she, conrad fisher

4

chapter 4
[play: fall by justin bieber]
i will catch you if you fall.

-

conrad

my alarm blared from my bedside table, pulling me out of my deep sleep. my eyebrows furrowed together as the back of my hands rubbed my eyes awake. sitting up a little, i could see the dark, blue hue of light peaking through the blinds. the sun had not come out yet. my arms stretched back, a few cracking sounds following.

my unlocked phone read 137 unread messages. steven, belly, jere, maisie, and i had created this new group chat now that maisie was hanging with us everyday. i had gone to bed early last night instead of sticking with others who were sat in the backyard for a bit. my back rested on my pillow as i scrolled through the grey messages to catch up on what they had been talking about all night.

maisie had only sent a few messages before midnight, and from that point on it seemed like there was nothing else from her. i skimmed through what everyone else was talking about, before finally deciding to get up. i lugged my feet across the wooden floor, pulling open my blinds. the sun making its way up through the clouds was still hidden behind maisie's house.

the house was still quiet and so i decided to take it upon myself to go into town and grab muffins for everyone. mom loved the blueberry ones so much, it would make her happy. pulling on clean clothes and looking more awake, i grabbed my wallet and keys to go down to the car. the house was quiet and all the lights were still off. not even laur was awake.

i carefully shut the door behind me and made my way outside to the car parked out front on the driveway. the air was wet and cool. it felt nice. i got in the car, turning on the windshield wipers to clear off the morning condensation on the car. once i was situated, i made my way off the driveway and down the empty roads leading back into town.

only a few morning joggers were out and about, but other than that the town still seemed asleep. a couple coffee and breakfast places were starting to open up. my eyes scanned the street looking for the bakery that we would always come to maybe 2-3 times a week. we had barely dropped in so far this summer. mrs. webb knew our order by heart and so anytime she would see us in the shop, she would just start packing.

i wondered if maisie would come in the morning. i wasn't really sure what muffin she would like but i racked my brain trying to think if she had mentioned any flavors of what she liked or what i would usually see her eating. i chewed on my bottom lip, concentrating hard on the interactions we had from the past week and a half i had known her for.

i remembered her gushing over snickerdoodle cookies with belly one night and how they needed to make them. picturing them in the kitchen had made me laugh, especially when steven threw in that belly couldn't bake to save her life. the defensive look on maisie's face was priceless, backing belly when she truly didn't know how much truth steven's words had. then jere had pulled up a picture of the kitchen from 3 years ago when belly decided to make scones. maisie was in awe with the rest of us laughing.

i pulled into a parking spot on the street, right in front of the bakery. the bell chimed as i made my way in and i seemed to be mrs. webb's first customer of the day. she greeted me with a hug, and then grabbed her white box to fill. as she loaded up the box with our usual muffins i told her to add in a cinnamon one. she turned back at me, confused as to who in the family was trying something new, but nonetheless she packed it. i didn't feel like giving an explanation.

after paying and throwing in the change into the glass tip jar, i made my way back outside. i looked up at the sky, seeing the sun beginning to peek from behind some clouds with warm colors. i was pulled out of my thoughts at the sound of car doors shutting. i looked to see maisie and her mom walking onto the sidewalk, standing in front of the store that had the big sold sign.