"What the fuck is that?" Pope pointed at the dog, who hid behind JJ's legs.

"She's a dog, Pope." He scooped her up in his arms awkwardly, as she wasn't very small, and scratched at her ears to soothe her. "Barracuda Mike said she sucks. I took her so he wouldn't kill her. Huh? Yes. A sweet lady." He cooed at the dog, making kissy noises.

"Does she have a name?" Cleo asked, curling a brow.

"It was Omega, or something." John B spoke. The dog, squirmed out of JJ's grasp upon hearing the name, and ran to go hide behind the couch. John B pursed his lips. "Guess she doesn't like that name."

"That's usually the first tell-tale sign of abuse in a dog is how they respond to their name." Pope offered. "You should think about changing it?"

"Well, until I figure it out, I'm just gonna call her Dog." JJ shrugged. "Lady!" He cooed. "It's okay, sweet girl, c'mon out."

"You're gonna call her Dog?" Sarah snorted.

Dog poked her head out, ears back, but timidly made her way to JJ, who encouraged her gently, outstretching his arms.

"Good girl, it's okay." He soothed. She finally curled herself around his arm, purring as he scratched her ears. "Yeah, you're safe here, huh?"

They sat criss-cross on the floor, circled up in a group, as Dog tried to navigate her way around the group of friends that turned family. John B was first, and he passed her test with affectionate kisses. Followed by Sarah, who figured out that she really likes having her butt scratched. Pope was next, feeding her a piece of watermelon, which she gratefully accepted. Followed by Cleo, who cooed at her with a piece of chicken.

"No fair, you guys bribed her!" Sarah giggled, keeping her tone gentle, as not to frighten her.

She moseyed on over to JJ, resuming her position in his lap, belly up for scratches.

"How old is she?" Pope asked, finally.

"No clue... Should take her to the vet, probably." John B offered. "They'd be able to tell us more about her. She looks like a German Shepherd, though."

"That's a good idea, but you should probably name her first. God only knows where Mike got that dog, so you want to have a plausible story that she's yours." Pope told him. "Doesn't exactly look like you own her if her name is Dog."

JJ looked at her, scratching his head. "What's your name?" He asked her, as if she'd respond.

Spoiler alert, she didn't respond.

He pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes, and thinking really hard. His biggest accomplishment to date was traveling the world and getting the gold. The journeys he'd taken with his friends were some of his favorite memories, even if they'd been running the entire time. He couldn't name her travel the world.

"I can see the smoke coming out of your ears." John B laughed.

JJ glared, but looked over at Pope. "What are those World Map book thingies called?" He asked urgently.

"An atlas?" Pope answered, confused. "Why?"

"That's her name. Atlas." He nodded.

"Aw, that's cute. Why Atlas?" Sarah asked, scratching the dog's ears.

"Because that's my greatest accomplishment. Traveling the world with my friends and getting the gold." He smiled, not looking up from the dog.

"Daw, shucks, Rude Boy!" Cleo grinned, before initiating a pig pile.

JJ smiled. Maybe, through all this numbness, shit would be okay.

The bonfire crackled in the backyard. Lively music played through their speakers, the keg flowed freely, and almost every Pogue on this side of the island was here, along with a few stray Kooks, and your normal amount of Tourons. The Pogues threw this party due to the fact that in less than fourteen days, Sarah and John B would leave on their road trip adventure.

"Hey, stranger, long time no see!" Jo exclaimed, coming up beside him as he spoke with Sarah and a few other people they'd grown up with.

"Hey, Red." He smiled.

Atlas sat beside him on her leash.

"Who's this sweet guy?"

"Sweet girl." He corrected. "Her name is Atlas." He grinned. "Ain't she a cutie?"

"You never fail to surprise me, Maybank." She grinned.

Then it got quiet, and awkward.

"Let me show you around? Get you a drink?" He offered.

"I'd like that." She grinned.

The two wandered off, and Sarah looked on, standing side by side with Sophia, who lived on the other side of the cut. "You should watch out for him, you know. Jo's sweet, but... She's got a heavy past, and more than enough problems." She pursed her lips. "JJ's got a lot going for him. I got a bad feeling about this."

"JJ's... Uh..." She trailed off, watching the two giggle with each other as she pet Atlas.

"Yeah, I saw her Instagram post." Sophia shook her head.

"What Instagram post?" Sarah furrowed her brow, pulling out her phone.

A photo of Kiara hanging off some LA-brand Kook surprised her. Not only was he not her type at all, but he held onto her with little regard, as shown by the look on his face. Followed by some photos of the beach, of the club, and many of her and a friend named G. "photo dump of LA livin'" read the caption. She raised a brow, doing her best to stay silent as she felt quiet anger threatening to bubble up and over. Her ears tinged red, and her fingers twitched. She hadn't talked to her friend since her and JJ were in LA, and it wasn't like she hadn't tried. She was being ignored. Ignored for some fake, ultra-rich, west coast lifestyle. And it hurt.

"You good Sar?" She asked.

She snapped out of her musings. "Yeah." She cleared her throat. "Never better."

"You think he saw that?" She asked the blonde, who shook her head.

"Maybe, I'm not sure though." She sighed.

"Kiara's got a lot going on. That camp her parents sent her to has a bad rep these days. Word is guy who runs it is a pedo." Sophia told her.

"If something happened, Kie would have told me." Sarah scoffed.

Sophia shrugged. "You know I'm honest, Blondie, but if anything like that happened, it really fucks with you. So, even if something did happen, chances are, she might not tell you."

Sarah looked down at her feet. "Thanks for talking, Soph." Sarah mumbled.

"Anytime. I'm gonna head out. Your brother's waiting on me." She smiled, dreamily.

"My brother?" She spluttered.

But Sophia was gone.

sarahccameron liked your post.

She stared at the notification, as if she hadn't been expecting it, but had been longing for it. Out of the thousands she had received on her first post in months, a tiny part of her hoped that maybe it would be JJ. Or another Pogue, but Sarah Cameron liking her post had been last on the list of things she had expected.

The bass music rattled in her chest as she took the shot of burning liquid, letting it slide down her throat with a groan.

G was somewhere behind her, tearing up the dancefloor.

She had no urge for roaming hands on her body. She had no room for thoughts, though, being dragged out there by Wes, her latest fling. Blonde hair and blue eyes reminded her of JJ, but the thigh-high shorts and Sperry loafers were just-kook-enough to keep her thoughts from roaming far enough.

She moved with him to the music, before excusing herself into the bathroom when she got dizzy.

She looked in the mirror.

Bags under her eyes from lack of sleep.

Bloating in her face and abdomen from the alcohol.

Lines in her forehead from the expressions of stress.

She had maintained a 3.8 GPA that semester. It was almost funny to her that she was in this position of turmoil within herself and still managed to pass with flying colors, even making honors for the semester. G had been supportive, but she missed her family, and she briefly wondered who gave her address to her parents, but she was grateful for it anyways.

augustmoon03 posted on their story for the first time in a while.

A photo of Jo Cardinale, Barry's sister graced her screen. A mirror selfie of her and some guy. She squinted.

No.

Not a chance.

But it was though. She got sick, suddenly.

JJ Maybank, her JJ, was wrapped around her, arm slung casually around her waist, head on top of Jo's. Her boyfriend was with the town slut junkie. Only, he wasn't her boyfriend anymore, and Johanna was in their room. In their bathroom. Probably in what used to be their bed. She felt sick, suddenly, as she pictured JJ doing god-awful shit. She emptied the contents of her stomach, wrenching as bile and alcohol clawed its way up her throat.

A knock at the door.

"Are you okay in there?"

It was G. She wiped her tears and her mouth, fixed her dress, and opened the door.

"I think I need to go home and lay down."

"You're like, really good at that." Jo spoke, out of breath.

Outside, a party droned on, shouts and laughter floating in through the window. Beside him, Jo lay on Kie's pillow, red hair fanned out. She looked beautiful, really, it was criminal, but the churning in his stomach was not going away at the thought of another girl in her spot. He forced those feelings down, shooting her a lopsided grin.

"JJ!" He heard someone call.

Relief bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, the squeezing feeling in his chest lessening at the sound of one of his friends calling him. Divine intervention seemed to have a knack for saving him right when shit could go poorly.

"That's probably our cue, Red." He told her, pulling on his boxers and a pair of shorts.

She pouted for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, okay." She agreed. "Do I have hopes of this happening again?" She asked.

"Yeah, I-" He stopped speaking after turning around, watching as she cut a line for herself on the nightstand, before it went up her nose. He remained silent, watching with waiting eyes. She closed her eyes, momentarily. He swallowed.

"Oh, sorry, you want some?" She asked him, waving a neon pink straw that she'd cut in half. He almost laughed, thinking about her being too good for a rolled-up dollar bill, but it almost made him feel relieved, considering the fact that she just rode him bare-backed. Shared needles were grounds for diseases, and judging by the lack of track marks and the cut up bendy-straws in her purse, he figured he was in the clear for now.

"Oh, um... No thank you. I feel better sticking to the green stuff." He told her, trying to remain calm. "Just, uh, make sure you clean it all up, don't want Atlas getting into it, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah, okay." She nodded.

A tense silence fell over the room.

"What, um... What is it?"

"Just a little Molly."

He snorted, a bad attempt at holding in a laugh.

"Oh yeah, just some ecstasy, no big."

"Didn't realize you were such a square, Maybank." She replied.

He narrowed his eyes. "Not a square, Jo. You know who my folks are, hell, Barry used to sell to my Dad. Barracuda sent my Dad down to the Yucatan." He shook his head. "Shit's in my blood to repeat itself, and I can't."

"Jayj! Get out here!" Followed by a rock hitting his window.

"Let's go, Red." He reiterated, watching as she cleaned the rest of it with her straw. His tone was gentle, though, with little judgement. He knew what he was getting himself into with this. That was the thing about him, he was drawn to bad decisions as a moth was drawn to a flame.

Johanna Indira Cardinale was a bad decision.

"Wait. So, you aren't mad?"

"No. Your life, not mine." He shrugged. "Not like we're bound for life."

"Right." She nodded, pulling her skirt on.

"Hey, I don't want this to ruin our friendship." He told her. "But, I don't want you to expect me to be able to keep up with all of that."

She smiled at him, a genuine smile, before nodding. "Yeah. I get that. I respect it."

He opened the door for her and followed her out the door.

sarahccameron posted for the first time in a while.

It was the first notification that graced her when she woke up, hurling into a bucket. Hands came to hold the hair out of her face.

"Damn, K." He grumbled.

He got her a bottle of water and a tylenol, before settling back into bed beside her. She felt the weight of the dip, and before she could stop herself, her thumb hit the notification, opening to a twenty-photo post on instagram.

since we last spoke.

Sarah hadn't posted anything since they'd been compensated by the Brazilian government and the archaeologists. A few photos from LA with JJ, a few photos of them doing mundane shit with Pope and Cleo, some ridiculous shots of John B and JJ, some group photos, and finally one of JJ holding a puppy, grinning like a fool. JJ wasn't tagged in any of the photos.

He'd deleted his Instagram, which deleted any trace of their relationship online.

popeheyward: gonna miss u guys when u go

Where were they going? Who was going where?

johnbroutledgex: u left first, dork

John B and Sarah were going where? She itched to be nosy and ask, but she'd lost that right a while ago. Even if JJ told her she could always go back, the longer she stayed away, the greater the distance became. The greater the weight was.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened last night?" G asked.

G had received bits and pieces of what had transpired that led her to Los Angeles. He knew about her Pogues, he knew they had a falling out. He knew her parents sent her to Kitty Hawk, and he knew that everything became too much, and she left.

"Hello? Earth to Kie."

"Don't call me that." She snapped, before grimacing. "Sorry."

G swallowed, eyeing her pointedly. "My boyfriend, with some other girl."

"Wes?" He asked.

She shook her head, laughing exasperatedly, before gazing out the window.

"JJ." She sighed.

"That asshole?"

She swallowed. "JJ isn't actually the asshole, G." She shook her head. "As much as it hurts to say it, I'm the asshole. Took off and left with no word." She admitted. "He and my friend Sarah came to find me. But I went on a date with someone, and he caught me basically cheating on him."

The room felt like the oxygen was sucked out of it, but G put a hand on her leg. "We all fuck up, Kie."

"He used to call me that. They all did." She whispered. "My Dad used to hate it."

"Do you not want me to call you that?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No, I just don't want anyone else calling me that." She told him. "But I miss them, more than anything. It's like so much has happened though, and the longer I'm here, the farther away it seems."

"You'd be surprised at how friendship prevails." He told her. "You should reach out."

"They all hate me."

"Sarah seems like a good start."

"I told Sarah to pound sand on the boardwalk, and then ignored three months worth of messages from her." She told him.

He winced. "Yikes. Okay, what about Pope and Cleo?"

"Pope might be a good answer." She nodded.

"See, what would you do without me?"

Over the last six months, she'd learned a lot about G, too. He was from Boston, another east coast kid. His parents moved to Florida, a state with more American values, but it was really just because they were too conservative. Needless to say, they didn't accept their son, and kicked him out.

He moved back to Boston, hit for a jackpot on the Powerball, and the rest is history.

She smacked his shoulder, before gagging.

"Food. We need food." She declared.

"On me, Harem Pants."