——

"Psst. Hey, hey." JJ nudged Emelina on the shoulder. "What?" she asked, tearing her eyes from the movie screen.

"Distract Topper." he ordered. Her lips formed into a straight line, shaking her head. "Um, no. I don't think I've forgiven you yet." she taunted.

"Please," Pope begged, "I can't hold it any longer," he said, referring to having to use the restroom. Emelina sighed, moving her attention back to JJ, "Fine. On one condition."

"Anything!" Pope said, keeping his voice low so Kiara wouldn't budge in. "JJ has to tell me his full name." she stated, giving him a small grin.

"Are you serious? No!" JJ protested but Pope was already up from his seat. "It's a deal. Let's go." He pulled JJ up, which caused Kiara to now be aware of the situation. "Hey, where y'all going?" she questioned.

"We gotta wring it out." JJ told her and she groaned, "You gonna hold it for each other?" she asked as they walked away and Emelina let out a laugh.

A few seconds later, she held up her empty Pepsi can that she secretly dumped on the ground. "I'm going to get another one," she said, getting up and walking over to the three boys.

"Hey, Topper. Can I talk to you for a sec?" Emelina stood in front of him, blocking any view of the movie screen. All three kept their eyes on her, and she swallowed thickly, waiting for an answer.

As expected, he got up from his chair, and the pair walked over to a tree to speak to one another. "What is it?" he asked, leaning his hand on the tree.

"I saw your text from the other night." Emelina confronted him, but he seemed not to understand what she meant. "What are you talking about?" he raised an eyebrow.

"What am I talking about?" she scoffed, then proceeded to pull out her cell phone to show him the evidence. "This is what I'm talking about."

He grabbed the phone out of her grip to reread the text message that he did send. "Look, you can't tell anyone I sent that. I was high out of my mind. I don't remember that at all."

"Topper... I want to know if you've really lost—"

Her words were cut short by a hand clasping on her shoulder. "You think you're slick, huh, princess?" Rafe's voice rang in her ear.

"Let go of her, man. What's going on?" Topper slid Rafe's hand off of her. "She came here to distract you while her boys snuck off." he answered.

And with that, the Kook boys were leaving their area to chase after her friends. "Shit," she muttered, following them behind the movie screen.

She walked in on them, circling Pope and JJ. Leaning against a nearby tree, she watched Topper address them. "Yeah, that was some nice work you did on my boat."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Pope took a step backward. "Oh, yeah, of course you don't." Topper scoffed.

"Not so burly without a gun, are you?" Rafe glanced at JJ. "Take one more step, I'll rip that prepubescent face off." JJ replied.

"Do you feel good about yourself, stealing shit? I mean, is your mom proud of you? Is your dad proud of you?" Topper asked Pope, which resulted in Pope smashing his head against his.

"Dammit, Pope," Emelina whispered to herself, closing her eyes at what was bound to happen. And Hell broke loose. Kelce got ahold of JJ, and they started swinging at each other. Pope threw a punch at Topper, and Rafe joined Kelce.

She couldn't stand to watch anymore. She ran over to Topper and Pope, pulling Topper's arm. "Let go of him!" she yelled and he does so, looking straight in her eyes. "What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself hurt?!"

"Call it off." Emelina demanded, her heart beating fast. The two of them stare at each other for a split second before Pope took his chance to punch across his jaw.

Topper resumed the fight just before Kiara jumped out of the blue. "Let go of him, Topper! Fascist asshole!" Kiara started to hit his back repeatedly with her bag. Topper caught it mid-throw, tossing the piece of fabric to the other side of the lawn.

Emelina joined the fight between JJ, Rafe, and Kelce. She couldn't bare to see him fight this alone. Tapping on Rafe's shoulder, he turned around at the perfect moment for her to strike a jab to his face.

Furious, he picked her up and she kicked and punched his back to help loosen his grip, but instead he threw her to the ground. "Stay out of this."

The wind was knocked out of her and she wheezed and coughed loudly, spinning her body around so she was now on all fours trying to take deep breaths. All she heard were loud punches and Topper trying to get Pope to admit what he had done. They were going to lose.

She peered upward, and Topper had Pope in a chokehold while Kelce had JJ in the same position. "Finish him off, Top!"

Then, in a blink of an eye, the screen behind them was engulfed by flames. Kiara had flicked the lighter and did what she could to stop the fight, and it was working. The Kook boys released Pope and JJ, sprinting away from the burning fire.

"Come on, E." Kiara helped her brunette friend off the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked, patting her back softly. "Yeah," Emelina nodded, stepping over to Pope and helping him.

"Everyone good?" Emelina asked to which they nodded. Pope chuckled, looking at Kiara, "You're a freakin' idiot."

"I saved your ass. Come on." Kiara let Pope lean on her as they walked away.

Emelina held her hand out for JJ to take it and help him up. "I guess I really was wrong about you." he said and she let go on his hand, nodding. "Yes you were."

§

"Don't let it get in your head, bro. There's three of them and two of us. That's some typical Kook shit right there." JJ told Pope over the counter, juggling some fruit that belonged to Heyward's shop. Emelina listened on, organizing some cans, replaying the fight that happened the previous night.

"Hell, yeah." Kiara agreed as she took an item from Pope. "What was your thought process, using your head?" JJ asked him, probably referring to him throwing the gauntlet.

"I don't know, man, I just kind of acted off instinct. I was a cornered animal," he replied.

"Hey, Pope, someone here to see you." Heyward stepped in with an officer behind him. Emelina tensed up, knowing the exact reason why they were there. Topper did what he said he would do, and she wished she had done more to stop him.

"Evening, officer." Pope forced a smile on his face. "I have an arrest warrant for felony destruction of property." The officer said and inched closer, "Hands where I can see 'em."

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Shoupe, what'd he do?" Heyward asked, and Emelina held onto Kie's hand, holding tightly. JJ mouthed something unreadable in Emelina's eyes to Pope, and he was staring right back at him.

"Take a look at the warrant." Shoupe pointed to the piece of paper. "You're just arresting my boy?" Heyward asked as Shoupe cuffed Pope, reciting the Miranda warning, and brought him outside despite everyone trying hard to stop it.

Once outside, the other officers clouded the building and kept blocking JJ, Emelina, Kiara, and Heyward out of the way so Shoupe could bring Pope out to the car.

"It wasn't him!"

Emelina turned to JJ, shock filling her body. "It was me. He tried to talk me out of it, but I was mad because he'd just been beaten up. I was so sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit." He looked at Pope now that he was closer, "I can't let you take the blame for somethin' I did. You've got too much to lose."

"JJ, what are you doing?" Pope questioned and JJ immediately answered, "I'm tellin' the truth. For once in my goddamn life, I'm gonna tell the truth."

Silence filled the space until JJ spoke up once more, "I took his old man's boat, too."

"What the hell?" Heyward gasped and glared at him. "JJ, come on." Pope lowered his voice and JJ raised his own, "Just shut up, Pope! Just shut up..." He looked at Shoupe, "He's a good kid. You know where I'm from. This was all me."

"That's the whole truth?" Shoupe glanced at Pope and instead, JJ answered for him. "Whole truth, swear to God."

"I know what you think, damn it, I'm asking Pope," Shoupe said. Pope was hesitant, not tearing his eyes away from his friend. Then, he looked down and said, "Yeah, that about covers it."

JJ was arrested. He was shoved in the police car and it drove away just like that. Emelina watched as it disappeared, completely stunned at what JJ had done. She'd never think he would be the one to take the blame and this surprise made her admire him. He would take the fall to protect his friend.

"Shit!" Pope threw his hat on the ground and then started sprinting in the opposite direction of the police car. Kiara and Emelina followed, ignoring Heyward's shouts.

§

"JJ?" Emelina called out softly. There he was, standing outside the Chateau staring at the body of water. "When did you get out?"

"What are you doing here?" he asked once he turned around, completely ignoring her question. Emelina started to walk toward him, "I haven't seen John B in a while. I was going to check up on him."

"He's not here." JJ replied and move his face out of her view. Standing next to him, she tilted her head to see those blue eyes again. But as soon as she saw fresh bruises forming on his cheek, she used her hand to spin his face to her. "What happened?!"

"Nothin'," he answered vaguely and took her hand off his face. "That doesn't look like nothing, JJ. Did Topper or Rafe do this?"

"No."

He seemed to be closed off and she noticed right away. She didn't want to push his buttons, but she was starting to care about him and seeing him in his state only made her heart ache. "Please," she whispered softly and used her fingers to bring his attention toward her, "tell me what happened."

JJ was hesitant as he continued to stare into her hazel eyes. His lips were quivering, his mind remembering the moments prior to him coming here.

"Just let it go, would you?" he said harshly and when he moved his head away, her hand dropped to her sides.

"You know, you can talk to me, right? About anything." Emelina stated as she watched him turn his back against her and step further away.

She heard him scoff, "Just because I gave you a rose, doesn't mean we're friends, all right?" he told her, but she didn't show any source of emotion. He couldn't say that to her face. Something had happened that's making him say all these things, but Emelina wasn't going to sit around and hope he'll change his attitude.

Emelina couldn't bite her tongue anymore. "You're such an asshole."

"What did you just call me?"

"What will it be, JJ? Friends or not? Decide now because I am tired of guessing for an answer." she said, crossing her arms. He looked angry now, not that it fazed her. She was just as mad.

JJ shook his head. "I'm not doing this with you."

"And when will you?" Emelina asked. "I have tried being on your good side, and when I feel like I have, you shut the door, and I am left stranded. Why is that?"

He said nothing. She exhaled an airy chuckle, "I have my answer, then." Not friends.

She tried not to look upset, so she turned around and started to walk back to her car. A black car pulled up on the dirt driveway, and she felt JJ's arm yank her down to crouch the ground behind a bush.

"Don't touch me!" Emelina retracted her arm, finding him absolutely unbelievable. She wanted this to be their last one-on-one encounter. She already accepted the idea of only acting tolerable around him in a group setting.

"Be quiet! That's Shoupe. He's after John B." JJ whispered, keeping his hands to himself this time. Emelina straightened her posture, and he widened his eyes. "What are you doing?!"

"I don't have time to play hide and seek with you. I need to get ready for Midsummers," she answered and prepared to take a step, but his hand grabbed her ankle. "What did I say about touching me?!"

"He's going to see you. You know, for a smart girl, you can be really daft sometimes." JJ told her.

Emelina bent down to eye level, her eyes seething with hatred. "I'm going to distract him long enough for you to get out of here. And remember this, JJ, because this is the last time I will ever help you."

She stood up again and made her way to her previous destination. Shoupe climbed out of his car and nodded his head once at her. "Good afternoon, Emelina. Have you seen John B? I have a few questions to ask him."

"Nope," Emelina smiled tightly at the officer, "I actually came out here to find him. He's not home. I'll tell him you stopped by, though."

"That'll be alright." He declined her offer and asked her about Midsummers. She kept the small conversation going, and while he was unaware, JJ and what seemed to be John B were sneaking their way into the HSM Pogue. She saw them right past his shoulder.

And she knew she wouldn't get so much as a thank you from JJ.