brother.

"Hi Lizzy," the boy spoke softly, unsure of where their boundaries lie. The last time he had seen her he had been attacking her friends. This conversation wasn't going to have a different outcome unless he tried a different approach.

"Topper," the girl spoke again, not liking the look that he was giving her.

"Can we talk?" The boy asked her, walking over to her. Elizabeth took a second to look between the two boys before nodding. Topper walked over to the side, away from Rafe and onto the sidewalk. "Barry came to visit," Topper began, speaking softly. "He's serious trouble, Elizabeth. He wants to hurt you-- all of you."