The Summer She Turned Pretty

Is He Still My Wish?

Taylor and I eventually walked back downstairs. We both shared a lot of tears, and some people could tell. We were getting a lot of looks. We came out on the front porch where Jeremiah and Conrad were playing beer pong with someone else. Thank God we found them. 

"May! Taylor!" Jere said, he came in for a hug but quickly pulled away. He could already tell something was up."What happened?" I felt Conrad watching us before I spoke. 

"Uh, it's hard to explain. Have you seen Devin, Cam, or Belly? Cam was kind of our ride." I already had a feeling Cam and Belly left without us. Who knows where Devin was. 

"Cam and Belly left. And I haven't seen your herbivore." I would've laughed at the joke, but it was not the time. I tried to give Jeremiah a small smile, but he looked almost apologetic. 

"Oh." Belly seriously left us. "Well, what time are you guys gonna leave?" I asked, praying that it was soon.

"Oh, um." Jeremiah looked at me, he could tell I wanted to leave. "We can go..." He glanced at Conrad. "Now?" 

Jeremiah was in the front of the jeep while Taylor and I were in the back. Conrad decided to sleep over at Nicole's. I was so confused, he barely talked to her the whole party but then he wanted to stay over? That boy makes zero sense. 

"Where do I sleep tonight?" Taylor asked me, whispering in my ear. I think for a second, looking at the road a head of us. 

"My room," I answered confidently. "I can move your stuff from Belly's room if you want. So you like, don't have to run into her." I suggest. Taylor nods to my words. 

"Why did Belly leave you guys behind anyway? Now that I think about it, Steven left in a hurry too." Jere stated, looking at us from the review mirror. I had a feeling Steven didn't stick around after that.

"Oh, it's a long story." I sighed. Taylor and I leaned up against each other and drifted off.

Taylor and I were in my room, she was packing. It was the next morning, last night I quietly moved all of Taylor's stuff out of Belly's room.

"May!" I heard Jere yell. "Go grab the keys from Con's room, me and Bells are going on a muffin run."

"Sure!" I yelled back. "I'll be right back," I said to Taylor as I headed to Conrad's room.

I decided to check his desk first. I opened a drawer, and in the drawer were, condoms, that's cute, I thought sarcastically. There were cigarettes... I shuffled through to see if there were any keys. That's when I found a small black bag. I looked behind me, making sure no one was there, and I opened the bag. There was a small black box. I opened it, and inside was an infinity necklace. Wait. Was this for me? Infinity was me and Conrad's thing. It must have been for my birthday, but he didn't have the guts to give it to me. At least he remembered infinity. I brushed my fingers across it. For him, I would've, would've, traveled endlessly around those curves. Would've. I quickly put the top of the box back on and put the box back in the bag. I grabbed the keys and left.

I quickly ran down the stairs, Jere and Belly were waiting at the door. I threw Jere the keys. "Get me a good muffin!" I yelled, already running back up the stairs.

"Got it!" He yelled back.

Belly, Mom, and I drove Taylor to the bus stop, Belly was still mad so she stayed with mom in the car while I walked Taylor to the bus.

"Listen, she'll get over it eventually, you guys will sort it out, you always do." I encouraged her with a smile.

She smiled back, but it wasn't that genuine. Poor girl. "I hope so," she mumbled.

"Well, I'll see you later this summer?"

"Yep." She replied, giving me a hug.

As I was about to turn around to leave, I saw Belly getting out of the car. Phew. I decided to let them talk on their own and I got back in the car.

I watched them awkwardly talk, trying to figure out what they were saying. Eventually, Belly came back to the car and buckled in. My mom then turned around to look at me, then looked at Belly. "You know, boys might come and go, but a best friend is once in a lifetime. We have to hold tight to our friendships. Because we never know what the future will hold." Once my mom said that last part I had a feeling she wasn't talking about Taylor anymore. But what was she talking about?

Once we got back to the house, I came inside and found a small plate with tinfoil on top. My pancakes. I never ate them yesterday. I grabbed the syrup and took the tinfoil off. I poured some syrup on top and put a simple candle in the middle and lit it of course. I would have shared the tradition with Steven but l haven't  talked to him since last night.

I've wished for Conrad to like me and eventually I wished for him to date me every birthday. The point is every birthday wish has been about Conrad, for as long as I can remember. Every shooting star, every penny in a fountain, it's been about Conrad. What if now I have the power to make my wish come true? Is Conrad still my wish?

I closed my eyes and in one blow, blew out the candles.