( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔. )
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WITH HER FINGERS RUNNING through her damp hair, Jaylene blankly stared at the dark night sky from her balcony. She could hear the police sirens as they sounded throughout the entire land of outer banks, searching for John Booker Routledge as the terrified boy sprinted all over the town, hoping to escape the cops as they chased after him, desperately hoping to captivate the so-called fugitive that was on the run.

It had been an entire day since Jaylene last saw him. She hadn't left her room since her father sent her up there the previous day. She hadn't spoken to anyone. And she refused to eat any food because she felt as if she'd throw it up.

She felt absolutely sick to her stomach knowing that the innocent boy had been falsely accused of committing a crime that he certainly didn't commit. And she hated the fact that there was now a $25,000 reward out there for whoever captures the brunette haired boy and turns him in so that he can be incarcerated.

The only reason she knew that was because Nathaniel had updated her despite the fact that she wouldn't even look her brother in the eye. Not because she was mad at him, but because she still couldn't process everything that had managed to occur within the last forty-eight hours.

"Jay!" The blue-eyed boy harshly shook his sisters shoulder, snapping her out of the trance she'd been placed under. "Just go. I'll cover for you."

"What?" She finally spoke after twenty four hours, whipping her head in the direction of her brother who was stood beside her, arms crossed over his chest with a worried look planted on his face.

"Go, you idiot." He sighed, knowing that they'd both get into huge trouble if their father found out about this. "I don't know what the hell is going on between you and John B, but it's pretty fucking clear that you know something about what actually happened to sheriff Peterkin on that runway, so go."

"I could hug you right now." Jaylene's mood immediately shifted as she rose from her seat, heading into her bedroom to place a pair of shoes onto her feet.

"Well, please don't." His face twisted in disgust as he trailed behind her. "But there's a catch."

"Of course there is." She muttered, keeping her attention focused on her feet as she tied the shoe laces.

"I wanna look for her. I want to find our mom."

Jaylene quickly stopped what she was doing, an unreadable expression plastered on her face as she looked up at her younger brother. "You're kidding."

"No. I'm serious, Jaylene." Nathaniel spoke in a serious tone, taking a seat on Jaylene's bed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have the chance to actually get to know her. We can't just throw it away."

"Fine, whatever." Jaylene shrugged her shoulders, standing back up and heading towards her dresser to collect her phone and spare cash. "I'll be back. I promise." She gave him one last thankful look before preparing herself for the long way down from her balcony to the backyard.

       Squeezing her eyes shut, Jaylene took a large leap, landing on her feet as a wave of shock engulfed her entire body. It was painful to say the least, but after a couple seconds, the unsettling vibration wore off and she looked back up towards her room, giving her brother one last smile before running off towards the small road nearby that lead to the neighborhood.

However, she only ran for about a minute until she heard her name being called by a very familiar voice.

"Jaylene!" Kiara's voice caused a wave of panic to surface through her body as the Rosewood girl shifted her attention towards the curly-haired girl who was holding a piece of paper in her grasp. "Is he with you?"

"What? I thought he was with you!" Jaylene's eyes widened in disbelief once she realized that John B was all alone right now. "Last I saw him was yesterday."

"Shit." Kiara loudly cursed, showing Jaylene the paper that had the word wanted printed in a large font with John B's picture placed in the middle followed by a description of all of his features. "Every single person on this island is looking for him right now. He's being framed."

"When was the last time you saw him?" Jaylene questioned, nervously tapping her fingers against her lips.

"This morning. We were crowded by a bunch of people who wanted to turn him in for the cash. So he made a run for it and we haven't seen him since." She explained, equally as nervous with this whole situation they'd been dragged into. "He needs to get the hell off of this island ASAP."

Jaylene struggled to think straight, but she managed, nodding her head as she began to speak. "Alright, uh, I'll look for him, okay?" She tried to focus as the police sirens grew louder and louder. "And you have to go help Sarah. Get her the hell out of that house, Kiara. She's not safe there."

Kiara nodded her head, remaining in place as Jaylene continued her journey towards the crowds of people who were searching for the innocent boy. "Find him before they do!"

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

MEANWHILE, TRAPPED INSIDE of the laundry room located inside of Kelce's home, John B rummaged through everything, hoping to find something that would help him open the door so that he could make a run for it before any of the boys on the other side of the door could turn him in.

But he was beginning to run out of options which caused him to let out a frustrated sigh as he stared at the locked door, parting his lips to speak. "Look, Kelce, just-just—just let me out, man." He stuttered on his words, tapping his fingers against the washing machine as he leaned against it.

"It's not Kelce. Why don't you take another guess." A familiar voice spoke from the opposite side of the door, causing John B to squeeze his eyes shut as he pinched his skin, hoping that this was some sort of nightmare he'd wake up from any second now, but it wasn't.

"Oh, shit." He loudly swore, knowing that this wasn't gonna go well.

"Yeah, bet you weren't expecting that, huh?" Jason let out a quiet chuckle, already picturing the terrified look that must've formed on John B's face the second he heard his voice.

"Look, Jason—"

"Don't. Don't even try to talk your way out of there. You're done for, John B." The Smith boy interrupted him, dryly laughing as he spoke.

"Listen to me. I didn't shoot the sheriff, alright? It was Rafe. Sarah and Jaylene were there too. They saw the whole thing." John B tried to explain, hoping that he could pursue the boy into letting him out of the laundry room.

"Oh, it was Rafe? Yeah, yeah, of course I believe you." Jason mockingly spoke, clearly enjoying this.

"I get it, alright? You're pissed because of Jaylene—"

"We were so fucking close to fixing things and then you ruined everything. She doesn't belong with some low life thug who will drag her down the gutter just because that's where his life is heading." He angrily spoke, knowing that the first part wasn't anywhere close to being true in the slightest. "You're helping her throw her life down the drain by being with her."

"I'm sorry." John B apologized, not realizing how sincere he actually sounded.

"It's a little late to be sorry now." Jason scoffed, tapping his fingers against the wooden door before speaking again. "What do you want from her, man? Sex, money? I mean, did you fuck her already?"

John B shook his head in disgust at the term he'd decided to use. "Screw you."

"Just answer the fucking question. It's not like you're going anywhere." Jason looked around, slowly beginning to grow annoyed.

The Routledge boy let out a loud sigh, realizing that Jason wouldn't stop until he was given some sort of answer. "No to both. We haven't gotten there yet."

"Do you love her?" Jason suddenly asked, knowing that the answer would sting, but he needed to know. He needed to know if he'd really lost Jaylene or not.

"We just started dating. It's still too soon to tell." John B tried to avoid the question even though he knew the answer.

"This entire island knows about Jaylene Rosewoods existence. Before, you were just this small fragment in her life, but you've always seen her. I'm not asking if she loves you. I'm asking if you love her." The brown-eyed boy took a seat on the ground, head placed on the door as he braced himself for the answer that awaited him.

John B sat on the ground as well, the widest smile formed on his lips as he sighed. "I'm so fucking whipped for her, dude."

Jason harshly bit the inside of his cheek, a pained expression placed on his face. "Well, she's not gonna love you once you're behind bars."

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

HER FEET ACHED as she walked through the streets of Figure Eight, but Jaylene continued pushing herself forward, not daring to give up on the search for John B. Even though she was growing sick of the red and blue lights, plus the loud sirens that continuously sounded, she wasn't gonna give up. She needed to find him. And he needed her to find him.

"Hey! Hey!" She approached some unfamiliar girl who was searching in every direction for the fugitive. "Have they found him yet?"

The girl quickly shook her head, looking in Jaylene's direction. "He was in that house somewhere, but he managed to escape. Apparently he's headed to Shem Creek. We should go there and look." She briefly explained, not giving Jaylene the time to respond because she disappeared in a matter of seconds, following the crowd.

That brief conversation caused chills to run down Jaylene's body once she realized that this was really happening. They were going through great measures to find John B.

"Hey, you're going the wrong way." A hand tightly grasped her wrist, causing her to gasp at the sudden touch.

However, that shock quickly left her body and was filled with rage once she saw Rafe stood in front of her with her wrist in his grasp. "Let me go, you sick fuck!" She shouted, trying to get out of his grip, but he had a tight hold on her. "You're gonna go to jail, you know that? You're gonna rot in a fucking cell!"

"We need to get you home. Come on." He yanked her towards him, but she resisted, taking that opportunity to knee him directly in the groin which caused the boy to groan in pain, allowing her to escape from his grasp and to run in the opposite direction.

She was terrified. Terrified that that was the same boy that she'd just been having a decent time with the previous day. And oh how badly she wished that he'd shown his true colors sooner.

As she ran, she could feel the looks that some people flashed her, but she ignored them, taking a turn into a much darker area that caused goosebumps to form on her skin.

Close by was the abandoned church that she used to spend most of her time at. It was where she and her old friends would spend their day smoking weed or doing some type of drugs. So it was definitely the last place she wanted to be, but her gut feeling pushed her to continue heading towards it.

It was rather creepy. The windows were boarded up with some old wood that was slowly beginning to crumble to pieces due to all the occasional storms that would pass through the island, and the inside of it was a complete and utter mess. It was overall surprising that the place was still somehow standing.

"Please be here." She quietly muttered under her breath as she walked on the squeaky floor boards, cringing at the sound as she made her way towards the small ladder that led to the attic where the large bell was located.

She felt as if the fragile thing would fall to pieces as she placed her weight on it, but she managed to make it to the top, pushing the board upwards so that she could make it into the small space.

The darkness that lured the place made it hard to see so she used the flashlight on her phone to illuminate the area, a gasp leaving her lips in the process when she spotted him stood a couple feet away from her with a terrified look on his face, thinking that it was someone else.

"Oh, my god! You're okay!" She pulled herself up, allowing the board to fall back into place as she wrapped her arms around the trembling boy, allowing him to engulf her smaller body into a tight hug. "I shouldn't have left. I'm sorry. I was a mess and I couldn't handle being there any longer."

"It's okay." He assured her, loosening his grip to get a better look at her face before pressing his lips against hers.

She kissed him back, a sense of relief washing over her because she'd found him before anyone else could. "Are you okay?" She immediately asked after pulling away, her forehead rested against his as she let out a shaky breath.

Struggling to catch his breath, he shook his head, completely pulling away for her so that he could sit on the ground. "I don't wanna go to jail. I-I can't go to jail."

"Hey, you are not going to jail, okay? You didn't kill her." Jaylene sat down beside him, giving his sweaty hand a light squeeze to try and comfort him. "And there's no proof that you did. Sarah and I witnessed the whole thing. We are not letting you get framed for something you didn't do."

"This is so fucked up." He breathed out, pressing his head against the wall as she rested her head on top of his shoulder.

"You're gonna be okay." She assured him, shutting her eyes as the silence slowly began to grow thick. "We're gonna be okay."

authors note. this chapter is a bit over the place and I apologize, but Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it! Remember to stay safe, social distance, and wear your mask! I hope you all have an amazing day today with your families or loved ones! <33