(currently under editing, but not anything very major)
after conrad fisher unexpectedly broke up with josie grahms a month ago, things haven't been the same since. lately, josie's found it hard to move past her long-lasting relationship with conrad...
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CONRAD
(edited version)
CONRAD LURKED IN THE CORNER OF THE BOOKSHOP, DOWNING HIS DRINK OF CHARDONNAY. Josie eventually left the summer house to get dressed into something more casual for Laurel's book signing. He'd been so preoccupied with his mom painting his portrait, and dealing with his hangover that he'd forgotten about the book signing.
He didn't feel much like going. After seeing how tired his mom was, and her still insisting she go to Laurel's book signing, it sort of pushed him off the rails for a bit. Why wasn't she taking proper care of herself when she was...when she might not be there next summer?
To battle his emotions, Conrad preferred to be alone at the summer house in his thoughts. As expected, his mom wasn't going to let that happen.
The entire bookshop was crammed with customers searching for books to buy and getting their books signed by Laurel.
While Conrad stayed alone, Jeremiah kept stacking books upon books on top of Steven, who was struggling to hold them. Josie and Casper were engrossed in a conversation about who knows what. For a split second, Conrad felt a sense of loneliness. He desired to go over there and socialize with his friends. But something held him back.
Suddenly, he could see Josie making a beeline towards him, not a falter in her step. Conrad stared at her, wearing a puzzled expression on his face. At the sight of her stern face, he stopped drinking altogether and wiped his mouth. "Can you at least try not to drink tonight? What if you get drunk?"
"Relax. I haven't drunk much."
Josie leaned against the wall next to Conrad. "You know what happened last night, Con."
Conrad nodded nonchalantly. "I know. That's why I'm being more careful this time." Josie scoffed, looking at everything but him. Conrad closed the bottle and left it on the table where he'd found it.
"Fine. I won't drink any more tonight. Happy?" He couldn't handle Josie staring him down like that. Whenever she did, he'd known he'd done something wrong.
Josie gave Conrad a look. "Yes. I am happy if you'd like to know." She snapped.
Before Conrad said another word, Laurel called for him. "Conrad? Come over here?"
He did as Laurel said, and walked up to the table where she was signing books. A man with gray hair and round glasses stood next to Laurel. Initially, he didn't expect Josie to go with him too, but he didn't mind her company too much, surprisingly.
Laurel gave Josie a small nod before fixing her eyes back on Conrad. "Conrad, this is Cleveland. He's writing a book about sailing but also knows nothing about sailing." How was that possible? Conrad had never heard of a funny case like that.
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Cleveland released an apologetic-sounding laugh. "Conrad's a great sailor. You won a regatta last year, right?"
Conrad shrugged at the memory. "Came in second, so it wasn't a big deal or anything." He corrected him.
Josie grinned at him. "You should give yourself more credit, Con. You know about sailing more than almost anyone." Conrad tried not to seem too affected by Josie's compliment. He'd sort of always been too hard on himself and kinda felt like he didn't deserve a lot of things.
Luckily, Josie was always there to pick him up and tell him he was an amazing, talented guy who was worthy of a lot of things. That was back then, though. He reminded himself. That was all in the past, and soon enough, Josie would understand she was much better off without him.
"So, uh, do you teach? I could use some lessons." Cleveland mustered a rather awkward smile.
Somehow, something told Conrad that something was up. The night of the bonfire, both Laurel and Susannah were extremely disappointed in Conrad for him getting drunk and acting so recklessly. It wasn't typical Conrad fashion to act like that. He'd heard it many times throughout the summer, but it was too much of a risk to tell everyone the truth about what was tearing him up inside.
Had they come up with a plan to get Conrad out of his slump?
"Did my mom put you up to this?"
Laurel's face evolved into one of confusion. "What, why?"
"Typical." He only said, with bitterness in his voice, and left. It was so much more complicated than just being a moody teenager.
Josie didn't bother following him this time. He could hear her quickly apologizing to Cleveland on Conrad's behalf. It made him a little irritated that Josie was butting in when she had no reason to.
He plopped down on the couch next to Steven and Jeremiah who'd retired from stacking books onto each other.
Conrad couldn't stand being in the bookshop anymore. He was tired of staying cooped up inside his room without much to do. "You know, this shit is so boring. Can we go somewhere?" Conrad suggested, breaking the silence. He didn't mean for those words to come out so suddenly. It just sort of, well, happened.
Steven continued to scroll mindlessly through his phone, stopping once hearing Conrad's voice. "Yeah. Where?" He asked casually, waiting for a response from either him or Jeremiah.
"We could go into town. Buy some weed from the guy with the Rainbow Dash tattoo?" Jeremiah suggested, sitting up for once.
"Nah, he got arrested last summer," Conrad told his brother, who hung his head in defeat.
"Oh, shit. Really?" He said to himself in disbelief.
With a sigh, Steven added, "We could go to the drive-in."
Jeremiah looked at Steven as if he'd grown two heads. "Dude, gross. I don't want to watch Belly hooking up with some kid in the backseat of his minivan." He complained.
Conrad let the idea of going to the drive-in sink in. It wasn't far from the bookshop; easily a ten-minute drive, and the idea of seeing a movie at a drive-in sounded appealing, and simple to do. It could get also his mind off of the sticky situation he was in right now.
"Yo, actually...let's go to the drive-in."
Steven's eyebrows raised slightly at Conrad's words. For the last day or so, he'd made it a habit to sulk into his room, and not talk much to Steven or Jeremiah who were like a unit all together. Conrad being the first to make a move was something he hadn't done before.
