the summer you noticed me ↠ conrad fisher {1}

e i g h t

     I groan, rolling over. I pop my head up and notice that I'm not in my bed. I'm on the couch. I guess I didn't have enough energy to walk upstairs last night. After the cops busted us they dropped us off at the Fishers and while they got scolded I went home. I'm not their child to scold, plus I didn't drink.

I grab my phone off the charger, at least I had enough energy to do that last night, and instantly smile. I have a text from Jeremiah.

jere 🫶
CLAIRE I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU SNUCK OUT AND WENT TO A PARTY, ESPECIALLY A PARTY THAT INVOLVED DRINKING. YOURE ONLY 16! HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING
11:57pm
i love you, sleep well. im sorry i got us busted.
11:58pm
will definitely be sorry tomorrow when feeling this hangover🤕🤕
12:01pm

I finally take notice of the time. It's 6:15am, since I'm already awake I decide to not waste an opportunity to enjoy a sunrise in Cousins. I swear there is no better time in the world. It's the one time it's quiet, and everything bad seems forgotten. The type of moment where you feel euphoric and could do possibly anything. That, and less lazy because you managed to get out of bed before 10am.

I quickly head upstairs, not waiting to waste precious sunrise time. I grab the first teeshirt from my drawer, which happens to be an oversized Planet Fitness shirt I have from the free winter program. They ran out of everything, leaving me a 2XL. It fits like a nightgown and it's super comfy. I grab plain leggings, slip on my Birkenstocks and call it a day for my outfit as of right now.

     I brush my teeth, and I redo my French braid, making sure to grab my wallet so I can go get breakfast once I'm done watching the sunrise.

When I walk downstairs I smile. I see Conrad's hoodie, and decide to take it with me. Maybe this moment I'll decide how to approach the Conrad situation. He keeps opening up to me when we're alone. I get so close to hearing everything when something gets in the way. I need to figure out how to deal with it better and what to say to him to know it's okay and take as long as he needs.

I grab my keys off the counter, making sure to lock the back door as I head out. It's a bit chilly so I slip on Conrad's hoodie, keeping my hood up as I walked.

     It's a beautiful morning. The type of morning where big things happen, things are figured out, relationship ideas are brewing in the dusk light.

     Just as I'm about to sit, far enough that I couldn't be seen by people on the beach possibly walking this early in the morning but the sunrise, I see Conrad sitting a few feet away. I walk over, making sure I'm close enough before I say. "Hey, good morning!"

     He looks up at me, then down at the hoodie I'm wearing. I instantly feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I become super aware of his stare, and quickly go to dropping my keys and everything just to take this off as soon as possible.

     "Sorry, here. You can have this back," I say.

     He places a hand on my arm and stops me, he hands me my keys and phone that he shook off for me.

"It looks better on you. You can keep it if you want."

     "Oh, thanks." I try to hide my smile but I fail miserably. "It's a beautiful morning, isn't it?" I ask sitting beside him.

     "It was okay until you got here," he mumbles. My smile drops, and he instantly starts laughing. "Claire, Jesus I'm kidding!" He leans towards me, and wraps his arm around my neck pulling me in. It's like last night all over again. It's exactly the position we were in before we were interrupted. Why is this so easy, being this close to one another?

My heads on his shoulder now, because he still hasn't loosened his grip around me. I don't mind, and honestly I don't think he minds either. "Don't sunrises make you feel euphoric?" I ask, looking up at him.

He grins, so wide I can see his dimple pop out. I love his dimples. "Euphoric?" He asks in a hum. "Can't really say I understand what you mean, are they pretty? Yeah, but not like over the top I'm alive type moments, you know?" He asks. I think he realized he was rambling because he side eyes me before averting his gaze. "That probably isn't what you meant when you asked that question, sorry."

I smile, "are you already high?" I giggle. "Conrad!" I screech, sitting up. I regret doing it because I miss his touch already. "It's 6:30 in the morning! Dude, you're high! How are you not feeling euphoric right now? I feel even more euphoric watching a sunset high!" I scream, laughing.

His dimpled smile fades, and he looks at me seriously. As if he's deciding the right thing to say in this moment. He goes to talk, but stops pressing his lips tightly together 3 time. "I mean, I would say I'm euphoric right now but I wouldn't says it's because of the sunrise."