she, conrad fisher

7

chapter 7
[play: baby baby by sports]
tell me that you'll be alright, i can't stand to see you cry

-

maisie

the sun was beginning to set and the boys had decided to man the grill today. jeremiah had thrown on some burgers, hotdogs, and veggies. all day we had been swimming and laying out by the fisher's pool. susannah and laurel had joined in periodically. if you weren't going in and out of the water, it was scalding out.

i ran my fingers over my shoulders, which were tanned but had a strong pinkish hue from being burnt. i probably needed to shower and get all this chlorine off of me. i had packed a bag since belly had asked me to sleepover, which i wasn't sure if i was going to. with that, i had all my stuff for me to shower and it looked like now was the perfect time with dinner still cooking. i told belly i'd be back after my shower, and she partially acknowledged it while her full attention was on jeremiah.

we would be discussing that later tonight.

i got up from the white, wooden lawn chair and made my way to the tall sliding doors to let myself in. laurel and susannah had mentioned something about going out for drinks. i wasn't really sure. the house was quiet and to be fair, that didn't sound bad with the way the five of us had been together all day. there was only so much bickering between the boys that i could stomach.

once i had made it up to belly's room, i shut the door behind me. i pealed off my practically dry bikini and damp jean shorts. they all hit the wooden floor with a soft thud. i grabbed my towel from my bag and wrapped it around me to go to the bathroom right across. hanging the towel on the rack, the knob squeaked a little as i turned on the water to heat up. god this was going to irritate my sunburn so bad, but it was going to feel nice to finally be clean.

i lathered on whatever shampoo and bodywash belly had in the shower. she always smelled of coconuts and some flower. it smelled really good and in a way it felt funny to be smelling like her too. i stood with my arms close to my chest, letting the steaming hot water run down my body. my shower was pretty short lived as i knew dinner would probably be ready soon enough. i didn't want to miss out on that. not with the way those boys inhaled their food.

ringing the water from my hair, i grabbed my towel and patted myself dry. the mirror was fogged up from the steam and the intrusive thought to wipe it off got the best of me. swiping my hand across the condensation, i could partially see my reflection in the mirror now and my burnt red cheeks. i would have to run back home later to put aloe on it. i pulled myself out of that distraction and wrapped my yellow towel tightly around my body to head back to the room.

as i pulled the door open, in front of me was conrad with his arm and hand up like he was ready to knock. however seeing him seconds of getting out, thinking the house was empty, and with me being half nude, i was startled. i gasped, jumping a little and he had done with the same. he nervously ran his fingers through the floppy pieces of hair framing his face, pushing them back. my hair was dripping and i pulled my towel down to make sure i was covered. subtly, but enough for me to notice, i watched as conrad's eyes ran up and down my body before he caught himself. from then on his eyes were on mine, never any lower.

"you scared me!" i told him, gripping onto my towel tightly.

"i didn't know you would be coming out like now." his tone was defensive.

"you sure about that?" i joked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"sure about the fact that i want to see you in nothing but a towel?" he raised an eyebrow back, his hand on the wall and his head leaning to the side.