Chapter 5
As I opened the door I just stood for a moment, looking at the room he lived in. It had been years since I'd entered this room but it was still as neat as ever, tidy, precise, that was how Conrad lived. I remembered the summer when I was 11, he'd come down to the games room one day which was like a bombsite, Jeremiah and I had been chucking popcorn and having a pillow fight, one of which had burst leaving feathers everywhere. He shouted at us to clean up and when we said we'd do it after a swim in the pool he'd gone upstairs. We came back to the house an hour later and he was just finishing dusting all the sofas. It had bothered him so much he just had to have things tidy. He was still the same, that reassured me.
'Hi' I began
'Belly' he sighed, 'how are you feeling?'
'Pounding headache but other than that I'm alright, you?' I asked, sitting down on the corner of his bed.
'I'm fine Belly.' His voice sounded final and we were silent for a few minutes, I was about to break the silence when he suddenly asked,
'Who's Blondie ?'
'The singer?' I replied, 'she's pretty good, my mom likes.. oh' I realised, 'you mean Hudson.'
'Hudson's his name?' Conrad let out laugh
'Yeah, he's a friend. Why?' With that Conrad moved towards me and kissed me, instantly, intensely, but within five seconds broke away.
'What was that?!' I spluttered
'We're just friends right?' He asked. It was then I knew he'd seen Hudson and I.
'When did you see us?' I asked defiantly
'After the shots Bellybutton' he said, 'after the shots.'
'Look Conrad, not that it's any of your business but nothing, I mean nothing is going on with Hudson, yes we kissed last night but we mostly just spoke for hours and you know what? If I hadn't seen you on the beach with Taylor as I was coming to find you then none of this would of happened so don't blame me!' I yelled at him. His eyes dropped as I mentioned Taylor and he just sat there till eventually I stood up and headed for the door.
'What did you see on the beach Belly?'
'You kiss her back.' I retorted before storming out of his room, I slammed the door shut and walked down to my car, I was just starting the engine when Anika ran towards me,
'Where you going Iz?' She asked
'Out'
'I'm coming' She didn't ask, she just got in the car. I was grateful for that, I needed someone to talk to. We drove in silence at first, she didn't say anything just let me think. Anika actually had a process, let them cool off, let them think about it, talk to them. Currently I was cooling off. Well trying too. But I was really angry, Conrad had had a go at me for kissing a guy once when I'd only done it because I'd seen him kiss Taylor, my ex-best friend. Thinking this through, how in the end he pushed her away, stood up for me and then came to find me swam across my head- this was the thinking stage. Anika could tell someone was at this point because they would usually adopt a confused expression. I guess that was where I was at but she waited. It was only once we were at the boardwalk she turned to me, 'What happened?'
'He kissed Taylor last night.' I replied bluntly.
'He did what?!' She exclaimed
'Well Taylor kissed him, he just didn't push her away for around 10 seconds.' I explained
'Oh Iz, what did he do then?'
I quickly explained to her how Conrad had fought with her, them involving my feelings etc.
'And what exactly are your feelings Iz?' Anika asked me
'I like him a lot, I never stopped but he's so..' I was lost for words, because the thing was, he was so, Conrad. That was the only word for it, dark, moody, mysterious yet sweet, sensitive and so so interesting.
'Iz, no-one's ever compared to him right?'
'Never.' I responded.
'Then what are we doing here?' She questioned, 'You can't just run off whenever' she paused, 'You can do this Iz, go back and talk to him.'
We were back at the house within 15 minutes but I wasn't ready yet, I needed a swim. It was dark though, around midnight I'd guess. I told Anika I was going to talk to Conrad tomorrow, said goodnight to her before entering my room. I got changed into my swimsuit and walked down to the pool and started to lap. Dawn was breaking when I finally stopped, I must of been swimming for hours on end but it felt like minutes. I got out the pool and my skin was white and wrinkled, my fingers and toes looking old and pruned. I checked my phone - 4am, was there point in going to sleep? I decided yes. I didn't want to be grouchy tomorrow and I wanted to be able to talk to Con properly so I went back upstairs. I changed before wrapping myself in duvet and drifting away.
When I woke it was midday, I was surprised no-one had woken me yet with music or something like that. But no. I showered and put on my sweats, today was going to be a home day. I walked downstairs but still no sign of anyone. Pouring myself some cereal I heard a car though, someone was pulling into the drive. I walked outside, bowl of cereal in hand to go and see the visitor but it was only Anika and Jere returning, weirdly enough Conrad's car wasn't too be seen. Where was he? Before having to talk to Anika and Jere I went upstairs and knocked on his door- no reply. I looked inside, his room was completely empty. Great, he was out. I sighed whilst walking back down the stairs to Anika and Jere. Upon seeing me they said,
'Morning Belly'
'Hey guys, where you been?'
'Food shopping' Jere answered me
'By that do you mean actual food, junk food or alcohol?' I asked grinning at them
'Mainly junk food and alcohol' they admitted, I started laughing. We all went to sit down on the sofa and I asked,
'Shall we all have a house day today?'
'Yeah, sounds good' Jere replied
Anika nodded as well before saying, 'Do you want to invite Hudson over as well?'
'Good idea' I told her nodding before picking up my phone. I rang Hudson and asked him if him, Ellie and the others would like to come over for a movie, popcorn and shot day. He said Ellie and Dean were out in the nearest city shopping and Flynn was at work but he could come over in 20 minutes. I turned back to An and Jere to tell them but couldn't see them. I quickly told Hudson that 20 minutes was great and I'd see him then before hanging up the phone and searching for the missing duo.
I found them on the porch arguing lightly over whether we should have a barbeque tonight. Jere was in favour. Anika was against. As I walked up to them they told me I was going to make the final call. I knew how much Hudson liked barbeques from the night before so I agreed with Jere. That made him smile. We teased Anika saying new-comers had no say anyway over the house and she just laughed back at us, taunting Jere, winking at me.
Back inside we just spoke for a while till Hudson arrived before picking which movie to watch. I was never a fussy movie watcher so as they decided I grabbed duvets, popcorn, chocolate and shot glasses so we could chill in style. By the time I'd set up they still hadn't agreed though. Hudson and Anika wanted to watch Slum dog Millionaire whereas Jere wanted Pulp Fiction. Once again they turned to me to make a decision. If I was honest I'd of rather watched a Harry Potter or Twilight so we could chat over the top but eventually I agreed with Hudson and Anika, I couldn't watch Pulp Fiction for the 60th time with Jere. He loved it way too much.
While the movie was on Jere and Anika had one sofa, cuddling together, whereas me ad Hudson had the other. I was lounging on him and An kept shooting me smirks but we were mostly messing around. About an hour through the film Jere stood up and asked Hudson if he'd help him with something which made them both leave.
Once they'd left Anika bounded over to me tucking herself into my duvet so we could chat. She turned to me, ignoring the movie, and said,
'Iz, he is so scrummy!'
'He is very hot I agree An' I replied. That's all I gave her though. Nothing was going to happen with Hudson, him and I both knew that. She fell silent at this and turned to watch the movie. We sat comfortably together half watching the movie half thinking till the boys came back an hour later, arms full of booze.
I raised my eyes at the pair of them. Hudson just shrugged while grinning at me. Jere on the other hand explained,
'We've decided we're having a party.'
'How big?' was my first question.
'Oh just us plus Ellie, Dean and Flynn' Hudson responded.
'Pathetic guys, you call that a party?!' Anika piped in, 'Get real.' She was joking though, just messing with the pair of them. Jere pretended to be wounded,
'Ouch that hurt!' he cried sarcastically but then added, 'no I want to meet Belly's awesome friends!' Sounded like him and Hudson had got on okay, good, I smiled.
'Sounds like a plan' I said. 'When are they coming?'
'Now' Jere grinned. 'The night's just starting.'