nineteen | the best liar

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     IT WAS PRACTICALLY THE MORNING by the time John B dropped off JJ and Carson at her house.

"See you in the morning, soldiers," he joked as he saluted him. They saluted him back before he pulled away to drop off the others. JJ wrapped his arm around Carson to help her limp into the house.

"We gotta be quiet. My mom's sleeping," she whispered as she slowly opened the door to try to be as sneaky as possible. That didn't seem to matter though because the lights in the kitchen flicked on and her mom was standing there with her arms folded across her chest. "Shit."

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Uh, with my friends," Carson said, which wasn't a lie.

"Do you realize what time it is?" her mom said.

"Late."

"Late is right," she said. When she saw that Carson had her left foot raised and was using JJ for support, she frowned. "What happened?"

"I twisted my ankle," Carson explained. "It's fine. JJ was just helping me inside." And was also going to crash there for the night. Her mom looked over at JJ. Her frown turned into a smile at the sight of the blonde. Although she would always give Carson joking warnings about hanging with the guys, she actually loved JJ. She also always knew that they were going to end up together, which made the situation the perfect time for her to say something. "Hi, sweetheart. How have you been?"

"Hey, Penelope," JJ replied with his own smile. "I've been doin' good. How are you?"

"Oh, just fine. But you know, I ran into Kiara's mom in town yesterday and we just had the funniest conversation. She was telling me all about the Midsummers event, how our teenagers are out of control, the usual," she started. "But she also told me that she overheard a certain two of those teenagers were now together. Isn't that funny?"

Carson's eyes widened as she realized that her mom knew about the two of them. It's not like she was trying to hide it from her because really, she had been meaning on telling her, but with how crazy the last few days had been she hadn't found the chance.

"Wow, uh, yeah, that's some funny news," Carson said.

"So, JJ, seems as though you finally got the balls to admit your feelings for my daughter, huh?" her mom then said bluntly. This time, JJ's eyes widened at her words. He hadn't expected that.

"Mom!" Carson said.

"I mean, I was just waiting for this to happen because let's be honest, it was going to happen eventually," she said. "Now, I totally get it if you guys want to... you know. But just make sure you always use protection. I am way too hot and young to be a grandma yet."

"Oh my God! We are not talking about this right now," Carson screamed. JJ burst into laughter at how red Carson's cheeks were. Clearly her mom was just as amused because she had a devilish smirk on her face as she leaned against the counter. This was her way of getting back at Carson for having to find out from Kiara's mom, she knew that. She wasn't actually mad, but she wanted to tease her daughter a bit.

"What? This is a perfectly normal conversation to have with your mother," she said.

"Not with JJ standing right here!" Carson said.

"Oh, no. Don't stop on my account. I'd love to hear more about us having sex," he said. Carson groaned in embarrassment before she pulled out of his grip.

"I hate you both," she muttered as she began limping towards her bedroom. She could hear the two of them high fiving as she collapsed onto her bed. He was still laughing to himself as he entered her bedroom, plopping himself right next to her on her bed.

"So-"

"Don't even say it," she snapped. He laughed.

"What was I going to say?" he asked.

"I don't know and I don't care, but just, don't even say it," she said. "I swear my mom likes you more than she likes me."

"What's not to like?"

"How much time do you have?" she joked. He rolled his eyes then sat up.

"Let me check out your ankle," he said as scooted to the end of the bed to gently pull off her Converse so he could see if she actually did anything to it.

"Last time I checked you weren't a doctor, JJ," she said, wincing as her shoe came off.

"And last time I checked you weren't a comedian, but yet you still try be to funny," he replied.

"Shut up," she mumbled. He laughed again before looking back at her.

"It doesn't look broken or anything," he said. "You probably just twisted it the wrong way when you were running from the blind axe murderer. I'll go get you some ice."

"Thanks," she said. As she waited for him to return with the ice pack, she scooted herself up to the top of the bed. She hadn't realized how tired she was until all the adrenaline had worn off. By the time that JJ had returned she was already passed out. He smiled to himself and placed the ice pack softly onto her ankle before climbing into bed next to her, throwing an arm loosely across her body before he passed out too.


As they pulled up to the pawn shop, Carson could only hope that the melted down version of the gold that they found would be taken seriously, especially considering it was six teenagers that were trying to sell it.

"Hell of a job melting it down, Dr. Frankenstein," JJ said as they climbed out of John B's van.

"Like you could've done any better," Kiara responded.

"I could have done much better," he said. "I took a welding class." The two of them started to argue before John B stepped in.

"Chill out, okay?"

"It's easy for you to say that. You're not the one that has to pawn this piece of shit off," JJ said. "How did I get this job anyway?"

"'Cause you're the best liar," Pope said. They walked into the pawn shop and JJ immediately started his act. It just proved he, in fact, was the best liar.

"Afternoon, ma'am," he said politely. 

"Afternoon," the woman replied skeptically. 

"I see you buy gold," he said. 

"That's what the sign say, don't it?"

"Well, I sure hope you buy a lot of it because I'm about to blow your mind," he said as he started to pull the gold out of his backpack.

"I ain't got much mind left to blow, so have at it." Carson smirked at the woman's sassiness, but she hoped that wouldn't affect how she would do business with JJ. He placed the melted gold onto the counter.

"How about them gold apples?" he said. She looked up at him with an unamused face and started laughing.

"That ain't real," she said. 

"That ain't real?"

"It can't be," she said.

"Feel how heavy it is." When she went to lift it she hadn't expected to struggle with it as much as she had. "Mm-hm. Let's get some light on that." The others watched from a distance as she started to go through a couple tests to determine if it was real gold or not, each one passing the test. "Ma'am, I'm telling ya, this is as real as the day is long."

"It looks like somebody tried to melt it down," she noted.

"My mom," JJ said. "She had all this jewelry laying around the house, and she thought it was best to melt it down. To 'consolidate' it."

"Seven pounds?" the woman said. "That's a lot of earrings."

"Okay, to be honest, ma'am... it's really hard to see my mom fall apart with Alzheimer's," he said. Carson looked over at him and raised her eyebrows at the emotional backstory that he was going to come up with to sell it. This was exactly why JJ was the one who was doing this part. 

"Mm-hm. Give me a minute," she said as she walked into the back. "So, I, uh, I talked to my boss. And, uh, this is what I can do."

"Fifty thousand? You think I walked in here not knowin' the spot price?" JJ said. "Ma'am, I know for a fact this is worth 140, at least."

"Well, sweetie, you in a pawnshop. This ain't Zurich. Do I look Swiss to you?"

"Ninety... or I walk," he bargained.

"Seventy. Half price... and um, I don't ask questions about where you got this," she said.

"I'm gonna need that in large denominations, please," JJ said when John B gave him the thumbs up. They couldn't afford people to start questioning where they got their hands on seven pounds of gold, especially not when they had so much more still waiting to be buried up. 

"Well, here's the snag," she said. "I don't have that much denominated, not here anyway. I can write you a cashier's check."

"Cash- no, ma'am. I want the cold hard. That's what that sign says! Cash for gold. And that's what I expect. I'm gonna get it in cold hard."

"Well, I have to send you to the warehouse. I have the money there. Is that alright?" she said.

"Where's this warehouse?"

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