CONRAD WALKED INTO the fishers kitchen with an unusual look on his face. carolina had never seen him look like that before. he had just came back from the boat with cleveland. he'd usually come back with a smile and skip in his step. she was waiting for him to come back because they had volleyball this afternoon.
"conrad, are you okay?"
"yeah—i uh—something just happened at the boat. it was nothing. i think i was just stressed out a bit." he answered. carolina knew he wasn't telling her something "conrad, what happened on the boat?" carolina asked.
"uh—i—it was a panic attack."
"what were you stressed about? you can tell me conrad, it won't leave this room." she said and he slowly nodded "i know something that everyone else doesn't and it's killing me inside. it just was stressing me out a lot." he said.
"you can tell me, if you want."
"i can't—but i think it's better now. cleveland really helped me through it. i didn't know what was going on. it was hard to breathe. he explained it to me a lot. i know what to do next time. i'm good to play today." he said leaning against the counter. she pulled him into a hug "i'm glad you're feeling better because now we can kick steven's butt in volleyball."
"yes. we are going to win and kick steven's ass all at the same time. oh—my mom gave me our shirts for the tournament." he said taking out a box and handing to her. the neon shirt said "team care" on it in bold letters. "thank you! i gotta get ready, i'll see you in twenty?" she asked.
"yeah i'll be waiting." he said leaning down and connecting their lips. they pulled away when belly and taylor walked into the kitchen.
belly tried hiding the jealousy on her face. she was also taken back. since when did conrad and carolina kiss? and since when was she playing? belly thought. she didn't think carolina would be playing. carolina was now her main competitor because belly knew she was good and that she played in high school. if she remembered correctly, carolina was the captain of her varsity team. they apparently won states and made third in nationals.
"oh—uh, hi taylor. nice seeing you again! did you just get in." carolina said.
"yeah, i did." taylor dryly said.
"uh—okay. i'm gonna go now. see you guys at the game." she said as she exited the kitchen as quickly as possible. she didn't know what she did to make taylor hate her so much. she was rude to her the first time she talked to her.
belly and taylor started to head up to belly's room. "when the hell did that happen?" taylor said looking back at conrad in the kitchen. belly shrugged "i have absolutely no idea. carolina is mad at me though." she said.
taylor chuckled "that's a first."
"i might have said somethings to her on fourth of july and i still haven't apologized." belly admitted.
"what did you say?" taylor asked.
"a little too much." belly said closing the door to her room. she plopped on her bed, laying back. "how do i even apologize?" belly asked.
"i dunno—maybe an 'i'm sorry'? you must have said something real bad to make her mad." taylor said setting her bags on the ground. "i have to find the right time to do it and i have to wait for them to not be sucking faces when i walk into the room." belly responded.
"yeah, that would be—ideal." taylor nodded.
"what if she doesn't accept my apology?"
"then at least you tried, right?" taylor asked and belly nodded "so what did you tell her?"
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conrad and carolina waited for the susannah to start the games. she is the chair of the clubs community service board, so she was in charge of most of this. she was out all day getting everything in order.
conrad had brought gatorade for them to drink and carolina brought snacks to eat while in between games. carolina wasn't too nervous because she knew conrad was good at volleyball.
last year they went to a beach party and there was a volleyball net up so they played with steven and daniel. it was steven and daniel versus conrad and carolina. the boys would like to argue that their team won, but in reality, conrad and carolina probably won by a landslide. it's been an ongoing debate in their group chat for a year and they bring it up every other month.
"good afternoon! i am susannah fisher, chair of the club's community service board, and i am delighted to welcome you to play it forward!" susannah said as everyone cheered "you know, as my mother used to say..."
"if you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough." conrad and carolina said to each other at the same time as susannah. she always used to tell them that as kids. it's been drilled in their memory.
"and we are very fortunate indeed. which is why in the spirit of fun and friendly competition it is time to open our hearts and our wallets and give back to those who may not be as fortunate. we have teams raising money for homelessness, women's shelters, environmental causes and many more."
"what are we raising money for?" conrad asked carolina.
"cousin's beach women's shelter. i volunteered there last summer." carolina responded.
"and play it forward will match pledges for the winner of the tournament!" susannah announced "pledge tables are still open, so please donate generously, and with that, i say let the games begin."
"we are getting that trophy." carolina said and conrad nodded "yeah. oh—remember last year at that party? daniel and steven were completely sober and our drunk asses beat them. they forgot i remember everything when i'm drunk." conrad laughed.
"we just have to look out for them," carolina said pointing to two girls.
