FOUR ❀ LOVE GAME.
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[italics=flashbacks]
bella's pov:
that night after conrad and steven came back in and we finished it happened one night, we all headed upstairs to go to bed.
i woke up early in the morning and walked out of my bedroom to head downstairs and see if anyone else was up.
when i got to the kitchen i stood behind one of the walls and noticed someone washing dishes.
i turned to stay hidden, but took another look.
it was mom. she had short, choppy, blonde hair, and was staring off into the distance.
i hear someone say "mom" and stood still, noticing as mom turned her face and then turned back. it wasn't mom, it was aunt julia.
"oh, yeah hi skye" she says as she turns the water off.
"i know we're not in california, but save a little water" skye jokes to aunt julia.
i shook my head. why was i seeing mom everywhere. it's like a haunting memory, seeing her everywhere, because she's not here. and that hurts the most.
i'm soon pulled out of my thoughts as my cousin skye says "oh, bella hey."
"hey, um sorry, i was just seeing who all was down here" i say to skye.
skye smiles and points at the muffins on the bar and says "want one?"
i shake my head saying yes, as aunt julia says "uh, no. those are for the open house."
i then hear double doors to the backyard open and conrad and jeremiah walk in.
"morning, oh hey did someone get muffins?" jere asks, walking into the kitchen with conrad.
i shake my head yes at them and then hear conrad say "you didn't tell me she was here too."
"it's they, not she" skye says shaking their head before continuing "god, i guess it's been like a decade since i saw you guys."
conrad and jeremiah shake their heads saying ok to their statement as skye says "how are you guys doing since your mom?"
"it's been rough" i answer as a frown appears on skye's face.
"rougher now that our aunt's stealing our house" conrad bites back.
aunt julia makes a tightlipped smile and says "i'm not stealing anything conrad. like it or not, i get to choose what happens to this house and i choose to put it on the market" she turns around to throw something away before continuing "you guys should get on the road. beat the traffic back to boston."
"we're actually staying for the open house" jeremiah tells her, with a slight smirk on his face.
"uh, no, no, no. i can't have a bunch of teenagers chasing everybody away. call your father, because this isn't an aunt julia problem" she says, shaking her head.
conrad steps forward and says "except it is. because you are the problem."
aunt julia shakes her head as she says "i don't have time for this" before heading to clean a different part of the house.
"conrad she's still your family" skye says to him, hopeful that he'll stop being as rude as he is.
"then why is she doing this to us?" he questions them.
skye shrugs their shoulders and says "this is hard for her too."
"really? seems like she's doing this pretty fucking easily" he bites back, once again.
conrad walks away, and then i head up too, to see if belly and steven are up yet.
when i walk upstairs i notice that belly's awake, but steven's still asleep.
i go to my room to get clothes to get in the shower.
after i'm out of the shower, i'm standing by the door drying my hair when steven walks up to me in rocket ship pajamas. i laugh out loud and he points to his phone, signaling that he's on the phone.
i shake my head and whisper "what are you wearing right now?"
steven pulls the phone away from his ear and covers the microphone before whispering "i forgot mine ok, and these were the only ones left in the drawer" i giggle and he continues "and they're fucking comfortable ok."
"why are you whispering right now?" i question him.
"cause laurel" he says, still covering the microphone.
i then hear laurel on the other line say "is that bella?"
"uh, yes, it's bella" he says to his mom.
after a few seconds steven ends the phone call with his mother and says "love you, thank you, bye!"
"you're so stupid, i was literally spending the night at your house like a day ago, why are you trying to act like you're with no one?" i ask him, giggling as he walks away, smiling and rolling his eyes playfully.
i then head to belly's room to talk to her about what happened this morning
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a little while later, me, steven and jere are in the kitchen eating breakfast when conrad and belly come in.
"aunt julia said the ac is broken" conrad says to us.
"yeah, no shit, it's hot in here" i joke as steven lets out a chuckle.
aunt julia comes into the kitchen and says "today's open house has been canceled, so i need you all out of the house while i get the ac guy here to do some work. also who is the ac guy?" as she goes through drawers trying to see if she can find a phone number or something.
"uh, do you want me to look one up for you?" skye asks their mom.
"uh, no, no, that's okay. i'm certain susannah has her preferred technician and four approved backups right here" aunt julia says, as she takes a piece of paper out of a drawer, which i'm guessing has a technicians number on it.
"great, now we don't have to lie to the buyers about black mold" i say to her.
"i'm not leaving" conrad states sternly.
from beside me i hear steven say "conrad come on man."
"yeah, we've won this round, let's get out of here" jeremiah says, trying to talk him into leaving.
"the mall has good ac" i joke to everyone, trying to lighten the mood.
after a few minutes of taking conrad into going somewhere, he finally agrees.
we were about to walk out of the kitchen to leave when belly says "hey, you should come with us skye."
"oh, um, sounds very state fair. i think i should just stay with you, right?" they say, turning towards their mom.
aunt julia smiles at them and says "no. wasn't my favorite, but you might like it."
"i shouldn't just stay with you?" skye asks their mom.
"no, i'll be fine. after this, i'm going to go back to the hotel for a nap" aunt julia states.
"guess i'm coming with you guys" skye says smiling at us.
we all walk out of the house to leave, belly, jere, connie and skye get in jere's car, while i get into my car with steven driving.
once we drive away from the house, i connect my phone and play, never really over, by katy perry,
as steven rests his hand on my thigh the whole way there.
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once we get to the boardwalk, we get ice cream.
we head out of the ice cream shop to sit a little closer to the water and decide what we want to do from there.
"susannah used to force my mom to come here when they were kids. my mom always hated it, but susannah loved it so much" skye states, walking with us.
"you know what else my mom loved, the beach house" conrad says back to them.
skye let's out a scoff and says "my mom's not evil conrad. and your mom wasn't a saint."
why would they say that to any of us. mom just died, and skye's talking about how mom wasn't a saint, when clearly her mom definitely isn't.
belly notices the tension and says "so, skye have you ever played shoot your shot?"
"no, and i'm fine keeping it that way" skye says back.
"well do you wanna watch me beat conrad's ass?" belly asks, laughing.
conrad laughs before saying "you could not do that."
"i wouldn't hate watching that" skye says to belly.
belly smiles wide before saying "you think you still got it conrad?"
"ok, no, please, not another great boardwalk showdown" steven says, as i laugh.
belly argues back and says "oh, come on please?"
skye looks confused for a minute and so i say "so we used to do this big tournament every year when we were kids."
"yeah, well every year until belly and conrad got to competitive, and then my mom banned us from ever playing again" steven states, laughing.
"are you down jere?" conrad asks, looking over at jeremiah.
he shakes his head yes and then skye says "ok, well i should um- i should head out."
"no" i say to them before continuing "it's to late you're already on me and belly's team."
skye smiles and shakes their head.
"so what's the prize then?" jere asks everyone.
"candy, like usual?" i ask, with a small smile.
they all agree and steven says "ok, but like we have to start in the arcade, it's hot as balls out here."
we all head to the arcade and go into the laser tag spot.
we split into teams, us girls and skye, and all the guys.
"all right everyone, the games are best out of five" conrad states.
we all argue about who's gonna win for a minute and then we yell in each other's faces and flip each other off before running into the room.
"first to 21 wins" jere yells, running with the boys.
we chase each other around, our team winning for a while, but the boys soon catch up.
"bella, bella" steven says, trying to find me.
i round a corner and run up behind him, shooting him in the back with the laser tag gun.
steven groans and yells "no!" i laugh at his madness before he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, yelling at jere to shoot me out too.
once the game is over, and the boys win, like always, we head out to play a different game.
"hey wanna play capture the flag with me?" i ask steven, grabbing onto his arm, holding his hand.
he smiles and says "yeah, so i can beat your ass" causing me to giggle. "but i gotta take a pee break though."
i let him go to bathroom as i go and wait with conrad and jere, belly in the bathroom too.
skye comes up to us and says "so do guys remember the last time we saw each other?"
jere smiles and says "i remember you were a lot smaller."
"ah, yes. thank you puberty. um yeah, it was, uh... it was the christmas just after grandpa died" they say.
"i remember you and your mom bailed christmas morning. mom had cooked a huge breakfast. she was heartbroken" conrad says to them.
skye sighs and says "yeah. my mom was hoping it would be a chance to clear the air about all the shit from the past. your mom wanted it to be picture-perfect christmas. so, um, they fought and we left. my mom cried the whole plane ride home. i mean, we had pizza for christmas dinner. it became kind of a tradition. call it "shitmas."
"it sucks that our moms never got to work their shit out" i say smiling.
"yeah i mean the beach house is pretty cool. would have been nice to spend some time there with you guys" skye says to us.
just then we see steven and belly walk back up to us from the bathroom smiling.
"ready to have your ass kicked?" i ask, teasing steven.
we run over to the rock climbing wall and steven starts climbing up it.
"wait, wait, wait, you actually can't do that without a harness" i hear a familiar voice say.
i look over and see a dark curls and a familiar face. cam cameron.
"oh my gosh, cam cameron!" me and belly yell running over to hug him.
"hi, hey guys" he says, hugging back, then letting go to see everyone else.
"cam cameron?!" jere asks, surprised to see him.
"are we in trouble?" i ask, getting worried.
"oh, i mean officially, there's no horseplay on or around the rock wall, but unofficially, it's the most exciting thing to happen all day" cam states, smiling.
we introduce skye to cam cameron and then me and steven harness up to climb the rock wall.
"it's just me and you now b" steven says, smiling at me.
"i always knew we'd end up here" i say, smiling too.
steven furrows his eyebrows and says "what, where?"
"me beating your ass into the ground" i say smirking at him.
"and go" cam states. me and steven start climbing the wall.
i'm almost at the top, but then my foot slips, causing me to let go of the wall and swing back, i can hear everyone laughing below me, making me laugh too. steven makes it to the top, and grabs the flag, the boys yell, praising him and then we get back down to the floor.
when i get out of the harness i hear steven in front of me say "oops- i think i beat you" putting the flag in my face and thing snatching it away.
i giggle as i say "yeah, yeah, shut up."
we then walk outside to play shoot your shot. this was always me and steven, and belly and conrad's game.
belly and conrad start battling to see who can win and then belly ends up winning.
"oh my gosh, yes good job bells!" i yell, running up to her.
"what prize are you gonna get?" conrad asks her.
belly ends up getting a giraffe and then we go head to play another game.
being at this boardwalk brings back so many memories. good ones, like ones with the moms and the group, and bad ones, like getting my heart broken for the first time.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2018
me and steven are at the boardwalk walking around. i had a bag of cotton candy in my hand, walking beside him.
"hey, wanna go play ring toss?" steven asks me.
i smile big at him before saying "yeah."
we walk over to the ring toss station, and that's when i notice the girl he's looking at.
she has pretty, long brown hair, and straight teeth, and she's skinny.
that's why he'd wanted to come to the boardwalk. not to be with me without the boys teasing him. he'd wanted to see her. he'd come to see her.
i could feel hot tears prick my eyes as i ask the girl "can we get four rings?"
she smiles at me and says "yeah sure."
i look over at steven and realize that he's still staring at the girl.
i put on my best fake smile and say "hey, i'm gonna go get a water, win me a prize, ok."
i walk away and let the tears come down.
a few minutes go by, and now i'm off the ferris wheel, getting a water.
i can feel a presence beside me and i hear them clear their throat.
i look over to the person and notice it was steven.
"how come you never came back?" he asks, his voice shaking a little.
"i uh, i just thought you'd come and find me" i lie.
he shakes his head ok and says "sorry i couldn't win you something, i spent all my money playing it and still couldn't win."
my heart clenched in my chest. he spent all his money on me, maybe, just maybe he cared.
"it's fine" i say to him coldly.
"wanna go on the ferris wheel?" he asks hopefully.
i shake my head and say "i already did" before walking away, him following close behind me.
the worst part was that he was trying to be nice. he didn't know that my heart was breaking.
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we walked back into the the arcade so that cam cameron could get some of his stuff and so we could cool off.
i walk up to steven, who was playing an arcade game and say "hey, uh, steven."
he turns around and sits back on something to be on the same height level as me and says "yeah."
i smile and raise my eyebrows as i say "isn't it um, just such a coincidence that the ac broke during a heat wave right after the future engineering student arrived?"
"i don't know what you're talking about" he giggles.
"really?" i ask smiling.
he mumbles an "mm-hmm" as i giggle and run over to see belly.
a few minutes later, jeremiah and skye had done a dance off and skye had won, making me and belly cheer for them.
i grab steven's hand a run over to cam and say "go-cart time."
we all run over to do a go-cart race. and after a few minutes of getting ready and cam putting up a sick sign so that people wouldn't come over to the station and try to ride in the go-carts, we finally start.
i'm in a cart with skye and belly's in one by herself.
cam then tells us to start and we go.
it's very disappointing because i actually thought we had this one in the bag, but we didn't, saying as the boys won.
we get out of the carts and i groan as steven says "you snooze you lose b."
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"pay up belly" steven says, teasing belly for losing.
"now i can see why mom banned us from playing" belly states, picking up a bag of candy and looking at the price.
"i can pay. i mean i've made a bunch of money shorting bitcoin" skye says, smiling.
i smile at them and say "you're like the coolest person i've ever met."
we end up buying the boys a big bag of skittles, and then head out so that belly can ride tower of terrors.
"make sure you guys are really buckled up" steven yells at belly and jere, i go to hit him in the stomach but he grabs my arm and pulls me to him, and holds me from behind by my waist.
jere ended up riding the ride with belly, which i thought was so so sweet, but i can't help but feel bad for connie, i mean he was, he is head over heels for her.
after belly and jere get off the ride, we yell for them and cheer for them for finally doing it.
we then head to the front of the boardwalk to get in our cars.
cam cameron walks out, while talking to belly and belly asks "wanna come home with us?"
he smiles and shakes his head yes before saying "yeah, yeah of course."
we all head to the cars and i tell steven "hey, i'm gonna ride home with jere so i can eat some skittles, connie can ride with you."
steven smiles and shakes his head ok and then says "ok, be careful love you."
i smile big and say "i love you too" before getting into jere's red jeep.
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steven's pov:
i get into bella's car to drive back to the beach house, and conrad gets into the passenger seat beside me.
i drive away from the boardwalk and conrad says "i can't believe i'm saying this but today was a lot of fun."
i smile and shake my head in agreement before saying "yeah, today was so much fun man."
conrad smiles and says "so you and bella are back together?"
"yeah" i say with a big smile on my face "yeah dude, i mean i love her so much."
conrad shakes his head smiling and says "she loves you too dude, a lot."
"yeah, i mean today i remembered when i'm pretty sure i broke her heart at the same boardwalk, like the summer i started loving her, and i wish i could go back and change that. but i can't. so i'm gonna be as good to her as i possibly can." i say sadly, smiling at the thought of getting to love her though.
conrad smiles and says "yeah be good to her man, she deserves someone as good as you."
a few moments later, i look over at conrad and say "ok look, not that i want you to start things up again, but i noticed that there was a vibe between you and belly earlier."
"what?" conrad says to me, shaking his head and smiling.
i laugh and say "it was just an observation man."
conrad laughs back and says "i appreciate your observation" before looking out the car window.
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bella's pov:
when we get to the house, i hop out of the car to wait for steven to get out.
once he does, he locks the door and smiles at me and grabs my hand, and we start walking up to the house.
"oh my god, i can not wait to crash in my bed" he says groaning.
i laugh and say "or you take a shower first, that's disgusting dude."
he looks at me and scrunches his nose in a cute way as we walk into the house.
when we walk in my heart drops at the sight.
everything's gone. the couch we used to sit at and watch movies, the dining room table that we used to eat at as a group. and mom's paintings. the paintings from last summer are gone.
i hear jeremiah say "what the fuck" from beside me.
i hear connie and belly come up behind me and into the house.
we all look around and then at each other.
what the fuck did aunt julia do?
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<3
i'm so sorry if this feels rushed, but i hope you guys enjoy!