❝𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐃❞ - 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐑𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑.

𝟎𝟑: 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

I went out by the side of the pool where Conrad was smoking and Belly was deep into the water. I rested my head on Connie's shoulder while he took another drag.

"You really should quit that, y'know." He turned his head over to look at me, eyes following along my pink, floral dress, and up to my freshly-done makeup, matching my gaze. "I'm serious."

"Aren't you the one who used to go behind the bleachers back in..."

"Shh," I pressed one finger against his lips. "We don't need to talk about that."

"What'll you give me if I do?"

I inhaled as a sarcastic response concocted in my head. "Well, in that case, I think I'd have to find you a gold medal." He grinned. "You should quit, though. Not for me, not for your mom. For yourself."

"What if I want to quit for you?" He had such a determined smirk on his face, I was about to respond when commotion exited the patio door.

"First bonfire of the summer!" Jeremiah shouted as he stumbled and laughed along with Steven.

"Yo! You guys ready to go?" Steven asked us, pointing to me. "You're our DD."

"And who signed me up for that?"

"Jeremiah." Steven sighed and pointed to the blonde boy, as he gave me a poor wave.

"We're totally taking my car." Jere then laughed back at Steven.

"Oh, so we're changing the subject now?" I took my legs out of the water. "You are so not off the hook, Jere!" I yelled back, pointing to him as I put on my heeled sandals sitting next to the pool.

"Can I come too?" Belly asked, looking between Conrad and I, then the boys over at the door.

"Uh, no. The moms are getting everything ready for your movie night." Steven bluntly responded back, shrugging his shoulders.

"Let's go, slowpoke." Jeremiah teased at Conrad, who then dragged himself out of the water.

I looked at Belly as the boys waited on me. "You should find a way to come." I whispered back, and as the boys neared towards the gate, I looked back to her, speaking louder. "I'm gonna need a wingwoman, Bells!" She smiled and laughed at me as she used the ladder to get out of the pool. "Have fun." I warmly smiled.

I caught up with the boys, who were still walking around the house. I put my hand on Conrad's shoulder, pulling him back from the group for a moment. "Hey, what's going on? I need you to talk to me."

"Can we...can we just not? I mean, not now."

"Of course." The boys we're already fighting about who would sit where. I gave him a half hug as we walked together, breaking apart as we went around different sides of Jere's jeep.

Entering the bonfire, the sea salt air caught my nose, the liquid in my solo cup falling onto my tongue, and the crowd consuming the scenery around me. Nicole walked up to me first, her arms open wide. I was swallowed by the tightness of her hug. "It's so good to see you." She breathed, breaking the hug.

"You too, Nic. I know you want to catch up with Conrad, so why don't we have lunch sometime this week to catch up?"

"Sounds great. I'll see you then?" I nodded my head as she smiled and laid her hand on my shoulder before walking to Conrad.

As the night furthered and continued on, blurred vision and drunken, lively bodies only increased in the amount. I stood next to my friend Dominic, who had a buzzcut died platinum blonde, because we all know he wasn't born with it. He was the exact guy my parents didn't want me hanging out with, but I brushed it off whenever they made a rude comment about him. Because he was a true friend, not one of the assigned roles the debutante and summer girls do their best to fill. He had a sleeve of tattoo's, despite only being seventeen, and too many stick and pokes to count.