"Stop!" Betty Graham said through giggles, the girl being poked and prodded by an overly flirty Jeremiah. The group of teens were making their way onto the boardwalk, and it was literally nauseating for Conrad to look back and see his brother with his charm on, using it on his girl. He wanted to be sick. He soon reminded himself that Betty was not his girl, or Jeremiah's...but in fact she was Jacks girl. And there was no better time to be reminded than now, the girls phone ringing as they walked onto the boardwalk. She extended an arm out to Jeremiah, her way of making him stop touching her.  Conrad watched as some light appeared in her eyes and suddenly he felt deathly  ill, realizing he wasn't even second on her mind...behind Jack and Jeremiah he was her last choice.

"Hey...yeah I'm at the boardwalk so I can't talk long." The tone of her voice was sweeter, Conrad remembering the way she had spoke to him last night. He had been trying all day to forget the fact that she had stayed  overnight with him, and she seemed to have forgotten fully...only really talking to him to call him a dick. He let out a huff and looked away from her, his eyes attaching to multiple different people, the summer heat making the numbers in town go up by a lot.

"Of course I do. Of course." He tried to tune her voice out, he could only imagine what shit Jack was saying on the other side. He had half a mind to cover his ears with his hands, not realizing how crazy this was driving him until now. He always did this...he always wanted what he couldn't have. He was going insane. And yet he was angry at her for siding with everyone else. She had told him she was on his side. She had proven that wasn't entirely true. "Okay. Yes—okay. I love you too."

Her voice dropped significantly as she said the last part but he still heard it, his heart falling like he was on a rollercoaster as he heard the words. Love? She loved him. No...there was no way. She hadn't even known him for that long. It had taken her so long to say she loved Conrad...he had to fight the words out of her. And now sh e threw them around like nothing to strangers? He wanted to punch something. How could she tell him she loved him so openly, when she could never even say it to him unless she was blacked out? She must have really hated him to do something like that. She must've really despised him if it was that hard for her to express her love to him.

"Sorry that was my boyfriend." Conrad returned to reality, the others looking between each other as she said it.

"I'm sorry...did I miss something? You have a boyfriend?" Steven said, his attention turned to Betty who  quickly nodded back. Steven had no idea,clearly he hadn't because his solution to Conrad's pain had been her presence. Now he almost felt like a dick for putting them in that situation. Stevens eyes turned to Conrad and he immediately noticed the tensed jaw, the aggrieved look in his eyes and on his face that told him everything he needed to know. There was much more drama here than he had thought.

"See aren't you glad we came?" Belly quickly assisted in pulling the attention form the shocking revelation for Steven,  her words directed towards Conrad.

"How is this any less hot than it would be inside?" Conrad said, accepting the fact that his upset would have to wait till later. He had a point, Betty's eyes searching over the boardwalk for any sign of something good to eat.

"Because you have the magical sea breeze to cool you down." Belly said, pulling a  laugh from Betty whose eyes widened slightly when she spotted someone she knew.

"Cool breeze my ass. I want some ice cream. Natures air conditioning." Taylor said, her head turning to look at Betty who was  walking away from the group.

"Hey where—" Betty wasn't even close enough to hear the others anymore, Jeremiah voice being cut off by the distance. His exclamation caused the attention to go back to the girl who was  hurrying away from them, Conrad's face dropping again when he realized who she was running to. Robbie.

Betty laughed at something Robbie said. immediately jumping into a hug with the boy in question. Conrad watched from afar, unable to hear what they were saying  but knowing it was for the better that he didn't. This day was hell.

"Let's get that ice cream." He said, turning away from the sight and gesturing towards a cart with a large sigh. They all started towards the cart and it wasn't long before Betty returned, a wide and bright smile on her lips as she  stopped behind Skye.

"Oh my god I cant believe Robbie was here. I figured he'd still be in Utah." She sounded so excited as she spoke to Steven, everyone figuring that he went to college in Utah. Every bit of this situation was already so awkward. Conrad once again tuned out  her conversation with Steven, knowing he didn't want to know the dirty details about what Robbie was doing there. Every single time he thought of Robbie he  thought of Betty kissing him last summer...it was a haunting image. Watching her kiss someone else was about his least favorite thing.

Conrad shook his head to try and clear his mind, sweat building on the nape of his neck. He wondered if the heat had anything to do with the unhealthy obsessive feelings he was having, the boy considering heat stroke as a cause for his insanity.

"Vanilla." The voice drew him back in and his eyes trailed up her body, the girl holding onto the ledge of the ice cream truck that was sitting pretty high up.  Her jeans rode low and her shirt high, the boy  tracing the denim before focusing on the skin. He hesitated over the line of her spine before he realized the dimples of her back were almost peeking out, his stomach flipping at the sight. Her hair touched pretty low on her back and he drew his attention to her hips, to her waist and then to her arms that were lifted to reached the window.  He thought of the way their bodies were pressed together that morning, the way there was no space between them.  He thought of their skin that had met while they slept and how when he had woken all he could think about was her. That was all he had been able to think about all day. Other than when he had called Belly his girlfriend. It had been a monumental mistake, and he blamed Betty for it even still. She had been weighing on his mind and he had faltered...he blamed whatever Betty Graham induced trance  he was in.

The feeling of a shoulder bumping into his pulled him from his thoughts and he looked to who and bumped him, Jeremiah holding out an ice cream for him. It was his favorite flavor, Conrad lovely thanking Jeremiah and taking the ice cream from his hand.  When he glanced back at Betty she was already digging into her vanilla, a smile crossing her lips as she took a spoonful of the ice cream. He needed to stop. He needed to focus on something else. He turned his attention to the actual boardwalk, moving to lead the pack of people away from the ice cream.

"You know, I'm kind of a natural introvert, so I can't tell if this place is horrifying or if it's just, like, my lizard brain in action." Skye said, Betty walked to the right of them as Belly spoke.

"It's fun, I promise."

"We'll make sure you have a good time." Betty said, her smile being the brightest one around. Conrad couldn't even look at her.  He thought he was going to explode.

"Fun? Because I seem to remember the last time we were here, you were crying." Jeremiah said, his attention going to Skye  as he began to start a story. "Belly was 12. And Conrad beat her at Shoot Your Shot. And her penalty was to ride the Tower of Terror."

"Yep."

"Belly you were so scared you threw up." Jeremiah said,  making Belly quickly retort to try and defend herself.

"I was sick."

"Sick with fear." Conrad added, his mouth full of  ice cream as he butt in. There was a melodious laugh tot he left of him and he would recognize it anywhere, the boy hating himself for not being able to ignore her. It was like she was forcing him to obsess over her, like everything she did was meant to draw his attention. "My mom had to throw out your clothes and carry you home in a caftan."

"Susannah used to force my mom to come here when they were kids. My mom always hated it but Susannah loved it so much so—" Skye was cut off by Conrad, Betty's face falling as she heard the beginnings of his sentence.

"You know what else my mom loved? The beach house." Betty immediately shook her head, her lips parting to discourage his words.

"Connie..." She said in  a disappointed tone, the boy finally being able to not look at her as he locked in on Skye.

"My moms not evil Conrad. And your mom wasn't a saint." Betty was silence by Skyes words, the girl knowing it was kind of foul for them to say that about Susannah. The difference between Julia and Susannah was that one of them was alive...and the other wasn't. Still she was sure Skye was right, Susannah surely had her flaws...but it wasn't the time and place to remind the boys.

"Skye, have you ever played Shoot Your Shot?" Belly changed the subject, knowing that the conversation was going downhill very fast. She wanted to keep the peace, so she would do this all day if she had to. A breeze blew across the boardwalk and pushed Betty's hair a bit, Conrad catching himself absentmindedly looking at her. He cursed himself for doing it even when he wasn't aware, the boy wondering why she had such a hold over him today.

"No, and I'm-I'm find keeping it that way." Skye answered , the three boys leaning against s wooden post while the others  stood opposite them.

"Well, do you want to watch me beat Conrad's ass?" Belly said, earning a laugh from Skye.

"You could not do that." Conrad said, his eyes on his ice cream as he said it.

"I wouldn't hate watching that." Skye said, Betty internally agreeing that she wouldn't mind seeing Conrad knocked down a few pegs.

"You think you still got it Conrad?" Belly challenged, Steven quickly shaking his head and cutting into the conversation.

"Okay, no, please, not another Great Boardwalk Showdown."

"Why not? Why not?" Belly said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So they used to do this big tournament on the boardwalk every year when they were kids.  I would get a um, a riveting play by play as soon as Belly got home." Taylor said, Betty remembering hearing all of the stories from Conrad . She had also attended one of them...but that was way before all of the romantic drama between them all.

"Well yeah every year until Betty  and Conrad got too competitive. And then my mom banned us from ever playing again." Steven said, everyone laughing at his words.

"Are you down Jere?" Conrad asked, seeking his brothers acceptance.

"Uh... hell yeah. Let's do it." Jeremiah said, looking to Belly and then to Betty who was going in on her ice cream.

"Whoa! Yes...yes. Betty you in?" Steven said, always being quick to include the girl. She smiled at him as he swallowed her ice cream and answered.

"Of course."

"Good because I want you on my team. You're perfect." Steven said,  Conrads head instinctively turning to look at the boy as he said it before he let out a hardly audible scoff.

"I should actually um, head out." Skye said, Betty shaking her head immediately at the suggestion. Conrad saw the movement, knowing that he aimed to please her and quickly speaking.

"No, you should stay." Conrad said,  clearing his throat. "It's fun."

Betty was looking at Conrad, a positive look in her eyes that made him feel like what he had just done was nothing but the right thing. The validation he was looking for what there, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of it.

"It's too late. You're already on my team."  Belly said. bumping Skye with her arm.

"Fine. You win. But I don't do high fives. I'm not going to like, whoop in the air. I don't trash talk. The corners of my mouth might turn in  just a little bit but I'm not gonna smile." Skye said, a few of them laughing at the speech. Belly quickly spoke, affirming that she accepted the stipulations.

"Deal."

"Deal. So what's the prize?" Skye asked, Jeremiah quickly jumping to answer.

"Loser have to buy the winners the biggest bag of candy of their choosing." Taylor laughed at the prize, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked to the boy in some kind of disagreeance.

"Really? Candy? No I mean, can't we think of something like sexier?"

"Candy's always been the prize. I mean it was Bellys choice obviously." Jeremiah said , trying to appear attentive to Belly so that she would notice how much he cared about her.

"Well fine fine. We can play the games. But...we start at the arcade because it is hot as balls out here okay?" Steven said, proposing a solution to their overheating.

"Well we'll get our asses handed to us first round then...Betty kills any arcade game she plays." Conrad said almost absentmindedly as he scoop another spoonful of ice cream. Betty shook her head, shrugging her shoulders at the suggestion.

"He's only saying that because he's so bad that them." A memory of a meaningful night spent at the arcade from what felt like decades ago flashed through night of their minds, their eyes meeting  for only a second before he shifted away from her again.

"Alright let's get this show on the road."