my 'the summer i turned pretty'

it's all changed

february 2022

my conrad has a girlfriend.

and it isn't like his usual little fling with a girl that's obssesed with him.

it seems serious.

like he might actually like her back.

this was my first time seeing him again since he started to date 'nicole'.

when we first walked into their house, the boys were no where to be seen. i walked upstairs to see what they were doing but both their doors were closed. i wasn't going to walk back downstairs, i wanted to be seen. i wanted them to come greet us the way they used to.

i walked up to my conrad's door and opened it.

he sat their on his desk, math homework sprawled on his bed.

'hey' he said.

'hi' i greeted back.

i sat on his bed and picked up a frog bear that sat there next to me.

it was new.

he told me his name and i held him for a sec, wondering if it was the bear he built with his new girlfriend a few weeks prior

.... i saw it on her insta.

we sat there in silence for a while. him sitting at his desk staring at me while i looked at his schoolwork on the bed.

"how are you?" he asked casually, with a comforting smile.

and this was the moment i knew everything's changed.

we never ask each other this question. we've always had better ways of greeting each other.

but i guess things are different now, now that he has a girlfriend.

things can't be the way they used to.

i'm not special to him anymore.

"i'm good. how are you?" i replied.