Swim Until You Love Me

Part XI

I dragged Belly into Steven's room.

"Hey- Don't you know how to knock?" He protested. I rolled my eyes.

"Jeremiah just called. Conrad ran away from college. He's missed quite a few classes. And he has exams on Monday."

"Shit," Steven said, eyes wide.

"Do either of you know where he is?" I asked. They shook their heads.

I called Jeremiah.

"Hey, you're on speaker. Everyone's here, but they don't know. What now?" I said into the phone.

"We should go look," Jeremiah said.

"Where could he be?" I asked.

"We should swing by his dorm," he said. I thought about it. It was unlikely his roommate would know anything. But if he wasn't at college or at home in Boston, that just left-

"Maybe he's at Cousins," Steven said. I nodded.

"Conrad won't just leave without telling anybody. I feel like his roommate would know," Jeremiah said.

"Alright, we'll split up then," said Belly. "Jeremiah and I will go to his dorm; you guys go to Cousins." I felt a pang of jealousy about Jeremiah and Belly doing anything together, but I bit it back.

"Okay."

"What are we telling mom?" Steven asked.

"The truth," I said with finality. "We're not leaving her in the dark."

*****

The drive to Cousins felt like every other year, despite the circumstances. The familiar mash of nerves and excitement bloomed in the pit of my stomach and I sang along to the songs Belly and I always sung too. Steven grinned. He even joined in at some parts.

We had just finished belting out Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo.

I smiled at him, "How's it going with you?" I asked.

"I'm alright," he grinned.

"You and Shayla going strong?" I asked.

His grin faltered. "Umm, I'm not sure. It's weird."

"Oh," I said.

"It's fine though. We won't get messy or something. I mean c'mon, it's Shayla. She doesn't take shit," he said. I chuckled.

All too soon, we were pulling up to the house. Conrad's car was in the driveway. My eyes widened.

Both Steven and I bolted up the driveway and into the house.

Conrad actually had the nerve to look annoyed when he saw us. He'd just come in from surfing; his hair was wet and he still had his suit on.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him before he could open his mouth and say something that would set me off. "You have exams on Monday. You've been missing classes. What gives?"

"That's my problem. What are you doing here?" he asked. Ugh.

"We're here to take you back to college," I said.

"Look man I just talked to Jere. He's coming here with your books and everything. Just study and give your exams. You can come back here later," Steven said. When had he called Jeremiah? I didn't even notice he was gone.

Conrad frowned. "I can't just come back later."

"Why not?" I asked.

He looked at me. "It's none of your business."