"Can I tell you something?" Conrad asked.
I only nodded.
"You're the strongest person I know."
To this day, I still think he lied to me. I should be the least strongest person he knows. How did he consider me strong when I could list dozens of peop...
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ONE OF THE EARLIEST memories I have of the beach house was when I was six. I remember Belly being four and having a hard time falling asleep. Since we shared a room, I was wide awake with her. I told Laurel that I could accompany them on their walk, that I would protect her and Belly from all the ocean monsters that came out at night. She laughed at that because that's what Alva used to tell me to stop me from sneaking off to the ocean at night.
After she was done laughing, she told me that she'd loved for me to come, but I had to ask Alva first.
I never asked her if I could go with them that night. I knew she would've said no, so instead I ran upstairs and went straight for my room. I stood there for exactly four minutes and a half before I ran back downstairs.
I was stopped halfway down by Conrad. He asked me, "Where are you going?"
I remember he was wearing dinosaur pajamas. He had an obsession for dinosaurs that summer. Everything he owned had to be dinosaur related. I teased him for it, then he'd tell me he hated me. I told him I didn't care.
Alva caught us arguing one time. She made us apologize and then hug each other. I told her, porque siempre nos haces abrazar?
Conrad interrupted and whined, "I hate when you guys speak Spanish, I can never understand you."
"Then learn." I told him, my arms crossed.
"Teach me." He said, his eyes narrow.
I told him, no.
I didn't answer him right away when he asked where I was going. I didn't have a reason why, maybe it was because I didn't want him to come with us. All I knew at that moment was that I wanted to lie to him, tell him that I was getting water from downstairs. But Laurel interrupted.
"Are you ready for our little adventure to the ocean, Sonny?" Laurel didn't see Conrad at first because he was barely at the top of the steps.
I remember being so scared that Alva would overhear us that I kept looking in the direction of her bedroom. Because if she had overheard us, she would've made sure both Conrad and I went to bed straight away, then she would've yelled at me for not asking her about it.
"Yeah, let's go." I told her.
"Can I come too, Laurel?" Conrad begged. "Josh, Jeremiah, and Steven won't shut up and let me sleep."
"Of course you can come, Connie." Laurel had told him. I remember asking myself, why didn't she ask him to tell Susannah? Not that it mattered, Susannah would've said yes. I was so mad at Laurel for letting him come with us. It was just supposed to be Belly, Laurel, and me, but Conrad had to be annoying and ask to come with us.
Laurel told Conrad to get the flashlight from underneath the sink. "Ocean monsters hate the light," She claimed.
Conrad and I believed every single word Laurel said, we were kids, yes, but she could literally tell us something so stupid like, fire gives little children cool superpowers, and we both would take her word for it and walk into any fire.
