Cruel Summer, Jeremiah Fisher

nine

"That was bullshit. What are we gonna do now?" I looked at Jere with a hopeful glance.

Our plan of charming Julia didn't go too well and now we needed to think of something else.

We couldn't let the beach house get taken away.

Jere kept his eyes on the road, "I don't know. All I can think about is the fact I'm an idiot for thinking I could change Aunt Julia's mind."

I gently took his hand, "Don't say that. We had to try. I thought it was a good plan, too."

He looked over at me with a small smile, "It's all up to Conrad now, on whether or not he can convince Dad to dip into his trust. That's gonna go over well."

"Still bad between them?" Belly asked and Jere looked at her with a face that screamed obviously.

"Maybe you and Con should talk to your dad together. It might help get through to him," I suggested.

Jere shook his head, "No, he's gonna try doing it alone, and I'm sick of fighting with him."

"Alright, then don't. With Adam here you two need to be on the same team," Belly spoke up and I nodded.

Jere turned back towards the road, "Yeah, I'll give it a shot."

Bothe Belly and I's phones started blowing up and I groaned, "God, I wish they would just stop texting."

"Who?" Jere asked.

"They volleyball girls group chat. All of the stuff we have to bring to camp next week," Belly rubbed her face.

"I thought you weren't going after, uh, last year," I asked.

Belly looked up, "Yeah, Taylor convinced me to go. I don't know, I-I just feel like coach doesn't want me back after I lost my shit on everybody. I mean, all I could think about was how Susannah was sick..."

I placed a reassuring hand on her arm, "Hey, you know we all forgive you for that. And i'm sure coach would accept you back on the team. I mean, who else would Taylor and I co-captain with?" I asked and Belly let out a small laugh.

"I really missed you guys," Belly sighed.

-

Pulling up to the beach house, Conrad walked up to us with his swimsuit on and a wet shirt, "Bro, did you seriously go surfing without me?" I asked hitting his arm.

He laughed, "You guys went to the store?"

Belly shook her head, "We thought about leaving then we decided not to listen to you."

"We didn't just get groceries... we actually went to see Aunt Julia," Jere told him.

"How did that go?" Conrad asked.

I winced, "Not great. I don't like her."

"Did you talked to Dad yet?" Jeremiah asked.

"Uh, we're gonna take those inside," I said taking the bags from Jere and ushering Belly to follow me, leaving the boys alone.

"How do you think they are doing?" She asked as we walked into the kitchen.

"As good as anyone would be in their situation, I guess," I answered starting to put groceries away.

Belly looked over at me, "Thank you for being there for Jere when I wasn't. You are always there for everyone to lean on, but you know you can lean on me too sometimes, right?"

I sent her a small smile, hesitating before opening up, "I know... thank you. Honestly, it's hard being here when Susannah is gone, and it's messing with me, but everyone else is feeling that way too-"