Our Beloved Summer | A TSITP Story

Chapter 3

I stayed there at the beach in my moment until my stomach decided that the handful of Cheetos from two hours ago, wasn't enough. It wasn't long until I was back in the kitchen. This time, it was just Susannah preparing for dinner.

"Hey, did you get any sandwiches this time?" I asked, thinking of the delicious deli sandwiches she would get for us before we came.

"We already ate them. Connie said you weren't hungry," she said with a confused look on her face.

"I haven't seen Conrad since we first got here."

"That kid, I swear. Sit down, I'll make you something to hold you off until dinner."

"It's okay. I'll find something. Thanks though." 

Why would he lie about something like that? I thought. He really could be so immature sometimes.

—

Dinner time couldn't come fast enough.

"Steven, I swear to God, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket."

"It's just, we want to see your beautiful faces. Can dinner be a screen-free zone? You know, like the olden days."

"Steven." Jeremiah snatched the phone from Stevens hands and shot it into one of the spare dining room chairs.

"Dude, are you kidding me? We get it, you've been working out."

"Oh, you're just jealous because Jere has a better body than you." Belly said, laughing at Steven.

"Uh, no, actually, it's all about the lean look now. Otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits." This made us all laugh.

As everyone got quiet again, Susannah leaned in. "Dani, when your Mom said you didn't want to cheer anymore, I was surprised. You were so good at it."

I was caught off guard a little. No one had mentioned cheer to me in five months. It still kind of hurt to think about. "Yeah, it just wasn't fun anymore. The girls kind of turned on me when coach was gonna make me captain for my senior year."

"They turned on you because you took the quarterback of the market and then broke up with him," Steven said like he knew everything.

"She didn't break up with him, she got dumped," Belly said, making me drop my fork and stare at her. For someone with no backbone, she really did have the most nerve sometimes.

"The guy was an asshole. He had a great throw, but he was an asshole," said Jeremiah with his comforting smile. Toby was the kind of guy that makes you think he's really nice and does a really good job at it, but then suddenly he's the worst possible person in the world. I only realized it when he started bullying one of the students I worked with in the tutoring program.

"Speaking of football players, when are you leaving for training camp, man?" Steven asked, looking over to Conrad, who hadn't said a word the entire night.

"Uh, he quit football," said Jere, looking down disappointingly.

"Wait, really? You quit?"

"Mm-hmm." Conrad nodded.

"Are you kidding me, man? I'd kill to play college ball."

"He can always change his mind." Susannah looked hopeful that he would.

"I'm not gonna change my mind. I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."

"Well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?" Mom asked. She was always a busy bee. I knew it was partially because if she wasn't doing something, she had time to think about her feelings. God forbid that she actually felt something sometimes.