FEELS LIKE • CONRAD FISHER

007, save me carolina

LAUGHTER FILLED THE fisher's dining room as everyone ate lobster for belly's birthday. carolina sat in between daniel and conrad. susannah gave carolina a flower crown since it was midsommar themed. she wore a pink silk dress with it she didn't have anything very misommar themed packed with her.

conrad leaned over to her as she was about to eat the lobster. "hey, you think ariel would be okay with you eating her little friend?" conrad asked and pulled the lobster away from her mouth. the little mermaid was her favorite disney princess movie when she was young. she knew the whole soundtrack and knew most of the lines.
for movie nights, she'd always suggested it.

"don't do that to me." she said kicking him slightly under the table.

"conrad. let the girl eat in peace." susannah said and carolina thanked her. everyone continued to talk at the table about the food and other things.

"so, cam." jeremiah said looking across the table "you mind if i call you cam cameron?" he asked.

"mm-hmm. yeah, man. feel free. that's funny." cameron chuckled sitting behind to belly. susannah turned to the boy "i'm glad you're here, cameron. i know your mom denise from the club. i have heard a lot about you." susannah smiled.

"thank you so much for having me, susannah. my mom says hi." he replied.

"cam, have you ever had miyeok-guk before? it's a korean birthday tradition." laurel said handing him a bowl of miyeok-guk. "no. looks so good. thank you." he said taking the bowl and setting it down next to his plate.

"belly told me you're vegetarian, so i didn't put any meat in it." laurel added and he thanked her again.

conrad played with the lobster on his plate with boredom. he tapped carolina's shoulder and pointed to his plate. she looked over to his plate and he grabbed the lobsters arm and made it wave to her. she chuckled and made hers wave back. "save me, carolina." he said in a funny voice.

"why don't you eat meat, cam cameron?" jeremiah asked.

"uh—the meat industry is like the number one contributor to global warming." cameron said and jeremiah nodded "and i just like animals."

"just don't come for my leather jacket." taylor said and steven chuckled "i'm pretty sure you mean pleather." he said and taylor flipped him off from across the table making the teens laugh.

"you know, uh belly actually eats meat. so, you let her kiss you with those lips?" jeremiah asked making steven, jeremiah, and daniel laugh. "no, i don't judge people for eating meat. it's just like a personal choice. i don't care." cameron explained.

"so you don't mind if—uh—her lips touch a dead animal, and then those dead animal lips touch your lips, right?—ow!" jeremiah said as belly kicked him. cameron chuckled "i don't mind at all. um in fact..." he said leaning over and kissing belly. steven and jeremiah pretended to throw up.

"all right, all right. belly's allowed to kiss, but that is it." laurel said pointing to cam and laughing. "mom, please. no. you're so not funny. no more wine for you, okay?" belly said in embarrassment.

"i'm sorry i just don't understand why anybody would want to kiss somebody who once fully shat in the bath tub." steven said and belly was quick to defend herself "i was like two years old." she said.

"two? more like six!" steven said and jeremiah agreed with him. 

"shut up, steven." belly shouted in frustration.

"aw, i remember that. god, that feels like a lifetime ago." susannah said.

"i remember when i visited last summer, and you and you" taylor said pointing to jeremiah and conrad "dared him to pee in the fireplace, and you stunk up the entire house for days. do you remember that?" taylor said making the whole table laugh.

"i blamed the neighbors cat." susannah gasped.

"we were drunk. we were drunk." steven said and belly scoffed "on like half a white claw." she said back making everyone laugh again.

"she got you there."

"you know—um—i'm thinking maybe we should go to nicole's party." belly said making taylor jump in her seat with excitement.

"are you going?" conrad asked and carolina nodded.

"yeah, jeremiah said that i could drive his car. daniel has been trying to convince him that i'm this terrible driver when he's the one who crashed into the fire hydrant last year." carolina said making daniel turn his head.

"shut up, carolina."

"i'm just stating the facts. he also almost drove into the house cause he thought the car was in reverse when it wasn't. mom didn't let him drive for like three weeks." she said and daniel rolled his eyes "you're a terrible driver and i will keep saying it until the day i die." he said.

"name one time i've almost crashed...oh yeah i haven't." she said.

"i don't know who to believe." conrad said looking between the two siblings.

"jere, who's worse at driving? care? or me?" daniel asked. jeremiah looked at both siblings. it took him a couple of seconds to think. "hmm...definitely daniel. your mom said she banned you from driving. i don't know how you and care got here if you drove the whole way." jeremiah said making conrad, carolina, and steven laugh.

"plus i saw you parking the other day, it took you like thirty times to get straight. it took like half an hour." jeremiah said and daniel looked down. "it was twenty." he said in embarrassment.

"anyways, i'm driving!" carolina exclaimed.

↷ ·˚ ༘ 💌 AUTHORS NOTE
save me carolina 😭😭😭
also i'm mad they didn't include the
part where belly told steven he was driving like a
granny in the beginning of the book