Cruel Summer - Conrad Fisher

two

I sat beside Belly at the table, right next to Conrad, who sat at the head. When we were friends, we loved that our seats were beside one another. It meant that I could make faces at him during meals, or he could mouth things to me that only I could see, I'd kick his legs anytime he'd make a joke directed towards me, and he'd kick mine anytime I'd get annoyed with Steven and Jeremiah across from me. Nowadays, he sits with his body turned away from me, avoiding eye contact throughout the entire meal.

    "Steven, I swear to God, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket." Mom threatens my brother, who's chuckling at something on his phone and sharing it with Jere beside him.

    "It's just we want to see your beautiful faces," Susannah adds before Steven can complain, "can dinner be a screen-free zone? You know, like the olden days."

    "Steven," Jeremiah reaches over as my brother continues to type, snagging it out of his hand.

     "Dude, are you kidding me?"

     Ignoring him, Jeremiah shoots the phone in the air. It lands on a nearby cushioned chair, "boom! Nailed it!"

    "Okay, okay, okay," Steven rolls his eyes, "we get it. You've been working out."

     "Has he?" I question, taking a sip of my water, "I don't think he's mentioned that yet today."

    Jeremiah looked over at me. He'd talked about his workout regimen with me for an hour today and even offered for me to join him one morning. To that, I laughed in his face, proceeding to eat the donuts that Susannah and mom picked up on their way back from the country club. "Haha," Jeremiah fake laughs, though I can see he truly is amused by me, "you're hilarious, Flo."

   I flip my hair over my shoulder as Belly says, "You're just jealous because Jere has a better body than you."

    "Uh, no," Steven furrows his brows together at Belly's comment, "actually, it's all about the lean look now. Otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits." We all laugh at his comment. Even Conrad cracks a smile, pushing his food around with his fork, "When are you leaving for training camp, man?" Steven asks him.

    Training camp used to be the worst two weeks of the summer. Conrad would be gone, and even though I'd go months without seeing him, being at the beach house without him felt bizarre. Conrad hesitates to answer Steven's question, his smile dropping again, "Uh, he quit football," Jeremiah says on behalf of his brother, breaking the silence he knew Conrad wasn't going to fill. He was extra moody today.

    "W-what?" I ask. I don't mean to say it out loud. It'd been a long time coming, Conrad only played football to please his dad, but I never thought he'd quit. When we were friends, He always used to drag me to the beach to throw one around, he was insistent that it was good to keep it all fresh, but I think it was just because he loved watching me fail at throwing it, "you quit?"

    Conrad nods, his eyes flickering over to me so quickly I'd have missed it if I weren't paying attention, "mm-hmm." He hums before looking over to Steven.

    "Are you kidding me, man?" Steven asks, looking over to Susannah for confirmation, "I'd kill to play college ball."

    "He can always change his mind," Susannah says. I can see in her eyes that this is a conversation they've had plenty of times.

    "I'm not gonna change my mind," Conrad tells his mom, "I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."

    "Well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?" Mom asks him, her tone cautious. If Conrad and I were friends, I would probably nudge his foot with my own right about now, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. Then, I'd make some comment about how he'd spend it with me, working on my novel. We're not friends, though, so instead, I stay quiet while Conrad Shrugs.