𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, conrad fisher

.01

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Margo Evans sat on the roof of her home in Cousins MA, joint in hand, as the summer air blew her hair around aimlessly, intertwining with the smoke pouring slowly out of her mouth. She'd been climbing out of her bedroom window to sit in this exact spot for years now. Margo found herself here every night, watching the lights inside the houses on her street go out one by one. In her 18 years living in the same house in the same town, it had become her favorite spot in Cousins.

She'd like the spot outside her window even more if not for its proximity to the Fisher's summer home.

Although Margo found Susannah Fisher to be enormously kind, she had always dreaded the end of the school year, as it meant the Fisher and Conklin kids would arrive shortly and ruin the quiet.

Margo witnessed the Fishers pull in just the other day, Jeremiah whipping into their driveway recklessly as some pop song she didn't recognize blasted out of the speakers before being shut off abruptly. Margo could see Conrad swat at his arm from the passenger seat before stepping out of the Jeep. "You're a fucking idiot, dude. One day you're gonna plow right through the house."

Jeremiah just laughed and shook his head, "You're so dramatic, Conrad."

Margo brought the joint resting between her fingers to her lips and inhaled. That was when Jeremiah noticed the girl next door. She debated acting like she wasn't watching their every move, but decided she didn't care enough to put in the effort.

Jeremiah smiled and gave a shy wave in her direction, causing Conrad to turn and face her. Margo casually saluted them, raising two fingers to her eyebrow as she exhaled, smoke exiting her nose.

Conrad stared at her for a second longer as Jeremiah went to retrieve their bags before heading inside to greet their mother.

This was always the extent of their contact. In fact, this was often the only wave they shared each year, other times simply ignoring each other or quickly averting their eyes, pretending like they hadn't just made eye contact. It seemed everyone was content with their unspoken arrangement; Margo stuck to her people, and they stuck to theirs. Frankly, Margo was convinced Steven was scared of her.

As she readied herself to climb back through the window and go to bed, she thought about what the next day would bring. She'd overheard Susannah mention to Conrad that the Conklins would be arriving the next day as he helped her bring in groceries, insisting that he carry the heavy stuff. Margo made a mental note to close her window tonight before the annual "belly flop" took place.

The families next door weren't the only thing contributing to Margo's dread, however. Tomorrow marked the day she'd start working at the country club for yet another summer. This meant she'd have the pleasure of waiting on hundreds of the rich summer kids she'd attempted to stay away from each year. The only perk of the job was the large tips creepy old men gave her when she pretended to laugh at their shitty jokes (that often made no sense to her).

Margo carefully stood from her spot on the roof and stepped inside her room gracefully. As she went to shut her window, she saw the light from the room in the house next to her turn on, and she paused as she saw Conrad step farther into his bedroom. She'd noticed just in the past couple of days that he seemed much glummer this summer. She attempted to reign in her curiosity and maintain her indifferent feelings toward the happenings across the street, however, it proved to be more and more difficult as more drama unfolded each year.