(A/N FLASHBACKS ARE IN ITALICS)
After Adam leaves, Skye and Julia prepare to head out.
"I guess this is goodbye," Skye says, "Let's keep in contact this time."
We all laughed at their joke, "It was so nice to meet you!" I say to them.
Jere gives them a hug along with Conrad, "Sorry for being an asshole," He says.
"We're good," Skye gives him a smile.
With that, Skye and Julia head off back home, it was so nice to make a new friend. Susanah may be out of our lives, but that does not mean we have to all leave one another.
"I got into Stanford," Conrad says abruptly while we stand in the front yard waving goodbye.
"What?" I yell, "Fucking A man! I'm so proud of you!" I went to hug him.
"Wait... how are you going to go if you miss your exams?" I say.
"Exactly, I can't even go. I don't have any of my shit." Conrad says while throwing his hands up dramatically.
"Well, you're lucky we brought all of your things," Belly says with a smile.
"Oh thank god Belly!" He says while running to hug her. Maybe Connie and Belly could work out again, hopefully, this time they won't abandon one another.
And just like that, we decided to pull an all-nighter to help Connie study. There is one problem, we all are fucking exhausted.
We re-enter the house and check the time, "It's already four, holy shit," Jere says.
I yawn and feel like I could just fall asleep right there.
"Hey, hey!" Belly yells at me, "No time to sleep, we need to study!"
"Just a quick nap," I say desperately.
"Please," Jere joins me in begging, we are so desperate we even give out our best puppy-dog eyes.
"Fine, a quick nap."
I scream happily as Jere and I go to the air mattress in his room. It's deflated.
"Great..." I say.
We run back to the living room and just find a spot on the ground and use one another as a pillow. Conrad is already deep asleep.
I don't know how but somehow Jeremiah is better than a pillow. I either slept good because of that or because I was super fucking tired.
I suppose a few hours go by because when Belly wakes us up it's already dark out.
"Wakey wakey!" She yells.
I'm a light sleeper so I wake up immediately and look over to find Jere still sleeping peacefully.
Belly has a squirt bottle in her hand. I give her a quick nod as she hands me it and I pour the water on his face.
He wakes up un-distraught, "Good Morning Lauren," He says peacefully.
He starts to sniff, "McDonalds?" He yells and jumps up.
He reaches for a burger and Belly swats his hand, "No, These are a crucial part of the reward system."
"Why does he get one?" Jere asks, referring to Steven eating one. Steven just shrugs his shoulders.
"All right, this is how it's gonna work. Conrad studies, he gets a burger." Belly explains to us.
"What about us?" I asked her, I was super hungry and wanted anything to eat.
"Conrad studies, you get a burger."
I nod my head to this, Conrad better study man because those burgers have my name on them.
With that, we all start to study aggressively. Jere and I make notecards as Belly quizzes him, Steven underlines 'important' words for Connie. We have a system down, and if I do say so myself, it's working rather well!
It's nearing midnight and I start to doze off again.
"No, stay awake, I know what we need," she begins to play music, the song is 'Last Nite' by The Strokes.
We all started to dance and I swayed my hips all over Jere, he couldn't stop laughing.
I never would've pictured this. It's different than if Susannah was still here. But I think she'd approve.
Throughout the night we continue to have abrupt dance parties, doing pushups, and even a burping contest.
Eventually, we finally finished studying. I'm pretty sure I saw Steven fall asleep while highlighting something, that's some real commitment.
~
The next morning we are on the road to Brown. Steven heads back with Mom so it's Belly and Conrad in the back, and Jere and I in the front of Jere's red jeep. We leave Conrad's car behind in Cousins. Connie said he's going back there right after the exams anyway.
I'm playing on my phone when I get a text. It's from Conrad, it makes me confused since he's right behind me.
One New Message
I'm going to tell Belly how I feel -Conrad
I text him back.
You like her?? -Lauren
I can't help but smile.
"Why are you so happy Laur?" Jere asked while reaching for my hand.
"Nothing, I'm just in a good mood," I say.
~
Before things got really bad with Sussanah, Jere and I tried to spend as much time together (at least before we broke up).
On Valentine's Day, Jeremiah surprised me. I had no idea he was coming but he made such a grand gesture. I remember every detail.
It was a Friday and I had a long and exhausting day at school. I wanted nothing more than to just sleep off my boredom.
But I couldn't.
Once I got upstairs I saw a trail of roses leading to my bedroom door. I was extremely confused. For some reason, I thought Steven was trying to prank me.
But no, when I opened the door, there he was, my Jeremiah holding a bouquet of flowers.
He had made a homemade bouquet of them too, my favorite flowers of all time were sunflowers, and there he had a bunch of sunflowers mixed with some lilies.
"Jere!" I yelled as I jumped into his arms.
"Hey, beautiful!"
I gave him a big kiss on the lips, "What are you doing here?" I ask excitedly.
"It's Valentine's Day, I had to see you," He said back.
With that, I smacked our lips together once more.
I hear my Mother come, "Jeremiah!" She yelled while going to hug him. Then after her Steven and Belly flooded downstairs.
"So, what do you want to do Jere?" I ask him.
"Movie?"
I look at our closet theater showings and for Valentine's Day, they are playing Romeo and Juliet 1996. Of course, we went to see it.
Whenever I see Leonardo DiCaprio I can't help but squeal, he is so fine in this movie.
But, my mind will always think Jere is superior.
~
We pull into Brown and wish Connie good luck as he goes off to take his tests.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Jere asks while looking around.
"I'm going to stay, and explore the campus a little," Belly says.
"Want to go explore Finch Laur? It's only fifteen minutes away."
"Sure!" I say in response. My dream school with my dream boy.
We drive to Finch and begin our exploration of our future campus.
"I can't believe we got into the same college and had no idea."
"It's funny," he starts, "I'm sure my Mom would be so happy for us right now," He intertwined our fingers together.
"She is happy right now, I'm sure she's having a themed party right now."
He laughs at my joke, "You're probably right," He flashes me a big smile.
I stop walking and he looks at me, I just smile and go to kiss him.
We stop in at a little cafe and order coffee. I get an Iced Mocha and he gets a French Vanilla.
"Will you always prefer hot over cold?'' I ask him as we sit.
"Yup! Warm is just better,"
"Huh, it's like the olive theory," I say.
"We're drinking coffee, not olives," He says as a comeback and I laugh.
"No, you've never heard of the olive theory?" I ask surprised.
"No, I do like olives though," He says, "And you hate them."
"That I do," I say while giggling. Maybe the Olive Theory is true.
We drive back to Brown after our coffee date and see Belly and Conrad kissing. I squeal.
"Yes!" I scream at Jeremiah, "They finally fucking did it!"
I run out and scream at them.
"Fucking finally!" I yell.
They both just laugh.
"So, how did the tests go?" I ask Connie.
"Really good!"
"Now what?" Jere asks.
Belly responds, "I'm going to help Connie pack up, then we're going back to Cousins.''
"How are you going to get there?" I ask.
"By bus, Con left his car in Cousins so we can just get it when we get back."
"Did you ask Mom?"
"Yup, she said it's fine."
Jere and I both nod, "Okay, well, I'll take you home Laur."
I give Connie a big hug and whisper, "I'm proud of you."
He smiles at me, then I give Belly a quick hug.
"Okay, then, see you guys later I guess," I laugh.
Jere and I drive away as they wave us off.