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The teens piled out of the parked twinkie, eyeing the giant lighthouse that stood before them.

“Right, you're gonna post up and look out for bogeys, okay?” John B stated as he turned towards JJ.

“Wait,” JJ cut off, looking around the group. “Why me?”

“Because you're not coming,” Pope simply shrugged, as if it were obvious.

“But why?”

Pope sighed as he looked at the blonde. “Look, there are independent and dependent variables. You're independent. We don't know what you'll do.”

Eli snickered as she watched JJ's face morph into an expression of disbelief, patting him on the back in mock comfort.

“Shut up-”

“We don't know what you'll-”

“Shut up!”

“Listen to me for a second!” John B exclaimed, trying to break up the argument. “Just listen. Pope, you stand look out with  JJ. Okay? If we get split up, we meet back up at JJ's house.”

“Great,” Kie added.

Eli stared up at the lighthouse, before looking back at John B. “I think I'll stay down here too,” she stated. “I kinda don't trust those railings. I think I can see gaps through the floor too.”

“Okay,” John B nodded as he headed towards the entrance. “You're on baby-sitting duty then. Make sure these two don't kill each other.”

“You've got it, JB.”

“I'm gonna go work on my scholarship essay,” Pope spoke up as the trio began to walk towards the twinkie. “I'm tryna keep felonies down to a minimum.”

“Would you just shut up already?” JJ requested, beginning to kick up a little hacky sack that he pulled out of his pocket to keep himself occupied.

“Hey, no arguing,” Eli warned as she stared between the two. “Relax a little.”

As Pope got inside the vehicle, Eli turned towards JJ with raised brows. “Wanna play catch?”

The pair spent the next five minutes tossing the hacky sack to each other, before that turned into a game of who can land the most hits on each other.

The pair  dodged and weaved  between the trees surrounding the twinkie, much to Pope's annoyance, due to the sheer amount of times the sack slammed into the window and jumpscared him.

“Wait, stop,” Eli whispered as JJ caught the sack that she threw. “Can you hear that?”

Eli and JJ's eyes widened as they registered the sound of sirens, immediately making a run for it to the van.

“Oh, shit!” Pope exclaimed as JJ dove into the driver's seat and Eli in the passenger side, the blonde wasting no time starting the vehicle and making an escape.

“Wait, what about Kie and John B?” Pope questioned as he leaned over from the back, looking between JJ and Eli as they drove away.

“Well, you did say you wanted to keep felonies to a minimum,” Eli shrugged. “I hope they can forgive us,” she spoke as the sound of the sirens started to fade away, leaning back to slouch against the seat. “We're not very good look outs are we?”

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The trio had gone to JJ's house like they had planned, but after about an hour they decided to relocate to Eli's house so that she could put together some late lunch for the starving trio.

Deciding that it was a lost cause waiting for John B and Kie, JJ and Eli decided to follow Pope to Heywards after they had eaten to their heart’s content.

“I'm starting to get a lil worried,” Pope said as he worked on fixing the motor, various tools in his hand.

JJ was sitting on a little stool with Eli sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him, the boy sticking out his tongue in concentration as he worked on braiding the girl's hair.

Ever since they were little, JJ had loved playing with Eli’s hair, so much so that Talia had even taught him how to braid hair so he could do it for Eli. It was a source of comfort for the blonde boy, similarly to how Eli found comfort in playing with the many rings on his fingers.

“I'm sure they're fine,” Eli assured Pope, flinching slightly as she felt JJ's ticklish fingers against her neck. “They have to be.”

JJ grinned as he caught on, intentionally wiggling his fingers against her neck to tickle her.

“Oh my god, stop it, JJ,” she warned, trying not to break into fits of laughter as she tried to cover her neck .

“Fine, fine,” he replied with a laugh, “only because I'll ruin my hard work if I don't.” He held the end of the braid with one hand, using his teeth to pull the hair tie off his other wrist. “There we go,” he replied as he finished tying it off.

Eli turned around to face him with a smile, cutely holding her hands to her face. “How does it look? Do I look pretty?”

“You always look pretty,” he said with a nod as he stood up, reaching out a hand towards the girl.

Eli couldn't help but grin at the boy, grasping his hand and allowing him to pull her up. She stumbled slightly, but JJ was quick to steady her with his arm around her waist.

“Eugh,” Pope grumbled to himself, quickly throwing a glance towards the pair. “I feel like I'm intruding on something.”

“Do you wanna be pretty too, Pope?” Eli questioned with a smile as she walked towards the boy, wiggling her fingers as she pretended to reach for his hair.

“Get off,” Pope warned as he swatted his arms at the girl, who raised her arms in surrender.

“Don't worry, Pope,” JJ added after taking a hit of his vape, leaning against the wall. “You're always pretty too. The prettiest in fact.”

“Jesus,” Pope mumbled, getting back to the motor.

The trio looked up at the sound of a horn, smiling as they saw twinkie pulling up into their view, John B gesturing at them to join him.

“Let's ride,” JJ called out as he took one last hit of his vape, making his way over to the vehicle with the others.

“This better be good,” Pope warned as they got inside.

The group made their final pit stop at The Wreck, and sent Pope inside to collect Kie.

“She said she's not coming,” Pope yelled across to them.

“Why not?” JJ questioned as he threw his hand in the air, turning towards the boy in the driver's seat. “What'd you do to her, John B?”

Eli peered over the seat with her arms around both the boys’ shoulders, just in time to watch John B swear to himself.

“Hang on, I'll deal with it,” he announced as he opened the door and jumped out,  causing Eli and JJ to look at each other with furrowed brows.

“What do you think happened?” Eli questioned as she fully wrapped her right arm around JJ, absentmindedly playing with the shark tooth pendant laying between his collarbones.

“He probably did some stupid shit,” JJ answered, leaning his head back to rest against Eli’s shoulder.

Pope climbed back into the van with a sigh. “She seemed pretty adamant. Her parents must have her on some kinda lockdown.”

“I'm feeling super nosy,” Eli admitted, “part of me wants to eavesdrop.”

“I dare you,” JJ dared with a smile as he looked at Eli upside down. “You won't.”

Eli huffed as she removed her arm around him, moving towards the open door. “I'm wounded that you think I won't.”

The girl jumped out of the van to the amusement of JJ and Pope, and carefully made her way around the side of the building towards the open windows to try and make out any conversation. She grimaced as a twig snapped under her foot, internally praying no one would notice.

She carefully peeked through the window, gasping and moving out of view as she noticed Kie walking closer in her direction with John B trailing closely behind. She could just about make out what was being said.

“..I need you right now,” John B pleaded. “And I'm sorry about the kiss thing.”

Eli gasped out loud, before covering her mouth with her hand in alarm. Kie and John B kissed?

“That was super weird, and I feel awkward about it-”

Eli decided that she had definitely heard enough, and tried to run back to the twinkie as fast as she could without alerting the pair inside the restaurant.

“Oh my god,” she yelled as she got into the van, causing Pope and JJ to sit up straight in anticipation.

“What happened?” JJ questioned as he twisted his body around to look at the girl, arm resting on the back of the leather seat.

“They kissed!” she exclaimed, watching as JJ and Pope dropped their jaws. “I mean, it sounded like John B kissed her and-” Eli shut herself up as she saw movement from the entrance of the restaurant, noticing Kie and John B making their way out.“Act natural, act natural!” she whispered-yelled, causing the three to panic as they tried to be as natural as possible.

Pope pulled out a random textbook to read from who knows where, Eli pretended to play on her phone, and for some reason JJ pulled a cap over his face and pretended to fall asleep.

“What's with the weird vibe in here?” Kie questioned as she got inside the van with John B, looking between the three.

“Nothing weird here,” Eli said with a nod. “Why would anything be weird, right Pope?”

“Right,” he agreed, setting down his textbook.

JJ pretended to yawn as he pulled off the cap from face, causing John B to stare at him strangely.

“So, John B,” Eli quickly spoke up, catching his attention. “Where's the next stop of our treasure hunt?”

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Pope, Eli, and JJ are so dumb, dumber, dumbest in that exact order. My fave trio.

Also more cute JJ and Eli content ofc ofc

Nova x