⊹ Chapter 27 ⊹
Play It Forward
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"Yeah, it's wood rot." Conrad huffed as he examined the wood. "See how brittle it is on the inside?"
The Fisher boy was currently busy helping Cleveland work on his boat while the girls were preparing for the volleyball tournament.
Cleveland could do nothing but watch as Conrad began to tear apart the wood.
"God, this is bad, man. We have to pry off bits until we reach clean wood." The boy continued until he accidentally cut himself on a nail. "Fսck! Ow!"
"You're a little on edge, my friend." Cleveland observed handing the teen a rag for his bleeding finger.
"It's been a bad week."
"Is your dad back in town?" The man questioned taking a seat.
"No, other stuff." Conrad brushed him off.
"How are things looking with your girlfriend?"
"Not good." Conrad grunted going back to ripping the wood apart. "And this isn't looking good either, man. I mean, it just keeps going and going. The whole goddamn thing is infected, and I didn't notice. It's everywhere, and I didn't notice!" The boy ranted beginning to hyperventilate.
"Conrad, whoa!" Cleveland exclaimed trying to grab the boy's shoulders to calm him. "Whoa. What is going on, man?"
"My heart's beating really fast, and, um..." He gasped not being able to speak. "It's really hard to breathe."
"Hey. No, it's normal." Cleveland assured him. "You're having a panic attack. It's okay. Okay, you look at me." The man snapped pulling Conrad's attention to him. "Deep breaths. Okay? In.Out. In. Out. Let it out, man."
After a couple minutes of Conrad repeating Cleveland's instructions he finally managed to calm down.
"Conrad, what's going on?"
"It's my mom. She..." The boy trailed off not knowing if he was ready to admit it to anyone yet.
"Everything okay?"
Conrad shook his head as tears filled his eyes once again. He needed to tell someone and get if off of his chest. Plus he trusted Cleveland.
Cleveland looked at the boy sympathetically. He could tell from the first time he met Conrad that he was struggling. He just had no idea how bad it was.
"There's a breathing technique for anxiety attacks. Four seconds inhale through your nose, seven to hold, eight to exhale."
"How do you know all this stuff?" Conrad wondered looking at the man next to him.
"It was when my second book came out. That's when I had my first full-blown panic attack. I went to the E.R. thinking I was having a heart attack." Cleveland explained causing them both to laugh. "Learned coping methods after that."
"Wow." Conrad mumbled shaking his head at his new friend.
"Maybe you should tell your mom you know." Cleveland suggested. He was actually quite shocked that Conrad opened up to him.
"Yeah, I know. I want to. I swear." The Fisher boy sighed looking out at the water. "But every time I try, I don't know how. I mean, she doesn't want me or my brother to know. Finding out would crush her." He explained. "It would ruin everything. I feel like maybe if-if I... I just keep it inside, you know... maybe that's what keeps her alive."
"You're afraid to step on a crack. You're afraid that you'll be the one to make it real." The man concluded after listening to Conrad. "This isn't something you can control. This is happening whether you say it out loud or not. Conrad, it's not on you. Okay?"
"It's not on me." He nodded.
Conrad knew he needed to talk to his mom about it. But he wanted to talk to Violet first. He knew she'd be supportive and help him gain the confidence to speak with Susannah. He just didn't want to upset Violet with the news.
♒︎
Belly was standing by the front door of the Fisher's house waiting for Taylor to arrive when Conrad came down the stairs.
The girl tried not to drool over his appearance. He was freshly out of the shower and sporting messy wet hair. Conrad had never looked better in her eyes.
"Hey, Belly." He cautiously greeted. Conrad had to remind himself that he was doing this for his mom and brother.
"Oh, hey." She smiled. Belly was honestly shocked he was speaking to her after what she did. But she wasn't complaining.
"Feeling good about the tournament?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." Belly nodded sipping on her smoothie.
"If you stay ready, you won't have to get ready." Conrad awkwardly stated. He really had no idea what he was saying but he was trying to be nice.
"That was cheesy." The Conklin girl giggled.
"Yeah." Conrad chuckled scratching the back of his neck. "You try coming up with a motivational phrase with no cheese."
"I'm thinking." Belly smiled pretending to act like she was actually thinking.
"Belly?"
"Yeah?" The girl asked confused why Conrad looked so serious all of a sudden.
"I was um..." He trailed off not knowing how to approach the subject. "I was wondering if you had a date to the ball?"
"What?" Belly was trying to play to cool but on the inside she was freaking out. She actually thought he was about to ask her to go with him.
"Well I just know that Jere would really like to take you so I was wondering if you'd maybe consider going with him."
"Uh, I'll-I'll think about it." The girl nodded feeling her heart slightly break.
"Cool." Conrad nodded and left Belly alone once again.
♒︎
Violet and Nicole arrived at the volleyball tournament ready to face the day. All morning Nicole had been super motivational. She helped the Montgomery girl plan out what she wanted to say to Conrad and she even taught her some moves for the game.
The two girls noticed Shayla talking with Taylor and Belly. Violet really did not want to go over to them but Nicole of course dragged her along.
"Hey guys." The girl smiled greeting the three girls.
Taylor and Shayla both smiled at the pair while Belly tried not to look at Violet. Now that the red head was in front of her she was feeling guilty about kissing Conrad.
"I like your visors." Taylor suddenly blurted out noticing the tension between Belly and Violet.
"Oh, thanks." Shayla laughed. "We got them this morning. Steven insisted on the green because he says it makes our eyes pop."
"Yeah. Yeah, they're really poppin'." Belly cut in making things even more awkward.
"Uh, so how long you in town for, Taylor?" Violet questioned the girl. She had no problem with the blonde. Violet was actually hoping to make a friend out of her after their last conversation.
"I don't know. I'm just gonna play it by ear."
"We'll have to hang out sometime when you're free."
"Yeah." The blonde nodded. "I'd like that."
Belly naturally didn't. In her eyes this was just another person that the Montgomery girl was trying to steal from her.
"Well, it was great to finally meet you. I'm glad to put a face to the name." Shayla spoke looking directly at Taylor.
"Yeah. I'm gonna go put on some sunscreen." Said girl awkwardly announced before totally abandoning Belly.
"So did you and Conrad get your shirts yet?" Shayla asked Violet.
"Oh uh no." She shook her head looking around for her boyfriend. "I think he might have them."
"Oh there he is! Hey Conrad!" Nicole exclaimed waving when she noticed Conrad out of the corner of her eye. "You should probably go get your team shirt!" The brunette smiled dramatically and nudged her friend towards the boy.
Violet sent Nicole a death glare before slowly moving towards her boyfriend.
Conrad was caught off guard when he heard someone yelling his name but his heart immediately began pounding when he saw Violet begin to walk towards him.
"Hey." The boy greeted her with a soft smile.
"Hi." Was all she replied avoiding eye contact. "Guess we should get our shirts."
"Oh uh yeah." He nodded not liking how awkward they were acting towards each other. They were normally super comfortable and could talk about anything. Just getting a hi from Violet was like pulling teeth.
The couple made their way towards Susannah who was in charge of the whole event. She helped the couple sign in and couldn't help her smile when she finally saw them in their team shirts.
"Aw you guys look so adorable!" The woman gushed making both teens blush.
"Thanks Susannah." Violet smiled warmly at the woman she thought of as a second mother.
"Good luck you guys!" She said giving them each a hug. "I'll secretly be rooting for you!"
Conrad held back a small smirk at his mom's comment knowing that she wasn't really allowed to root for any of the teams.
As the Fisher woman made her way towards the small stage the couple walked over to where the other teams were waiting for the games to begin.
"Good afternoon. I'm Susannah Fisher chair of the club's community service board, and I am delighted to welcome you to Play It Forward!" The blonde began speaking into the microphone earning some cheers from the crowd. "You know, as my mother used to say, if you're lucky enough to be at the beach, you're lucky enough. And we are very fortunate indeed which is why, in the spirit of fun and friendly competition it is time to open our hearts and our wallets and give back to those who may not be as fortunate."
"You okay?" Conrad suddenly spoke up gaining Violet's attention.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" The girl lied as she continued to listen to Susannah.
"We have teams raising money for homelessness, women's shelters, environmental causes and many more. And Play It Forward will match pledges for the winner of the tournament!" She smiled confidently.
"Vi I know something's wrong. You haven't been at the house for two days and you've been ignoring all of my calls and texts."
"Can we not do this right now." The red head hissed glancing at her boyfriend.
"We need to talk about this!" Conrad fought back.
"Pledge tables still open, so please donate generously. And with that, I say let the games begin!" Susannah concluded her speech.
"We're up!" Violet ignored him and began jogging towards the net that they were playing at first.
"Fuck." The Fisher boy breathed out as he followed after her. He wasn't going to let Violet ignore the situation. As soon as they were done playing they were going to talk.
The first match went fairly easy for Violet and Conrad. They played against Gigi and her date. They ended up winning pretty quickly. It was safe to say that Gigi was even worse at volleyball than Violet and that's saying something.
Their next two matches were against people Violet didn't know but the teams were a little more challenging than Gigi had been. Thankfully with Conrad doing most of the hard work they managed to win those matches as well.
Violet could feel herself beginning to let go as she played alongside Conrad. They both let themselves joke back and forth as they played. It was almost as if the previous days hadn't happened.
Unfortunately for Violet her next opponent was Belly. Somehow they had managed to be the last two teams. She knew there was absolutely no chance she was going to win against the Conklin girl not even with the help of Conrad. Violet could see Belly practically glaring her down from the other side of the net.
Conrad had noticed his girlfriends hesitance as she went to serve the ball. He knew she wasn't confident but he had faith in her.
"Okay. Let's do it." The boy cheered from beside her. "You got this Vi!"
Taking a deep breath Violet harshly sent the ball flying over the net towards Belly. The Conklin girl was ready and hit it as soon as it neared her.
The two team's continued to hit the ball occasionally scoring points. Both felt like they had to do their best. This was personal between Violet and Belly the same way it was between Conrad and Jeremiah.
"Let's go, Belly!" Jeremiah cheered when she scored a point.
"Come on!" Conrad yelled wanting to anger his brother. "We got this!"
Violet once again had the ball and sent it soaring straight at Belly. She wouldn't lie and say that she totally wasn't trying to hit the girl.
"You got it, you got it!" The boy exclaimed when happily celebrating when both Belly and Jeremiah missed it. "Yeah! Nice!"
"You got to dive for those." Belly snapped at Jeremiah. She was annoyed that he got in front of her to try and get the ball just to not even reach for it. "That's why we're on sand."
"All right." The curly haired boy joked. "Got to work on my dive, right?"
"Just focus, okay?" The brunette huffed. "They're good."
"Not as good as us." He smiled sweetly back at her.
"Don't look at me. Watch the ball." Belly cried when the ball once again came to Jeremiah and he missed it. "Jere, focus!"
"I'm sorry!"
The match continued for a little longer until both teams were tied for the last point.
Belly had just called a timeout so Conrad took this time to talk to Violet.
"Just focus on the ball okay?" He said gently rubbing her back. "We got this and even if we don't win we made it to the final two."
"Yeah." She nodded trying to calm her breathing. It was way too hot to be outside playing volleyball all day. "I honestly didn't think we'd make it past the first round."
"Neither did I." Conrad joked back.
"Connie!" Violet gasped shooting daggers at the boy who was laughing at her.
Conrad didn't have a chance to reply before the game was starting again.
"Okay here we go." The referee announced. "Next point wins!"
It was Belly's turn to serve. Instead of Violet sending the ball towards her she sent it straight to Violet. The red haired girl surely would have gotten hit in the face if it wasn't for Conrad jumping in front of her to hit the ball back.
The volleyball continued to go back and forth before Belly sent the winning blow. Violet attempted to dive for the ball but was unsuccessful.
"Yes!" Belly screamed happily jumping up and down.
Conrad smiled down at his girlfriend who was now covered in sand. The girl rolled her eyes at him before accepting his hand to help her up.
"And the winners are Isabel Conklin and Jeremiah Fisher!" Susannah announced as the crowd cheered for the teens.
"Oh, my gosh. You guys were incredible." Nicole complimented the couple turning to Violet. "And you said you weren't good at sports."
"I'm not!" The girl exclaimed. "Tell her Connie!"
"She really isn't." Conrad laughed looking down at his girlfriend.
"Well I think you did pretty good. Maybe you should join the volleyball team when you guys go home."
"That will never happen." Violet shook her head. "I don't know how people can do this! I'm literally about to pass out!"
"She's just dramatic." Conrad rolled his eyes.
"Yeah I've gathered that over the last couple of days." Nicole smiled unknowingly bringing the mood down.
That comment reminded the couple of reality. Violet was supposed to be mad at Conrad. And Conrad was supposed to be upset with her for ignoring him.
Conrad noticed how Violet's smile disappeared and how she suddenly avoided looking him in the eye. They needed to talk and they needed to do it now.