CRUEL SUMMER

18: Moving On

THE NEXT morning, Belly and Via made their way up to Brown College by bus, holding each other's hands the whole journey. The two had managed to leave the house- Belly had lied to Laurel, saying that she was with Taylor's house as she had just broken up with her new boyfriend.

The two arrived on campus, looking around for Jeremiah who seemed more distant because of Belly. Via lowered her voice, "Belles, I don't think it's a good time to tell him about us just yet."

Belly nodded nervously, "No, yeah, I... I get that."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Via frowned, noticing Belly's worries.

"I just haven't seen Jeremiah since I broke up with him." Belly explained, "I just feel really bad and- Is that him?"

Via squinted, before reassuringly nodding at Belly to try to make her feel better. Via hugged Jeremiah, before speaking, "Hi, how long have you been waiting?"

"About 20 minutes." Jeremiah replied, "What took you so long?"

Via glanced at Belly, "Uh, traffic."

"We got you this." Belly smiled, before handing him a coffee, only for Jeremiah to decline the offer.

Via couldn't help but notice the awkwardness between the two, before blurting out, "His dorm's on the top floor, we should get going."

Jeremiah walked in front of the two girls, making the five minute walk more awkward than it needed to be. What made it even more uncomfortable, was the idea of Via and Belly having to act not in love with each other- which was harder said than done on their first day of being an official couple.

"His bed's made." Via remarked, as the trio searched through the empty dorm, "That's a first."

"Whoa- excuse me." A boy entered the room, a confused look on his face, "This is my room that you guys are rifling through."

"Hey, Trusky. I'm Conrad's brother." Jeremiah introduced, "We talked on the phone earlier."

"Jeremiah, right?" Trusky nodded, as they shook hands.

Via questioned, "So, uh, when did you last see Connie?"

"Thursday afternoon." Trusky exclaimed, "He got into it with somebody in the phone. Like, he was yelling and shit." He paused, "But he did text me this morning saying he was gonna miss bio lab and asked if I could take notes-"

A blonde girl walked in, "Trusky, did I leave my sweater in here?"

Trusky grabbed a jumper from his chair, before speaking, "Sophie might know where Conrad went. They're tight."

"Hey." The blonde girl, Sophie, greeted, "I think he said he was gonna hang out with his cousin by the beach."

"Thanks." Jere nodded, "Ollie, Belly, let's go."

"Oh, yeah, you're Belly!" Trusky interrupted, "Yo, when you guys broke up, my man fell into a depression. Like, he was always looking at your picture on his phone."

Jeremiah immediately looked away in jealously, and Via couldn't blame him- Olivia felt uncomfortable too.

Trusky continued, "If you do find him, tell him that he needs to be in for the exam on Thursday or he fails the class."

"Fails?" Belly questioned, as she started packing his books from the shelves on the walls. She suggested, "Lets take his revision notes so he can study. Come on."

***

"Why would he just take off like that to Cousins?" Jeremiah stressed, as he loaded his car with Conrad's books, "I don't think he's missed a day of class in his life. Not even when mom was sick." He paused, "And who was he yelling at on the phone?"