──────────── this love.
𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄, 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘍𝘖𝘖𝘓
𝟢𝟦𝟢. love fool
JEREMIAH FISHER hadn't always been the rational kind. His plans weren't always the smartest either. Especially this one: the plan to essentially break in to the country club and stay the night. Tate would have disagreed or put up a fight, but she was exhausted.
It was eerily quiet and the lights were out. Tate had never really been there with no one else—but she also had only been here a handful of times. "So what do we do now?"
"Could we scavenge for food?" Skye asks, grabbing their stomach. "I need something in my system other than sugar."
"Allow me to escort you to the kitchen," Cam says.
"Actually, wait. Can I come with you? I have really specific snacks requirements."
Steven shakes his head. "Uh-uh, Taylor. No, you're coming with me. We'll fashion, like, blankets out of, like, curtains and some shit."
"No, I'm on snack patrol right now."
"Okay. So?" he asks. "I need your loud ass voice to scare away all the murderers."
She nods sarcastically. "Yeah, I'm Team Murderers."
"Okay, fine. No, I mean as long as you're cool with, like, sleeping on, like, dusty, polyester sheets."
Taylor groans quietly and turns around. "I hate you so much. Why do you need help with this?"
Tate giggles as she watches them leave, then looks at the remaining five. "I'm gonna go with Cam and Skye, my stomach is killing to get some food in it. Anyone else coming?"
Adrian shrugs. "I'll go."
"Me too." Conrad nods.
Tate nods and looks over at Jeremiah. "Jere?"
"I actually think I know a place we can sleep." He walks toward the hallway. "You wanna come, Bells?"
Belly looks at him. "I'll catch up with you later."
Tate can see a small frown on Jeremiah's face when he nods, turning over his shoulder and walking down the hallway. Tate clearly her throat awkwardly. "Uh, we'll be in the kitchen..."
Tate and Adrian turn and walk down the opposite hall toward the kitchen, walking in to see Skye and Cam laughing about something while they sort through the food. Adrian claps his hands as soon as he walks in, rubbing them together while he walks over to them. "All right, what do we got?"
"Uh.." Cam looks over at the food. "Some canapés, and sandwiches and cookies."
Tate gasps, racing over and grabbing one of the chocolate chip cookies and stuffing it into her mouth. "Oh, my God. These are so good."
Adrian grabs one, taking a bite out of it and nods in contempt. Behind him, the doors open and Conrad walks through.
"Yo, Con, come have one of these cookies. They're the best." Adrian says, waving him over.
Conrad rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head. "I'm good, but thanks."
"Your loss," Adrian shrugs.
Conrad stands beside Tate as she munches on the cookie, but he doesn't go unnoticed. His presence beside her and so close to her sends a chill down her back, stalling her chews.
Cam walks over with a rolling cart. "All right, you guys, you can throw those canapés on this cart. And I don't think anybody's gonna notice, 'cause they always prep way too much food for deb season anyway. So..."
"Sounds good to me," Skye nods.
Conrad's phone dings in his pocket, offering a sly glance from Tate before he clicked it off and shoved it back in his pocket. She shrugs it off and grabs a pan of canapés, moving it to the cart.
"I heard something crazy today," Cam announces. "You know that guy Liam Meyer? That rich kid from the East Side? I heard he bought a Maserati and then crashed it two days later."
Adrian hums. "Seems like something Tate would do."
Tate rolls her eyes. "All right, Mr. Has five unpaid speeding tickets."
Skye chuckles at the siblings. "Okay, so I know the answer is likely 'daddy's money,' but, uhm, how did a kid afford a Maserati?"
"Yeah, well, that was a whole other thing, because, uh, his grandparents had, like, this trust fund for him. He got a judge to let him access it a couple years early. Boom. Maserati."
Conrad's head pipes up. "He got a judge involved?"
Tate can see the gears turning in his head and he knew exactly what he was thinking. She silently thought he was insane.
"Yeah, his parents were pissed."
Skye shakes their head. "Cam Cameron, fountain of gossip. I did not expect that side of you."
Cam shrugs shyly. "You know, I have layers."
Tate's eyes widen as the scene unfolding in front of her and she coughs lightly. She points behind her. "Okay, well, uh... I'm gonna go search for something to drink. Any requests?"
"Oh, uh... don't take any alcohol. They'll know it it's missing." Cam says.
"Yes, sir. No alcohol." Tate points at him in agreement and walks away. She lets out a sigh of relief, thankful to have escaped before it became too unbearable to take.
She makes her way to the opposite side of the kitchen and smiles at the shelves of soda and waters. She takes a few water bottles from the bottom shelf and smiles at the case of Coke up top. She assesses her surroundings before shrugs and starts to climb.
Her foot lands on the shelf and she pulls herself up. A cry leaves her mouth when she slips and falls back. She trips over a cord on the ground and she lands into the back shelf, her head hitting the metal as she falls to the ground.
She sits on the floor, grabbing the back of her head and groans. "Fuck me."
Tate slowly pushes herself to her feet and dusts herself off, looking up to see Conrad rounding the corner with his hands in his pockets. "You all right? I heard a loud noise."
She nods, clutching the back of her head. "I'm good, just banged up my head."
"You're really clumsy, you know that?" Conrad laughs.
Tate side-eyes him playfully. "Thanks, Einstein."
He shakes his head before waving her over. "Okay, come here." Tate looks at him eerily. "Just come here."
Tate sighs and moves to stand in front of Conrad. She looks at him and he reaches behind her, grabbing her head. "There's not a bump, but do you feel okay? Is anything blurry or do you feel nauseous?"
Tate nods. "I feel fine. I just have a headache."
Conrad nods. "Okay. Keep an eye on it and let me know if you start to feel sick."
Tate smiles slightly. "Sure thing, Doc."
Conrad looks down at her, smiling slightly as his hand runs through her hair. She looks at him, but couldn't make out his face. She couldn't tell what he was thinking or what he was going to do. All she knew was that her heart skipped a beat when she caught him glance down to her lips.
She jumps away from him, clearing her throat. "So, uh... pre-med. You still thinking about switching majors?"
Conrad rubs the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. I think so."
"Cool. Cool." Tate nods and reaches down for the water bottles on the ground, deciding to scratch the Coke.
Conrad watches as she scrambles to fit eight water bottles in her arms. He laughs slightly as she persists, despite dropping each one.
He always admired her determination. Tate was the kind of girl who never stopped until she was finished. She persisted no matter what—it was her most admirable quality. Guess that's why she kept coming back to him even thought all he did was hurt her. She was determined to get what she wanted. Now, she didn't know what she wanted.
Conrad thinks he might, though.
"Hey, Tate." Tate glances up after securing the last water bottle and Conrad opens his mouth. He doesn't get anything out because Adrian is showing up around the corner.
"Hey, Jeremiah found—" Adrian stops himself. Why are they looking at each other like that?
Tate and Conrad both look his way. "We're headed out. Jeremiah found a place for us to sleep."