𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 {𝚓𝚓 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔}

𝚜.𝟸 𝚎𝚙.𝟷 -𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚠𝚘-

"cause the mind and the brain / aren't quite the same / but they both want out of this place."

~

The school yard was buzzing with activity when Tate climbed out of the backseat of Kiara's car after JJ. She blinked in the bright morning sunlight. JJ leaned back into the car to open his flask and take a long swig. He offered it to Tate, who took her own sip without even trying to hide it. "Hey, chill out," Kiara scolded gently.

"If I black out, just don't remind me," said JJ, throwing his bag over one shoulder and putting his other around Tate.

Kiara gave them both a warning look. "That's not funny."

"I swear to god, if anyone even mentions him I'm gonna start throwing hands," Tate said moodily.

JJ tightened his hold on her and gave her a half-grin. "That's my girl."

"That's disgusting," Pope said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Tate ignored him. She was only at school that day because JJ was there. Kiara and Pope had had to literally drag them both there, and at last they'd only agreed to go if they went together. Whispers followed them all the way to the door. "It's them," Tate heard someone whisper.

"There they are," another voice said.

Her hands balled into fists. Kiara was at her side in an instant, one hand on the sleeve of her sweatshirt to ensure Tate wouldn't break free and start beating people up. Nobody would've been surprised at that point. "Hey, just stick it out," Kie said comfortingly. "Just stick it out, it'll be okay."

They approached a little memorial in front of the school, half a surfboard sticking out of the dirt with 'John Booker Routledge' inscribed in messy spray paint over it. On the surrounding ground, students had left flowers and little trinkets that reminded them of John B. It only made Tate angrier. Nobody there knew John B, not like she and her friends did. JJ let out a pained sigh when he took in the memorial.

"I feel like people are staring at us," Kiara murmured.

JJ turned around, his eyes flashing angrily at the surrounding crowd. All eyes were on the Pogues. "Oh yeah-"

"Guys, I can't be late," Pope interrupted. He brushed past Tate and JJ and headed for the school.

Kiara followed close behind. "Hey. Hey. We gotta stick together." She held out a hand to him. Pope gave her a relenting look, and finally took her hand in his.

Tate and JJ hurried to join them. "Stick together, yeah," JJ said, still gazing around at the crowd scattering the yard. Tate shifted a little closer to him and he hugged her closer as the four of them headed up the stairs and into the school.

Tate had always been a pretty good student, but this seemed to be the year she was giving up. She hadn't taken notes in any of her classes yet that year and her grades had dropped in the blink of an eye. In Mr. Johnson's history class, she sat in the back next to JJ and kept her head down, her hair shielding her from the harsh lights of the classroom.