she, conrad fisher

11

"that's what i was afraid of. belly and steven need you too. you can't just leave because this is back." susannah explained.

"let me decide that. do the boys know?" laurel's voice got quiet.

"no. i don't even know how to tell them. conrad's already down to begin with and jeremiah is so full of life. it's going to devastate them. i just want this one summer." susannah sounded like she was fighting back tears.

what were they talking about? was this something to do with their dad? conrad had seemed stressed about that.

"are you considering your options?" there was a long pause of silence followed by laurel's comment.

at that point i had realized i had overstayed during this conversation that didn't involve me one bit. i quietly made my way down the stairs, not being noticed. belly was already sat on the couch with her phone in her hands. i quietly sat beside her, trying my best to get out of my head with what i had heard and trying to piece it all together.

belly pressed play on and i made the conscious effort to stay focused on nothing else but the movie.

-

i helped belly clear up some of the mess we had made after we finished the third movie. laurel had come downstairs to yell at us for sitting in front of the tv too long while susannah argued that it was summer break. when the two had come down, it was like that conversation hadn't even happened. they seemed absolutely fine and i knew it was for show, but it had still thrown me off a little bit.

i grabbed the finished chips bags and candy wrappers, gathering them in my hands. as i made my way over to the kitchen to toss them, i heard voices and the front door open. i could only assume it was the boys. my stomach filled with knots at the thought of seeing conrad. i just wished it could be normal between us again. id promise to be more cautious around him.

the boys piled in, absolutely drenched from the rain outside. all three were shoving each other and laughing about god knows what. even conrad was playing along and seemed happy which was a good change from his usually reserved demeanor.

"belly!" jeremiah yelled out, dragging the 'y' and making a beeline right for her.

me, steven, and conrad watched as he smothered belly in a hug, getting her all wet as she squealed. susannah and laurel laughed at the sight of it. suddenly my attention was diverted to the two of them as i tried to piece together what their conversation was about even though i said i would leave it be.

my mistake was letting my guard down for too long because before i knew it steven had tackled me into some bear hug, yelling for conrad to join in. i couldn't even focus on what conrad was going to do as i was more focused on getting a drenched steven off of me.

"you're such an ass." i screamed, laughing a little and all he did was laugh back.

the floor was now slippery from all the water that had formed a puddle on the hard wood. i stuck out my hands to keep my balance but steven was relentless with trying to ring out his soaked sweatshirt on my head. i stumbled backwards, feeling myself losing my balance, and a shock of anxiety flew through me. before i knew it i was on the ground, landing on my wrist which did not feel right once i was off of it.

"ouch." i mumbled carefully bringing my wrist up from the ground, keeping it close to my body in a protective position.

"maisie! are you okay?" conrad was crouched beside me instantly, looking at my wrist which i was starting to swell a little bit.