bad in the bones -conrad fisher

ch. 5

Mallory's name flashes on the screen over a picture of her smiling, red-faced and blurry. Her hair is plastered to her face with sweat and she was holding up a beer. I remember taking the photo our sophomore year. It was our first high school party and she went a little overboard but I remember thinking how pretty she looked, even as completely wasted as she was. "Hello?" I pick up. Mallory always texted me before she called, mostly because she hated being on the phone and tried to avoid it and I know something is wrong as soon as she speaks.

"Hey," she sings softly. "How's it going?"

"Hey," she sings softly. "How's it going?"

"What's wrong?" I sit up, scooting my butt all the way to the back of the lounge chair. Belly, who was absent-mindedly watching the boys in the water is now fully alert to me. I can feel her eyes watching me.

"Oh nothing," she dismisses. I can almost see her waving me off like she always did. "Just wondering if you found your new summer beau yet."

"Why?" I ask cautiously. Mallory laughs and I can hear some people chatting in the background, although I can't really make it out. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the pool with the girls," she says. The girls meaning Victoria and Betty who we have been friends with since middle school. It has always been Mallory and I, but the girls were always good to have around but if Tori and Betty were around that means Josh and his friends were around and that made my stomach drop.

"Is Josh there?" I ask. Now, Belly's eyebrows shot up and she mouths Josh? I nod my head as Mallory confirms over the phone. "What happened? Why are you calling?"

She's silent on the other side and I wait for her to speak. I hear Josh's laugh in the background and I want to throw up. I could recognize that laugh anywhere. It could wake me out of the deepest sleep. I could almost see him - head thrown back as a laugh escapes through his teeth. How his curly hair falls back against his forehead. I shut my eyes to try and get rid of the image. "He's been seeing someone," she finally whispers. "Her name is-"

"I don't want to know her name," I snap at her without meaning to. Belly's eyes widen even more if that's possible and the boys stop throwing their volleyball around and they're all staring at me. Everything is quiet except for my heavy breathing. "How long?"

"I don't know," she says. "Since you left, I think."

"Well, you can tell Josh that I've been seeing someone, too." I don't know why I lie. I never lie to Mallory and everyone sitting around me knows it's not true but I still say it. I still confirm it when Mallory asks me really?

"Who are you hooking up with?" Belly whispers next to me, her hands are already on the armrest of my chair and she's ready to shake the answer out of me. I shake my head at her with narrow eyes and she seems disappointed as she leans back in her own chair, arms crossed over her chest like a little kid pouting.

"I gotta go, okay?" I tell Mallory as she's blabbering on about Josh's new girlfriend and how he's only with her to make me jealous and not to worry. She says there's no way she compares to you. I tell her thanks for letting me know and hang up the phone. "What are you all staring at?" I say to the boys as the door to the house slides closed. I didn't even hear it open.

"Nothing," Steven says, shaking his head vigorously. He throws the ball in the air and hits it to Jeremiah. "Nothing at all, yn." The ball hitting the water next to Jeremiah knocks his attention away from me and he grabs it. "Come on, Jere." I look down at my lap and start to hear the ball bouncing back and forth again. I no longer feel a bunch of eyes on me.

"What's gotten into you?" Conrad asks from behind me. His hands are on the back of my chair and he's leaning forward toward me with a smirk on his face. His voice is teasing but the energy in the air is tense. I can't speak and I don't know why.