⊹ Chapter 16 ⊹
Best Friend's Brother
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While Violet and Conrad were having a moment away from everyone. Another couple in the next room were having their own special moment.
Belly who had been hanging out with Jeremiah and Cameron had to escape after their performance in the living room. She was incredibly embarrassed. All she wanted to do was find Taylor.
"Hey have you seen my friend Taylor?" Belly sighed loudly as she went up to Nicole. She had searched the whole downstairs but had no luck finding her.
"I think I saw her heading upstairs awhile ago but I haven't seen her since." Nicole shrugged.
"Thanks." Belly smiled heading up the stairs to look for Taylor.
The Conklin girl squeezed through bodies as she made her way down the hallway. She reached a bedroom door and hesitantly opened it. As much as she didn't want to walk in on some random couple hooking up she wanted to find Taylor more.
"Taylor?" Belly called out standing in the doorway of the room. "Taylor? Are you in here."
"Belly?" A voice she immediately recognized questioned. The voice definitely did not belong to Taylor.
"Conrad?" She asked with wide eyes.
As she walked a little more into the room she finally saw the boy she'd been crushing on for years. The sight before her made her sick to her stomach. Conrad Fisher was in bed completely naked with a girl.
"What are you doing?" Conrad huffed annoyed. He could never have a moment alone with Violet.
The girl in question slightly sat up in the bed to get a better look at Belly. She tightly clutched the blanket to her chest trying to cover herself.
"Are you okay?" Violet questioned inspecting the girl.
"Yeah! Gosh I'm so sorry!" Belly rushed out. She wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible. "I was just looking for Taylor. I'm going to go now." She continued turning around and heading towards the door. "Again, so sorry!"
Fuck my life. Belly thought to herself as she stood outside the door. She couldn't believe that that actually just happened.
"It's okay. Everything is okay." The teen reassured herself.
Moving away from the door Belly made her way to the next door. She prayed that Taylor was in this room. After seeing what she just saw she was ready to leave.
"Taylor?" Belly called opening the door. She once again walked into the room. The sight before her was shocking. "Oh, my God." She exclaimed at watching her brother and best friend make out.
"Belly?" Steven questioned turning around. He immediately backed away from Taylor.
"Oh, my God." She repeated in shock.
"Uh... Jesus." The Conklin boy gasped realizing what he had just done. All he could think about was Shayla.
Taylor sighed hoping down from the desk that she had been sitting on. "Steven..." She mumbled trying to grab his arm as he stormed out of the room.
"Oh, my... You're hooking up with my brother?"
"I swear it just happened." Taylor cried looking at her best friend.
"Well, what, you got bored?" Belly shouted glaring at the blonde. "H-He's dating someone, you know. Someone he actually likes."
"You saying he couldn't like someone like me?" Taylor scoffed offended.
"No. No, no, no. That's not what I'm saying. I..." Belly trailed off trying to find the right words. "This could get really messed up. I mean, he's taking her to the deb ball. And all those girls are her friends."
"Oh, my God, I'm so sick of hearing about this fսcking deb ball." Taylor shouted back. "I don't even know who you are anymore."
"Oh, why?" The Conklin girl rolled her eyes. "Because I'm not just going along with everything you want to do? Is that why you threw yourself at my brother? So that you could get back at me?"
"You know, you act so innocent, Belly, like you're the victim."
"Victim? How do I... I'm sorry." The girl asked confused.
"Yeah, but... I think you're the self-absorbed one, Belly." Taylor shrugged placing her hands on her hips. "How do you not know that I've had a crush on Steven for years? If you weren't so obsessed with Conrad..."
"What is wrong with you? People are going to hear." Taylor was abruptly cut off by Belly shushing her. "God! He's literally in the next room with his girlfriend." She exclaimed pointing to the wall that connected the rooms.
"Who cares?" Taylor yelled fed up when Belly. "There's more than one story happening here, but you seem to only care about the one where you're the main character."
"I... I can't deal with this right now. I got to go." Belly shook her head rushing out of the room. On her way out she bumped into Violet and Conrad who were exiting the bedroom that they were previously in. Conrad was buttoning up his flannel and Violet was running her fingers through her messy hair.
Tears filled her eyes as she watched the couple. Everything was too much for her in that moment. She was overwhelmed with emotions. Belly didn't know how she truly felt about anything anymore. She was so confused.
If she didn't like Conrad anymore then why did it hurt so much seeing him with Violet?
♒︎
"Wait, Cam, have you started the waltz lessons yet?" Jeremiah asked as he and Cameron played beer pong.
"Ms. Covington's a real sadist." Conrad laughed as she and Violet made their way onto the porch.
"Where have you two been?" Jeremiah smirked raising his brow teasingly at Violet and his brother.
"Shut up Jere." The red head grumbled lightly hitting the boys arm. She hated when he'd tease her because he always knew what would annoy her the most.
"Who you talking about?" Cameron wondered looking between Jeremiah and Conrad.
"The dance teacher." Conrad replied picking up a random cup that was on the table and taking a swig. When Cameron still didn't seem to know what the boys were talking about Conrad sighed. "For the ball."
Violet's mouth fell open as she watched her boyfriend. There could have been literally anything in that cup. She was a little disgusted that he had just drank out of it.
"Oh." Cameron chuckled finally connecting the dots. "Yeah. Belly hasn't really asked me yet."
"Oh, dude, I'm sure she will. Trust me." Jeremiah nodded reassuringly.
"Yeah." Cameron shrugged. "If you say so."
The boys continued to play their game. Violet and Conrad even got in on it. Everyone was having a great time when Belly came rushing out of the house.
After seeing Conrad and Violet leaving the bedroom she snuck in there. She knew the room would be empty. Belly just wanted a moment or two to herself to decide what she was going to do about Taylor.
Belly wanted to go home and lock herself in her room. So she decided that she was going to do exactly that. She didn't really care how Taylor got home at that point in time.
"Hey." Belly cut in through Jeremiah's chanting as Violet threw the ball.
"Hi." Cameron smiled at the girl.
"Belly." Jeremiah gasped.
"Where have you been?" Cameron asked worried.
"Um, I-I thought you didn't drink." Belly ignored his question instead looking at the cup in his hand.
"Oh, it's water. It's water." He assured her. "Jeremiah's been drinking for me."
"Mm-hmm." The younger Fisher brother hummed throwing an arm around Cameron. "I love this kid so much. So fun."
"Um, hey, can we leave?" Belly asked trying to avoid looking at Jeremiah, Conrad, and Violet.
"Like, now?" Cameron frowned looking at her.
"Yeah, um, yeah."
"Sure, that's cool." The curly haired boy shrugged turning to look at Jeremiah and everyone else. "Uh, I'll see you guys later."
"Yeah, have fun." Jeremiah smiled trying not to show how annoyed he was that Belly was leaving with another guy. As much as he liked Cameron, he just didn't like him for Belly. No one would ever be good enough for her in Jeremiah's eyes.
Not even himself.
"Good luck, good luck." Cameron laughed pointing at Conrad and Violet. "Jere's a tough opponent."
"Two v. one, all right?" Jeremiah exclaimed as Belly and Cameron walked towards his car.
♒︎
"So, can I ask you something?" Cameron nervously fidgeted with his fingers as he looked at the side of Belly's face.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Are you, um... Are you into Jeremiah?"
"You mean Conrad?" Belly mumbled not even thinking before she spoke.
"What?" Cameron asked confused. "Con... No. No, no. J-Jeremiah. I just kind of got a vibe from you guys."
"No, no, no." The Conklin girl immediately shook her head. Internally she was cursing at herself for being so stupid to mention Conrad's name. "That's, that's just Jere. He flirts with everyone. Susannah likes to joke that he's like a-a golden retriever." She rambled trying to distract him from what she said about Conrad.
"Personally, I think he exudes a little more border collie." Cameron laughed.
"Yeah, I can see that, too." Belly sighed in relief. "Um, thanks for coming tonight."
"No problem, Flavia."
"Hey, I-I..." Belly trailed off thinking if she really wanted to ask him to be her escort for the ball. "I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Yeah?" Cameron asked hopefully. He really liked Belly. He would be more than happy to take her to the ball.
"Yeah, um..." In a split second decision she decided not to ask him. "Does it ever feel weird being the only one who's not drinking?"
"Uh, no." Cameron mumbled clearly disappointed, "No, it's... cool."
"Cool." Belly nodded.
"Is that it?" Cameron questioned looking at her.
"Yeah. That's it."
"Okay." He sighed holding open the car door for Belly.
Did Belly like Cameron? Yes, of course she did. How could she not? He was sweet and kind. He liked nature and cared about animals.
Cameron was a great guy.
But was he the guy for her?