folklore; conrad fisher

26: it happened one night

I'd been forced to adjust to the motions of life at a very young age. Understanding uncertainties and nuances and complexities became second nature. I was used to being confused, feeling overwhelmed, and not having the solution to all of my problems. But everything that was happening now was all too much. Between the lingering grief I'd felt over Susannah's death, the impending loss of the house, and now the situation with Conrad, I was beside myself. I kept repeating Conrad and I's last conversation over and over again in my head, trying to make sense of all of it. But none of it made sense. How could he sit there and tell me he didn't hate me, when he'd completely cut off contact with me after last Summer, only to come back into my life, to leave again just as quickly. It was a complicated, emotional whirlwind that I couldn't balance alongside all of the other issues going on right then.

I went to my room and tried to fully unpack my backpack. I put my swimsuits and underwear into my top drawer, the way I always had. I put a couple shorts into the middle drawer, and my tees into the last one. At the bottom of my bag was a big, plush item. I pulled it out. It was the cream cardigan. I brought it with the intention of returning it to Conrad. There was no use in keeping it anymore.

Cole found the cardigan in my room a couple of months ago. He thought it was a vintage item I might have thrifted, until he saw the class patch which had been a year far too recent for it to be a retro item. He asked me where I got it, and I wasn't sure what to tell him. I ended up coming clean a bit, telling him a friend of mine let me borrow it over the Summer, and I'd accidentally taken it home.

"What friend?"

It was the first time I told him about Conrad. I explained how he had been one of the family members Steven introduced me to, and that we grew up together in the house. I left out a lot of details, of course, but not for his protection. I couldn't talk about the memories I had with Conrad because they hurt too much to think about.

I barely slept that night, and I was lucky to have Belly and Jeremiah come in to wake me up. They thought it would be a good idea if the three of us convened while Conrad was out, to come up with a back up plan to save the house. I tied my hair up into a lazy ponytail and brushed my teeth quickly before meeting back up with them in the kitchen.

Jeremiah was pitching ideas for breakfast, when he slyly mentioned a trip to Ocean Harbor, which conveniently was where Aunt Julia had just landed and would be staying.

"We're gonna go find Aunt Julia?" Belly asked.

Jeremiah raised a fist for her to bump, "We're gonna go find Aunt Julia."

They fist bumped and then looked at me. "You in?" Belly asked.

"I think it would be better if she stayed, actually," Jeremiah said, "While we're gone, you could try to calm Conrad down, and maybe get through to him about looking for other solutions. You're the only one he really listens to."

I scoffed, "That's not true."

"It is," He said, "We all know it."

Belly nodded, which came to me by surprise. We never really talked about my own connection with Conrad. I thought it was a sore subject, considering the events of last Summer. Even then, she was the one who told me she always saw something between the two of us. Maybe things like that never really die.

The two went up to their rooms to change and head out. I was in charge of looking for Conrad, who wasn't inside of the house anymore. It didn't throw me off. I knew where he was. I grabbed my swimsuit and threw on a rash guard. Opening the garage, I was glad to see Jeremiah's surfboard still there, in its same spot. I picked it up and took it outside, making my way to the beach.