Strawberry Sunscreen - JJ Maybank - Outer Banks

Chapter 38 - Homecoming || Part 2

JJ was awoken by John B knocking viciously at the door. "We gotta go!" John B yelled through the door. JJ rolled over on his side, gently shaking his girlfriend awake. She groaned as she looked around for a moment, and then plopped her head back down onto the pillow.

"We have to get ready, Lizzy. Make sure you bring whatever you need with us, alright?" JJ instructed the girl, who rolled back over and sighed. Her one hour of peaceful sleep had her dreaming that the pogues weren't being run out of town by her childhood friends' brother, but she was brought back into the harsh reality pretty quickly.

"I hate this," she said. "Why can't we just be normal teenagers for once?"

"Pogue life," was all JJ said as he jumped from the bed and began putting some of his belongings together. Elizabeth watched silently as he slipped off his shirt and threw the old one into his duffle bag. His eyes met hers as he slid on the new one, smirking. He said nothing to her, but he was thinking everything.

After the two of them got dressed, Elizabeth grabbed whatever necessities she had before shoving them into a small beach bag. She grabbed food, water, and a few of the extra beers that were left from last night.

The pogues all began to walk towards the dock, where Elizabeth spotted Pope and Kiara pulling up. "Finally. Hey! Guys, don't tie up. Stop it!" JJ yelled. Kiara looked at him, her face full of confusion. "We're dipping."

"What? What are you talking about?" Kiara turned to look around at her friend's for answers. John B walked towards the group holding Sarah at his side. "What happened last night?"

"We slept on the break. What's up?" Pope asked.

"Slept, yeah. Yeah, we were up all night." JJ stated saltily.

"We gotta get the hell out of here," said John B.

"Rafe knows we're here, so we have to leave, like, now," Sarah explained as she steadied herself, stepping onto the boat. Pope and Kiara began to untie the boat from the cleat and the pogues all jumped on. They drove a short distance away and parked by the marsh so that they could get their ideas together.

"Look, if Rafe and Barry know, it's only a matter of time," Kiara began.

"Before everyone knows," Pope finished.

JJ scoffed as he rested his hand on Elizabeth's knee, "I told you. We should've gone south, man."

"Just stop it," John B began.

JJ stood to his feet as he paced around, "Why does no one ever listen?" He raised his voice as he yelled.

John B attempted to calm him down, "I get it. I get it. I understand."

Sarah spoke up, "I have an idea. With me back, my dad's going to have to choose between me and Rafe."

"Sarah, Sarah--" John B interrupted.

"He's gonna choose me," Sarah attempted to convince the pogues, but in reality she was trying to convince herself.

"Just please listen. Ward keeps lying to you, Sarah," John B softened his voice as he spoke.

"He won't agree after all that's happened," agreed Kie.

"No. I... I know it sounds crazy," Sarah began.

"Yeah, it does," Kiara interrupted as she raised her voice.

Sarah continued, "I know! But he's my dad. And I know him, and I know he loves me. I'm just asking for two hours." JJ raised his hands in disbelief and rolled his eyes as he looked away from his friends. Everyone went quiet as they watched Sarah get to her feet and begin to walk away.