College Buddies (Conrad Fisher X OC)

Chapter 19

"It's sold?"  Jere asked disbelievingly "You-you sold this house in the last 12 hours?"

Julia nodded solemnly "Yes. To a-a lovely family with three children and some kind of a poodle mix."

"Well, it can't just be over." Amelia argued in the boys defence. She couldn't see how someone who was meant to be family could do this.  

"It is." she cleared her throat "Uh, I'm gonna need your keys, please." 

Conrad scoffed "I'll bet you're really enjoying this." he reluctantly handed his key over. 

Skye begged with her mother "Mom, don't do this." 

"Skye, really?" Julia shook her head with a sigh "I told you two that I was selling the house. You just refused to believe it. And I'm not enjoying it, but I will admit that I'm relieved it's finally over. Come on, Skye." she quickly moved through the group of teenagers in front of her "Excuse me." 

Skye called after her mother "Mom... I really don't want to fight with you." she walked over and the two of them chatted by the car. 

Alex sighed "This isn't fair." he comfortingly tapped Jeremiah and Conrad "I'm sorry guys"

Skye came back over after a while and sighed "Um... I'm-I'm sorry. I-I tried to get her to call off the deal." 

"It's not on you, Skye." Jere comforted sadly.  

"I know, but she's my mom, so I would get if you guys were angry with me, too. I just can't deal with her right now." Skye said angrily.  

Amelia shook her head and assured them "Hey, no one's mad at you, Skye." 

Steven asked cautiously "So, what? We're supposed to go home now?" 

"Yeah. It's over." Conrad told everyone giving in.  

"No." Belly said defiantly "Our-our last memory here can't be this. Everyone miserable and defeated. I mean, this place deserves a better goodbye than that." 

"Like what?" Steven asked.  

"My mom came to the beach house with Susannah for the first time after her dad died. And it was supposed to be just the two of them, but Susannah hated how empty the house felt, so she decided to throw a huge party. Everyone was dancing and drinking, and they went swimming at midnight. And Susannah said it was like Gatsby or something." Belly explained "So I say that we throw a party, too." 

Alex shrugged "I'm in."

Jeremiah agreed "Me, too." 

Amelia smiled "Me three." 

"Oh, I love this for us." Taylor cheered and she hugged Belly.  Steven turned to Conrad "You in?" Conrad paused and sighed "I think it's exactly what my mom would have wanted. She'd love it." 

Belly clapped "Great. Okay. Everybody, shower, power nap, and then I'm putting you to work."

"Okay." everyone agreed as they headed inside. Amelia was about to take a power nap but she overheard Steven talking to Conrad in the Kitchen. 

"You good?" Steven asked.  

Conrad nodded aimlessly "Yeah." 

Steven nodded but stopped him from exiting the Kitchen "Oh. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait. For real, though. Look, I know you've got a lot on your plate. All right, the house, Stanford..." 

Conrad interrupted him and sternly said "I already told you I'm not going to Stanford, man." 

"I'm just saying, I'm all for you embracing your zen." Steven told him. "Embracing my zen?" Conrad asked.  

"Yeah. Where'd you get that? Is that one of your girl Taylor's mantras?" Conrad said. Amelia covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. So it was true. There was a vibe. 

"Taylor's not my girl." Steven insisted. Conrad smirked "That's not what it looked like last night." 

"Oh, well... I see what you're doing. But, yes, Taylor does have some good therapy in her back pocket, despite her questionable sources. Zen could be a good look for you." 

"Whatever you say." Conrad said trying to leave the room again. 

Only to be blocked by Steven "Okay. You...tend to either live way up here, where everything is awesome, or way down here, where everything's shit. Zen? Right about there. Be... zen." they both let out a chuckle "Come on. Man, throw a kick-ass party for this glorious house. Feel all the feels. Relinquish control."

"Okay, so if I agree to be zen, will you let me out of the kitchen?" Conrad asked making Steven laugh. "Fine. I will try and be zen." 

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry. What was that?" Steven asked mockingly.  

"I will try and be zen." Conrad repeated. 

"One more time. I don't think I-I caught you there." Steven insisted making Conrad sigh "I will try and be zen. Okay."

Steven clapped him on the back and left the room. Amelia smiled to herself as she caught Conrad's eye. Her face fell a little bit and she gave him a weak smile before going to sleep upstairs in a guest bedroom.