after you let her go ● conrad fisher

chapter two

I sit and stare at Junior Mint. Standing in the summer house brings back so many memories. Steven, Belly, Jeremiah, Sussannah, & Laurel are all encoded in these walls. I wonder what Belly did with the infinity necklace when I finally gave it back to her. It was torture keeping that, just a reminder that we weren't together, but it also kinda gave me some hope that I would be able to give it back to her one day. I was practically skipping, Steven and I misreading the signs that Belly might wanna get back together with me, too. That she still loves me. I'm not so sure about that now, after I saw her with Jeremiah. She might still love me, but she is for sure done with me. Love doesn't go away so fast, it kinda stays with you. Maybe a piece of her heart still beats for me, but it's very clear she chose Jeremiah. Now I'm thinking maybe she burnt the necklace. Maybe she did actually throw it in the ocean. Or maybe it's just in a sad, pathetic old jewelry box, which is most likely the place it's in. She obviously wasn't gonna put it back on, but at least I'm not carrying it around with me anymore.
I pick up my phone and start to call Steven. Part of me wants to yell at him, telling him, "You were wrong, you were wrong! You're her own brother, and you misread the signs!"
The phone dials, and Steven is on the other end.
"Hey Steve-o,"

"Hey Con, how you feeling, man?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw Belly with Jeremiah,"

"Oh,that," I said, even though I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"It's all good, man, I mean, I just found them eating each other up on top of my car as soon as I was gonna confess so, I'm feeling very swell."

There's a quick pause between us.

"I guess sassy Conrad is the way you're coping with this, huh?"

"Ok, I'm sorry, truth is I'm a mess."

"I am so sorry, Conrad. I thought there really was something going and..." His voice trails off. "Trust me, I do not support Jeremiah being with my little sister."

"Really? But he's your best friend?"

"Dude, you're my best friend too. And it's not about that. You and Belly belong together, not Jere and Belly." He scoffs a little as he says this.
"You and Belly will find your way back to each other, trust me.

"No, no, it feels pretty real this time, man."
I try to hide the crack in my voice.
"I gave her back the infinity necklace."

There's a silence between us before I continue.

"She's done with all my problems, and all our faults and.." My voice trails off. "She's done with me causing her pain. I don't wanna cause her pain."
"I don't know what I'm gonna do at the 4th of July."

"I'll be there for you, ok, I won't let Jeremiah and Belly act all couple-y around you. Not that I would even want them to." Steven takes a deep breath, like he just pictured Jeremiah and Belly kissing. "I'm here for you, man."

"Thanks, man. You've been uh- a really big help this past week."

"Ok, don't get all sappy on me." I let out a laugh, the first time I laughed in these past couple days.
"I'll see you on the 4th, and don't you dare try to get out of it."

"I won't, I won't." I say smiling.

"And good luck in Stanford."

I hang up the phone.

Oh yeah, Stanford.