betty ↳ conrad fisher

twenty.

"Fuck!" Betty Graham exclaimed, her foot sliding across the ladder step as she held up a string of star shaped lights. While the Grahams didn't have anything planned for the 4th of July, Betty's mother wanted decorations so that the house looked festive. And who better to do it than the real woman of the house. Unfortunately for her she was home alone, her mother having taken the boys to visit their aunt in Boston for a few days. She had been told that the decorations better be up by the time she got back, and it was a small price to pay so that the younger girl wouldn't have to visit her aunt. "Damnit!"

The challenge came in the fact that she was balancing the ladder on the grass and by herself, she was 6 feet in the air and she still couldn't quite reach the spot she was trying to get to. What she needed was someone taller, and that was when the thought struck her.

Her first idea was Jeremiah, the girl hoping that she could convince him to come help her. She knew if she flashed a pretty smile and bribed him with some baked goods or home cooked meal that he would agree, so she dropped the lights back into the grass and descended the ladder.

However when she started to cross the yard she remembered what had happened a week ago, the series of events that left her agitated and especially angry at Belly, the girl who had accused her of doing things she hadn't done. It had been a full 9 days since the two girls had spoken, which was a record for summertime, but Betty thought there was no reason for her to apologize, and Belly was a stubborn girl. So getting an apology from her was something that  Betty didn't really have a definitive timeline on, and her anger hadn't faded as much as she'd thought it would. 

She crossed her fingers that Susannah or Jeremiah or Steven  would be the one to open the door when's she knocked, her heart rate increasing as she realized she had no idea what she would say if Belly answered. If she had anything to say at all. She knocked quickly on the door, getting it over with so that she could hurry through this anxiety from waiting. She heard footsteps and then the door creaked open, her face freezing as she realized she had no luck at all.

"Betty...what are you doing here?" It was Conrad, of course it was, his hair messily hanging over his forehead and his body covered in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. She actually hadn't prepared for what would happen if he answered, she hadn't even thought about it, but then her surprise melted away and she gave him a short smile.

"Is uh...is Jere here?" Betty asked, pushing a loose hair back behind her ear with the rest of her hair. Her movement drew his attention to her hair, pulled back into a ponytail, her fingers touching the side of her neck and making his eyes slip across the soft skin there. His stomach turned  and he looked away, leaning against the door frame and shaking his head.

"No. Him and Steven went to the boardwalk, our moms and Belly went shopping—I was at work and I just got home so I didn't get to go." She knew he was working with Cleveland Castillo on his sailing,  his mention of work not confusing her. She partook in a disappointed expression, Conrad noticing it as soon as she out it on.  "Why?"

"Oh well I was gonna ask him for some help with something. But I guess I can just do it myself it's not that big of a deal. I can just—"

"Well I'm not doing anything." He said, cutting her off as his eyes traced over her face. Betty wasn't sure if she wanted his help, being around him made her feel strange inside, but she also knew she needed to get the decorations up. He was significantly taller than her, he could easily put the lights up.  "I can help you with uh...whatever it is."