❝I was screaming, "Long live all the magic we made❞
in which jude walters just wants to relax this summer,
but ends up getting caught up in conklin/fisher family issues.
[academic rivals to lovers]
[fem!oc x steven conklin]
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I woke up two mornings later in my bed with no plans for the day. The day after I dropped off the pizza to where Steven and Belly were staying I had work but today I was off and had nothing planned. Having nothing planned was honestly my favorite part of summer when I was home. But right now, I'm at the beach, and sitting in my room all day feels like a waste of a vacation. I listed out in my head everything I could do; read, go shopping, go to the beach and boardwalk, stay inside with mom and grandma. Everything except going to the beach was something I could do at home so I decided I'd do that. I got dressed in shorts and a tank top, I threw my hair in a ponytail, hoping that could preserve my hair for the day, and headed down the stairs.
Grandma sat on her rocking chair, scrolling through TikTok with the volume all the way up while my mom sat on the couch beside her swiping through something on her phone. I walked over to my mom to peek at her phone and she instantly pulled it back. I raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" My mom looked me up and down. "What are you doing?"
"Your mom is trying to find a boyfriend." My grandma called out without even pausing her TikTok, I heard the voiceover girl say 'top cutest dog moments'.
"What?!" I shrieked. I reached out and snatched my mom's phone out of her hand. I made a fake vomit sound at the picture of a bald black man taking an awkward shirtless mirror picture. My mom stood and snatched her phone back and hit me lightly upside the head for taking it. "Mom, if you swipe right on Curtis," I said his name with disgust, "I think I'll never talk to you again."
My mom turned her phone screen towards me and pursed her lips before swiping right. "Get outta my dating life."
I sighed and held my hands up. "You don't have to tell me twice."
"Where are you going?" My grandma asked, still watching TikToks just as loud. It wasn't even that she had hearing problems, she just liked it that loud.
"The boardwalk. I don't wanna sit at home all day." I pulled my phone out from my back pocket and saw a text from Millie. She sent a picture of her pinching the top of the Eiffel Tower with a goofy smile on her face. I liked the image and responded by saying I wished she was here with me when the doorbell rang.
My mom and grandma looked at me expectingly. I sighed before walking over to the door.
I opened it and almost shut it back at the sight of Steven standing at my door holding flowers. "What are you doing here?" I looked down at the flowers with disgust. "What are those?"
Steven smiled, no, beamed, at me. "Hello, Judith. I need a favor."
It was then that I noticed the two guys behind him, far enough away that they couldn't hear us. One with a camera pointed directly at us and the other watching us with a smile. "What did you do?" I asked, it was too early to deal with Steven's foolishness. I am not a morning person, a fact Steven learned Freshman year when he tried to ask for my help on our warmup in first block and I snapped at him. Before I could even apologize he snapped back. Since we always took similar classes we had at least half our schedule together and ever since then Steven never talked to me until at least second block.
