𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫.

031.

belly laid on her bed, lazily scrolling through her instagram feed, her mind drifting off into a state of relaxation.

just as she was about to get lost in the endless stream of pictures, a knock on her door interrupted her peaceful moment.

"come in!" she called out.

conrad opened the door but remained standing in the doorway, a sense of urgency in his eyes. "hey, have you seen cindy?"

belly shook her head, looking up from her phone. "no, she should be in her room."

"i checked, but she isn't there," conrad replied. "i asked steven, but he didn't know where she is either."

"maybe she's downstairs," belly suggested, standing up from her bed, placing her phone down on it and joining conrad in the hallway.

conrad nodded, grateful that belly didn't question why he was looking for cindy. "i'll ask jeremiah," he said, and the two of them headed towards jeremiah's room.

conrad knocked on the door, but there was no response. "jeremiah, you in there?" he called out, growing impatient.

once again, there was silence. conrad hesitated for a moment before deciding to open the door, revealing an empty room.

"where are they?" belly's eyebrows furrowed, mirroring conrad's confusion.

"let's check downstairs," conrad suggested, his voice filled with a mix of worry and frustration.

the two of them made their way down the stairs, their eyes scanning the area, only to find it empty and devoid of any sign of cindy or jeremiah.

"it's midnight. where the fuck is cindy?" conrad's frustration spilled out, his hand reaching up to run through his hair. "and jeremiah."

belly's gaze fell upon the glass doors leading to the backyard, and her eyes widened at the sight as she quickly came up with an excuse. "actually, now i remember. cindy said she would go get snacks, and jeremiah probably went with her."

"at midnight?" conrad raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.

"yup, there's nothing to worry about," belly shrugged nonchalantly, desperately trying to divert his attention. "just go upstairs, you'll see her tomorrow."

she was doing her best to steer conrad away from the window, where she had spotted cindy and jeremiah in the pool. she needed to get conrad back to his room before he noticed anything.

"fine, yeah. i'll just talk to her tomorrow," conrad conceded, raising his hands in defeat as he turned to make his way back up the stairs.

phew, that was close.

belly let out a relieved breath, grateful that her diversion had worked. she watched conrad walk up the stairs, unaware of the scene that had unfolded outside. she had avoided an uncomfortable situation.

---------

cindy and jeremiah pulled away once again, both of them catching their breath as they went to sit at the ledge of the pool.

"hey do you remember your first date?" jeremiah spoke, turning his head to the girl.

"oh yeah, i went to the movies with josh." cindy recalled the memory, she was thirteen.

"yeah, yeah" jeremiah nodded. "you know i spent the whole day whining and complaining to your mom that she let you go."

"what?" cindy laughed.

"ask my mom," jeremiah stated. "steven made fun of me the whole day."

"why did no one tell me?" cindy questioned. "belly would've told me the second i stepped thru the door."

"i gave everyone a dollar not to tell you." jeremiah revealed. "i lost six dollars that day."

cindy burst into laughter, her voice echoing through the quiet night. she couldn't believe that jeremiah had gone to such lengths to keep his whining a secret.

"six dollars? you really didn't want me to know that badly?" cindy teased, nudging jeremiah playfully.

jeremiah grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "hey, it was worth every penny. i didn't want you to think i was some lovesick puppy running after you."

cindy playfully rolled her eyes. "oh, please. like i would've thought that."

"maybe not, but i wanted to play it cool," jeremiah chuckled.

"remember the treasure map we made?" cindy's eyes sparkled.

jeremiah chuckled, the memory vividly playing in his mind. "yes! the treasure map. we were convinced that there was treasure hidden on the beach."

cindy nodded eagerly. "exactly! so, we followed our map, scrambling over rocks and through thickets, searching for the 'x' that marked the spot."

"we were so determined," jeremiah added. "we even made up pirate names for ourselves. you were captain cindy, and i was first mate j."

cindy grinned, her eyes shining with mischief. "and when we finally reached the spot, do you remember what we found?"

jeremiah shook his head, a playful teasing expression on his face. "i have a feeling it wasn't a chest full of gold."

cindy giggled. "no, it wasn't. it was a small, seashell buried in the sand. we were so disappointed but then we burst into laughter."

cindy leaned her head against jeremiah's shoulder as jeremiah wrapped his arm around cindy, pulling her closer. they sat in silence for a while.

eventually, cindy spoke softly, breaking the silence. "thank you for being here, jeremiah."

jeremiah turned his head to look at her, a tender smile on his lips. "always, cindy. i'll always be here for you."