the winter i turned intelligent: chapter 6 (pt. 2)
Important Note from Dreamy Plots & Story Talks: This story contains suggestive language and sexual content and is only suitable for readers that are 18+.
Chapter 6 (part 2):
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
“Where did I put my keys?” I kept pacing back and forth. “Where is Hazel’s pumpkin toy? Where are my shoes??!”
Belly handed me the keys and pointed to my shoes that were right next to Hazel’s favorite toy.
As each moment passed, I remembered more items I had forgotten where I misplaced. “Where’s my jacket? It was here a second ago?”
She placed her hands on my shoulders, “it’s already in the car, you need to relax, everything’s going to be fine.” I tried my best to calm my nerves, but this exam was one of the last few ones I had to pass before graduating. Since I was distracted most of last week, I didn’t feel as prepared as I was hoping to be. Luckily the past few days I was focused, but that wasn’t enough to dissolve the rumbling in my stomach. I knew the nerves wouldn’t vanish until the exam was finished. All I knew was if Belly wasn’t here, I would have been even more nervous. I sighed at the comfort of her touch, “ahh, you’re right, I just don’t have a good feeling about this. You know when you studied for hours and feel like you’re ready for a test, but if you had one more day to study you’d be way more prepared, even though-”
She tried to reason with me, “Jere listen we can continue this in the car, but if you want to even have a chance to take the exam, we need to leave now.”
I checked my watch and realized we needed to leave ten minutes ago. Shit. Belly gave Hazel her toy, and I kissed the top of her head before we both ran out the door.
Even though it was pretty sunny, the air was very cold. Before she started the engine, Belly and I simultaneously turned on our seat warmers when we looked at each other and both laughed, “it’s fucking freezing.” I rubbed my hands together. “Are you sure you want to drive? I really don’t mind driving.”
She turned on the heater, while I turned on the radio, “Yes, this way you have more time to study. Start studying!”
Belly was so thoughtful. The only other person who had done this for me before was my mom. She would always drive when I had an exam, as I sat in the passenger seat, while I did my “last-minute” studying as she called it.
The amount of times that these drives added to my exam preparation might have been inconsequential, but in my mind, they made all the more difference. It was most likely the power of positive thinking and knowing someone had your back that gave you this last-minute surge of energy to summarize all the key points you had to remember for a test.
As the temperature of the jeep now resembled more of summer than autumn, Belly turned on the engine. I kissed her cheek, “thank you, I’m starting right now!”
She turned down the volume of the song, “how can you focus with this playing??”
I raised the volume back up slightly, “hey it actually helps me even more when it’s louder, I don’t know how to explain it, it just does.” She shook her head and smiled as she focused on the road. I knew she believed me, but she also looked puzzled at how this was possible.
It was true, the louder the music was, the better I could concentrate on what I was reading. It depended on the subject though, but for marketing, it definitely helped. Of course we got to Duke earlier than it typically felt like. Whenever you hoped a drive would be longer, it always felt shorter. Parking was impossible to find as usual so Belly decided to drop me off near the business building. As she turned off the engine, she studied my nervous facial expression, “just take a deep breath, I’m telling you, you’re worried for nothing. Watch, you’ll come right back saying it was easy,” She finished her speech that I very much needed at that moment, “and if you’re this nervous, it’s only going to make you focus even less.”
I took her advice and took a deep breath. She was right. I needed to stop worrying because at this point it wouldn’t have done me any good, “since when did you know exactly what to say in the right moment?”
Belly smirked as she kissed my left cheek, “how long have we known each other?”
She just proved my point. All the nerves in my stomach turned into butterflies at the fond memory of the years we’d shared together, “forever and ever and ever-”
She jokingly pushed me away, “I said one thing years ago, and you keep reminding me, well...was I wrong?!”
I leaned in to kiss her lips and then said, “never ever, ever-”
She laughed as she pointed her finger towards my door, “go, you’re going to be late!”
I kissed her left cheek one last time before leaving, “thank you again for driving, wish me luck!”
She handed me my jacket from the backseat as she continued laughing, “of course, and here, you had one thing to remember Jere, one thing!”
I didn’t even remember about the jacket, “what would I ever do without you!!!”
She shook her head, “GO!”
I took the jacket and ran across the grass.
The exam wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be, but I didn’t want to jinx it. I never really knew how I did until I received my score. Luckily, my marketing professor graded our exams incredibly quickly, sometimes even within a day or two. I hoped I did well, but at least it was over with, and the weight of it all was lifted off my shoulders. I was starving as well. After I took any exam, it always made me hungry, which was probably from all the nerves.
I was about to call Belly when I noticed her standing under a maple tree that was filled with gold, orange, and red leaves. For a second, I forgot all about the exam. She looked perfect. Her chestnut brown sweater matched her hair and the tree branches. Even though she stood in the shade, she radiated more than the sun. I didn’t take our time together at Finch for granted, but I missed seeing her every day when we went to school together.
Her eyes looked curious at the scene around her as I walked towards her, “tell me, how exactly do you look this good?”
She smiled as she slowly left her daydream, “this campus is breathtaking, look at all the leaves, they’re so beautiful.”
I picked up one of the red leaves and got down on one knee, “will you accept this rose?”
Belly rolled her eyes, while accepting the leaf, “wow what an interesting looking rose, what do you call them?”
I gave her a look that implied this was my area of expertise, “a maple rose,” and even though she started laughing I continued, “the only roses that don’t have thorns, that way they can’t pierce through you, like you’ve pierced through my heart.”
She waved the leaf at me, “you just keep getting more romantic by the day, don’t you?”
I could feel the sarcasm in her tone, so I took the opportunity to grab a handful of the leaves and threw them in the air and started running through the grass, “sorry, I didn’t hear that!”
I turned around for a second and noticed she was catching up to me with a handful of leaves now in her hands, “you forgot I run faster than you!!”
Sure enough, she passed me, stopped abruptly in front of me, and then threw the leaves in the air as we collided onto the grass. Since the grass was filled with so many leaves, the landing was smooth.
I turned to her after both our laughter had subsided, “you know what sounds amazing right now?”
She turned towards me with a bunch of leaves stuck in her silky hair, “strawberry milkshakes??!”
My laughter grew even more now, “I mean I was going to say something else, but yeah let’s go with that.”
She pinched my arm, “hilarious.”
I took out the leaves in her hair and tried my best to not get distracted by her eyes, “now Bells, there’s nothing funny about how you’re looking at me right now.”
She moved in closer with a flirtier tone, “how am I looking at you right now?”
I opened my eyes wide with comedic exaggeration, “like this!” and immediately heard her infectious laughter, “no but I was literally craving a strawberry milkshake too, let’s go.” I got up first and then helped her up before we walked through the leaves and towards the parking lot.
When we got to my jeep I insisted on driving, “long way?”
She squeezed my hand, “oh absolutely, it’s the only way.”
Belly turned on the radio as we made our way to the highway.
We loved taking the long way home not only to listen to more music, but more so for the scenic view. The sun hadn’t completely set yet, so its hazy reflection made the trees beside the highway appear more golden than they typically were.
The sun almost had a marigold rustic hue to it that made the scene resemble exactly how I pictured the autumn season in my head. There was a small shake shack that Belly and I went to at least once a month for years. I preferred coffee milkshakes, but the strawberry milkshakes here were incomparable. They didn’t have that artificial strawberry flavor that typically made strawberry milkshakes too sweet for my taste. Belly changed the radio to her own playlist and was singing along to one of her favorite songs.
Once the song finished, she turned down the volume slightly, “did you hear Conrad’s bringing a date to the boardwalk on Friday?”
I couldn’t tell from her tone whether nor not she was happy, annoyed, or indifferent by this, “that’s awesome, I’m happy he’s going to start dating again, I mean I don’t know if he has dated anyone since-.” I realized the conversation would get more awkward if I wasn’t careful with what I said. I was also trying to be more sympathetic of Belly’s feelings since he was still her ex. I’d previously avoided the concept of their relationship, but that wasn’t entirely fair since it once was very important to the person that was the most important to me. I shifted the focus more on her, “if that makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to go. We can go another time.”
She quickly reassured me, “oh no, I was just mentioning it to you since Steven told me. I didn’t know if you knew. I’m excited, I still want to go.”
I couldn’t quite pinpoint what about her response seemed a little off, but I trusted her, and I had to realize that it was normal for her to feel a little awkward about it. Even if I didn’t have feelings for my ex, I could see it also making me a little uncomfortable knowing I’d be around them during their date.
I smiled towards her for a second, “ok,” and then tried to redirect the subject to the food, “are you read to try the pumpkin flavored kettle corn?! I heard this is the first year they’re having it at the boardwalk.”
I could hear the excitement in Belly’s voice as I parked, “Yes! Taylor told me about it, honestly it sounds like it could be the best thing ever or awful, there’s no in between, but we’ll see.”
By the time we found parking, the line was empty. We sat on the bench closest to the ocean view and had our milkshakes. As the sun faded into the sea, Belly rest her head on my right shoulder. I felt something poke my neck and noticed it was a tiny leaf that must have still stayed in her hair from earlier. I took the leaf out of her hair softly, and I didn’t think she noticed. She must have thought I was running my fingers through her hair since she nuzzled into my neck. I couldn’t recall the milkshake ever tasting this good.
The Next Afternoon:
I checked my emails over twenty times at this point and still didn’t see my score yet. I knew it was unrealistic to expect it this soon, but I was still anxious about it. I refreshed the page one last time and noticed the familiar email from my professor. I instantly went to my student portal to check if the score was in fact posted. YES. I got an 82. That was good enough for me. I texted Belly and Trusky right away. I heard back from Trusky within a minute:
“Fuck yeah!!! I knew it. I’m telling the group, let’s meet at Joey’s tonight.”
“Thanks man, I’ll check with Belly first, but I think it should work!”
I heard Belly’s car park in the garage and ran to open the door, “I passed!!!”
I went to help her bring in the groceries, “that’s amazing Jere! See, what did I tell you?!”
I kissed her, “I know, I know, you were my good luck charm, I wouldn’t have passed if you weren’t there.”
She shook her head as she smiled, “now you know that’s not true, but I’ll take the compliment. Taylor also just texted me about dinner tonight at Joey’s. She said Steven and Conrad are off playing tennis, which I didn’t even know they both played.”
I opened the door for us to take the groceries inside, “that’s what I was going to ask you about, so you’re free right?”
She gave me an obvious look, “of course. Besides, the last time I went to Joey’s was not a fun moment for me. It’s nice to go back there. I love their nachos. They’re not as good as the ones from Finch though, but they’ll do.”
I smiled at the memories of the ones from Finch because they were really the best, but I also remembered my last time at Joey’s was most likely even worse than hers, “I did not have a great time the last two times I actually went there, so let’s hope tonight is much better.”
Belly’s POV:
The last time I was at Joey’s was right after Jeremiah had broken up with me. It was not only a terrible memory because of how sad I was for believing that I had lost him, but equally so when I saw him with another girl sitting at the bar. I instantly assumed it had been the girl Taylor told me he had been speaking to at Trusky’s Halloween party two weeks ago, but it could have been someone else. I still didn’t know her name, and Taylor had told me she didn’t remember her name either.
I could have asked her to ask Jeremiah’s friend Jessica just to make sure, but I didn’t really think it was that important to begin with. I also didn’t ask Jessica because we weren’t that close, not the way Taylor and her were. I was hopeful that tonight would be a fresh start with all of us hanging out again. Jeremiah’s friends were a lot of fun to be around, but sometimes I had the feeling that some of them didn’t really like me that much. Maybe it was just all in my head though.
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
Belly and I got ready and decided to walk to Joey’s so that we could both drink and since it was such a short walk.
Trusky and Matt were already at our usual booth, and Taylor, Jessica, Ashley, Zac, and Carlos all arrived at the same as Belly and me.
We all hugged each other by the hostess stand and made our way to the booth. The closer we got to the booth, I realized Trusky had a few balloons next to him with one saying “congratulations” on it. I heard Carlos’ laughter from behind. I shook my head, “Trusky what is all this?”
Trusky really was one of the best people I’d ever met in my entire life. “You know we had to have a celebration!”
Carlos chimed in, “I got a 72 on my chemistry final last week, which is basically a 95, where’s my balloons??”
Zac gave him one of the fries from the table, “here.”
Carlos ate the fry happily and sarcastically added, “right, yes those are the same.”
When we sat down, I now noticed Jessica had this bright red lipstick on that I rarely saw her wear, and she was even more talkative than usual. I looked at Trusky and could tell he noticed as well but didn’t want to show it since he only recently started going out with Nina, Natasha’s older sister by two years.
Trusky ordered for the whole table since we were all going to share two pizzas and three nachos with plenty of beers. As we waited for the food, Zac started the conversation, “Matt, are you prepared for the wonder wheel??”
Matt tried his best to hide his fear of heights, “I actually went last week so I’m not going to go on that tomorrow.”
Carlos snorted, “yeah right, what’s the prize at the end?”
Matt confidently answered, “a teddy bear.”
Carlos narrowed his eyes at him, “there’s no prize for that ride. It’s a ride, not a game genius.”
Matt looked noticeably red as the food arrived, and now threw a question at Trusky, “So Nina’s coming tomorrow, right?”
Trusky hesitated before speaking. I assumed it was because of Jessica who was now glaring at him, as she along with the rest us, were waiting for his response, “Yeah, she couldn’t make it tonight, but she’s coming tomorrow after work.”
Jessica was the only one who responded because no one else knew what to say with her sitting there, “great, I can’t wait to finally talk to her.”
Her smile at the end of her sentence gave me chills, so I couldn’t imagine how Trusky must have felt. I took the opportunity to continue the conversation, “you know the ice rink by Duke is having a hockey night where everyone is supposedly going to wear a costume, I think we should all go. I think it’s a few days after Thanksgiving, so a lot of people are wearing holiday themed costumes.”
Ashley added, “Any excuse to wear another costume, I’m in.”
Belly looked surprised, “I can’t believe next week is Thanksgiving.”
Zac added to her point, “I can’t believe Christmas is in about a month.”
Taylor giggled, “Secret Santa this year is going to be wild...” I knew why she said that, and it definitely broke the ice. Steven was here now, Conrad would be a lot closer that before, and now Trusky was dating someone, so our group was growing and becoming inevitably more chaotic.
We were too full for dessert, so I just asked for the check. As we waited for it, Zac took out a deck of cards, and Taylor started laughing, “Zac, who brings UNO to a restaurant?”
Belly clapped her hands, “yes, let’s fucking go,” as she waited for her set of cards, “someone finally understands me!”
I took the chance to pout at her, and it worked. She kissed me with more intensity than I expected since everyone was practically staring at us. When she pulled away abruptly and turned her attention back to the game, I felt my cheeks boil. She’d never really kissed me like that in front of other people, and my entire body became twenty degrees warmer. I wondered she intended to do that. I knew she wasn’t drunk, but she did look a little tipsy.
Once Zac handed everyone their cards, and the game started, Matt started the game with a green card that had the number two on it, and then it was Trusky’s turn, “Shit, I don’t have any green cards, or any that are a two.” He drew one additional card from the deck and was lucky that he got a two, but now the card was red.
It was Ashley’s turn, and she put down a red card that had a number five on it.
Jessica looked confused but put down a green card that had a number six on it.
Carlos raised his voice since the music was getting louder, “Jess, it has to be a red card, a wild card, or the same number as a different color, so if you had a yellow with a number six that would also work.”
Jessica looked even more confused, “what?! I didn’t hear a word you said!”
Matt and Trusky started laughing. Carlos raised his voice even louder, but it was only getting busier, and it would only get louder since I think that they were about to start karaoke.
Trusky suggested to go back to his place, and we all agreed.
When we got to his apartment, Zac decided we should play Pictionary instead.
It was me, Trusky, Carlos, and Taylor vs. Belly, Zac, Jessica, Ashley, and Matt. The score was tied when it was Trusky’s turn to draw and Carlos’ turn to guess. Trusky drew an oval, and started drawing lines at the top of it, when Carlos guessed, “a pineapple!”
Trusky clapped as they joined for a hug, “yeah bro how did you guess that? that’s right!!”
I was not surprised when Belly got up from the couch in frustration demanding for a redo, “they cheated!! No way does that look like a pineapple, I saw them whispering in the beginning!”
Taylor interrupted, “I mean it does look like a pineapple to me.”
I agreed with her for dramatic effect even though I damn well knew they did cheat, but it was too entertaining to see Belly like this. She was the most competitive person I’d ever seen in my life, and I think the beers only exaggerated it even more, “yeah, I agree with Tay. Maybe you guys can pick the next game.”
As the rest of each group continued arguing on which team really won, Belly walked up to me, “traitor, I thought we were on the same team.”
I pulled in her waist into mine forgetting we weren’t alone in this room, “oh we are, but this was only just a game.”
She shuffled her hands through my hair with her lips barely a few inches from mine, “I have a better game, ‘who breaks first to kiss the other’.” Then she walked backwards to the couch confidently, while keeping her eye contact with me.
We started another round of Pictionary, and while it was Taylor and Trusky’s turn, Belly started playing with my hair again. I didn’t want to show her how it affected me, so I tried to focus on my team, “distracting me when it’s our turn to guess is very strategic Bells...”
I felt her lips on my right ear, “how are your ears so soft?”
I laughed at the fact that she was most likely drunk even though initially I didn’t think so.
Carlos was the first one to notice us, which I wasn’t surprised at since he was the only one who was aware of his surroundings most of the time, “ok please get a room.”
I heard Belly turn towards Trusky, “where’s your closest empty room?”
Taylor started laughing as I turned towards Belly, “Bells...”
She just smiled at me, “games are overrated...” and then continued to kiss me in front of everyone.
I was thinking if we should leave, but at the same time, I wasn’t really thinking at all for once, and I was happy with that, “ah fuck it,” and I kissed her back. A minute into the kiss, I couldn’t even hear anyone else’s voice in the background.
The Next Afternoon:
Natasha’s POV:
I was doing my hair and makeup for tonight. Nina told me it was a date, and I told her it wasn’t. I couldn’t call Conrad a friend yet, but I didn’t want to call this a date either. She wanted me to call it something, so I had told her it was my way of opening back the possibility of dating. She wasn’t convinced because she always saw past my antics. I loved her for it though because it showed me she was one of the few people who really understood me and still loved me the same.
I was ready to move on, or at least I hoped I was ready to. It was pretty out of character for me to go out with someone I had just met, but he seemed like a decent guy and more importantly, since the boardwalk was more of a group setting, it wouldn’t be as weird if either of us decided to leave early.
Conrad had offered to pick me up, but I was coming from practice so, I told him I’d just meet him there. He originally wanted to meet at 6:30, and I told him that time would most likely work. Practice always ran late though, so I had warned him how I could be a little late, and he understood.
My hair was naturally curly, but I straightened it for tonight in what felt like ages. I only really styled it when I was going out, which had been rare for a while now. I didn’t realize it until now, but I missed getting ready like this. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was as nervous about who I was going on a date with as I was with the idea of going on a date again.
I ignored that thought as I put my hair in a bun. I added another coat of mascara and topped off the look with my favorite terracotta blush and matching lip gloss that had a hint of gold micro sparkles in it. The nostalgic watermelon scent of the gloss brought me back the comfort that I needed as I headed out to my car.
Belly’s POV:
I was getting ready with Taylor, and we were going to pick up Jessica and Ashley after. I wore a burgundy long-sleeved crop top with a short dark denim skirt, black tights, and black leather boots with heels. I curled my hair then brushed through it with my fingers to give it a beachier wavy look.
I added the final touch of my strawberry lip gloss that was not only my favorite, but also Jeremiah’s favorite. This was the most confident I’d probably felt in years. Ever since I told Jeremiah last weekend the truth about a lot of what I went through emotionally, I felt lighter and freer.
Jessica’s POV:
Ashley looked a little bummed, “What’s wrong?”
She was fixing her liquid eye liner, “I really thought Jeremiah and Belly wouldn’t get back together.”
I finished curling the back of her hair, “Ash, I think it’s time to find someone else. I know you’ve had a crush on him for a while now, but even if they didn’t get back together, do you really think it’s worth all the trouble that could come from it? They have so much history that even if he goes out with someone else temporarily, wouldn’t you worry, he’d eventually leave you again for her? I adore Jeremiah, but one thing about him, he’s loyal, and I can’t imagine him ever leaving her...unless she did something really bad, and then I’d still think he’d find a way to forgive her even if he shouldn’t.”
Ashley sighed, “I know you’re right. I guess we’ll see...”
I didn’t even want to know what that meant. Ashley left the room, and I had a moment alone to process the potential outcomes of tonight. I could end up liking Nina a lot and want to be friends or really dislike her. Regardless, both outcomes would still leave an awkward shift in Trusky and my friendship. Then again, our friendship was never the same the minute I started liking him.
On Halloween when I danced with another guy in front of Trusky, I told myself how I would move on the same way he did. The problem with this was that it was just a bunch of talk. You could tell yourself all you wanted that you would get over someone, but the actual process of it was a completely different battle.
Despite all that, I knew if it was meant to be, it would happen eventually, but I wasn’t going to waste my time waiting for him to notice me anymore. I put on the same bright red liquid lipstick I wore last night. I didn’t know what it was, but the vibrancy of this shade instantly lifted my mood as soon as I wore it.
Taylor’s POV:
I finished zipping my boots. Belly and I bought these shoes the other day when we went shopping. I didn’t even care that we were wearing the exact same ones tonight. They were the prettiest boots I’d ever seen. Belly and I took a few selfies together. Then, I took one of just me alone as well to send to Steven. That way he had a chance to take in my outfit before he saw it in person. I felt it was only fair to prepare him in advance.
Back to Natasha’s POV:
My coach called me, “Natasha you’re late.”
I had just parked and was changing my shoes, “I’ll be there in a few minutes, sorry!”
This was the most adrenaline I had going into practice in a while. I hoped it wouldn’t ruin my focus, but I wasn’t even thinking about any of that when I caught myself smiling all of a sudden about tonight.
Back to Belly’s POV:
When we got to the boardwalk, the sun had just set. Taylor, Jessica, Ashley, and I made our way near the wonder wheel where we had decided to meet everyone else. There was a photobooth right next to the ride, so we took the opportunity to take a quick photo before they got here.
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
I drove with Matt, Carlos, and Zac, and Steven and Conrad drove together with two more of Steven’s friends from college that lived here as well. Trusky went to pick up Nina, so he drove them separately. Taylor, Belly, Jessica, and Ashley were looking at a collage of photos, and I assumed they went to the photo booth. I didn’t see Conrad’s date though, and I wondered what happened. I didn’t want to ask him in front of everyone since I wasn’t sure if that would have embarrassed him.
Once again Carlos pointed out the obvious, and as usual I was stunned at how he managed to know Conrad even had a date, when I had barely found out just two days ago, “where’s your date?”
Conrad didn’t seem worried though or embarrassed, “she’s running late, but she had told me in advance she might be late. I did also ask her a few days ago so I was surprised she was free.”
Nina and Trusky now got here and were holding hands. Jessica had the same bright red lipstick on as last night. This was going to be an interesting night to say the least.
Ashley was clever and took the chance to take Jessica’s hand and walked away from the wonder wheel, “c’mon Jess, the guy at the kissing booth was insanely hot, and he was looking at you when we got here!”
Conrad and Steven were hungry and went with Steven’s friends to grab a snack. Then Belly walked up to me with a cheeky smile, “hi.”
I placed my hands on her lower back and kissed her lips, “hi,” and was left with the strawberry taste that she knew I couldn’t get enough of.
Belly took my hand, “c’mon!” and directed us towards the swing ride. Thank God my mom had helped me get over my fear of these rides when I was younger. Now I could enjoy it with the woman of my dreams.
Our seats were right next to each other. I turned around before the ride started and reminded her, “I’m still one ahead, so you have some catching up to do,” referring to how our team won Pictionary last night.
I barely heard her scoff before the ride interrupted her, “we’ll see about that!”
Back to Jessica’s POV:
Ashley kissed the guy at the kissing booth, but I didn’t. I was about to, but I realized it wasn’t because I really wanted to. It would have only been to make Trusky jealous, but he was here with her, so I’d be the won who’d still lose.
Ashley went to get us a pretzel to share, but I couldn’t find the rest of the group. Of course the first people I spotted were Nina and Trusky. Every time I saw her, I couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. Her and Natasha didn’t look that similar, but they both were equally stunning.
It was hard trying to get over someone when you constantly had to see them. I guess being friends first only had a 50/50 chance of it turning out okay. On one hand, it was great to be friends first, like Belly and Jeremiah had been, but on the other hand, if your friend didn’t like you back, it would just end in disaster. I wondered how Trusky and I could continue being friends if it annoyed me this much right now.
They were walking towards me, and I already dreaded the conversation. They were the last two people I wanted to talk to right now.
Back to Belly’s POV:
When the swing ride was over, I called Taylor who was finishing her food with Steven. She met us by the wonder wheel, and we both took each of Jeremiah’s hands and ran off to the photo booth again. Jeremiah didn’t have a chance to react, “oh no!”
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
Belly sat on my lap, and Taylor sat on her lap. After we took our group photo, we ran off to one of the painting booths. When we were younger, we had this one portrait from the same boardwalk. First Taylor, Belly, and I had gone to the face painting booth. Belly got a sea turtle, Taylor got a starfish, and I got a jellyfish. Then one of the painters had painted the portrait of the three of us, and I remembered they both looked identical in the photo, but I looked like a cartoon character. They could not stop laughing once the portrait had been completed that day, and I laughed at the memory now.
Belly turned to us, “what face painting should we get this time around?”
Taylor confidently said, “I think we should all get the jellyfish, I remember it was the cutest one before,” and then smiled at me.
Once we got the matching face paints and the portrait was completed, the painter handed me the photo as Taylor and Belly tried to catch a glimpse of the painting from behind my shoulders, “I look even worse than last time, how the hell is that even possible?”
Taylor clapped her hands while laughing and then covered her stomach as if she needed air, “he’s fucking right!”
Belly grabbed the photo to observe it more closely, “hey I’m sure it’s not that bad-” then tried to conceal her laughter, “babe, you look...good” and then couldn’t contain it any longer, “I’m sorry, you do look good!”
I looked at the picture again, “I look like that rat from that one movie.”
Belly was crying from her laughter now, “Ratatouille?!”
Taylor lost it again.
Conrad’s POV:
I noticed Belly, Jeremiah, and Taylor laughing from a distance, and it dawned on me that every time I saw Belly with Jeremiah, she somehow looked even happier than before. I never thought I would get jealous at that, but here I was a little jealous, or maybe a lot.
Maybe if Natasha was here, I wouldn’t have felt that way. I was starting to think she stood me up, but that didn’t sound like her. What was I even saying? I barely knew her at all. Maybe she did. And now I would most likely run into her more often than not at Yale. Great.
Steven touched my left shoulder in the perfect moment before I could continue dwelling in my thoughts, “I just checked, and they do have Dippin’ Dots, and a lot of the flavors too!”
I forgot about everything. I knew how silly that sounded, but this was my favorite dessert as a kid.
My mom would buy it for me every time I cried, which had been a lot. She would tell me I was a huge crier when I was a kid, but that once I was a teenager, she’d never see me cry again. When she had told me that, I had wondered what that was all about. I never really figured it out, and in this moment, I didn’t care about anything else but the Dippin’ Dots, “no fucking way!” and followed Steven to the stand.
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
The entire group was scattered throughout the boardwalk, but Belly and I walked at the very end of the pier. We held hands as the firework show started that only happened on Fridays and Saturdays. She squeezed my right hand as her eyes glowed from the reflection of the fireworks, “look how pretty... every time I see fireworks, it reminds me of 4th of July.”
I felt guilt wash all over me. Every time I saw fireworks, for a second it reminded me of Belly, but I’d always brush over that one night, the night I had interrupted her and Conrad’s kiss. I was immature, and it was wrong, but I knew it wasn’t even near them. I made sure of it. That still didn’t excuse the thought of even throwing the firework in the first place.
Since Belly had been that honest with me the other night about how she had been feeling towards Conrad the past few years, I felt that I owed her the truth as well because it wasn’t just the firework, “Belly, I have to tell you something.”
She look at me confused, “what?”
“You know that summer that we kissed?” I tried my best to keep looking into her eyes as I confessed, but I didn’t know how she’d react.
She didn’t break eye contact, “yeah...”
I took in a deep breath, “well a few days before on the 4th of July, I was all excited and went outside to light some fireworks. It was a tradition that I had with my dad especially and I had been looking forward all summer to have that quality time with him...well when I went outside, I thought he would have been there, but he wasn’t. Instead, I saw you and Conrad and noticed him lean in close to you. It looked like you were about to kiss, so I threw a firework out in the distance into the sky right in that moment. I made sure it wasn’t even close to either of you. I just panicked, and I was crushed at everything. I felt like I was losing you, and I was so pissed at my dad and Conrad for not giving a shit about a lot that was going on including you-”
She paused me, “hey don’t say he didn’t give a shit about me. Maybe he didn’t show it enough, but I know he cared.”
Shit. I managed to say the wrong thing, but it occurred to me that she didn’t even acknowledge what I did and instead initially noticed the part that only had to do with Conrad. Now I was annoyed, but I didn’t show it because I still knew I was in the wrong here.
Then she continued, “and I mean Jere you know better, that’s pretty fucked up. Even if you didn’t mean to hurt us, it still could have. And I am pissed,” I was so ashamed, but then she added, “but, I forgive you, and I know that wasn’t easy to tell me. And even if you interrupted that kiss, Conrad still had the chance to kiss me again, and he didn’t the day after or the day after that.”
I felt relieved, and I should have stopped talking in that moment, but somehow I couldn’t because there was more to the story, and she deserved the truth, the same way she had given it to me. “Belly there’s one more part...”
She looked nervous as if she couldn’t predict what was coming next, and I couldn’t blame her, “I knew he liked you. Obviously, I didn’t know how much. But I knew he did. And I knew you liked him. I didn’t know how much. I just knew you liked him a lot more than he liked you, at least that’s how it looked like to me.” I took in a deep breath and continued, “I tried to sabotage it so that I had a chance with you. I knew his girlfriend at the time Nicole wanted to go to a concert so I told her Conrad liked the same artist as her just so that he wouldn’t be here to have as much time to spend it with you.”
This entire time she had still held onto to my hand, but now she let go, “what...”
I was terrified, but I wanted to explain it all completely, “I don’t think he even ended up going because they broke up and you guys kissed- you already knew that part, but I promise I didn’t do it with any malicious intentions. I loved you, and I didn’t want you to get hurt, but that wasn’t my place to decide, and shit...now look at me- I’m trying to justify it- I know there’s no justification. I did it because I was immature, stupid, and young, and that’s all there was to it.”
I hadn’t seen Belly look this angry before. I had seen her during some of her lowest moments where she had been her saddest. The anger in her eyes right now broke my heart before she even responded, “I can’t believe you did that...I can’t believe you didn’t tell me- you had years to tell me, why now? Did you not want to get back together? Is that why you’re telling me this now??”
That was further from the truth, “what? No, of course not, all I want is to be with you. I said it because you were honest with me the other day, and now I wanted to be honest with you. As soon as you said the fireworks reminded you of the ones from the 4th of July, I panicked-”
She sarcastically laughed, “oh, so you wouldn’t have even told me now if I hadn’t said that comment to you??”
Back to Belly’s POV:
I knew what I was doing. I was deflecting on the problem, and my insecurities were starting to resurface. He just told me something that I’d never imagined hearing. I didn’t know what to say, so I was trying to question if he loved me genuinely or not. I knew he did though. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind about that. But I was mad at his dishonesty. I had withheld my emotions from him before, but he had withheld the truth. In my eyes, this was different, and now I questioned everything.
I wondered if Jeremiah hadn’t intervened the way he just told me he had if things would have been different. It wouldn’t have changed anything about Conrad, but things might have ended up differently between Conrad and me, right?
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
Conrad walked up to us at the worst possible moment, “is your service ass here as well? I’m not getting any reception, shit I can’t tell if Natasha texted me or not.”
Did I hear him correctly, or did he just say Natasha texted him? “Who did you say you were trying to text again?”
He looked confused as to why I just asked him that, “Natasha, my date,” and continued searching for signal on his phone.
Natasha was his date? It was a good thing she didn’t show up because that would have been extremely awkward. I didn’t know if she knew Conrad and I were brothers. Why would Conrad have even told her that? He didn’t know I knew her. I looked up when I noticed Conrad waved at someone a few yards away, “Natasha!” Shit, it was her.
My attention turned towards Belly.
Back to Belly’s POV:
I knew her. She was the same girl I saw at the coffee shop last weekend, but I never got her name. I noticed Jeremiah staring at me oddly, and then he looked away when he saw me notice.
Natasha’s POV:
I hugged Conrad, and he smelled incredible, “Hey! Sorry I’m late. I texted you when I left, but it kept saying undelivered.”
Back to Conrad’s POV:
My heart was pounding. I couldn’t stop smiling. I tried not to be awkward, but I had to accept that I was pretty rusty at this, and she had liked me for me before, so I had nothing to worry about.
Back to Natasha’s POV:
I immediately noticed Jeremiah and Belly, “Jeremiah?” and I was confused how they all knew each other. What were the odds that Conrad was friends with them?
Back to Jeremiah’s POV:
Natasha looked at me as bewildered as I felt and then looked at Belly, “Belly, right?” She nodded in shock, so Natasha continued to try to alleviate the awkwardness of the conversation, “I remember at the coffee shop, the barista called your name, but I was on the phone so I couldn’t introduce myself, it’s nice to meet you!” Then she looked at Conrad, “so how do you and Jeremiah know each other?”
Back to Conrad’s POV:
“We’re brothers,” Natasha’s face looked like it fell, and I felt the most confused out of everyone because it appeared as if everyone was in on an inside joke but me.
Back to Belly’s POV:
Now I was convinced this was the same person Jeremiah was with at Joey’s that night. I couldn’t prove it, but I felt it in my intuition. It was obvious they knew each other, and it made me even more confused as to how she was now Conrad’s date. How did I not recognize her at the coffee shop?
Back to Natasha’s POV:
They were brothers?? So this was the love triangle they both had confided in me about. What the fuck was happening? Conrad looked genuinely lost, but Belly and Jeremiah looked pissed and as if they were starting to figure out a puzzle. I knew dating would lead to more problems, problems that I didn’t have time to deal with. But I never imagined this. I tried my best to change the mood.
What I said next may have sounded snarky, but it was two questions in disguise. It could have been interpreted metaphorically, but also literally, “so what did I miss?”