she, conrad fisher

5

chapter 5
[play: next to you by bryson tiller]
oh i've gotta get next to you, but you're so far away

-

maisie

there was some party tonight with that one of the country club kids was throwing. jeremiah had gotten us all invited, but i wasn't quite sure if i really wanted to go. parties and drinking weren't really my thing and it didn't seem like it was belly's thing either, but she wanted to go and so i decided to be open minded about tonight. belly had told me to come over at 7 to get ready at the fisher house.

i had 15 minutes before i had to head over and of course i had waited until the last minute to figure out what i was wearing. my fingers quickly flicked through my tank tops, trying to find anything remotely cute. i settled on a basic colored one and grabbed my favorite jeans. i threw my makeup and straightener in my bag before heading downstairs.

mom and dad were out of town for the weekend. they had gone up to see my grandparents, well my mom's parents, 2 hours outside of cousins. it felt weird having the house to myself. with it being so big, i had ended up scaring myself the previous night, thinking i had been hearing sounds. with that, i had slept with my bedroom door locked and a bat near my bed.

as i rang the doorbell, within seconds belly had opened the door like she had been waiting by the window for me. i laughed to myself as i followed her inside and up the stairs. the sun was beginning to set and it looked beautiful from the tall windows that faced the beach. i continued on behind belly, our feet creaking across the old wooden floor until we got to the third door on the right.

i set down my bag and belly asked what i was thinking about wearing. i pulled out my jeans, grey tank top, and sneakers. i sat on her bed watching her attention go between me and her closet, trying to match what i was wearing. i realized how much more colorful her closet was compared to mine which had color, but a lot more muted shades.

"pick your favorite top belly. don't go off of my outfit." i reassured her and suddenly her choice became much easier.

belly pulled out a pair of cream shorts and a floral tank top, looking very content with her choice. the two of us faced opposite walls and got changed. afterwards, she sat at her small desk with a mirror while i sat on the floor across from the floor-length mirror. i knew i would hate myself for caking on too much make up because of the effort it would take to take it off at the end of the night. my fingers ran over some blemishes or scarring i had and i settled on concealer.

rosy cheeked from the excessive blush i had packed on, i zipped up my makeup bag and moved onto my hair. i sat there debating whether to straighten it but settled on tying it back instead simply because i was lazy. all done, i turned around to face belly and watched her as she curled her dark lashes.

"taylor gave me this thing. she said i had to use it if not mascara." she laughed a little, carefully squeeze the handles of the metal contraption.

"i cannot wear mascara for the life of me. i rub my eyes too much." i told her, sitting with my knees to my chest and my arms wrapped around them.

the sun had finally set and we sat with the warm lights on in belly's room. i was letting my phone charge up while belly was hanging up all the clothes on the floor from the failed outfits she had come up with before i had come. there was a soft knock on the door and in came jeremiah who was dressed up in some loose button up that he had intentionally left the top few unbuttoned.

"you guys ready to head out? we're taking the jeep." he said, standing in the door frame taking a good look at belly.

after he left my eyes instantly shot in her direction and she gave me a look back like she had no idea what i was talking about.