What Could I Do? - The Summer I Turned Pretty

20

Atlas pov

I can't believe Thanksgiving break has already gone by so fast. I can't believe that would be my last birthday in high school. It was all so surreal to me.

The day after the party I woke up with a massive hangover. All I could remember was getting upset with Conrad and seeing him and this girl at the party. I even woke up to hundreds of texts from Conrad. I couldn't believe it, I don't even remember the reason why I was upset.

Jeremiah started to pack since he had to leave the next day back to his dorms. I was going to miss him, he was the one who caught me up with everything else. He told me about Conrad's lesbian friend I got upset about. Which made sense as to why Conrad spammed me all night.

That's basically what happened that night. On to the first week back to school.

Jeremiah kept the Goodmorning texting going and so did Conrad. I couldn't help but to feel special that the Fisher brothers were finally texting me first for once. Specifically Jeremiah, that boy almost never texts people first.

I always replied to Conrad first no matter whose text I read first. It was my way of proving my loyalty to Conrad. That no matter who was texting me, I would always talk to him first.

Once I got to class I of course bumped into Cameron. He was worried about me. "Hey, Allie! How are you feeling? Better?" He asks me and I nod my head and smile.

"Yeah, I'm sorry you guys had to take care of me and see me like that... I'm never going to drink again." I say groaning to him and he chuckles.

"Nah, it's no problem. Honestly, you and many others went through that. I've seen worse, trust me." He says and smiles at me. I smile back with the same kindness.

"I should probably get to class. I'll talk to you after school!" I say to him and he smiles and nods his head. We walked out opposite ways since our class was literally right across from each other.

I took my seat in the middle because that's where we got assigned to. I set my belongings down and I felt a buzz from my phone. It was from Jeremiah. He sent me a picture of him shirtless practicing for his game on Friday.

The text read, "You should come to my game on Friday. Your mom said she was down already." I half laughed and shook my head.

I thought about it for a second, "yeah, maybe." I replied back and my face lit up when he said that Belly and Steven were going too.

A part of me felt a little jealous. Did this mean he and Belly were a thing again?

I decided to text Belly, but I wasn't able to because the teacher interrupted my thoughts at told us to put our devices away.

-

Once I got home I immediately asked my mom what she thought about going to see Jeremiah at his game.

"I don't know ma, do we really want to see Jeremiah being a bench warmer?" I ask her with and light chuckle. She shakes her head and smiles. "The coach is actually playing him. The quarterback got hurt during practice so he's going to play this game. We are going, so we can support him and his team. Who knows, maybe you'll go to that college next year. Plus your school told me that some students will be touring there next semester. I already signed you up, take this as extra credit." My mom says to me and winks.

I roll my eyes and decide to head upstairs not wanting to say anything else.

My mom has always loved football, we would sometimes go to Conrad's games when he was in high school. All I could focus on was Jeremiah though, both boys were really good. Conrad had just been in Varsity his whole life. Since freshman year, I'm pretty sure he would have been voted most likely to make it to the NFL if he continued. 

My mom tried to make it to at least 3 games a year, it just depended on her schedule and mine. I didn't mind going, I loved watching the boys play. My mom told them that if either of them played in college she would go to their games more often. This was perfect for her, even though Finch wasn't ranked very high in college football, she still would enjoy watching them play.

The only reason why Belly Steven and Laurel were able to go is because Belly had an extra week of Thanksgiving, and Steven was on the quarter system so he was done with classes already. 

I plopped on my bed and I scrolled through Snapchat. I saw Jeremiah and Belly posted on their stories and I clicked on it curiously. Belly especially since she rarely ever posted. I saw her recording Jeremiah trying to make his bed while she laughed at how he did it. I laughed at the video and swiped up on it. "haha, Jere makes his bed so weirdly." That's what I replied with, it's true. He makes his bed by folding the corners too and puts his pillows in the middle. He says he likes it that way so we just don't question him. 

I couldn't help but feel jealous, any female with Jeremiah makes me jealous. Especially Belly since they had a history together. I felt left out as well, Belly replied within a few minutes. I contemplated opening it fast or not. She sent me a snap instead of a text I was so curious. I waited a few seconds before opening it to see her and Jeremiah smiling on top of his bed. "Can't wait to see you on Friday so excited!" Then she put the school's mascot and I decided to just leave her on open. 

I then checked Jeremiah's story and it was just normal stuff he always posted. Random pictures of his campus.

I turned my phone off and put my pillow to my face and silently screamed. I didn't know why I still had these slight feelings and why I couldn't just let him go like he let me go. If he ever even liked me back. I took the pillow off and looked at the little statue that Jeremiah had given me for my birthday. I then looked to the other side of my room and saw the poem that meant so much to me. 

"Allie! You got a package from Australia!" My mom yells downstairs for me and I immediately perk up and run downstairs confused. Conrad didn't tell me he got me anything. 

Once I got to the living room I was greeted by a small box that had Conrad's name and address and my name on it that said "Happy late Birthday." I smiled immediately and grabbed it and ran upstairs back to my room. 

I get my phone out and text Conrad that I got his package and I was going to open it now. After a few seconds after I sent the text he facetimes me and I answer in a heartbeat. "Hey, love bug," I say to him smiling. 

"Hi princess, did you open it yet?" he asks me and I shake my head and position the phone so he can see me and the small box. 

"Should I open it now?" I giggle to him and he nods his head smiling.

Of course, I rip it open and I can see a gold necklace with my name on it. I was speechless, I showed it to the camera. 

"Wow, Conrad this is beautiful. Thank you so much, this is amazing." I say to him and he smiles at me. "Look at the engraving." He says and I look at the back of the necklace and see it has Conrad in small letters I immediately melted. 

"Aww, Conrad. I love this thank you. I love you." I say to him and sheepishly smile at him and he smiles back. "I couldn't have done it without Jere. He helped me get the idea." He says as he gets shy and looks away for a second then looks back at me.

"It's the thought that counts," I say to him even though secretly I was a little disappointed. 

"What are you doing up so early?" I ask him changing my thoughts to him again.

He shrugs, "I couldn't sleep and once I got your text I knew I had to see you open it and see your cute little reaction." He says to me and I laugh.

"I love you too.. by the way." He says and I feel the familiar warm comforting feeling.