And then I hung up, because suddenly the phone felt very heavy in my hand. I felt like I was on a merry-go-round, and not in a good way.
Somebody was setting off fireworks outside, and it felt like my head was pounding right along with them. Then I closed my eyes and it was worse.
But my eyelids felt heavy too and soon I was asleep.
chapter thirty-two
JEREMIAH
Pretty soon after Bel y went up to bed, I cleared everybody out and it was just Conrad and me. He was lying facedown on the couch. He’d been lying there since he and Bel y came back from the beach. They were both wet and sandy. Bel y was wasted, and she’d been crying, I could tel . Her eyes were red. Conrad’s fault—no doubt about that.
People had tracked sand inside and it was al over the floor. There were bottles and cans everywhere, and somebody had sat on the couch in a wet towel, and now the cushion had a big orange spot. I flipped it over. “The house is a wreck,” I said, fal ing onto the La-Z-Boy. “Dad wil freak out if he sees it like this tomorrow.”
Conrad didn’t open his eyes. “Whatever. We’l clean it in the morning.”
I stared at him, just feeling pissed. I was sick of cleaning up his messes.
“It’s gonna take us hours.”
Then he opened his eyes. “You’re the one who invited everybody over.”
He had a point. The party had been my idea. It wasn’t the mess I was pissed about. It was Bel y. Him and her, together. It made me sick.
“Your jeans are wet,” I said. “You’re getting sand al over the couch.”
Conrad sat up, rubbed his eyes. “What’s your problem?”
I couldn’t take it anymore. I started to get up, but then I sat back down.
“What the hel happened outside with you guys?”
“Nothing.”
“What does that mean, nothing?”
“Nothing means nothing. Just leave it, Jere.”
I hated it when he got like that, al stoic and detached, especial y when I was mad. He’d always been like that, but it was more and more these days.
When our mom died, he changed. Conrad didn’t give two shits about anything or anyone anymore. I wondered if that included Bel y.
I had to know. About him and her, how he real y felt, what he was going to do about it. It was the not knowing that kil ed a guy.
So I asked him flat out. “Do you stil like her?”
He stared at me. I’d shocked the hel out of him, I could tel . We’d never talked about her before, not like this. It was probably a good thing that I’d caught him off guard. Maybe he’d tel the truth.
If he said yes, it was over. If he said yes, I would give her up. I could live with that. If it were anyone but Conrad, I’d have tried anyway. I’d have given it one last shot.
Instead of answering the question, he said, “Do you?”
I could feel myself turn red. “I’m not the one who took her to the freaking prom.”
Conrad thought that over and then said, “I only took her because she asked me to.”“Con. Do you like her or not, man?” I hesitated for about two seconds, and then I just went for it. “Because I do. I like her. I real y like her. Do you?”
