more than friends? || c.f.

chapter twenty six - the tree house

As I ran into my room and closed the door behind me I started crying. Did I really just lose one of my dearest friends?

Then my phone started ringing. It was Serena. Thank goodness, I really needed this girl right now.

I cried through this whole conversation, but luckily she didn't mind. She understood, since she also liked Susannah. Serena even cried a little, too. After a while we switched the topic over to the boys. I told her everything that happened.

This girl cheered so hard because of Conrad's and my kiss at the beach. "I told you there was a reason behind his actions. This poor guy had to deal with it all by himself. You can now be there for each other", she said. I agreed, but I told her about my worries because of Jeremiah.

The girl was too stunned to speak. "I-I'm sorry. That's horrible", she admitted. "I know. He hates me. And he hates his brother. I can't let this happen, you know?", I said. "But what are you going to do then?", Serena asked.

"I think I can't do this. With Conrad." "Bitch, what?! No! Don't do this to me. Or, uh, more like... don't do this to him. And to you. Lia, you'll find a way. Just don't end this, please. You're finally happy right now", Serena literally begged me.

"I'll talk to him", I said. We eventually hung up the call and I laid back down on my back. I slowly drifted off into a much needed sleep.

As I woke up again I looked at my phone. It was 11am now. I had a message from Conrad, asking me if I wanted to meet up at the beach. So I got up from my bed and brushed my teeth. I felt terrible because of my lack of sleep.

Brushing my teeth and washing my face helped a lot with that. I put my hair into a low bun, because it annoyed me a lot and started to get a little greasy from all the styling yesterday. I put on some deodorant and perfume and went back downstairs, still waring my white and blue striped dress.

I left the house through the back door, so no one would see me. I walked along the little path overthinking my conversations with Jeremiah and Serena. As I reached the beach I found Conrad, who was sitting in the sand. I sat down right in front of him.

He smiled at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Did you sleep?", he asked. "Yeah. Only a bit, but it was still good", I replied and looked at the ground.

We sat there and nobody said anything. The boy just watched me, fiddling with a shell in my hands. "I feel awful", I started to say. "I mean, he was so angry at us. And he has every right to be, honestly", I continued and started crying. Conrad tried to stoke my cheek, but I backed away.

"It's gonna be okay, Millie. I promise", Conrad answered calmly. I looked back up at the boy and shrugged my shoulders. "How?", I asked. He didn't answer, he just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, too. He took my hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb.

"I think maybe we should hit pause", I suggested. "What? No", Conrad instantly replied. "I don't want to make things harder for you guys than they already are", I explained to him.

"You're not. I promise. I-I mean, you make everything easier for me, Millie", Conrad tried to convince me.

"The most important thing right now is that you and Jeremiah are there for each other, are there for Susannah. And...", I sniffed and took a deep breath. "Us being together would make that impossible", I finished my sentence. "Millie, come on", Conrad whispered.

"I can't do that to him", I cried. He wiped away some of my tears. "I hate this", he said. "Yeah, me, too." Conrad kept looking at me and played with my fingers, but suddenly he stopped.

"Um...", the boy said and pulled something out of the pocket of his shorts. It was the little black bag. "This was always yours", he told me as he took out the infinity necklace. "No matter what happens, we'll still be infinite", Conrad said and put it around my neck.