Seasons Changing

Boardwalk

"Con, what's going on?" "Uh, panic attack I'll be fine". He didn't look fine. "Do you want me to grab Jere?" I yelled. "No!" he quickly responded. "Wha-what do you want me to do?" "I don't know uh, just talk about anything".

I stood there, searching for words. "The beach. The first time you brought me here to surf, I was so scared. You'd just come back from some surfing camp. I felt like a baby. Yet, you stayed and paddled with me until we caught a wave together. I thought you were the best person in the world." "I guess you were wrong about that one".

Why does he do that? He can't take a compliment. He puts himself down at any opportunity. I wish he could see himself the way that I do.

"No, you're still the best. Do- do you have these a lot?" "Yeah, more since my mom died. I'm glad you're here." "Thank you" I said feeling my cheeks turn red, "Are you going to tell me what caused it? You don't have to-" "I feel like you might hate me if I do." "What could ever make me hate you Fisher?" "I found out I got into Stanford." "Are you serious?" "My mom had this fantasy about me finding myself on the west coast. I-I know it's your school though-" "Con, first, I can't claim a school from you. Second, we've both been dreaming of it since forever". "I know... but things are just starting to get better with Jere, and he's going to Finch which is close to Brown and-" "It's okay you'll figure it out" "He doesn't even know I applied. Just please don't tell him". "Yeah, no, yeah, not for me to share. But uh, you seem to be better, do you want to go back in?" He nodded with a smile. 

••••

"Hey so it's getting pretty late so I think we're gonna go next door" I announced. "Why?" Lucas questioned. That shocked me. He wasn't really speaking to Steven (his choice) and Jeremiah was still upset with him as far as I knew. "What do you mean? Dad isn't even home. He's looking at some properties out of state." Lucas tells me. "Oh, well did you keep your key last summer? I- I gave mine back". 

"Ryan, just stay here. I don't know why you act like this house isn't as much yours as it is ours." Jere spoke up. "I just don't like to intrude". "You could never" he tells me, "You can sleep in the guest room or in Laurels room". 

••••

There was a lot of noise coming from downstairs the next morning. I put my hair up and grabbed a crew neck and made my way downstairs. 

Just as I got down there, the doorbell rang, so I answered it. 

"Hi, can I help you?" "Sandy Denati. I'm looking for Julia". "Right yes, for the open house. You know, Julia actually decided to cancel. Yeah, it's last minute but, um, she's having some second thoughts." "Sorry, who are you" the woman asks. "She's my girlfriend, and she's, um, and she's right" Conrad says appearing out of thin air, "The house is not for sale." "Conrad Fisher right? I am so sorry about your mom." "Clearly not sorry enough to pass the opportunity to sell her house." "I'm just doing my job". "Well consider this an unexpected day off". 

Julia then runs and takes the lady outside to discuss the apparently broken ac. I shut the door behind them. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you my girlfriend." "Don't worry about it". 

Julia comes in a few minutes later announcing that the open house was canceled. She also suggested that we left for a few hours. 

"The mall has good ac" Taylor said. "Good, you can go there" Conrad said. He claimed he didn't want to go anywhere and that he didn't skip out on finals to go have fun. 

"What about the boardwalk" Lucas suggested. "Wait, that actually sounds fun." I said. "I'm down" the the group agreed. 

I noticed that Skye had sat down next to their mother. "Uh, you should come with us Skye" I invited. "Uh, that sounds a little State Fair". "You should go" Julia suggested, "It wasn't my thing but you might like it". "Guess I'm coming with you guys" they said as they got up. "Okay!" 

On our way out, I pulled Jeremiah aside. "I hope you're not like, upset that I invited Skye. I was just hoping if they could see Cousins the way we do, they'd see the magic and maybe help us". "No, it's just me, Conrad, and my dad now. It's kind of nice to have our family feel a little bit bigger than it is ya know". "Well, we're your family too. And don't forget the Conklins. I think Steven would have your head if he heard you exclude him." I laughed. "Thank you for, everything that you're doing. It means a lot". "Thank you, let's go".

••••

"See aren't you glad we came?" I asked Conrad. "How is this any less hot than if we would've been inside?" "Because here, we actually have things we can do that can distract us from being hot" I answered. "Well, can we get some ice cream to distract us from being hot?" Taylor asked. 

After we got our ice cream we started walking around and reminiscing on old times. "Last time we were here, Belly was crying" Jere said. I began to laugh. "Oh my gosh I forgot about that. Was that really the last time we were here?" I asked. "Yeah, that does seem like a lifetime ago huh" Lucas asked. 

"Susannah used to force my mom to come here when they were kids. My mom always hated it, but Susannah loved it so much, so..." Skye told us. "You know what else my mom loved? The beach house." Skye's demeanor changed. "My mom's not evil, Conrad. And your mom wasn't a saint". 

"Skye, have you ever played Shoot Your Shot?" I asked trying to change the mood around. "No, and I'm fine keeping it that way." "Well, do you wanna watch me beat Conrad's ass?" "You could not do that" Conrad speaks up. 

"Okay, no, please, not another Great Boardwalk Showdown" Steven tells us. "Why not?" I asked. "We used to have a competition every year" Lucas tells Skye. "Yeah, until Ryan and Conrad got too competitive. And then my mom banned us from ever playing again." Steven says. "You down Jere?" Con asks. "Hell yeah". 

"I should probably, head out" Skye says. "No, you should stay" Con tells them, "It's fun". "It's too late, you're already on my team" I tell them. "Fine. But I don't do high fives" Skye says motioning one, "I'm not going to like, whoop in the air. I don't trash talk. The corners of my mouth might turn up a little but I'm not gonna smile." "Deal" I say. "Deal" they say back, "So what's the prize?" 

"The losers have to buy the winners the biggest bag of candy of their choosing." "Candy? Really, can't we think of something like, sexier?" Taylor asked. "Candy's always been the prize. I mean it was Belly's choice" Jere said. "Fine, we'll play the games. But, we start at the arcade because it is hot all balls out here" Steven instructs. 

I thought moments like these were gonna be lost. The boys were getting along. I still hadn't like, directly spoken to Belly. Not intentionally just have nothing to say. Either way, we were all together, and about to have a good time.