GLITCH.
040 | you're a kook

" BABE YOU REALISE WE'RE LOOTING A HOUSE, NOT GOING TO FASHION WEEK?" JJ sighed, flickering his eyes to his phone every few seconds as Renee continued to search for an outfit to wear.

re-emerging from her closet, in between outfit choices hence why she was only stood in a pair of black cycling shorts  and one of her sports bras — she crossed her arms at her boyfriends attitude change.

" I'm not exactly wearing a cocktail dress am I JJ?" her sass evident of being a consequence of her lack of sleep the night before — JJ rolled his eyes when she once again disappeared into the depths of her closet for what seemed to him like the millionth time.

" that's not fair!" he called out to her from his comfortable position on her bed " you know I don't know what a cocktail dress is!"

After many more tedious moments of JJ's phone receiving constant messages from the other pogues asking for their whereabouts were for the supposed mission tonight. Especially since the time Renee and JJ both agreed on getting picked up was approaching almost a half hour ago.

Renee finally deciding on her outfit — a pair of black leggings, her Nikes that were practically fitted exactly to the shape of her feet at this point from how frequently she wore them, one of JJ's black beanies and Lennon's black hoodie that JJ silently snorted at its very expensive designer logo that sat minimally in the right top corner that the girl hadn't noticed and even if she had , didn't bat an eyelid when Renee stepped out back into the main area of her room.

" I'm ready." she grinned, although her smile soon faltered noticing the look on JJ's face — the expression that painted his face was one she knew far too well — he was judging her.

she swallows dryly as an uneasy feeling burrowed in her stomach, " why are you looking at me like that?"

JJ sat up, putting down his phone despite the constant texts from his friends who were still curious of his and Renee's whereabouts.

" it's just." he huffed " don't think it's too nice of a hoodie to wear?" he asked, Renee took a small glance at the hoodie that was hung over her frame from the larger size of the clothing.

" Lennon has thousands like this, I don't think he'll mind if this one gets a bit dirty."  her tone casual, JJ noticing that she wasn't interpreting the words he was talking with what he meant. "I'll throw in the washer when we get back if you're that concerned JJ." she chuckled, having found her own comment amusing

" I mean," Renee could tell by his way of trying to edge around it was something he knew she would probably not like the sound of "isn't it too expensive?"

Renee looked down, now taking time to recognise the logo linked to the expensive brand — pursing her lips as she simply shrugged diverting her gaze back to JJ.

" it doesn't really matter." she said, not understanding why it was even worth mentioning "does it?" she asked JJ further who shook his head and stood up from the bed and walked past Renee who was beyond confused on why she was currently receiving the cold shoulder,

" sorry." he chuckled,

" I guess I just sometimes forget that you're actually a kook." His tone patronising and arrogant as he spoke to her. As if it were an insult, which coming out of his mouth - it most likely was.

It felt as if Renee's feet had been stuck to the floor — although JJ's words weren't intentionally meant to hurt, the girl couldn't help but feel a slight sting reverb from his words.

" what does that mean?" she asked, still standing were she was — noticing jj turn back with a slick smirk that for some reason infuriated Renee at the cockiness of it.

" i just mean, you hang out with us so much I forget you're not actually one of us." once again the after effect of her boyfriend's words ached as she nodded and hummed pursing her lips together — trying her hardest not to show the impact of his words. " that you live in this big ass house and wear fancy ass clothes causally."

" what, should I just not pretend that I have money?" she questioned " it's not something for me to be ashamed of JJ."

" I'm not saying that." he defended, to which Renee furrowed her eyebrows.

" well that's exactly what it sounds like your saying!"

Before the conversation could create any more heat and tension between the two of them — the loud honking from the van that had been parked outside of her house for the last twenty minutes.

" they're waiting, we should go." Renee mumbled lowly, barely acknowledging JJ's calls for her that he mumbled as she walked past and out of her bedroom door — obviously realising that his sentences had been taken out of it's supposed context.

composing herself silently until she reached the van door — deciding it be best to not sit with JJ at least for this car ride. Sliding open the back door revealing Kiara, Sarah and Pope who greeted her with smiles of excitement and slight amounts of adrenaline pulsing through their veins.

" got room for one more?" JJ got the hint he wasn't invited as he lingered behind, instead moving to the passenger side to next to John B.

" of course!" Sarah piped up, lending a hand to Renee to whom accepted making her assent into the vehicle a little more composed and graceful.

" thank you." Renee said as she sat down on the space on the bench seat next to the her newly reunited friend — whilst JJ shuffled into the car, silent except from occasionally trying to grab Renee's attention which she took notice of yet never met his persistent gaze.

The ride was uncomfortable for the couple — the feeling of each other's eyes burning into their skin whenever the other person was turned away from their general direction. Although nobody else seemed to notice.

Finally pulling up to the same stone fence that they had only a couple days prior — and finalising their checklist of equipment ( Pope of course had made ), Renee felt a slight nervousness distill itself in her.

" we're ready." John B told them, whilst the girl rubbed her hands up and down her thighs as she exhaled heavily.

Whilst the others spoke, Sarah nudged Renee softly just like she had done earlier that day on the boat — the blonde turned and smiled at the girl who smiled almost instantly back.

" hey." she spoke in a very much needed reassurance " we're going to be fine."

Renee nodded, not finding the words or strength to talk. The van door opened, revealing John B stood there with a slightly bashful smile toying on his lips.

" let's roll." JJ announced, although he was quickly shut down by John B,

" wait, wait, wait." Everyone looked up to him, all with a slight fear that he was calling off the mission for the gold. Which luckily he wasn't.

" I wanna say thank you guys." he spoke, looking around to engage eye contact with the five of them.

" seriously." he continued " it means a lot to me that you're here tonight."

Everyone smiled, all having minimal blushes cover their cheeks.

" always." Kiara said, earning a soft chuckle from John B,

" of course man," Pope soon joined, earning another one of his handshakes with John B.

"my man." John B smiled at Pope,

Renee chuckled as John B looked at her " you really think I'd let you do anything remotely dangerous alone?"

John B pursed just lips and smiled " encouraging as always Ren." Renee grinned proudly at herself and nodded,

" you love it, don't deny it." she playfully blew him a kiss to which the brunette couldn't help but laugh and roll his eyes at her.

" all right, are we done with this circle jerk, can we go do this?" JJ's words came off bitterly, a slight jealousy from the two best friends previous interaction leaking through his careless and casual facade.

Everyone agreed, one by one hoping out of the van. This time Renee offering Sarah a hand to help her out — presenting her with a small turn up of her lips Sarah took the hand and thanked the blonde with a nod of her head.

" let's get that wheat in the water." Pope told them as he hoped out, earning a quiet cheer from Renee who followed behind him.

" weed? I'm up for weed." A small amount of Excitement was clear in JJ's voice at the idea of Pope suggesting a smoke.

Pope rolled his eyes and huffed softly to himself "wheat, I said wheat." He told the blonde who nodded and bashfully followed.

All turning on their flashlights, everyone approached the small crack in the wall that they were clearly going to be using as an entrance and an exit.

Renee lingered behind, soon being caught up by JJ who looked at her, a slight awkwardness in his actions when they realised they were the only two left to climb the wall.

" do you wanna go first?" he stumbled slightly, not liking the clear thick tension between the two of them — especially when Renee simply nodded and hummed in reply to his answer.

After years of being a pogue, scaling a wall that restricting her from private property was almost a piece of cake for her now. Planting her feet down on the other side joining the others who had been chattering whilst waiting for her and JJ who climbed over mere seconds after.

All slowly edging closer to the house, retracing the steps that they had taken a couple days ago — JJ and Renee walking next to each other, both fighting the urge to grab the others ones hand as they did so.

The six of them were startled by the shining of a porch light that projected right onto the area they were stood on — somehow they all managed to share a singular idea to hide behind a bush nearby.

" flashlights!" Kiara told them after switching her own off, soon the others all following her actions except JJ who was pressing the power button and yet the light didn't seem to dim.

" it's on strobe." he whispered in aggravation, soon enough with a few more rapid presses switching it off.

After they were all consumed in the darkness of the night — it was clear tensions were higher than beforehand with most of the teenagers panting.

" okay." Pope breathed heavily " so she has motion sensor lights."

" we could move really slowly maybe." although his idea was the furthest thing was logical, Renee still have the slightest smile and moved her hand to sit on his thigh.

" JJ, that's not how it works." she told him, her sign of affection short lived as her hand slipped off of his leg and back to dangling on the sides of her body.

" oh shit." John B's words earned attention from the other pogues " let's throw a rock at it."

Pope and Renee looked at each other with wide eyes,  wondering how he had managed to suggest something stupider than jj just had.

" that's a really good idea actually, let the axe murderer know that we're here." Kiara spoke in clear sarcasm.

Pope still baffled but the suggestion spoke " throw a rock at it?" his tone a mixture of confusion and surprise — Renee and Sarah looked at each other, both aware that they were thinking of the exact same part of the house.

John B snorted at Pope " you guys have a better idea?"

Kiara squinted her eyes at John B " literally anything but that."

Renee finally said something on what her and Sarah had been exchanging looks on for the last few moments " what about the breaker?" She looked around realising nobody had caught onto what she was taking about.

" you know? in the circuit box on the porch?" she continued, getting the hint from all her friends confused faces that they had no idea what she was going on about.

" we used to play hide and seek here as kids." Sarah told them, telling from their faces that they were baffled on how Renee knew so much about this place.

" And if we were brave enough we'd go all the way up to the porch." She continued " I've seen it, we both have."

John B shook his head at the idea Sarah was leading up to " no, no you're not going in the house alone!"

Sarah didn't seem to see his words to be of her best intentions — instead she read them as a way of controlling her, something she was far too use from receiving from a certain blonde boy on the other side of town, whom she now despised.

" watch me." she almost snorted, JJ widened his eyes as he looked at Sarah.

" you realise Crain chops people into pieces?" he tried to convince her against the idea,

"you believe that but she's like what? 85?" Sarah asked JJ,

" yeah somethin' like that." he replied,

Sarah continued with her argument " she's probably barely still kicking."

Renee looked at John B " and she won't be alone." she told him " I'll go with her."

JJ felt the curve of his natural smile drop, looking at Renee with a pleading look.

" okay , now I have I problem with it." he announced, Renee rolled her eyes and decided to take the immature route of ignoring her boyfriends protectiveness.

" I'll go with them too ." Kiara said, earning a smile from both Sarah and Renee — both relieved Kiara was finally warming up to the idea of Sarah being around.

" we'll wait for your signal." Pope said, earning a nod from the girls who began to creep away, their turned off flashlights in hand.

" hey!" John B called out to them as they edged away from the hiding space " be safe!"

Although his regard for caution was plainly directed to Sarah, all the girls nodded and finally turned and edged towards the houses exterior.

Sarah was the only one who had light, leading the group followed by Renee and then Kiara who was behind — the garden was overgrown they're venture to the porch was mostly pushing overgrown shrubbery out the way and stepping over it.

" she must have a generator plugged into the main power supply." Sarah mumbled to the girls behind who continued to follow her.

Renee could feel her childhood nervousness of the place resurface as they reached the porch — she could remember vividly the times she would hold Sarah's hand on the way up here.

Sarah smirked as she turned her head to look at the other blonde who she instantly realised was almost trembling in anxiousness.

" you wanna hold my hand?" she teased, referring to their childhood experiences that Renee was only thinking of mere seconds beforehand.  " for old times sake."

Renee shook her head " don't think our boyfriends would like that very much." she hummed as they began to creep up the stairs of the porch — the frail and disintegrating wood squeaking under the pressure of each of the girls weight.

Finally reaching the porch, the three of them huddled around the electric box whilst Sarah shared her light on it.

Kiara opened the box — not met by what she thought would be a easy situation to help them retrieve the gold — instead wires interlinked that was making their mission harder than they anticipated.

" where are the breakers?" Renee asked, looking at the other two who had the same puzzled expression carved into their faces.

" what is this?" Kiara questioned, looking up and noticing something she hoped she hadn't.

After choruses of the word 'no' , Renee and Sarah followed Kiara's gaze — realising the same horror she had done a few moments ago.

"It goes inside." Renee huffed, her eyes tearing away as she noticed the squeaking of the gate — being the first to notice Kiara slowly yet tediously pull the gate open.

She watched in a panicked silence as her best friend opened the front door to the apparent murderer's house — her and Sarah sharing heavy breaths as they followed Kiara's lead into stepping into the house.

The house was pretty — deceiving the expectations the outside gave it. Renee thought with maybe more attention and maybe a paint job this place could've been nice, although it was purely a distraction from the realisation of how dangerous what she was doing was. Following behind Kiara silently, who found the breaker — tugging the box  open and flicking the switch to turn off the power that the generators were giving. Giving the boys the green light to go ahead with the rest of the plan.

a wave of relief washed over Renee — letting out a heavy breath as she finally felt some relaxation sink into her bloodstream.

"So what now?" she whispered to the girls "We just wait here for a signal that they have the gold?"

Kiara hummed and Sarah nodded," I guess so." they both replied, Renee nodded and leant against the wall next to them — pushing her head upwards as she continued to exhale breaths.

" okay so now we've got time." Kiara said, turning to focus on Renee who furrowed her eyebrows at the sudden attention that was focused on her.

" what the hell is going on between you and JJ?" she questioned, her voice maybe a little louder than it needed to be.

Renee played clueless, not in the right mood to have a girly gossip on her and JJ's relationship, "nothing, nothings going on, we're fine."

" bullshit." Sarah called out, cursing at Renee's very obvious lies.

" we've know each other since we were like three, I can tell when you're lying." She continued, Renee sighed admitting defeat as she looked at her two friends.

" we just had a little lovers quarell that's all." she told them, shrugging when shoulders playing it off like it wasn't a big deal.

Both of the girls went to open their mouths before being cut off abruptly,

" I TOLD YOU NOT TO DROP ME!"

The shouting voice was clearly John B's as is echoed through the entirety of the house — sending slight vibrations through the floorboards and walls.

Suddenly, the discussion on Renee and JJ's love life was no longer even in the girl's minds as they all looked at eachother in a panic, all silently hoping it hadn't woken up Mrs Crain upstairs.

But the eruption of shuffling footsteps from the staircase that merged the first and second floor together sent another wave of panic through Renee who realised that this was the worst case scenario that they hadn't planned out.

" fuck, we've just woken up an axe murder."

AUTHORS NOTE
a teenie bit of trouble in paradise :/

will get the next few chapters out as soon as possible as I've prewritten most of it :)

hope you enjoyed <3