𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝

𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 john b's bed, looking up at the ceiling with a blank stare. the window was wide open because of how hot it was inside the château. jj slept outside on the porch while john b slept on the pullout couch inside. the boys wanted to give coby the space that she needed, knowing that she was hurting. sarah was the first girl that she had gone with. that she was genuinely in love with. and sarah, well, she just threw that away because of one little heated moment that honestly didn't really have anything to do with her. coby knows that she shouldn't have left her but she needed space.

eventually, john b and jj came into the room, dragging the heartbroken girl out of the bed. they weren't used to seeing her like this -- heartbroken. she was usually the one breaking girls' hearts. they knew she was grieving, but they needed her to help get to south america. they also knew that it wasn't exactly the best time, but they didn't have any other choice at the moment. they couldn't exactly put rescuing big john on the back burner. now, the trio was out on the porch, the two boys watching as coby skated around.

"i just can't believe she did that." coby mumbled, positioning her feet on her board so that she could do a kick flip. "i mean, she just. . . she just threw us down the drain because of a little heated moment? i wasn't even mad at her. i just - i just needed space."

"yeah, it's fucked up." john b agreed, nodding his head. he watched as coby did the kick flip, landing it with ease. "nice."

"it was sloppy." she mumbled, pushing herself with her foot. "and then there's topper. i mean, he knows what he did. you should've seen the look on his face. . . the tone of his voice. like the whole, 'no hard feelings, coby.'"

"'no hard feelings.' it's kinda hard not to have hard feelings about that." jj said, shaking his head.

"i don't even feel bad about knocking him out. i hope his fucking nose is broken." coby spat, getting off her board.

"it was clear provucation." jj stated.

"provocation." coby and john b corrected in unison.

"provocation, and, uh, i mean, you had to do what you had to do. no choice about it." jj continued.

"thank you. no choice." coby added.

"we gotta figure out a plan to get to south america, like, yesterday. i mean, they've got my dad." john b reminded as he got up and went inside the château.

"you have any food real quick, though?" jj questioned, following the taller boy inside.

coby did the same, leaving her board out on the porch. she doubted that there was any good food in the house considering the fact that there was no one home toby anything. that and no one had money to buy anything. she tuned out the rest of what john b and jj were saying, knowing that she'd hear it again at some point. she walked over to the kitchen counter, leaning on it as her mind went back to the night before. she then shook her head, turning to look out the kitchen window. her heart dropped when she saw a police car pull up outside.

"uh-oh." she mumbled before she dropped down to the floor.

"you don't start with uh-oh, coby." jj told her, chewing on whatever expired food was in the fridge.

john b noticed what the sawyer girl had done, looking down at her with furrowed eyebrows. "what you doing there, cobe?"

"shoupe is outside." coby informed in a hush voice.

this made john b look out the window, watching shoupe exit the police car. without a second thought, john b grabbed onto jj before he dropped to the ground, bringing the maybank boy down with him. jj looked at the other two pogues with furrowed, wondering why the hell they were on the floor. john b repeated what coby had said.

"all right, coby!" shoupe called, the three best friends looking at one another with wide eyes.

they let that process for a few seconds before they made any sort of mood, jj slamming the fridge door shut. they ignored shoupe's calls for coby, john b and jj telling her to hide under the small dining table. they practically shoved her under the table before the both of them tried to go under there with her. jj pulled coby's leg in, not wanting shoupe to see any part of her. they kept hearing knocks on the door, shoupe still calling out coby's name.

"if he sees you, that's game over." jj whispered, trying to look back at coby.

"i know that, jj." coby grumbled.

"i know you can hear me in there." shoupe continued, peaking through the door window. "you need to come out and talk to me. it'll be a whole lot worse if you don't."nit then went silent for a few seconds, the three pogues looking at one another. "okey doke, have it your way! you know where you can find me!"

they then heard shoupe start up his truck before pulling off. once they didn't hear the engine anymore, the trio came out from under the table.

"all right, i got a plan, all right? i think it might work." jj informed as he stood up. "it's a little sketchy. might not like it, but i think it will work."

"no, no, no, no. wait, wait, wait. what plan?" john b asked, stopping jj from walking off.

"if i tell you now when the plan is half-baked, you'll get all negative." jj said.

"honesty, i'd settle for a quarter-baked plan, jj." coby admitted, earning some mockery from the maybank boy. "don't you dare make that noise at me."

jj then stopped, turning around to look at coby. "actually, you should stay here."

"what?" coby asked, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"one, shoupe is looking for you. you remember everything that just happened, right?" jj reminded, earning an eye roll from city. "two, i feel like you're too reasonable now. sarah kind of changed you -- made you soft. i think the idea would work if you stayed here."

"fine. leave the fugitive by themself. its not like. . . she's wanted or whatever." coby mumbled as she plopped down on the couch.

"you should probably hide in my room." john b told her, an apologetic look on his face.

   "whatever." coby grumbled as she got up from the couch and went into john b's messy room. "your plan better fucking work, jj!"

"oh, it will, cobe!" jj yelled back as him and john b left the château.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐖 much time had passed, but she spent a majority of it skating through the house. she might've broken a few things whilst skating (thanks to the hardwood floors), but john b most likely wouldn't notice. she even tried to make a meal out of the expired food that was in the kitchen, but to no avail. she'd rather starve than to eat the organisms in those cabinets. the boys eventually made it back, looking completely upset and disheveled. coby could tell that they had gotten into a small fight.

"aw, trouble in paradise?" she teased, watching as they walked in from her spot on the couch.

"you're supposed to be in my room, coby." john b said, immediately noticing that something was different. "what the hell happened to the picture that was here?"

"oh, th - there was a picture there? i don't recall." coby said, avoiding eye contact with the routledge boy. she might've knocked it down while skating, causing the frame to shatter.

"unbelievable." john b grumbled as he stomped into his room.

"i'm assuming your plan didn't go so well."coby concluded, looking at jj, who plopped down next to her.

"nope." the maybank boy shook his head, running a hand through his hair.

coby hummed. "y'all didn't see shoupe out there, did y'all?"

"no." jj answered.

"you really need to start having backup plans." coby told jj.

"oh, yeah? and when was the last time you had a backup plan?" the blonde challenged.

"i never need a backup plan because all of my plans work." coby reasoned, earn an eye roll from jj.

"yeah, sure they do." jj mumbled.

the two of them argued about that for a while, john b joining them to say that coby's plans usually do end up working out. that made jj get defensive, yelling at the both of them for a few minutes while they just looked at him. that then led to the trio going out on the porch, wanting to get out of that stuffy house. the two of them ended up playing ninja, a game that the pogues came up themselves. john b washed in amusement as coby and jj took turns nudging one another to try and make the other one lose their balance. coby had won three rounds so far. she thanked her love for skateboarding for her impeccable balance.

coby sent a nudge to jj once again, the blue-eyed boy leaning backwards for a few seconds, trying to regain his balance. but gravity went against him, pulling him back even further, making him step back. coby let out an excited exclaim, pointing over to john b.

"forth time, right?" she asked the taller boy, earning a nod.

jj grumbled before he playfully tackled coby to the porch floor, a grunt leaving her lips. the two of them then started to wrestle, making sure not to put any real strength behind it so that neither of them would get hurt. john b laughed, rooting for coby. that went on for a few minutes before the sound of a police siren echoed through the air. the trio looked up to see that there was a police truck right outside, shoupe leaning on it. coby's heart dropped as her and shoupe made direct eye contact, both her and jj standing up from the floor.

"howdy." shoupe greeted as he started to make his way towards the porch.

"sup, shoupe." john b sent back, standing up as well. he stood in front of coby, his shoulder slightly blocking her.

"you guys okay?" shoupe asked as he placed his foot onto that first step.

"yeah, w - we're good." coby nodded.

shoupe sent her a nod back, holding up a black object. he then gestured to the twinkie. the three pogues heard the beeping that was coming from the object, coby's eyes widening slightly. the man had been tracking them.

"tracker. makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on you hoodlums." shoupe told the three of them, a voice booming through his walkie before he could say anything else.

"sounds like duty calls. so we wouldn't want to hold you up." jj said, trying to get the sheriff to leave.

"hold on on a minute. we just found a u-haul full of drugs out near 158. y'all wouldn't happen to be involved in that, would you?" shoupe asked, looking between the three teens.

coby sent a brief look over to jj, silently asking of the boys had been involved with that. jj sent her a look back (confirming that they were involved), before he looked back at shoupe.

"you see that? that's profiling, guys." he started, pointing a finger at the older man.

"i know." john b nodded.

"i'm extremely offended, shoupe." coby added.

"and i really don't appreciate it. just cause we're pogues, you think we're dry dealers? and i hope that this has nothing to do with coby being half black, because. . . that could get you in a heap of trouble, shoupe." jj continued, coby having to refrain from laughing at the comment.

"you've been busy beating people up and breaking up parties." shoupe reminded, which made coby's purse her lips.

"okay, shoupe, there's an explanation -" jj tried.

shoupe ignored him, looking right at coby. "i hate to break it to you, kid. but i've got a warrant."

"what? a - a warrant?" coby repeated, her eyebrows shooting up as shoupe stepped onto the porch fully.

"topper's pressing charges." shoupe informed as he pulled out his handcuffs.

"for what?" coby asked. yes, she knew that she had beaten the boy to a pulp. but he deserved it. "wait, no! he started it!"

"he did start it." jj and john b agreed, watching as shoupe guided coby over to the outer wall of the château.

"shoupe, i'm just being honest with you." coby reasoned, letting him push her over to the wall.

"hands up against the wall." shoupe instructed.

"what - what did i even do?"

this went on for about a minute, shoupe, coby, jj, and john b all talking over one another, the last two trying to get shoupe to stop arresting their best friend. jj even brought up the fact that topper had been messing around with sarah. shoupe then brought up how coby knew better to beat a man when they were down, which was true. but coby didn't care when she was doing it, nor did she care in that moment. she just accepted her defeat, knowing that there was no way of getting out of this until her bail was set. she let shoupe put her in the back of his car, shrugging as she made eye contact with the other two pogues.

"don't shrug. we don't have time for this, coby." john b told her through the window.

"well, we don't have choice, do we?" coby pointed out, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"coby, we'll figure this out, okay? we'll get you out of this." jj promised, appearing besides john b.

"i'll be fine." coby promised. "just find a way to get to big john. even if that means without me."

before either one of the two boys could say anything else, shoupe was pulling off. coby let out a sigh, letting her head drop onto the headrest. she couldn't help but wonder what sarah was doing.

☠︎ ✶ ♡ ✶ ☠︎

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, the sun being replaced with the moon and stars. somehow, someway, the charges had disappeared, meaning that coby was gonna be let go. she walked out of the sheriff department, being hit with the evening breeze. she was kinda happy that it was a little chilly since she was stuffed in a hot cell for the last few hours. she walked down the stairs, raising her arms above her head so that she could stretch out her limbs. she froze in place when she saw sarah sitting on a bench that was a few feet away from her. the cameron girl stood up from the bench, moving closer towards coby until she was about a foot away.

coby dropped her arms to her sides. "was it you that got me out?"

sarah shrugged slightly, coby seeing the proud smirk that was pulling at her face. "bought you a day. so you don't have a lot of time. and everybody's at the château." the blonde then walked past coby, the sawyer girl face turning to face her. "i know you're mad at me, but i got you out, and i can get john b to south america. everybody's waiting." she finished, starting to walk away.

coby didn't move, watching as the shorter girl walked away. there, in that moment, coby finding another thing that made sarah cameron attractive. even after what she did.

"are you coming?" sarah questioned, snapping coby out of her thoughts.

"yeah, of course." she nodded, following sarah.

with that, the two of them started their journey towards the château. the walk was silent, it being somewhat awkward but comfortable. coby wanted to reach over and grab sarah's hand, having missed the girl over the last few days. but she was still hurting about what she had did. and although she was thankful for what sarah had done for her and her best friend, but that doesn't mean that everything would just immediately go away. so instead, coby stuffed her hands into the pockets of her shorts and looked up at the night sky, wanting to see the stars.

"jake," sarah started, the girl in question closing her eyes. she was hoping that they could walk in silence. "i'm really sorry. and i know that an apology is gonna fix things between us. and i know that you hate me, but i promise you, i'm gonna fix things between us."

coby didn't say anything for about a minute, letting silence fall over them again. she had moved her attention from the stars and to the ground, going into thought. "i don't hate you. i might be very. . . very angry at you right now. but i don't hate you. i could never hate you."

sarah looked at her, having to bite back the smile that was trying to make an appearance. the rest of the walk was silent, some of the tension vanishing between the two. after about an hour walk, the two had finally made it to the old fish shack known as the château. they walked through the house, thinking that the pogues would be inside, before they exited through the back.

"hey, thanks for waiting." sarah said, having joined the pogues first. there was a big smile on her face as her friends turned to face her. "look who decided to come home."

on cue, coby walked out, walk down the porch stairs to greet her family. they all sent greetings towards her, a small smile on her face.

"welcome back." cleo said, a smile on her face.

"whoa, good to see you, cobe." pope said.

john b and jj looked at her, relief flowing through their veins. they thought that coby was stuck in jail for sure.

"you gotta be kidding me." jj mumbled, a smile on his face.

"oh, thank god. i was freaking out." john b admitted, earning a chuckle from coby.

"i have something i want to share with you guys." sarah announced, making everyone turn to look at her. "i can get us down to the orinoco."

"are you serious?" pope questioned.

"yeah." sarah nodded.

"okay, and how's that gonna happen?" cleo asked.

"my dad's gonna let us use the plane." sarah answered.

"ward?"

"your dad?"

"yep." the cameron girl nodded again. "we lay low tonight, then wheels up first thing in the morning."

"okay, that's a lot to process. your dad actually helping us." pope said, saying what everyone was thinking.

"i talked to him. he'll do it." sarah reassured.

"so we trusting ward now?" cleo asked.

"trust sarah." kie told her.

jj and john b turned to look at coby, silently asking her if she was okay with this. the curly haired girl nodded her head, loving how supportive the two boys have been.

"that's all i need to hear." pope said.

"but wait, i also just have one more thing to say." sarah admitted, once again gaining everyone's attention. "um. . . since we've gotten back from the island. i've done some things that i regret. a lot." she continued, sparing a glance towards coby.

kie cleared her throat, looking at coby. "i'll admit that i regret some things. . . a tad bit."

this earned a few chuckles from the pogues.

"and - and i don't -" sarah stuttered, trying to dins the right words. "poguelandia, guys. it's all i've been able to think about. we were all together on that island, and it was a good thing, and i don't want to ruin a good thing. and i - i just wanna know, are we still all in? are we still all together?" she looked over at coby when asking the last question. "because i am."

"yeah." kie nodded, stepping forward so the she could hug sarah.

"we pon road!" cleo said in her thick caribbean accent. she then stepped forward, hugging sarah as well.

"still can't believe you got the plane. that's actually insane." pope admitted as he stepped forward to hug sarah, earning a laugh from the shorter girl.

"you don't know how much this means to me, sarah." john b told her as he stepped forward, jj following right behind him.

"let's go get big john, all right?" the blonde boy nodded before he looked over to coby. "what do you say there, jacoba?

"i think this deserves a woogity." pope told everyone, his eyes falling onto coby as well. "how long you gonna pretend you're not coming over here?"

coby smiled, looking over to sarah, who was already looking back. the sawyer girl rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, trying to bite back her smile. the pogues started to encourage her to join the little group hug they had going on, coby eventually caving in. she squeezed in between sarah and jj, the both of them immediately wrapping their arms around her.

"now we woogity!" pope exclaimed.

"oh, we're really doing this, aren't we?" john b questioned.

"we're doing it, man!" pope confirmed, sarah humming.

coby looked around at her friends -- her family -- with a big smile on her face. her eyes then went down to sarah, who had been smiling as she looked around at the pogues as well. eventually, the group of seven eventually pulled away from one another before they made their way into the château. five out of the seven pogues made their way into the living room to play a bunch of card games and dominos, all of them talking about what the plane might look like. meanwhile, coby was on john b's bed, lost in her thoughts. sarah appeared in front of her, holding out a beer bottle for her to take. coby didn't even notice that sarah had closed the door.

"oh, thanks." coby muttered, gently taking the beer from her. she then looked over to sarah, who had leaned onto the wall, the both of them making eye contact. "what is it you really want?"

the cameron girl leaned off the wall before she made her way over to the bed, sitting next to coby. they shifted so that they were facing each other. "honestly, before i saw you tonight, coming out of the station, i didn't know the answer to that question. but now i do."

coby wanted to ask what was is she wanted, but the words got caught in her throat due to the look that sarah was sending her. butterflies appeared in her stomach.

sarah moved forward, leaning her forehead onto coby's. the sawyer girl felt her breath hitch. "but the sea, the stars in the sky, jake."

coby looked down at her lips before she looked up at sarah's hazel eyes. a smile pulled at coby's lips as she processed what sarah had just said, the shorter girl mirroring her smile. coby brought her hand up to sarah's chin, leaning in so that their lips could meet. their lips molded against one another's, the kiss getting more intense by the second. sarah wasted no time in straddling coby's waste, tangling her fingers into the taller girl's curls as they continued to kiss. it's safe to say that the two girls had missed each other in more ways than one.

sarah began to unbutton her shirt, but coby thought that she was taking too long. so she reached up and pulled at the shirt, none of the buttons popping off. sarah smiled at that, both impressed by the action and happy that coby had helped. with that, the two of them went back to kissing, sarah's hands going under coby's shirt. they pulled away again, sarah grabbing ahold of coby's shirt before she pulled it off, throwing it somewhere in the room. she felt her stomach fill with butterflies at the sight of coby with messy curls. the couple's lips met again, coby running her tongue along sarah's bottom lip. the blonde opened her mouth slightly, coby immediately letting her tongue go inside.

the two fought for dominance as sarah started to grind up against coby, feeling the hard on that was starting to make an appearance. without pulling away, sarah reached her hands down to coby's shorts, unbuttoning them before slipping her hand into the girl's briefs. she started to rub coby's dick, earning a muffled moan from the sawyer girl. sarah pulled away slightly, once again leaning her forehead onto coby's so that she could see the pleasure she was in. she continued to rub coby's dick, biting her lips at the look on her girl's face. that mixed with the sound of coby's heavy breathing, sarah felt like she was in heaven, even if she wasn't getting any physical pleasure herself. she kept on rubbing coby's dick, somehow wrapping her hand around it as she started to pump faster. coby moved her head into the crook of sarah's neck, starting to kiss it.

the two girls were in pure bliss, being in their own little world. but that all came crashing down when the door shot open, revealing kie. sarah immediately jumped off of coby, somehow ending up on the floor. meanwhile, coby was covering the boner she had, looking at kie with wide eyes.

the carrera girl immediately realized that she had interrupted something. "sorry. there's a fire!"

"a what?" coby asked, shooting up from her spot on the bed.

"fire? what?" sarah quizzed, shooting up from the floor as she followed kie out of the room.

coby let out a small groan, quickly grabbing her and sarah's shirts before she followed the two other girls. panic immediately took over her as she realized that kie wasn't lying, fire surrounding the château. she handed sarah her shirt as she pulled her's on. she buttoned her shorts to try to conceal her hard on, although it should be easy since it was going down due to the situation they were in. the group began to panic, trying to find ways out of the burning house. but almost every entrance was either blocked by the fire or was too hot to touch.

they were screwed.

daij speaks!
how has it been basically a month since i updated this book? guys, i promised that i planned to spam the fuck out of this book along with others, but time went by so fast and so much shit happened. my mental health wasn't the best, then to add onto that my grandfather passed. so it was a lot going on. but i should be able to get a few more chapters out before my classes start back up again.

i hope you guys enjoyed🫶🏼