SUMMER CAN LAST FOREVER

NEW YEARS DAY

CONRAD
i wake up with a groan, january first 2024. i turn 20 this year which is crazy. belly and jeremiah will be 18, theyll be legal adults. Bellys still asleep beside me, its about 8am in the morning, i put a shirt on before going out to the living room.

"Dude, sorry my sister acts like a kid on crack, when she gets too drunk" steven tells me.

"Its fine, last night was particularly bad, most of the time i find her antics hilarious" i reply. We decide to catch some waves, mainly we end up body surfing.

We get mcdonalds breakfast muffins, and coffee, the best hangover food there is. Everyone else is awake when we get back, i hear someone trying to vomit."who didnt empty everything out last night?" i say with judgment.

"your girlfriend" taylor chuckles.
"jeres with her" she adds.

"You know what, i think im gonna let bestie jere deal with this one" i nod my head.

"Mcdonalds hashbrowns, yes this is exactly what i need" taylor states.

"Hey i was so caught up with belly, i didnt get a chance to ask jere if he found you" i say to taylor.

"He did. things are good, we made out after our talk. are you and belly okay? did yall get your new years kiss? you sure were annoyed. To be fair, you had every right, she was being crazy" taylor asks me.

"yeah it was kinda funny, we were still going at it as the count down happened, then when it got to one. i just kissed her to shut her up, and all was well" i chuckle, and she does too.

Jere and belly come out.
"mcdonalds!" they both exclaim, running to the bags.

"I want to do nothing today" belly says.

"well we have to clean this place up" i remind her, and she groans.

"why did i drink so much?"
"did i ever get cut off?" belly wonders outloud.

"Yes, i cut you off at one point" i say.

"thank you and im sorry, i dont remember much, but i think i was mean to you at one point" belly apologizes.

"You were, all night" i sigh.

After we eat, we dispurse. jeremiah and taylor are on beach clean up. steven and shayla are taking everything down, and putting stuff away. Belly and i, are on bottle and trash duty inside the house.

Shayla puts her music on, and the first song that comes on is new years day by taylor swift."how fitting" belly beams.

"I want your midnights, and ill be cleaning up bottles with you on new years day" i sing to belly, who giggles and smiles at me.

"Did i push a table in front of you last night?" she asks, and i nod. We take one look, before we both start laughing."oh my god, and youre still with me" she says in shame.

"yes, shockingly" i joke and kiss her cheek.

"isabel, apart from cheating on me, there isnt anything you could do to me, that would cause me to not love you, and honestly even then, id probably still love you" i confess.

"that was really sweet" she replies.
"same here" belly adds.

"That wasnt a go ahead to cheat on me though" i say nervous

"i would never, and i know you would never" she replies. We finish cleaning the living room.

"why dont you start a new bag, and ill take this one out, then ill come back and help" i say

"sounds good" belly smiles. I see taylor and jere walking back up, smiling and laughing. Im glad he has her, i know he said he wants to go to california, but hes so in love with taylor he doesnt realize how deep yet.