𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄 ☁︎ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗿𝗮𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿

xiv ~ fireworks + arguments

Waiting on the dock, he texted DJ to hurry because some of the neighbors' fireworks were starting.

He was surprised to not find Daisy-Jade standing beside him, but Belly Conklin, holding her head down, in guilt.

"So... does everyone hate me now?" She asked him.

"Hate is a strong word," He told, "but no. Who could ever hate you?"

Belly nodded and then chuckled, "I think my mom just got railed."

"What?! By who?"
"I don't know."

"Wow," He comments, "Go Laurel."

As they watched the fireworks, seeing that it was just the two of them, he had to bite the bullet. "Listen, Belly, about the necklace..." She turned to him, with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. "It wasn't for you."

That hope quickly died just like that. "W-What?"

"The necklace, I got it for DJ. It was supposed to be her birthday present, in August."

That just felt like a stab in the back for Belly. That was supposed to be her gift, for her birthday, not DJ's.

"But-But it has infinity," She argued quietly.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

In that moment, all the frustration she felt, all the embarrassment from the accident with Susannah, thinking that necklace was for her, and now holding onto a concept that he taught her, that she held in her heart...

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, "Conrad, you taught me infinity! You taught—I-I can't believe you forgot. How could you forget?!"

The boy could finally recall what she was talking about. He remembered that moment when he made an infinity with maple syrup on her Mickey Mouse pancakes. He explained how infinity was boundless, a never-ending cycle, with no start or end.

She tears up. "Oh my god, I can't believe you forgot."

Seeing Belly start to cry, as she quickly tries to wipe away her tears, Conrad didn't want this. He didn't want her to cry in front of him, because it made him feel like shit.

"Belly, I-I'm sorry, okay. Things are just different now——"

"You're what's different!" The Conklin cries, "What happened to the old Conrad? Because he wouldn't forget my birthday. He wouldn't forget what infinity meant to me."

The boy didn't know what to say. He just didn't know how to get Belly to stop crying, to get her to move on.

"Belly, it just happened. It was a mistake," He admitted, "Okay, I just have... a lot going on."

"What? Like DJ?"

Conrad frowned, "What the hell does this have to do with her?"

Everything, she thought.

"Ever since you've been seeing her, you're different!" Belly says, "You forgot birthdays, you've become distant with everyone, you've become such a dick now, and things have been going wrong since you brought her! Why would you even bring her?!"