𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 || 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗿𝗮𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝗬/𝗻 𝗟/𝗻

𝟝.

"Didn't know you smoked..."

The broody brunette's otherwise void eyes were now wide open with fright. "Jeez, you really love sneaking up on people all the time, now, don't you?" He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that it was just me. "It's more of a hobby at this point." I shrug, taking a seat beside him.

I removed my socks, and slowly inserted my legs in the cool, calming water of the swimming pool, letting myself ease up a little after the tiresome day I just had. "Thought you hated putting shit like that in your body." I then turn to Connie.

"Well, I've put myself through worse, so..." He shrugs, acting a little distant, as compared to how he was before, when we were younger. Maybe he's just not used to having me around anymore, even if it was just to fight with.

I'm sure things will be fine by tomorrow, even though I'm not sure why I even care, to be honest. Or what I'm even doing out here with him. I guess having no one around in your time of need kinda does that to you. You know, like when you finally meet someone, they're all you can think about.

"Can I try a puff?" I ask, somewhat tempted as it looked pretty cool. "No way." He scoffs, rolling his eyes, taking another puff for himself instead. "Why not? I just wanna try it once." I plead. "Smoking kills, you know." He raises his brows at me.

"Yet I don't see you stopping." I scoff. "Exactly." He answers softly, his eyes bearing into mine as he exhales the toxic fumes, away from my face. "And you've been drinking too..." I notice the bottle hidden next to him. "Don't worry, I can handle it." He assures.

"Yeah, it always starts like that." I roll my eyes. "Until one day, it gets too much, and it's no longer you who consumes the alcohol, but rather, the alcohol consuming you." I sigh. "Believe me, I've seen it." I mumble to myself. "Yeah, I heard about y/m/n..." He speaks softly.

"How are you holding up about that?" He then asks. "I'm fine, I guess..." I answer, a little surprised at his sudden interest. "I just, I miss her a lot sometimes, that's it." I shrug. "The worst part is that I don't even know if I'll get to see her again any time soon." I rub my temples.

"When's she getting discharged?" He questions. "Whenever they're certain she quit for good." I answer. "Everyone keeps telling me that it's gonna be okay, and that my mom's a strong woman..." I start. "But strong women don't have to rely on that shit to feel good." I add.

"It's not something you do to feel good... You do it to not feel anything at all." He corrects. "y/m/n had every right and reason to do what she did." He defends. "Oh yeah? Abandoning her own daughter to mourn her dead husband?" I scoff. "I lost a father too, you know!" I snap.

"Look, I'm not saying that it's the best option out there, because it's really not." He calms me down a little. "But it's understandable." He shrugs. "And hey, doing what she did took some real guts. Like, you know, turning herself in." He trails off a little.

"She was forced to by your mom, actually." I inform. "She still did it on her own though, didn't she? She always had the option of just... running away, I guess." He mumbles. "But she was brave enough to embrace reality, and mend her flaws." He shrugs.

"And what if she doesn't? What if it doesn't really help her, and it's back to hell at home?" I wonder aloud, staring at the cloudy sky. "Depends on how much you believe in her." He replies. "I didn't get you right there..." I give him a confused look.

"There's nothing you can do about her situation right now. Nothing to control it, nothing to fix it, nothing to make sure things go smoothly." He states. "But... What you can do, is believe in her. Have faith." He continues.

"Do that... that manifesting shit everyone talks about on TikTok all the time, and who knows? Maybe it'll actually come true." He shrugs, lightening up my mood a little. But before I could say anything in return, we were interrupt by Belly diving into the pool.

Ah, right... I had almost forgotten about her love for late-night swims.

"I thought you said smoking pot changes the way your brain processes information." Belly states flatly. "So does your cell phone." Coco shrugs. Belly just rolls her eyes, and swims until she reaches the middle, and then coming up for air.

"You said marijuana messes with white matter." She reminds him. "Do you even know what that is?" I ask, knowing that science was definitely not one of her favorites. "You said that our brains are still developing, and that--" She continues, only to be cut off by him.

"God, do you memorize every single thing that I've ever said?" He asks, mildly annoyed.

"Get over yourself." Belly scoffs, rolling her eyes and continuing her swim, not appreciating his comment. "I mean, Conrad, you're the one who said that-that smoking's dumb, and that real athletes don't put that shit in their bodies." She scoffs, reminding him of the point that I spoke to him about earlier.

"I said a lotta stuff, and I'm not an athlete anymore, so..." He brushes it off, inhaling.

"Well, I still think you should quit." She shrugs, swimming closer to us. "Yeah, I'm with her on this one." I sigh, a little concerned. "What will you give me if I do?" He asks me directly, straight up ignoring Belly's existence.

A little shocked, I just stare back awkwardly, fighting off all the weird thoughts I've been having ever since I stepped foot in here today. Gosh, what is wrong with me? "What do you want, a cookie?" I then raise my brow, fighting the urge to speak my unholy, unhinged mind out.

"I think you should quit it for yourself." Belly comments, capturing out attention and swimming away slowly. Conrad, who clearly wasn't expecting that, just looks down to his cigarette, and then to me again, a minute later, expecting a better answer.

"Well, I won't sneak garlic in all your foods after hiding your mints before every date you have." I shrug. "The fact that something this cruel would even come to your mind is very unsettling." He scoffs, extinguishing the remaining cigarette, his lips curling up a little.

"Hey, why are you both even considering this debutante thing?" He then asks me. "I don't know... I mean, it's not like I have anything else going on." I shrug, knowing that all I was looking for is a distraction, so I'll take whatever I can get. "Yeah, but it's not you." Coco sighs.

"Don't let my mom make you her little doll just because she never had a daughter." He adds. "I don't mind it. I mean, sometimes I wish I was her daughter." I reply. "You're better off with y/m/n, trust me..." He quickly says, making me believe that something wasn't right...

"Well, Belly's going too. I don't see you complaining about that." I scoff. "I'm not complaining... I just think it's pretty weird you'd even think about something like that." He shrugs. "Don't act as if you know me. You don't know shit." I snap. "You're right, I don't." He agrees quickly.

"But I've know you enough to tell that something's not right." He mumbles, gazing into my eyes. "You're the one that has been acting so different lately." I change the topic. He looked like he was gonna say something, but that's when Belly approaches us again.

"I'm not..." He simply answers a few seconds later. "Not what?" Bels questions, catching her breath after swimming for so long. "He's acting weird." I state flatly, not breaking eye contact with him. "Right!" Belly agrees. "What's wrong, Conrad?" She then asks, earning his attention.

"Nothing is wrong." He assures half-heartedly. "I know you." Belly then sighs, not buying what he was saying. "I mean, if something's going on, then just... tell me." She shrugs. Before anyone could say or do anything else, the guys barge outta the house.

"First bonfire of summer!" I hear Jere cheer.

"Dude, we're totally taking my car. I don't want you ever driving." He then tells Steven, and they both start laughing. "C'mon man, we're leaving. You ready?" They then come up to us, talking to Conrad, who was getting ready to leave as well.

"Can we come too?" Belly requests.

"Uh, no." Steven answers rudely. "The mom's are getting everything set up for your movie night." The brunette informs. "Well then, I'll see you two later." Conrad gets up, and walks away from us. "Let's go slowpoke." Jere taunts, and they all start laughing again.

"Have fun with the moms, girls!"