she, conrad fisher

10

chapter 10
[play: look after you by the fray]
when im losing my control, the city spins around
you're the only one who knows, you slow it down

-

maisie

belly and i were out walking on the beach. she had decided to join me for my evening walks. i think she just wanted to get away from all the boys in the house. it also gave us a chance to gossip without jeremiah or steven breathing down our necks. we walked along the warm sand, feet sinking with every step that wasn't quick. the waves were big and crashing far out to shore, so we were sure to stay closer to the houses. the sun had already set, but the sky was a deep blue and bright still.

belly had been telling me about cam and how much she liked him. she was giddy at just the though of him, it was sweet. in the back of my head though, i was thinking about all the looks i had seen jeremiah giving her this summer. i had been given a brief run down of belly's dynamic with the fisher brothers, and although they treated her like a little sister, that had changed this year for jeremiah.

"cam took me to a drive in movie." belly gushed, unable to hide her grin. "but that was shortly crashed by the boys."

"you're joking? they crashed it?" i was sounding like i was annoyed for her.

"yeah. i felt bad for cam. he didn't really know what to do except act like it didn't bother him." she shook her head.

"i told steven to give cam a chance. what is wrong with him?" i explained, thinking back to the conversation him and i had the night at the boardwalk.

"well it seemed like it was jere's idea and the other two were following." she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.

our pace had slowed down with how heated the conversation was getting.

"well did the rest of the night go well after they left?" i felt bad that her date was ruined, so i decided to keep my theory about jeremiah from her for now.

"yeah. he um kissed me after he dropped me home." i watched as belly's cheeks flushed pink.

"belly! how could you wait this long to tell me!" i exclaimed.

"i wanted to see your reaction in person." she giggled, trying to give me a hug.

"mhm. you are acting like i don't live next door to you." i shook my head in disappointment, messing with her.

"okay okay. if anything else happens, i'll call or come over asap." she held out her pinky and i linked mine with hers.

the two of us headed back up the dunes that led to our backyards. i had debated going over to the fisher's house to hang with belly and maybe the others for a bit, but ultimately decided against it in my head. i knew i'd be up late when what i needed to be doing was catching up on my sleep. every time i would be over late, i swear i was going to bed at 2 am at the earliest.

i walked up with belly to her backyard, which was empty. i wondered what the boys were up to. by the boys i meant conrad but i wasn't going to tell her that. belly had tried to convince me once more to come in and stay, but i declined, leaving her to hug me goodbye and go back inside.

i crossed over to my yard, flopping down in a lawn chair. my legs were practically aching with the 2 hour walk we had been on. i never understood why we didn't just sit down and talk on the beach instead. beside me on the floor was some empty chips bag which had probably been left from two nights ago when we all hung out in my yard.

i strained to reach down and pick it up, but i did and made my way over to the garbage bin that was beside the fenced gate near the front of the house. as i opened up the big bin, i held my breath while tossing the trash in. the loud thud of the bin  seemed to have startled someone, and i looked over to see conrad pacing around his front yard.