FEELS LIKE • CONRAD FISHER

001, magical spell

BELLY CONKLIN HAD always been jealous of carolina harper. the first summer carolina got there, all the boys did was hang out with her. when the conklins arrived that summer, belly saw her playing with conrad at the pool. she was like the shiny new toy in the toy box and to this day, she still is. everyone wanted to be around her.

she walked into the backyard and saw conrad, jeremiah, and daniel belly flop her into the pool like they did to her. she was furious because that was their thing. carolina had no idea it was a tradition they did, it was her first year there and jeremiah and conrad both suggested to do it.

when carolina was 14, susannah, laurel, and katie gave conrad, daniel, jeremiah, steven, and carolina a curfew. if they were going out, they had to be back at 10 pm. the moms told the boys to look after carolina and to make sure she was safe. belly asked her mom to let her go out with them, but she said no, she was too young.

she was mad because carolina always went to parties with the boys the summers before their junior and senior year. belly never went anywhere, so she had no curfew that was set for her.

this summer was the last summer before conrad and carolina went to college. the moms were said their "babies" were leaving the nest. carolina wanted to make the most of this summer. she wanted it to be a summer to remember forever.

daniel and carolina drove in one car and her mom drove in the other. they wanted to get their earlier than their mom. she had to finish some work up and then was heading to the house.

carolina opened the window letting the salty air of cousins beach enter the car. she took in a deep breathe in of joy and relaxation. their car pulled up into the driveway and carolina immediately jumped out of the car and ran to
the house. "yeah, thanks. just leave your bags for me to carry." daniel said as carolina unlocked the door to the house.

jeremiah spotted daniel trying to carry in a bunch of bags by himself. "dani boy!" jeremiah shouted. daniel dropped all the bags and hugged him. "uh do you need some help? i'm guessing carolina is in the house." jeremiah asked and daniel nodded. they brought the things in the house and jeremiah spotted carolina.

"carebear!" jeremiah shouted spotting the girl opening a window in the kitchen. "hi jere!" she said running to give him a hug.

"come to our place! everyone is waiting for you two!" he said. she nodded and followed him out of the house and to his drive way "belly and steven are here, too. my mom is...right there."

"susannah!" carolina smiled pulling her into a hug. susannah pulled away and looked at the girl "awh care! you get prettier and prettier every year! and so much taller! look at you! you're gonna be an adult soon." she said.

"thank you susannah, but don't remind me. i'm not ready for the college life just yet." she smiled and susannah laughed. carolina was definitely ready for college in her eyes. she knew she was doubting herself.

she then turned her head when she heard steven running out with his slippers slapping the pavement. "care bear!" steven exclaimed, making carolina laugh. the two hugged and he quickly whispered to her, "bonfire tonight, i'll text you." she nodded.

she moved to hug belly. "belly! look at you!" she said hugging the girl tightly.

"look at you!" belly smiled. carolina was so nice that belly couldn't hate her if she wanted to. she was like the golden child out of all of them,

the door to the fishers house opened revealing conrad fisher. he came outside because he heard and bunch of excited shouts and wanted to see what was going on. he smiled seeing the harper siblings in the driveway.
"hey what's up dude!" daniel shouted running to greet the boy. they did their little handshake and daniel moved to the side so his sister could greet him.

"hey, conrad." she smiled and opened her arms to him. they hugged each other and when they pulled away she asked him about the bonfire. "so are you gonna go tonight?" she asked and he shrugged "i dunno." he said and she felt that something was different with conrad. he usually said more than two words to her.

"oh, okay just let me know if you're going. i think i'm dd, again." she said looking at steven and her brother as the moms went back into the house with belly. "you're our favorite one though! you tuck me in." daniel exclaimed making the fisher boys chuckle.

"she tucks you in." conrad laughed.

"i'm the only dd." carolina grumbled.

"no, that's not true. i'm it sometimes." jeremiah responded.

"yeah, key word. sometimes." carolina said as jeremiah shook his head. "i just don't wanna miss out on the fun on the first night here!" jeremiah explained.

"by 'fun' do you mean literally everyone flirting you all night?" steven said making the group laugh. "hey, it's not my fault that everyone loves me and all of this." jeremiah said motioning to himself.

"yeah, okay. calm down. we gotta find someone to lower your ego, dude. somebody that's not under your "magical spell" you have." steven said using air quotes with this fingers. "i call it charm." jeremiah smiled flashing his pearly white teeth and winking. him and steven headed to the harper house.

"are you okay, conrad? you seem a little down." carolina asked. conrad couldn't remember the last time someone besides his mom asked him that. that's what conrad loved about her. she cared about everyone, she cared about him. "uh yeah. my girlfriend and i broke up a couple of weeks ago." it wasn't totally true, but it was apart of why he was in such a bad mood.

"oh, i'm sorry i hope you feel better soon." she said pulling him into another hug, but on this one she hugged him a little bit tighter. he knew she really felt bad for him. "thanks, care. i'll see you tonight." he said and she nodded. they both went into their families houses and carolina went to unpack her bags.

↷ ·˚ ༘ 💌 AUTHORS NOTE

im gonna edit the chapters later so if i see mistakes don't mind them !