THE FOURTH OF july was a big event at the fishers house. the dads came over just for the party. this year, carolina's dad wasn't coming because her mom couldn't stand him at the moment. carolina really wanted him to come this year, but her mom said he wasn't gonna come at all.
carolina's mom loved helping susannah decorate the house and the outdoor area. katy harper was an interior designer, so of course she loved to help. carolina's dad usually helped barbecue and helped the kids with fireworks when they were younger.
this year belly had some friends coming over and her dad's girlfriend was coming. she heard from steven was young, very young. apparently she was like in grad school or something. either way, carolina was still really excited to meet her.
carolina stood on the dock of the fishers house and looked out over the lake. everyone was there, but it didn't feel the same.
"you're missing all the fun." conrad said from behind her. she jumped and held her hand to her chest.
"jesus, conrad you can't do that to me." she said and he laughed "sorry, i thought you heard me walking here. i guess i didn't make enough creaking noises with the wood. what's up? you okay?" he asked.
"i'm just upset my dad is not here this year."
"i know what will cheer you up. belly made these pomegranate margaritas and in the good blender. they're amazing you have to try them. everyone is at the beach, come on you gotta have some fun this year." he said grabbing her hand and pulling her with him to the beach.
something about the way conrad grabbed her hand made her heart flutter. she smiled and followed him to the beach where all the teens were. shayla, daniel, steven, and gigi were already there. they sat next to each other on the beach chairs and started talking to everyone.
belly skipped down the beach with a pitcher and a margarita glass. "may i present, the belly special." she said setting down the pitcher. the drink was bright red and it almost matched the pattern on belly's dress.
"we saved you the inflatable unicorn." gigi said pointing to the inflatable next to her. belly thanked her and sat down in it.
"hey guys!" jeremiah shouted from behind them "hey, check out who i found!" he said jogging with cameron next to him. they all welcomed cameron and he sat with belly in the inflatable unicorn.
conrad poured the two of them a drink. conrad quickly tried to drink it, while carolina slowly sipped it. "jesus conrad this isn't a race." she said still sipping on the drink.
"save some for the rest of us, please." jeremiah said and belly laughed "okay, wait wait wait, but what if it was a race?" she asked "i mean isn't that—isn't that the premise of like every drinking game?"
"you wanna play a drinking game?" gigi asked.
"why not? it's the fourth of july! right?" belly shouted. everyone shouted in agreement.
after a while of drinking, the girls sat at the dock. "belly, by the way, i love that dress." shayla said and belly smiled "really? thanks! taylor go it for me, actually."
"taylor has great taste." shayla smiled.
"yeah i know, right? she totally does. oh my god, you know what? you and taylor are like twins because you're both mega-fashiony. and you're both like, baddies and you both like the same summer boys, which is..." belly laughed taking another sip of her drink.
"we do?"
cameron tried to pull belly for a walk on the beach. "no, no, no cam..." belly said. shayla, gigi, and carolina both looked at each other. "i'm talking one sec. look, shayla, like don't worry because my brother is an idiot. and it didn't mean anything, it didn't mean anything." she said and cameron tried to pull her away.
"wait, what didn't mean anything?"
"uh them—them kissing. it was like...he like—loves you! he loves you! and wait! does anyone want another drink?" belly said as cameron walked away with her. shayla looked at carolina "did you guys know?" shayla asked.
"oh course not. i would have told you right away." carolina said and gigi agreed with her.
"i think we should go. sorry, care. we know you're like stuck here, but i don't think i can be here anymore." shayla said getting up. carolina understood why she needed to go. "no problem, i'll walk you guys out." she said getting up.
"carolina..." belly sung as she skipped up to her. carolina turned around "hey, belly what's up?" she asked.
"you know what i don't like about you?" belly said making carolina look at her with confusion. she kind of threw her off by saying that.
"what—"
"you have no problems in your life! zero! none! you're like perfect. i have so many problems and it's—it's like not fair you have like nothing to worry about! it's annoying. you have perfect family and all!" belly chuckled "i have all these problems with taylor and my dad with his girlfriend. why couldn't he have not come?"
this made carolina mad, and she barely gets mad at people. belly was assuming her life was perfect in every single way possible. carolina was dealing with her own shit, everyone was. everyone has things they have to go through. carolina didn't understand why belly was saying all of this now, but it was probably because she was drunk and all her thoughts were coming out.
"what? i don't have a perfect family or a perfect everything." carolina shook her head. "everyone has problems, belly. so stop acting like you're the only one with them. stop comparing my life to yours. why do you think my dad is not here this year?" carolina asked.
"i don't know." belly chuckled.
"cause my parents have been constantly fighting for months. belly, you need to stop drinking before you regret more things that come out of your mouth." she said leading her into the house.
carolina sat on the deck of the fishers house watching the fireworks. her knees were pulled to her chest and she sat on the wood boards. "what are you doing here all alone?" a voice that belonged to conrad asked.
"watching the fireworks." she said as he sat next to her.
"you should have seen the one jere set off. it was like a palm tree shaped one from mexico that my dad got." conrad said and she nodded. "you okay? you seem sad again." he said.
"yeah, belly told me she didn't like how everything about me was perfect. she said my family was perfect and
how she had so many problems and i don't." carolina said.
"belly doesn't know what's she's saying. ignore her. she was way too drunk today."
"thanks."
"for what?"
"for listening to all of this bullshit all of the time. it feels like you the only one i can talk to with all of this." carolina said looking down. "it's not bullshit, carolina, trust me." he said.
more fireworks started going off, and they caught carolina's attention. conrad looked at carolina and saw the reflection of the fireworks in her eyes. "isn't it beautiful?" carolina asked staring out into the sky.
"mhmm." he said and she looked at him and he was already looking at her. "you're not even watching them." she laughed.
"i know." he said grabbing a piece of her hair and tucking it behind her ear. he left his hand on the side of her cheek and started to slowly lean in. carolina couldn't tell if she was dreaming or that conrad fisher was actually going to kiss her. she felt like she was in a movie with the fireworks going off in the background.
she knew it wasn't a dream anymore when their lips connected.
↷ ·˚ ༘ 💌 AUTHORS NOTE
eek! i know it was kinda fast but idc i
had always planned for them to kiss with
all the fireworks and stuff.