Our Beloved Summer | A TSITP Story

Chapter 31

It felt like we had been in the car forever before Jeremiah said anything. I was pretending to be asleep, and he was drumming his fingers along the steering wheel. Suddenly he said, "Wasn't this your graduation theme song?"

"How did you know that?" The song happened to be All Star by Smashmouth. Student government voted that it was the best choice since our age group had grown up with Shrek, and most of us could recite the entire movie. But for Jere to know that was kind of surprising.

"Your mom recorded the whole thing and sent it to me and Conrad." He said, looking a little guilty. I couldn't help but wonder if Conrad felt guilty too.

"We all wished you could've been there." I leaned forward and fiddled with the air conditioner control. I knew that the two families were trying to avoid each other. Without Susannah, there wasn't much else holding us together.

"Yeah, she sent us a picture of you and Steven and smiley and stuff. You looked good," he said, looking at me. "I should have told you then, but you looked good at prom too. My mom even got one of the pictures framed." He gave a half smile but it faded quickly. I stared at him.

Did Conrad tell him what happened? Did he already know? Did he see the makeup running down my face and the rain dripping off of me when I left that night? He had to have seen it. And he had to have asked Conrad what happened. And Belly definitely told him all the gore-y details once she found out.

"Did he tell you what happened?" I asked even though I didn't actually want to know the answer.

"No, your name is kind of forbidden territory. Belly told me."

"Of course she did." I nodded as I turned to look back out the window at all the houses we passed.

"Well, just so you know, Belly was on your side." He said, more quiet than before.

I sucked in a large breath of air before releasing it slowly, "It wasn't really about sides, it was all just... bad timing."

Speaking of, the ringtone I had reserved for Steven - Hey Stephen by Taylor Swift - suddenly came from my phone. I knew he would either call to ask questions or apologize, and I didn't want to hear either option, so I turned off my ringer.

"Was that Steven? Why didn't you pick up?" Jere asked.

"I'll call him later." I said, dismissing that conversation.

Sitting in the silence once again, I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to that night and the days leading up to it. From the start, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get Conrad to go. He wasn't a prom kind of person, and I wasn't either, but I just really wanted to do something as cheesy as prom with him. Like it was some get up that the serious couple went to a ridiculous high school dance.

I had this fantasy of prom in my head, what it would be like. How he would look at me, how when we slowly danced, he'd rest his hand on the small of my back. How we'd laugh and have fun at the after-prom. I had it all planned out, how it would go.

When I called him and asked him, he pushed back, which I expected. I knew he would mention how I always thought prom was stupid and that he was in college now. Eventually he gave in and said yes. And then I started to plan everything for him. I sent him details about renting a tux, the corsage I wanted, the time and day. Everything was planned, but still, his mind was elsewhere.

On that afternoon of prom, Conrad was ten minutes late. Even Jere came on time for Belly. The two of them looked so cute, and Steven was with his date and then Taylor. Everyone stood around waiting around for Conrad to arrive so we could take pictures and go. I sat on the stairs and my heart was racing so fast I wanted to throw up. Any other time I would've balled my eyes out, but I told myself I looked too beautiful to ruin it with streaks of mascara down my face. I did really look beautiful, I felt like a different person, but still somehow myself.