Cruel Summer - Conrad Fisher

seventeen

    The white bedsheet floated onto the guest bed, and I kneeled down to tuck it in. Isla volunteered to do this instead, but mom was pretty adamant that she was our guest and would not be doing any chores under her watch. So I gave my best friend the job of picking out my outfit for the day instead, shooing her into my room to rummage through my wardrobe, something she pretended to be annoyed about, but I knew she secretly loved doing.

"You gotta fold the bottom sheet at a 45-degree angle if you want tight corners," I flinched at the sound of Conrad's voice, looking over to find him standing at the entryway to the guest room, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, amused.

"I didn't realize there was a science to making beds," I say sarcastically, tugging the sheet down.

"Yeah, not like that." He chuckles, "here, let me." He walks over to the bed, and I hold my hands up, allowing him to take over, "you gotta pull this down," he tells me, tugging the sheets down. He lifts the corner of the mattress, clearing his throat, "like this. Come here."

I bend down so we're at the same level moving over to the corner of the bed across from Conrad. He continues to explain, but my mind wanders. When we were kids, Conrad and I always planned on going to college together and eventually getting an apartment together. I can't help but wonder if this is what it would be like, if we were older and actually fulfilled our silly childhood fantasies.

"See?" Conrad gestures to his perfectly tight corner, and I nod, despite not actually paying attention.

"Thanks," I nod as Conrad stands, moving over to do the other corner, he lifts the mattress, and I go back and forth in my head on whether to bring up the fact that he got my best friend here, that he was the only one to notice me hurting... Conversations like that will ruin me, though. The deeper we get, the harder it is to push away the feelings beginning to surface.

"I'm sorry your mom made you do this on your birthday," Conrad says, standing to grab the comforter, "you deserve to let loose today. Have some fun."

"Me? Let loose?" I ask Conrad, laughing as I move to grab the other side of the comforter, draping it across the bed.

Conrad shakes his head at me, and his smile makes me weak, my heart fluttering at the sight, "I'm just saying, your mom easily could have asked Belly or Steven to do this. Just because you're the oldest and she has these crazy high expectations of you doesn't mean you don't deserve a break sometimes." He's noticed? I thought I was the only one who noticed how differently mom treated me compared to my younger siblings? Conrad takes my silence for annoyance, continuing, "I'm sorry, it's not my place."

"No, you're right," I nod. I always figured that when Conrad ignored me, he stopped paying attention to things. My mom's expectations have always been high, but they've only gotten crazier over the last year or so. I figured he wouldn't notice. "I guess it's because I never really acted much like a kid when we were little," I admit, picking up a pillow and pillowcase off the ground, "I was always looking out for Belly and Steven and helping her and your mom around the house... I think she sometimes forgets that I'm not much older than my siblings."

"I get that," Conrad nods, putting pillowcases on the other pillows, and I know he does because his dad treats him the same, if not worse, "my dad feels like he has a say in my life and what I'm gonna do with it, but the truth is, he's never been around long enough to actually get to know me."

"I'm glad he's not coming today," I say, placing pillows on the bed and displaying them nicely. For the first time in ages, things between Conrad and I feel somewhat normal, it still feels a little awkward, but it's nice just talking to him.

"Yeah," He chuckles, nodding his head, "me too."

"Belly, Steven, Florence." Mom's voice yelling from downstairs cuts off Conrad and I's conversation, "your dad's here."

I groan, and Conrad laughs, "wow, don't act too excited."

"I've barely seen him since the divorce," I explain, the bed is made, yet neither of us leaves the guest room. I think Conrad is savouring the normalcy of this moment as much as I am, "and now he's staying here with his new bitchy girlfriend."

"Hey." Conrad scolds me as if I'm a little kid, "how do you know she's bitchy? What if she's like, a really nice person or something?" He laughs as he says the last part.

"Hmm, or what if... and just hear me out... she's a bitch." Conrad laughs, throwing a decorative throw pillow at me. I gasp in mock hurt, throwing it back, so it hits his forehead.

"Flo," Mom yells again, this time just for me.

I sigh as Conrad places the decorative pillow back in the center of the bed. He whispers as he does as if he's telling me a secret. "Don't want to keep the bitch waiting."  

No serious convo between the two yet... Conrad and Florence are both pretty similar in terms of burying things and keeping things to themselves, so they're both just pushing those serious convo's away right now... I promise that it will happen during these Fourth of July/ birthday chapters though!!