The Summer I Turned Pretty - The Years Later✔️

chapter 3

It was 9 am when I woke up that day. Conrad was still asleep but I didn't wake him up. When I came back to the room I saw Conrad zooming here and there dumping some clothes and all his files in his small suitcase. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he had to go urgently back to New York. There was an emergency case at his hospital that could not be tackled without him.

Conrad was now a cancer specialist . He had dreamt of becoming one in honor of Susannah. So I started helping him with all his files. When he was done packing , he quickly showered and put on work clothes and grabbed the car keys.

I was waiting for him down. I had made peanut butter and jelly sandwich for him to take along with him. I knew Conrad would never decline emergencies at his hospital. He wanted to make up for not being able to give Susannah time when she was sick.

Conrad came down in half an hour. I didn't even notice he was standing behind me when he hugged me from the back and kissed me on the cheek. I was making an omelet for him to eat quickly and leave, so I couldn't turn around.

He just held me like that and said,"I'm so sorry Belly. I've gotta go. I'll be back before you know it. And....". He turned my waist as soon as I placed the omlet on the plane . And then he said," I'm gonna make it up to you. I'm gonna bring us ice cream when I come back tonight. And I've called Jere to spend his day here . He has nothing to do today as it's Sunday."

I said,"Con you don't need to make it up to me . I'll be just fine and plus I can clean this place up a bit. And you called Jeremiah!"

Then he leaned in to kiss me and said ,"I love you Bells, I know you'll take care of that, won't you?". And then he smiled and just left.

New York was 2 hours away from here and Boston was 3 . Till I waited for Jeremiah to come I ran some errands. I also brought cheeseburgers with me. Jeremiah loved them. It was kinda hot outside so I fixed us some Kool-Aid .

I know we were basically adults so we could drink but we both loved Kool-Aid. I wanted to be cool and friendly with Jere now. I also did some laundry and cleaned up Con's room . I also arranged his closet.

I found a moons and stars know-it-all book stashed at the bottom . It reminded me of that Valentine's day when I was sixteen. Conrad had given me something no one could ever think of . He had given me infinity. I still wore the infinity necklace he had given me. I never removed it, not even in the shower.

Jeremiah arrived by 1pm. He gave me a hug when I opened the door. I felt things were totally normal between us now. Him and Conrad were not so good though.

I thought we were closer than ever. He was my best friend. He asked me how Conrad was doing and I said,"He's a loving neo-maxi-zoombie-dweebie." It was our little inside joke since we were eight.

We watched home alone. I always liked that guy Kevin. He was just so like Jeremiah. Rosy cheeks and all. Then we went to the arcade. Jeremiah had never given up the kid in him. He still loved going to the arcade. We got food from Jere's favorite restaurant in Cousins. When we returned back , Conrad's car was already parked up at the front .

I felt so sad . He must've had such a tiring day. And I was having fun . I wanted to lay him down and smooth his hair . But that wasn't possible now. I went up to Conrad's room and Jeremiah went to his . Conrad was in the shower. When he came out all dressed he walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek . I told him about my day today and I asked him about his . I also told him that things felt normal between me and Jere now, but we never mentioned anything.

Later after dinner, we played cards. We laughed a lot . It had been so long since I, Conrad and Jeremiah had spent time together . Things weren't that cool with Jere and Conrad, but they were better than not being normal . And then all of us just slept on the floor. Just like the time we went camping when we were twelve. And then I missed Steven . He was the only one missing. The old times were almost back now.

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