DISTRACTION CLUB pt. 2
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where the club gets back together (the real part 2)
a/n: commenting and voting helps me update!!
The hallway seemed narrower as Calista made her way through the house, the muted sounds of the party downstairs adding to the headache of her frustration. In that short period of time, every word, every action, and every conversation fell into place.
Descending the stairs, the lively party clashed with her thoughts. Secondary glances from drunk teenagers hinted at rumors that would certainly go around at a place like Cousins.
A breeze brushed her face as she pushed the door open. Not wanting to draw attention, she kept her head down to walk past Conrad, Jere, and Cam Cameron as they played what seemed to be an intense game of cup pong.
Despite her efforts, Cam Cameron spotted her, prompting the two brothers to look in her direction as he called out her name, "Cali?"
Briefly glancing at them, she turned away, determined to escape the interaction and keep them from seeing the flush of emotions on her face.
Jeremiah abandoned the game, with Conrad in tow, pursuing her as she moved away from the house, "where are you going? You can be on Conrad's team!" He held back a comment that she was missing the fun because the swing of the door cut him off.
"Cali!" Belly's voice rang out as she ran out of the house, "please!"
Unyielding, Calista kept walking, but Conrad caught her elbow, pressing for an explanation. "Calista, what's wrong?" It wasn't a surprise that Conrad could still read her like a book. He knew something was wrong before Cam called her out.
Once Belly came outside, Jere who was evidently drunk, went to her, leaving Conrad with Calista. Cali didn't mind, as long as she wasn't talking to her.
Conrad took her hands, unraveling them from their clenched state then spoke up, "Before you tell me—"
"It was her, Conrad."
Confusion clouded Conrad's expression. "Who?"
"Belly!" Calista tried to catch her breath, her words rushing out. "That day—by Bambi, with the lights and blankets—"
"How do you know about that?" He tried to hold it down but he started to feel anger, that day he waited for hours. "You never showed."
"I did," she replied, frustration evident. "I saw you with another girl, so I left."
"What?" Conrad's realization hit, "only Belly was..." Another girl had indeed come briefly, confusing Conrad about her presence. He spoke lowly making eye contact, "Belly was the only one with the location."
Jeremiah made his way back to the pair, cutting through the conversation they were having with their eyes, "Belly's leaving, what's that about?" He watched Cali walk back towards the house, "Ummm ok."
Conrad followed the girl, still processing the information he was given. He remembered feeling betrayed in a sense the night he wanted to make whatever they had official.
Reflecting on that day, Conrad did remember Belly thinking the setup was for her, then acting weird once she figured out it was for Calista instead. In his combination of nervousness and anger that day, he never put the obvious pieces together.
It made sense why Belly suddenly showed more interest in him after that day, and how he had to make it clear that she wasn't interested after that. He knew that Belly had some sort of feelings for him, but didn't know she would drag Calista, who seemed like her closest friend, into getting hurt from her actions.
If anything, he was angry at himself for letting his and Calistas relationship drift as far as it did. He should've let go of his anger and talk to her about it. If he did, then they wouldn't have been in the current mess that was unfolding.
All of this time, they were mad at each other for nothing. The things he said to Calista because of an event that was out of their control made him feel more guilty than ever. This whole time he beleived that standing him up was Calista's way of getting rid of him, but in reality it was all because of Belly's jealousy.
The truth made him feel a different kind of anger than he was used to, he felt like finding Belly and asking her for the truth and to admit to everything. He was close to choosing that until he thought about Calista, the more he thought about her, the more calm he felt, realizing that he should never let anything get in the way of him communicating with her. It was then when Conrad desperately felt the need to fix everything.
He felt a nudge on his shoulder, "You too?" Nicole asked. He glanced at Cali who watched their interaction.
"Wait what?" he had no idea what she was talking about.
Nicole's hand rested on Conrad's shoulder "Do you want to stay the night also? Cali just asked."
He stole another glance at Calista, "Yeah sure," then shrugged Nicole's hand off as subtly as he could, but with the information he got still on his mind, it turned what was supposed to be a light shrug into a harsh one.
Nicole stepped back in shock, looking between Conrad and the girl who he followed into the house. She noticed that Calista seemed irritated, "you ok?"
"Yeah," she brushed her hair out her face, "I just need to lay down or something, I have a headache."
"Ok yeah, there's an empty room in the basement you can crash in."
"I'll get you water," Conrad offered but didn't wait for her response, instead disappearing further into the house.
-x-
After finding a couple bottles of water, Conrad made his way downstairs, the whole time focused on what he should say to Calista. Knowing she had a headache, he didn't want to say too much until she was ready, but he had so many questions.
He wanted to say everything. He wanted to ask how she figured it out, apologize further about what he said, and especially wanted to ask where their relationship stood now that they knew the truth.
He made his way to Nicole's extra bedroom and stood at the closed door. His thoughts were all over the place: Should he knock? Well yes he knew he should knock, but how many times? What if she was asleep already? What if she didn't want to see him?
After a few moments, he decided that he would just let her talk and see what happens.
After knocking, he heard shuffling on the other side of the door for a couple seconds until it was opened. Calista looked at him, then her eyes traveled down to the bottles in his hand, "Wanna share?"
"Oh yeah," he handed one of the bottles to her, "I brought more than one just incase you needed more."
"Ok thank you," she twisted the cap, walking back to the bed. "You can leave them over there." She pointed to the small desk by the door.
Taking that as an invitation to enter the room she was claiming for the night, Conrad made his way to the desk to set the water down. After, he turned around to see Calista looking at him. He stood there, causing Calista to speak up at his awkwardness, "You good?"
"I'm sorry." Conrad let out suddenly, abandoning his original plan to let her do all the talking. "About everything," he sighed walking closer to the bed Calista was in, "for the things I said, the things I did, what I didn't do, what Belly did—"
She cut him off, "Don't apologize for Belly's actions, you did nothing."
He looked at who he used to call his best friend, "It's just... I let my anger get into the way of communicating with you and if I didn't we would still—"
"Don't," Calista pulled down the covers to sit on the edge of the bed and pulled his arm down for him to sit too, "Don't apologize, I just..." She looked down, figiting with her hands. She knew it probably wasn't the best time for her to be having this conversation, but she was so eagar to talk to Conrad, "I dont know what to think anymore, with all the secrets and the weird converations, I wish it didn't turn out like this."
Conrad nodded, noticing the high amount of fustration Calista was feeling. He wished the same thing. He watched Calista rested her head in her palms, and made the split second decision to hug her. As he wrapped his arms around her, he felt half his stress melt away, and hoped it had the same influence on her emotions.
Both members of the distraction club would never admit it, but the embrace was what they both needed that night.
-x-
any predictions, suggestions or comments?
(commenting and voting also helps me to update)
question: what is your favorite dystopian movie/book?