Lᴏᴠᴇ Sᴄᴇɴᴇ (2)
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A couple of hours later, the three had finally made it to Brown. As they got out of the car, Liz called Jeremiah.
"Hey." Jeremiah says
"Hey, um, I'm here." Liz says
"Where?"
"Uh, on campus somewhere." She says as she looks around, "Are you not...?"
"I am. I'm heading to Conrad's dorm now. All right? Meet me there." He says before he hangs up
Liz sighs as she puts her phone in her pocket.
"What did he say?" Belly says
"To meet him at Conrad's dorm."
"Okay, then let's go." Dakota says
"I don't know where his dorm is. I just know it's on the top floor." Liz says as she gestures to the school.
"Seriously? How do you not know where his dorm is?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you gonna drive me 4 hours each way to come here?"
"Okay, okay. Um, we'll just go to the front and hope Jeremiah is there." Belly tries
Dakota huffs as he walks away. Liz rolls her eyes as she follows him. Belly rubbing her shoulder to comfort her.
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"Hey, Jeremiah." Liz says
He turns and his face lights up as he sees them, "Liz, hey." He says. He holds his hand out, "Dakota, what's up bro?"
"Hey." Dakota says as they dap each other up
"Hey, Belly."
"Hey. I got you this." She smiles as she holds out a coffee
"Um, I'm good. Thanks." He says as he walks forward. She nods sadly as she throws the coffee away. Liz frowns as she follows Jeremiah.
"Thanks for coming all this way." Jeremiah says
"Have you heard anything from Conrad?" Liz asks
"Nothing. He hasn't answered my calls or my texts." He sighs, "It's a good thing you're here
though, because I don't know what floor he's on or what room he's in."
"I don't think he's gonna be here." She says
"What makes you say that?" Belly frowns
"Because he wouldn't be ignoring everyone if he was just here." She says as she looks around, "He's gonna be in Cousins." She says as she looks at Jeremiah.
"And he's gonna go to Cousins for what reason?" Dakota says
"He could be missing Susannah? Aren't we all?" She says. Jeremiah nods as he looks down, "It wouldn't hurt to check, but I don't know where his dorm is either." Liz says as she shrugs, "I mean, I know he's on the top floor, but that's it."
"You never visited him at Brown?" He says as he furrows his brows
"Yeah, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of driving four and a half hours to come see him..." She says as she trails off
He nods as he holds the door open. She smiles softly as she walks in, Belly following behind her.
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They finally made it to the top floor. They walked down the hall and made it to a room that had a white board with Conrad's name on it.
"This is it." Belly says
"Yeah." Liz mutters. Jeremiah knocks on the door and it pushes open. Liz frowns as she steps in.
"Yeah, just walk right in. Not like they don't have psychopaths on a college campus." Dakota says
Liz ignores him, "Hello?"
"Hey, look, his bed is made. I mean, things can't be so dire if his bed is made, right?" Belly jokes as they walk in and look around the room.
"Whoa. Excuse me. This is my room that you guys are rifling through." Someone says causing the teens to turn.
"Hey, man. I'm Conrad's brother. We talked on the phone earlier." Jeremiah says as he holds his hand out, "It's nice to finally meet you."
"Okay. Jeremiah, right?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
"Um, hey, Connie's not back, is he?" Jeremiah asks
"Uh, I haven't seen him since Thursday afternoon."
"Did anything else happen before he left?" Dakota says
"He got into it with somebody on the phone. Like, he was yelling and shit."
"And then he just took off? Do you have any idea who he was yelling at?" Jeremiah asks
"I don't know, bro. The government who's surveilling us through our devices as we speak." The boy says as he rubs lotion on his arms.
"Is that the last time you heard from him?" Belly says
"No. He texted me this morning saying that he was gonna miss bio lab and asked if I could take notes. I'd be annoyed, but I spent this whole year copying off of his shit, so I can't really complain. Y'all feel?" He laughs
"Mm. Would you mind just, like, trying to call him from your phone and seeing if he answers?" Belly asks
"Yeah, for sure." He says as he pulls out his phone
"Trusky, did I leave my sweater in here?" A girl asks
"Uh, I don't.. One sec. I don't know. Maybe..." He says as he puts his phone up to his ear. He shakes his head after a couple of seconds, "No. Straight to voice mail. But Sophie might know where Conrad went. They're tight." He says as he motions to the girl
"Hey." She smiles. Liz sighs as she looks around at Conrad's stuff.
"Hey, Sophie, um, you wouldn't happen to have any idea where my brother disappeared to?"
"Um... I think he said he was going to hang out with his cousin by the beach."
The teens look around at each other as they nod, "All right, Liz, let's go."
"Oh, yeah, you're Liz. Yo..." Trusky says with wide eyes, "when you guys broke up, my man fell into a depression."
"Uh, I-I don't think that was because of me." Liz says
"No, yeah, it definitely was. Like, he was always looking at your picture on his phone." Jeremiah looks over at her and she looks to the ground, "Anyways, when you guys find him, tell him that he has to be back for this bio final on Thursday or he doesn't pass the class."
"Wait, seriously?" Belly says
"Yeah."
"Okay. Um, Liz grab his computer. We'll grab his books and stuff so he can study. Okay? Come on."
Liz walks to his desk to grab his computer. She ruffles through papers looking for anything important. As she lifts one of his books up, she sees her butterfly bracelet. She stops for a second before she puts the book back down and turns around.
"Let's go, Liz." Dakota says
"Good luck." Trusky says
"Thanks." Belly smiles
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The four teens make their way to the parking lot with Conrad's stuff. Jeremiah opens his back door and tosses Conrad's backpack on the seat.
"Why would he take off like that to Cousins?" He says as he takes the computer from Liz, "I don't think he's missed a day of class in his life. Not even when Mom was sick." He says as he closes his door and leans back against it.
"I'm not sure." Belly says
"Who was he yelling at on the phone? I mean, it had to have been Dad, right? What could they possibly be arguing about?" He says looking between Liz and Dakota
"Yeah, no, no, it was probably Adam. I mean, he and Conrad are always arguing about some shit." Dakota says
"I really don't want to get dragged in the middle of whatever bullshit Conrad's in right now, but if something were to happen to him, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."
"Hey. No, no, no. Nothing has happened to Conrad, okay? I mean, I'm sure he's just spending the day surfing and he has his phone off." Belly tries as she looks to Liz
Liz shrugs, "Maybe."
"But it's only been a month since..." Jeremiah says. Dakota looks away, "You know how he is. He just bottles up all that shit until at some point it explodes. I don't think he has anyone. He definitely hasn't been talking to me."
"All right. Do you want us to come with you to Cousins?" Belly says
"I didn't need you to come here. I just wanted Liz's help because she knows him. I think I can handle things fine on my own."
"Yikes." Dakota says under his breath
"No, I know you can. But you don't have to. I mean, if you need me to come..."
"I don't." He says before looking at Liz, "Maybe you should. Maybe Conrad wants you there. He still cares what you think about him."
He looks at Belly stone faced before he opens his door and gets in the car. Dakota puffs out his cheeks and exhales as he rocks back and forth on his feet, "That was awkward."
"Yeah." Belly mutters
"I don't know what happened with you two, but you should probably go with him and talk it out."
Belly nods as she looks towards the Jeep, "Um, I'm coming with you." She says as she rounds the front of the car.
The car door slams shut as Liz looks to Dakota. He looks down at her and sighs at the look on her face, "We're going to Cousins?"
"We're going to Cousins." She nods as she walks pasts him
"Yup." He says as he follows her
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