Cruel Summer, Jeremiah Fisher

seventeen

"Okay, I have two rooms left, if you don't want them I have truckers on the phone who do," The front desk lady sassed.

Belly looked at us, "No, no, no. Uh, we'll take them."

Conrad handed the woman his card and she tossed two keys onto the counter.

He glanced up at Belly, "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up."

We all nodded and slowly started walking to our rooms, "You want me to stay with you?" I asked Belly while Jere walked in front of us.

She shook her head, "No, no, you go with Jere."

I furrowed my brows, "No, it's fine, Belly, I'll go with you-"

She cut me off, "Really, it's okay. I have some things I have to talk about with Conrad... and I guess this will force him to be in a room with me."

I sent her a small reassuring smile, "Okay, just knock on my door if you need anything or want to make Con switch with me."

She nodded and stepped into her room, leaving the door slightly open so Conrad could come in.

I looked over and saw Jere grabbing our bags before moving over to our door and gesturing me over.

Unlocking the door, I pushed it open and looked around the room.

"One bed," Jere sighed, "I'll take the floor."

I laughed and playfully hit his shoulder before flopping down on the bed, "Don't be stupid. It's not like we haven't shared a bed before."

Jere smiled down at me and tossed his bag on the bed, "Thank, god. I was just trying to be the 'good guy' but I really didn't want to."

For some reason, in the moment what he said was REALLY funny and I started dying laughing. Jere just sat there staring at me before chuckling, "You're losing it."

Calming down, I nodded, "Yeah, I am," I stood up and grabbed my bag, "I'm going to take a shower, I'm cold."

Jere smirked, "Can I come?"

I started smirking to give him hope before deadpanning, "No." and walking into the bathroom.

Jere groaned dramatically and flopped backwards down onto the bed.

-

Slipping on a tank top and some comfy shorts, I dried my hair before walking back into the room and seeing Jere sitting at the table in his pajama pants and a gray shirt.

"Here," he tossed me a sandwich, "Fair warning, I have no idea how long that was in the vending machine for..."

I grimaced, looking down at the sandwich before tossing it back to him, "Alright, I'm good."

Pulling out my phone, I texted Belly to make sure that she was alright before scrolling through my various other texts.

I noticed that my dad texted me, telling me that he would be back home from his work trip in a few days.

Tossing my phone on the dresser, I flopped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Soon enough, the lights were being shut off and the other side of the bed weighed down, "You want to talk about it?" Jere gently asked.

I turned my head to see him looking at me before I rolled over, laying my head on his chest and wrapping my leg over his.

"My dad said he's coming back home soon," I explained, "It's just... he's never around, then when he does show up, he expects me to be the perfect daughter. Straight A's... Volleyball captain... It puts so much pressure on me to do everything how they want it. And-and don't get me wrong, I still love them, it's just... I fell like I will never be enough. I don't really know how else to explain it."