TODAY WAS BELLY'S birthday. carolina and daniel found her a cute tote bag and filled it with a bunch of candy, knick knacks, and a couple pieces of jewelry. she got the bag when she went on a trip to hawaii during spring break and thought belly would like it.
the two harper siblings entered the fisher house with the present in daniel's hand. everyone was gathered in the living room while belly opened her presents. conrad patted the spot next to him for carolina to sit next to her. carolina handed their present to them. "happy birthday, belly. it's from the both of us." she said handing her the gift bag.
"hey, jere make me a smoothie later please." carolina quickly whispered. it took him a second, but then he nodded "yeah, i got you."
belly pulled out the tote bag and smiled.
"awh, when did you go to hawaii?" susannah asked.
"spring break, it was so much fun. we should all go one year," she replied. belly looked in the bag and dug through all the little gifts inside. "thank you." belly said setting the bag down next to her.
"conrad, uh, do you want to give belly your present?" susannah asked.
"sorry, i forgot." he said.
"uh...that's...that's cool. um...i wasn't really expecting anything anyway, so..." belly fakely smiled. carolina saw the gears turning in conrad's head before he go up. "also, i gotta go. i promised cleveland i'd show him some knots today, so..." he said standing up "i'll see you later?" conrad asked and carolina nodded. they were gonna hang out after he was done with the boat.
"happy birthday, belly." he then headed out the door.
"hey, after i make carolina a drink, why don't we take my car and practice driving before we have to pick up taylor from the bus station." jeremiah said and belly nodded "sure." she said. jeremiah took carolina to the kitchen to make his famous smoothie for her.
carolina sat on the stool and rested her head on the cool counter top. jeremiah made a smoothie and put it into a to go cup for carolina. she thanked him and her and daniel headed back to their house.
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"i'm telling you belly, make him jealous so he won't look at that carolina girl anymore." taylor said in a hushed voice as the two were in the pool. taylor had never met carolina. the year she visited, carolina had gotten sick and was too tired to come out of the house. steven and jeremiah were on the other side talking too. they all decided to play chicken.
belly and jeremiah won and when they finished conrad and carolina came to the back. taylor and steven were arguing in the pool while belly and jeremiah celebrated.
carolina had picked up conrad from the pier and she drove them back. they were just gonna go hang by the pool or go to the beach. "hey, guys." carolina said entering with conrad.
"hey, care." belly said.
"are you guys playing chicken?" carolina asked.
"um, yeah. it's was—it was taylor's idea." belly said pointing to the girl in the pool behind her. she has an unpleasant look on her face. "hey, i'm taylor." she said smiling fakely, but carolina couldn't tell.
"oh, hi! i remember i was supposed to meet you that one summer and i was sick. it's really nice to finally meet you. i'm carolina." she smiled. "she's my friend from home." belly added.
"just visiting for the weekend."
"cool. if you need a tour guide you got all of us." she said and taylor nodded "ok."
"you guys wanna play a real game?" belly asked and everyone in the pool agreed.
"i don't know why she's like that." conrad whispered to her as the went inside to get drinks. when they came back out, they set up the volleyball ball next across the water. conrad and carolina both sat by the pool, with their legs in the water. they talked while watching the four play volleyball.
"i don't think you ready." taylor said to steven and he shook his head. she threw the ball up in the air and hit it. the ball hit carolina directly in the cheek. "ouch!" carolina said holding the right side of her face.
"oh my god." taylor laughed, which carolina didn't hear.
"are you okay, care?" steven asked.
"i am sorry." taylor said with some laughter in her voice and she looked at carolina holding her face. "taylor." belly scolded her. conrad pulled her hands away from her face to check on her face.
"it was an accident." taylor said.
"i'm so sorry, are you okay carolina?" belly asked. carolina nodded, even though she was not. "yeah, yeah. i'm fine. i'm sure it was an accident. you guys keep playing." she said getting up and conrad stood up with her.
"i'm so sorry again, care," belly apologized "feel better okay?"
"yeah."
"i'll get you and ice pack, care." he said as he started leading her to the house with his hand on her back.
"come on, belly. conrad can take care of her. let's go inside and look at ourselves in the mirror some more." taylor said making conrad turn around and pause for a second. "yeah, have fun with that." he said before taking carolina into the house.
they went into the kitchen and carolina sat on the kitchen counter. he grabbed an ice pack from the fridge and handed it to her with a paper towel. "does it hurt?" he asked brushing this thumb over her cheek.
"a little." she said putting the ice pack on her cheek.
"taylor was being rude to you, i don't know why." he said grabbing the ice pack from her hands and holding it to her face for her. "connie, i can hold it by myself, you know."
"i know, i just..." he voice trailed off "...care about your well-being." he said making her smile.
"thanks, conrad—uh hey, don't you have to go with cleveland?" carolina asked.
"oh fuck!" he said realizing he was late "uh are you okay here by yourself?" he asked and she nodded "yeah, i'll probably go back to my house. i don't like taylor too much." she replied.
"yeah, you and i both. i'll see you later. feel better." he said before sprinting out of the door. not too long after, carolina headed to her house. she laid there for the afternoon on her bed with an ice pack in her hand.
