Seasons Changing

Empty

Jeremiah ran upstairs to see if there was still anything upstairs. "Everything's gone" he confirmed. 

The back door then opened and shut. We went to the kitchen to check it out. It was Julia. "What the fuck, Julia?" No more smiles form Conrad.

"I'm sorry this must be such a shock. I spoke to your father this afternoon and he said it would be best not to drag this out any longer than necessary" she told us. "I don't give a shit what the two of you decided on. You had no right to touch anything this was her house". "Look, I made sure they were very careful and moved everything into storage. I'm just doing what I have to do to sell this house." "Bullshit, you could've warned us. All you want to do is just fight our mom constantly-" "Okay, enough! You're not the only one that's hurting here. And I'm not the one to be angry with. Your mother could've warned you this was gonna happen. She just wanted to make me the bad guy as usual". "I'm so sorry that she was too busy dying that she couldn't make your life a little more easy. I'm sorry our grandfather loved her more than you, but I'm not surprised." Conrad said and then left. 

My eyes met with Jeremiah and I could see all the tears fill his eyes. I followed him, as did the rest of the room besides Skye. He went outside after Conrad. 

"Of course Dad did nothing to stop it". "What can he do?" "Jere! He doesn't care about us!" Conrad yelled, "And this asshole won't even pick up my calls." Skye then joined us outside and Conrad charged at them. 

"Did you know about this?" Jere and Steven tried to stop him, "No, I'm se- I'm serious. Did you know about this?" "I didn't know anything okay? I swear I would have told you." "Would you have? Really? Because we haven't seen each other in ten years. Would a day at the boardwalk have been enough to make you betray your mom?" "Listen, I know we don't know each other very well, but I wouldn't have side swiped you like this". 

"Alright, we can't just leave, the house hasn't been sold yet we still have a chance" Jere tells us. "Slim chance. I mean, full disclosure, Mom's realtor is expecting cash only offers, all over, no contingencies." "Than you Skye, for the bleak as fuck assessment" Steven cut in, "Also, where are we going to sleep tonight?" "I think there are some sleeping bags in the garage" Belly thought aloud. "I'm not sleeping in this house" Conrad announced. "Okay, I... We don't have to all right?" Jere says to comfort him.

"We could find an opened window or something at my dad's?" I offered. "Ryan, Dad has cameras. He and Mom don't know we're here, let's keep it that way" Lucas warned. "But we don't have to, I feel like Mom and Dad would understand-" "I feel like... I should go. And I'd totally invite you guys to come stay with me, but it's a pretty small place" Cam said. "Maybe we should go too" Taylor said. 

"Don't go yet. I know a place we can crash for the night" Jere spoke up. 

••••

We approached the country club. We ran ran up to the door and Jere tried his old key card to unlock it and it didn't work. 

"Really Jere? This is why we could've just gone to my dad's-" "Or, we can use my mom's key code. She's the manager at the restaurant and works the most random hours. So, as long as we don't make a mess, and I mean it, we should be fine" Cam said interrupting me. "They won't even know we're here. Thank you for not being on that Whale boat Cam Cameron". 

Once we got in, Skye, Lucas, and Cam went to find snacks and Taylor and Steven went to find blankets. Leaving the Fishers, Belly, and I. "I'm gonna go with Cam and Skye actually" Con said. 

"I'll catch up with you two later" I told Jere and Belly, "Are you okay?" I turned and asked Conrad. "I never should have gone to the boardwalk." "This is not your fault Conrad. There was no way you could have known what Julia was planning." "Maybe, but she never would have done it if I'd stayed back." he took a pause, "They fucking took everything. And you heard Skye. The house is gonna sell fast." "No. No, it's not over I mean. We're gonna figure something out". 

We parted and I went to go find Belly and Jere. We ended up heading towards the screening room. Right as we entered, I pulled Belly aside. 

"Hey, can I talk to you real quick?" "Uh, yeah, I'll be right back Jere" she tells him. We walked right outside of the room into the hallway. 

"What's up?" she asked. "We literally hadn't talked since you came and I just wanted to tell you that there's no bad blood on my end." "I-I just thought you were mad at me because of... Lucas" she admitted. "I wasn't mad about anything. I'll always take my brother's side in everything. But, I'm not going to be mad at you because you two didn't work out". "I guess I've just been in my head about it all. I've really missed talking to you". "I've missed you too, Isabel. Now let's go back in there before Jere breaks something". 

We all ended up going outside to the golf course. I walked with the girls and Skye as they talked about the boys that hurt them. I started to trail behind them not really wanting to hear about Lucas. 

We ended up laying down a table cloth that Taylor and Steven had collected and sat down. Skye had figured out the apple bong and Steven approached us to play truth or dare.

"Okay, I dare you to eat the apple bong" Belly tells Steven. "Wait, I didn't even get a chance to hit it" I protested as Steven took it from Skye and ate a chunk out of it. 

Skye then dared me to kiss Jeremiah. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe they did. Con's eyes darted towards me. Luckily, Jere brushed it off and the kiss didn't happen. It did feel weird though. I've kissed Jere for a dare a few times before.

The game died down and we set up for the night. I was exhausted. The day had been long. The night felt even longer. I looked around and noticed Jeremiah at the golf cart that the boys drove up on. 

I walked up to him folding another table cloth. "Do-do I have BO or something? You've literally never turned down a truth or dare kiss" I joked. "Don't do that". "Do what? I can't make a joke?" "Just stop" he says trying to avoid my eyes. "Stop what? Why didn't you want to kiss me Jere?" I said still with a slight laugh. "Because if I kiss you, I don't know that I could ever stop". 

Jere and I never had a romantic relationship. Anything we'd ever done was a joke or a dare. He was literally mad about Belly and Lucas and now all of a sudden he has something for me? I'd never even entertained the thought of him like that. He's never expressed it before. 

"So, um, what are you saying?" "I don't know Ry, it's complicated." he took a breath "Shall we?" he asked as we went back up to the group. He laid next to me for the night. I didn't have the heart to tell him not to. 

••••

The next morning we woke up to Cam's mom making sure he cleaned and put everything back. So, we all helped and made sure to get out before the club opened. 

We left and went back to the house to see Julia and the realtor leaving. She told the realtor she'd handle it. Handle what?

"I wish you boys had gone home when I asked you to." "You're not getting us to abandon our house, Julia". "It's not your house, Conrad. And um, it won't be mine for long either. A buyer has made an offer on the house and I've officially accepted it. I have to go to Boston to finalize some details but it's done. The house is sold."