enough for you ⇒ the summer i turned pretty

NINE!

"so this is why you haven't answered any of my calls or texts?" jeremiah interjected.

conrad was taken aback, "jere. did you not hear anything i just said? we're going to lose the house. mom's house!"

belly chimed in, "why would your dad sell this house?"

"he's not. our aunt julia is." he told her.

"susannah's sister?" avalon asked, surprised.

"half sister. i guess the house had belonged to both of them. but now that mom is..." conrad trailed off, "it's just aunt julia's now."

"okay so, let's call dad and figure this out!" jeremiah suggested.

"you think i haven't tried that?" conrad shouted. "he said legally the house is hers."

"then he'll buy it." jeremiah thought.

"he doesn't have the money to buy it! between brown and the medical bills and-" conrad was cut off by jeremiah, "yeah, i know how much the medical bills cost. i was actually there."

conrad was hurt by the words that just came out of his brothers mouth.

"how long until you were going to tell me about this?" he crossed his arms.

"jere, this was all happening so fast. i was going to tell you after i'd taken care of it."

he chuckled, "this is you taking care of it? going awol, ditching school, not talking to us."

"fuck school! i don't care." conrad whined.

"you can't just drop out of school!" jeremiah argued.

"how are you going to become a doctor if you fail out of college, conrad?" belly asked.

"you don't know what you're talking about." he pointed his finger at her.

"you can't quit. i need my study buddy." avalon joked, attempting to lighten the mood a bit.

conrad lightly smirked at her, but it didn't help much.

the look belly shot to avalon was clearly out of jealousy. but what the hell was she jealous about?

jeremiah sighed deeply, "we went all the way to brown to check on your ass. i didn't think you'd pull this shit again. you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself." he said before walking out of the room.

belly looked over to conrad, then to avalon. they were all just standing there awkwardly. belly quickly left the room to go after jeremiah.

this left conrad and avalon together. conrad stood there with his hands in his pockets. he kept his eyes on the floor and began pacing back and forth.

"you could've called me you know." she told him.

he slowly looked up at her. "we weren't exactly on speaking terms." he reminded her.

she had a confused expression form across her face, "yeah, but it's not like we were on bad terms. just because we weren't talking as much doesn't mean you couldn't come to me about this."

the two never really ended on bad terms. they just grew apart. the biggest thing that could've put a damper on their friendship was when he got with belly. she never really thought too much about it before, but she was beginning to realize how weird it was. first she and conrad hooked up and belly got all upset about it. but then he ended up dating belly after all.

she was dying to know how everything else took a turn. she hadn't known the reason for belly and conrad's breakup. she also couldn't help but wonder how he feels about jere and belly. it seemed that these two now had another thing in common.

"i didn't think you'd want to talk to me because of... belly." he spoke hesitantly.

"conrad, this is more important than some petty relationship drama." she took a pause and the two held eye contact, "and quite frankly, i could care less about you and belly." she giggled lightly.

"mhm." he nodded with a slight smirk on his face.

"mhm what?" she sassed.

he chuckled, "so you didn't think it was weird? like, at all?"

she rolled her lips, slouching with her arms crossed, "okay fine. maybe a little weird."

he let out a laugh and leaned onto the fireplace. he began to think once again about his argument with his brother. "jere doesn't even care that the house is being sold."

"he does care. he just cares about you more. after everything that you guys just went through, you go missing? he thought something bad happened to you. we all did." she spoke sincerely.

he slowly stood back up, "i got a call two days ago from one of my friends here. he asked me about a 'for sale' sign in our front yard. i came up here right away and ripped the sign out of the ground and threw it in the garbage." he paused to take a breath. "seeing that sign was like loosing her all over again and i didn't want that for jere."

avalon gave him a look of empathy. she knew he had good intentions, but he still should've handled it differently.

"i'm gonna use my trust as down payment for the house. talking to one of my moms financial guys in the morning." he told her. "i didn't mean to scare anybody. i'm handling it so, you guys can go."

"well, sorry conrad but you're not the only one who cares about this house." she said with her head held up high, "and if jeremiah wants to stay here and help, then that is his decision. you can't make it for him."

he looked straight into her eyes. she could tell he was upset, but deep down he understood. he didn't want to but he knew he couldn't change jeremiah's mind or anyone else's.

avalon nodded her head at him and walked away. she went upstairs to find the other two. she overheard them talking to each other in his room.

avalon was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with either of them right now. she went into her and belly's room and shut the door. everything was how they had left it. at least julia hadn't moved their things out of the house yet.

jeremiah and belly were both sitting at the end of his bed. he leaned back to lay down. "if i wasn't so fucking tired i'd probably leave tonight."

"the house feels different without her in it." belly remarked.

"yeah, my mom would always have the house fixed up before we got here." he slowly sat up, sitting beside her. "i'm still so pissed at conrad. i mean, what is he even talking about with the house thing?"

"i think it's for real, jere."

"shit." he sighed, and slowly fell onto his back once again.

belly laughed softly. he had his sheets half on, half off of his bed. "you're just gonna sleep with it like that, aren't you?"

"yep." he replied.

"yeah." she said before getting up.

"hey, belly." he got up onto his elbows.

"yeah?" she asked, turning to face him.

"thank you for coming with me. i know things are weird with the whole... avalon situation." he admitted.

"yeah." she sighed, "you know we'll have to talk to her about it right?"

he nodded.

"but i'm glad i came." she smiled to him.

"goodnight bells."

"goodnight." she said before walking out of his room.

belly walked into her and avalon's room. she was asleep already. belly figured she did that on purpose to avoid talking to her, but she couldn't even blame her.

being at the house without susannah didn't feel right. back at home, belly and avalon both felt somewhat that susannah wasn't really gone. but at the beach house, she's everywhere, and nowhere at the same time.

A/N: hope you're all enjoying the story <3 i've actually been more motivated with writing recently yay !!!