𝑨𝑫𝑹𝑰𝑭𝑻, jj maybank

FOURTEEN - midsummers mission

FOURTEEN —— midsummers mission

Salt prickled Bee's skin as it splashed up from the waves rolling beneath her, a familiar push and pull that she had desperately missed since she last surfed. Her mind had been overflowing lately, and this was the perfect place to let it spill over, let the worries sink to the dark ocean floor, wait for the solutions to bubble back to the top like a breath of fresh air. As she paddled further out, the sun toasted the skin on her back, and she could practically feel her tan deepening by the second. A few other surfers were out on the water as well, minding their own business and enjoying the time to practise their skill.

Bee found that she was surfing on autopilot, her thoughts consuming her as she reflected on the past few days. Bee decided she missed the thrill of finding Big John's compass and sneaking into the cemetery, but wallowed over the Pogues' defeat when the Royal Merchant turned out to be empty.

The horror caused by the square groupers still found a way to haunt Bee, making her far more cautious and jumpy than she had been before. Then, she thought about Pope and JJ and their idiotic decision to sink Topper's expensive boat. Bee scoffed as she pushed herself up to stand for a wave, guiding the board so she moved smoothly through the water.

Her mind drifted to the consequences of their actions. Deputy Shoupe pulling up to Heyward's, marching into the shop, handcuffing Pope, who had his whole future laid out ahead of him. And JJ, who understood this and refused to let his friend go down with so much to lose.

Bee paddled further out again, frustrated, as she replayed JJ taking the blame for something he didn't do. She understood why he did it, of course, but it hurt her knowing not only the legal consequences he'd have to face, but the abuse he'd have to endure within the walls of his own home. He never spoke about it explicitly, but Bee knew. She could tell that the bruises often littered across his golden skin weren't from tripping or walking into something, but from his own father's angry hands.

Bee shuddered, then flipped onto her back so she was staring up at the blue sky. Wisps of white clouds streaked through the vast blue, and the ball of white-hot light made her eyes water. She threw the crook of her elbow over her eyes and lay there for a moment, allowing her mind to settle.

After running through a few more waves and practicing a handful of tricks, Bee remembered that tonight was Midsummers. And then she remembered that she was supposed to attend Midsummers with Kiara and her parents.

Panicked that she was late, Bee splashed her way back to shore and ran up the beach, aware that some Tourons around her age were ogling her body as she went. She rolled her eyes and tugged on the shorts she'd left near a tree, then hauled her board under her arm, rushing all the way back home. As soon as she got there, she dropped the board back onto its hooks in the carport, tugged on an oversized T-shirt she found draped over one of the kitchen chairs, and snatched her keys off the table.

"Felix, I'm taking the truck!" She yelled, but didn't wait for a response before running back outside.

Bee hopped into the old vehicle, turning the key in the ignition before she even closed the door. The drive to the Carrera household didn't take too long, but that was definitely due to the fact that she was driving almost twenty over the speed limit the entire time.

Bee parked the truck in the Carrera's large driveway, took out the keys, then ran up to the front door and knocked. Kiara's parents were always very kind, but they made her nervous, and it was already difficult to keep up a good reputation when she tended to get into trouble with the boys. Especially since the Carreras were known to not be so fond of Kie's Pogue friends.