𝑫𝑰𝑨𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑫// 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑹𝑨𝑫 𝑭𝑰𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑹¹

𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦

☾

More than halfway through the drive, we stopped at a gas station to get some gas and snacks. As soon as we walked in we went straight for the chips, Belly picked up a bag of Cheetos and I grabbed a bag of Fritos. Belly dug in straight away

"Hey," I turned to see the cashier eyeing down Belly, she didn't care though, she just turned around toward the drinks. I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and she grabbed a Coke and walked toward the cashier to pay

"Are you guys new this summer?" He asked as we set our stuff down "Uh, Us? No." Belly says with a confused look on her

"Really? Hmm," He said grabbing the bag of chips and scanning it, "Thought I knew every pretty girl in Cousins," He said locking eyes with Belly

"Coming to the bonfire tonight?" He asks her as he continues to scan our stuff "First of the season," He says flashing a smile

"Uh, maybe?" She says looking at me "Come. I'll introduce you to some of my friends."

"Maybe we will." She said smiling awkwardly "After we get settled do you want to go to Whale of a Tale with me so I can pre-sign stock before the signing tomorrow night?" Laurel says coming up behind us

"Remember how you used to sit on my lap when I did signing there? You insisted on drawing a little whale on every book I signed," Laurel said while playing with Belly's hair "No, I-I don't remember that," I could tell she was embarrassed by the way she started laughing

"I'll take that, thank you," Laurel says grabbing the card from the Cashier "I'll see you guys later." The guy said as we were walking out of the store

"What's later?" Laurel says concerned "Nothing," Belly says while we walk toward the car

After we got in the car Belly started fixing her hair and putting on some chapstick, Steven and Laurel got back in the car and we headed off "That guy was totally hitting on Belly and Tate," Laurel said leaning on her hand that was resting against the window

"Oooo wait till Conrad and Jere hear about that," Steven says in a teasing voice "Wait I thought you and Connie broke up?" Laurel says turning to look at me

"We did two years ago," I say laughing and running my fingers through my hair "You guys were so cute together," Laurel says smiling at looking back out the window

☾

We pull up to the beautiful house and everyone starts getting out of the car, I can feel my nerves setting in. I wonder what Conrad will do when he sees me. Will he tell me to leave? Act like I'm not even there?

"What's up?" Jeremiah says walking out of the door that says 'Beck's house' above it "Hi," Laurel says going to hug Jeremiah "Hello!" he says returning the hug

Jeremiah walks over toward Steven and hugs him while Laurel and Susannah hug. Belly and I finally step out of the car and look at Jeremiah and Steven. Jeremiah looks over at Belly with a shocked look on his face "Look who came back all grown up," He says before hugging her and putting her down

"Tate? Omg, what are you doing here?" He says running to hug me and also picking me up "Surprise," I say laughing and hugging him

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" He says putting me down and putting his hands on my shoulders "I wanted it to be a surprise," I say laughing

"Well I'm surprised," He says laughing and giving me another hug "Wait, Does Conrad know?" He says backing up

"No, I only asked Susannah yesterday if it was okay for me to stay the whole summer," I say putting my head down

"Jere, Jere, Jere. come over here," We hear Steven say "I'll be right back," He says walking backward toward Steven

I walk toward the trunk of Laurel's car and start to pull bags out "Belly!" I hear the oh-so-familiar voice of Conrad say "Conrad," Belly says and I can see them hug through the window

"Where's Tate? I swear I just saw her a second ago," I hear Susannah say "She's getting the bags out," Jeremiah says while pointing toward me and Susannah walks over toward me

"Oh, I have missed you so much," She says while hugging me "I've missed you too," I say hugging her back "Did you see Conrad's face when I asked where you were?" She says whispering to me

"He looked like his soul left his body," She says laughing and helping me grab the bag in my hand "You guys are definitely gonna get back together this summer,"

"We definitely aren't," I say laughing "We'll see about that," She says winking and walking away with a bag in her hands

"Let's get these inside," Laurel says while picking up a bag "Tate, come here," I hear Jere say so I walk toward him trying my best to avoid eye contact with Conrad

"Wait, why didn't Taylor come?" Jere says looking around confused "She had summer school," I say trying my best to not sound nervous

"Oh. Bummer, but at least you're here I missed you so much," He says hugging me again "I missed you too Jere," I say letting out a light laugh and patting him on the back

"Dude," Steven says hitting Jeremiah's chest "There was this guy at the gas station down the road who was flirting with Tate and Belly," Steven says laughing and I swear I thought I could have seen Conrad's fist tighten from the corner of my eye

"Can you believe that, someone was actually flirting with Belly," He says laughing "Hey, plenty of people flirt with Belly," I say smacking him on the back side of the head

"Yea yea. Whatever," He says rolling his eyes and rubbing the part of his head where I hit him "I'm gonna go help Susannah and Laurel, I'll be back," I say walking between Belly and Conrad and toward the door.