7 Summers

Chapter 5 - Amelia June Warren (2029)

I wake up the next morning, still on the floor by my door. I must have passed out while crying.

I must've also hit my head, because I can hear music softly playing.

I shake my ears a little bit, but I can still hear it.

Am I schizophrenic? I start to question myself, but then the music gets slightly louder, and I can hear the tune.

It's 7 Summers.

I run down the stairs and to the basement. It's so loud now that the whole floor is vibrating.

When I make it to the basement, I see Jessica and the boys sitting there in silence. I stop in my tracks.

Conrad is the first to notice me. He picks up his phone and pauses the music.

"Amelia?"

Silence.

"Sorry about yesterday." I blurt.

"No, no. It's fine. You don't need to apologize. Actually, I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

More silence.

"Amelia," Jessica breaks it. "You should go shower and get dressed."

"Yeah, I'll be back." I make my way back upstairs.

♦♢♦

I go back down to the basement, picking up a breakfast bar on the way.

"Amelia, we're all going to Conrad's house." Mav says. "You wanna come with?"

I think about it for a minute. I never leave this house. They know that.

But maybe this is it. Maybe seven summers is all that it'll take.

"I'll come." I say, and I see everyone's jaw drop.

"No way," Jess runs over and puts her hand to my forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling great, actually. Let's go." I look over at Conrad.

♦♢♦

Everyone had left Conrad's house. It was just me and Conrad now. I lay on his bed while he went to grab me something to eat from the kitchen.

I heard his footsteps and he came into the room.

"Uh, well I don't have much since I live alone, and I don't know if you'll like any of this, but here." He tosses me a can of pringles and a peach.

"As a Georgia native, I love a good peach." I smile at him.

"Is that a smile on Amelia June Warren's face?" He smirks.

"Whatever," I roll my eyes.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go change. If you need something, it'll probably be in one of these drawers. I usually keep stuff in here 'cause I'm too lazy to go downstairs and get it." He winks.

"Typical Conrad," I shake my head in amusement.

He makes his way to the bathroom, and I look down at my peach. I know it'll get messy eating it, and I don't want his bed being all sticky, so I put it down and get up to look in his drawers for a napkin.

The first drawer in his bedside table has a bunch of country music CD's and vinyls. I look through some of them.

I picked up an old CD from 2018. It's Morgan Wallen's debut album that I gave him back in 6th grade for his 11th birthday. I still remember how excited he got at the party when I gave it to him, especially since it was signed. I spent all of my money to get a signed copy of it for him, and my parents weren't too happy about that. I remember in 2021 he got me a signed copy of the next album's CD plus a vinyl. The vinyl still hangs on my wall.

I close that drawer and go to the next one. I look through it and realize it's all my stuff. Things I've left at his house over the years. I dig through it and find the old hoodies and bracelets I've been looking for for years. I even found an old bra from freshman year.

God, he kept everything.

I move to the third and final drawer on this side of the bed, but it's hard to open. I yank on it a couple times, before it finally opens, and everything flies out.

"Shit," I curse under my breath, and start picking up the random papers.

As I'm picking up the papers, I find an invitation card. It's a wedding invitation.

Just then, Conrad came out of the bathroom.

"Amelia-" His eyes go wide when he sees what's in my hand.

I look at him, then look at the card, confused on why he looks like he's seen a ghost.

"Tiffany Hardy?" I read the first name aloud. "Oh, isn't she our old principal's daughter from Wyndham?"

"Uh, yeah..." Conrad said. "Did you read the whole thing yet?"

"No, I just picked it up. Why?"

"I think you should put it back, it's kind of not important." He scratches his neck.

"What? Why?" I turn back to the card, but he rushes over.

"Amelia, I told you it's not important. I'm not going to the wedding, I don't even know why she invited me." He tried to grab the card but I pulled it out of his reach.

"Conrad, why are you acting so fishy?" I could tell something wasn't right. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes as I brought the card in front of me so I could finish reading it.

"Tiffany Hardy weds... weds T-Tucker Johnson.."

I hear Conrad's phone ringing from the far side of the bed. It's a call from Tiffany.

His ringtone speaks my mind;

"I wish somebody would've give me some damn signs."