summer of us

8

When Conrad and Iris dance together, I can't help but imagine Labyrinth by T Swift playing...

"Belly?" I ask into her room as I open the door.

"Iris?" She asks and I open the door and close it behind me. "Why are you awake?" She ask me as I crawl into her bed, she scoots over to give me some room.

"Can't sleep, you?"

"Me either." She tells me and rolls over on her side to me. I open my arms and scoot closer so I won't fall of the bed.

"Are you nervous for tomorrow?" I ask her and feel her nod. "Me too."

"Good morning, Belly. Morning, Iz." I wake up to Susannah with a cup of coffee for me, and a glass of orange juice for Belly.

"Oh, my god. Are we late?" Belly asks shooting up in her bed.

"No, you're fine. Are you guys ready for your big day?" She asks as and sits on the end of the bed and I sip my coffee.

"Not at all." Belly tells her, and I don't say anything, I'm not awake yet.

"Oh, yes, you are." She tells her with a smile.

"What if I trip?" Belly asks and runs a hand over her face.

"Oh, god. I hadn't thought of that." I say and my eyes widen.

"You guys won't. Just hold on to Jeremiah's arm. And you hold on to Connie's. They won't let you fall."

"That's true." Belly laughs, but I just frown more.

"What if I take him down with me? There's going to be so many people watching..." I tell them and Susannah just laughs it off and taps my leg.

"You know, I still can't believe you got Jere to go with you. He swore up and down he'd never go to one of these things."

"He said he doesn't mind." Belly tells her and I smile with her. Jere really did like her. I was glad for them.

"Well, he'd do anything for you. And Connie for you." She tells me with a smile.

"I'm going to go grab a shower. I want my hair to dry by the time I need to do it." I tell them and Susannah smooths down my hair on each side of my face.

"I love you, Iz. You're going to look so beautiful." She tells me and I smile and nod.

I make my way out of the room, as Conrad is leaving the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist. I freeze for a second, and look him up and down. It was crazy to me, that I hadn't seen him there this whole time.

Sure, I always thought he was attractive, and he was one of my favorite people in the world... but how could I not have been crushing on him all these years. All I knew, is that I was crushing on him now, big time.

"You're up early." He says and my eyes snap up to his face.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Gotta get ready... for the ball. You already knew that." I tell him with a laugh as I walk around him and towards the stairwell. "Um, see you." I say as I turn to make my way down the stairs. I go through the living room and into our side of the house.

"Hey, sweetheart. Want some eggs?" My dad asks me from our kitchenette.

"Uh, no. I'm not really hungry." I say and set down my coffee mug, that was basically empty now.

"You sure?" He asks me and I nod. I go to the couch and ruffle Phoebe's hair before making my way up the stairs to the bathroom.

After a long shower, very long. It had to be an everything shower. I washed my hair, shaved, exfoliated... had a mini existential crisis. I got out and wrapped my hair up in a towel to dry it a bit. I changed into my bra and then leggings with a zip up hoodie so I didn't need to worry about messing up my hair later.