A Not So Hot Girl Summer- Jeremiah Fisher

[eight]

before belly and Jeremiah had left, Katie was already out of the room and getting ready to go down to the beach. she wasn't about to get stuck in a car with Taylor.

"jere." susannah said to her son, calling him over before he left.

"I'll be right out." he said to belly, tossing her the keys and going over to his mother. "yeah ma?"

susannah took a breath before glancing outside where Katie was. "does Katie seem... ok to you?" she asked, "I don't know, she's just not acting like our Katie."

Jeremiah let out a sigh, also looking outside. "well, mom, its been less than a year since Christine died." he said, "I don't think she'll be the old Katie ever again."

susannah frowned, "can you please keep an eye on her, I don't want her spiraling back into old habits." she asked before letting him go back to belly.

"don't worry mom, you know I wouldn't let anything happen to her."

~*~

Katie walked through the sand barefoot with her surfboard, her curly hair blowing in the wind and wearing a bright yellow bikini. the headache from this morning was practically gone after she took two Advils and drank a glass of water, so she felt unstoppable.

the summer air was hot and the sun shone brightly, which meant she would definitely get a tan today.

when she got down the the water, she hooked the leg rope (or as she called it, the surfboard leash) to her ankle and slowly began to paddle further in. the water was like glass today, not a single wave in sight. normally, she loved smooth water, but it was bad for surfing.

so, she laid on her stomach on the board, floating in the water waiting for a good wave. 

"hey." she heard a voice say after sitting there for about 15 minutes.

looking up, Katie spotted Conrad paddling in on his board. "hey connie."

Conrad sat on the board, watching as Katie sat up. "im sorry about the other day, I didn't think you'd be mad about me calling you an asshole." he said, avoiding eye contact. 

"me neither." Katie admitted, "I just- it was one of those days."

the boy looked at Katie with a raised eyebrow. "one of those days? im pretty sure all you did that day was shop, eat free food, and surf."

the girl nodded. "yeah, I don't think the deb's are exactly a fan of mine." she said, shrugging her shoulders, "one of them was a little nasty to me."

"really?" he asked, "and you, Katie White, let that happen?"

Katie hit his arm. "well it wasn't like my entrance helped me make a good first impression."

Conrad gave her a confused look.

"imagine walking into a room full of prim and proper rich girls with the boy that they're all in love with when he's not wearing a shirt, then the said boy says that you're his future wife." Katie said, letting Conrad figure out who she meant.

it didn't take him long, a small laugh escaping him. "Jere knew exactly what he was doing." he laughed, also knowing how Jeremiah loved to flirt and put himself out there. "let me guess, he took food and ran?"

Katie nodded. "you should've seen the looks I was getting. one of the girls at the other table was like staring at me the entire time like she was going to bite me."

"bite you?"

"like a dog."

the two of them laughed, something that anyone else would've been surprised to see. but them, they could just be themselves... their happy selves.