chapter seven
shoot your shot!

The group all left the arcade, moving outside to join the unusually small queue for shoot your shot. Florence stood at the front, a small smile on her face when someone stepped in line with her.

"You ready to go down?" Conrad asked her.

"You talking to a mirror that I don't see or..." The girl raised her eyebrows at him.

Conrad shook his head fondly before his face grew serious, "Thank you."

"For what?" Florence turned to him.

"Being here, being... you." Conrad shrugged. "Not a lot of people would've dropped everything to be here with me. But you did, and you... care about me. Just... thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." Florence responded. "I'll always be here."

"This isn't like... weird for you, though, is it?" Conrad asked.

"Is it weird for you?" Florence wondered.

"No." Conrad answered quickly. "No, it isn't."

"Then it isn't for me either." Florence told him with a small smile.

"Good."

Florence then let out a small laugh, "We did break the no contact rule though, massively."

"The no contact rule?" Conrad furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You're not supposed to contact your ex for thirty days to help you get over them, heal, whatever." Florence explained.

"You don't sound like you believe in it." Conrad laughed softly.

"No, I do." Florence nodded. "I just... I let me emotions out in other ways too."

"Songs?" Conrad face turned wary.

"Many." Florence nodded once more.

"Should I be scared?" Conrad wondered.

"Terrified." Florence smiled.

Before Conrad could respond Belly and Sydney came over to them. The group all looked at them expectantly.

"We tied." Sydney huffed.

"How do you tie at ring toss?" Florence asked.

"We only got five rings each, we got the same amount on." Belly explained.

"Unless you were giving me money I didn't have any left for a tie breaker, so..." Sydney spoke sarcastically.

"Shoot your shot?" Florence turned to Conrad.

"Shoot your shot."

"Yeah, shoot your shot, please, I'm begging." Steven spoke loudly, everyone turning to him with furrowed eyebrows. Steven made eye contact with Florence who glared at him. "The game obviously! I wanna see Conrad destroy Flo!"

Florence shook her head at her best friend before stepping up to the now empty game, turning to face Conrad.

"Okay, five balls each. Most baskets win." Cam explained the rules. "On your mars, get set..."

"Come on Connie!"

"Go on Flo, you got this!"

"Shoot!" Cam demanded.

Conrad shot first, immediately getting a basket and turning to Florence, "In your face."

"Alright, okay, I'll let you have that one so you don't weep when I win." Florence laughed, before shooting her own basket.

The two kept taking in turns to shoot, each of them getting one in. "It's tied! Three to three."

Conrad took a shot, getting it in without looking at it and instead staring directly at Florence who shook her head. However on his next shot, the boy missed the basket by a few centimetres.

"All right!"

"That was close."

"That is four for Conrad. This is the last shot." Cam exclaimed. "Will Florence take the five-fecta and snatch the win?"

"You got this Flo!" Belly shouted.

"You got it!" Taylor exclaimed.

"You got nothing!" Conrad told her causing the girl to turn to him. "Unfortunately, basketball is all about angles."

"Oh, is it?" Florence tilted her head. "But you seem to be forgetting is that I signed up for an elective last semester..."

Conrad face paled in realisation, "You picked basketball."

"And unfortunately for you, two weeks ago, I broke the school record for most baskets made in a game." Florence threw the basketball without watching, knowing it went it from the excited screams from her teammates. She winked at Conrad before moving to hug Belly and Taylor in happiness.

"Florence Castillo is the winner!" Cameron announced.

"You can't cosign her angles!" Skye exclaimed.

"Yeah!"

"Wait, Skye." Taylor began. "Did you just math-taunt him?"

"I did." Skye answered. "And it was kinda fun."

"It was so good." Taylor high fived them. "It was so good."

"As much as it pains me to say it, it was a good win." Conrad told her. "An unfair win, but a good one."

"Well, I told you I'd kick your ass so..." Florence shrugged.

"I think you get to pick a prize." Conrad gestured to the prizes hung at the back.

Florence looked over all the prizes before her eyes settled on the one she wanted. "I want the pancake jelly cat."

The worker got down the teddy, passing it over to her with a small smile. Florence thanked her, looking down at the prize.

"You could have gotten a unicorn or a blue elephant and you chose a pancake, who are you?" Steven asked with an incredulous look.

Florence scoffed, "I happen to love pancakes thank you."

Florence glared at Steven who turned away from her before the girl glanced at Conrad, the boy sending her a soft smile.

"Okay, we finally get to choose, and I choose dancing!" Florence announced excitedly.

"Okay!"

The group all moved inside, and once again Conrad and Florence ended up walking behind Belly and Sydney, the two deciding to make a side bet about the Tower of Terror.

"I hope they don't get everyone else involved in the Tower of Terror." Florence stated.

"Why, you scared?" Conrad tilted his head at her.

"Don't even, I know that look." Florence pointed at him. "You used to cry every time you looked at the Tower of Terror."

"So why are you scared of it?" Conrad wondered.

"Because it make everyone else cry, literally all of us, and I hate when people are sad." Florence explained with a small shrug. "Also because Steven used to grip my hand so hard that once it went so purple I thought I was genuinely going to lose my hand."

"Wow." Conrad commented with a small nod.

"Yeah." Florence laughed softly.

"I'm happy they're getting along though." Conrad stated, referring to Sydney and Belly.

"Well, like you, the key to keeping Belly happy is competition and Syd loves to win so..." Florence smiled softly. "But I think they just kind of miss each other, they were best friends for 16 years, y'know."

"Do you ever feel like that?" Conrad asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Florence stopped walking, turning to face him with a small sigh. "Sometimes. But it's not something any of us can change now, what happened, happened. I don't think I've changed that much as a person so... you'll always be the Conrad I grew up with, no relationship, no family drama is gonna change that."

She shrugged as she spoke, giving him one last smile and placing a reassuring hand on his arm before moving over to where her team stood. Conrad watched her go, for the third time in two weeks, with a sad look in his eye before he shook himself out of it and walked over to his own team.

Jeremiah hyped himself up before stepping onto the dance machine. Taylor rolled her eyes, beginning to walk to join him as Belly interrupted, sharing a quick look with Florence.

"Skye's up." Belly announced.

"Oh."

"Really not a great idea if you wanna win." Skye told Florence and Belly who were staring at them with a smile.

"You'll be great at it." Belly reassured them. "It's basically just math with your feet."

"And honestly, you're up against Jeremiah, I think you're gonna win either way." Florence added, stage-whispering to make it seem like she didn't want said boy to here.

"I heard that, shitbag." Jeremiah gasped in offence.

"I wasn't hiding it." Florence shrugged. "I've seen you dance."

"Shots fired." Steven commented with a small giggle.

"They'll never see you coming. This is how we win." Belly continued to reassure Skye, who hopped up next to Jeremiah. "All right? You got it."

"Bring it on, cuz." Jeremiah stated. "You know, Skye, I feel like we've gotten closer today. It would be a shame if my dance moves were to affect our relationship."

Skye shrugged, "Let's see."

"All right."

"Let's go, Skye."

The group began to cheer for the two as Ariana Grande's side to side began to play (Jeremiah's choice since the girl's picked the game). Florence's mouth dropped in shock, along with everyone else's when Skye began to get perfect scores on every move while Jeremiah dropped multiple steps.

"I think Skye might actually be good at this." Taylor let a laugh of disbelief.

"I mean, I was just making the math thing up, but I think you're right." Belly joined in on her laughter.

"We always said we loved an underdog." Florence commented, laughing with the two girls.

"Fuck me, you're incredible." Jeremiah spoke in shock. "Go Skye!"

The boys and Sydney began to shout at Jeremiah for doing so terribly while the girls all cheered for Skye for continuously getting perfect moves. And by the end of the song, Skye had won by a clear mile. The girls all jumped in excitement, cheering loudly as they wrapped their arms around Skye.

"Ooh! I don't do hugs." Skye reminded them. "I don't do hugs."

The girls immediately retracted their arms, turning to face the other team who each held a look of defeat on their faces.

"Alright, where to next?" Jeremiah asked.

Belly and Florence shared a look, Florence gesturing for her to take lead. "Follow me."

The group all began to make their way out of the arcade, the boys judging Jeremiah for his terrible dance moves. Florence laughed as she followed after them as they made their way to go karting track.

Florence, Taylor, Belly and Skye gathered around alone, Belly taking charge in hyping them all up once again. "Okay, when I woke up this morning, I did not expect to here, doing this again. I used to love the Great Boardwalk Showdown. Maybe I loved it a little too much. All I cared about was if I won. But today is about us. Taylor, you've shown up for me, over and over again this year, and now I'm showing up for you. Florence, I know our relationship has been strained this past year, but I need you, because you bring out the best version of me, and I am so glad you picked me to be on your team. And Skye, I know we just met and you probably think we're all way too competitive, but our-our team wouldn't be where we are without you. When Conrad chose his team, he thought they had it in the bag. But we have proven them wrong. And whether we win or lose, we are worthy of that giant bag..."

"Oh, you can be as inspirational as you want, Belly." Steven interrupted, him and his team running over to them. Conrad jumping over the railing as he went past. "We're still going to kick your asses."

"Shut up, Steven."

"All right. I don't know about you guys, but I feel the need..." Belly began.

"The need for speed!" They all finished in unison, turning and running to join the others.

The group all separated into their karts. Because they all wanted to start from the same point of the start line, they all had to pair up so there was only four karts on the track, meaning that Conrad and Sydney were in a kart together and Belly and Florence were also in one together.

"Drivers, start your engines!" Cam shouted holding the flag in his start. "First team to get all their karts past the finish line wins! On your mark. Get set. Go!"

"Go, go, go, go, go!"

"Floor it!"

"You're going down!" Belly shouted as her and Florence sped ahead of everyone else, the two laughing as they did so.

"I'm coming for you, Belly!"

"Come on, where are they?" Belly asked loudly, trying to look around for Conrad and Sydney while also keep driving without crashing.

"Right behind us!" Florence shouted.

The group continued to all shout at each other as they got closer and closer to the finish line. Florence and Belly both held their breath as they passed the finish line at the same time as Conrad, spinning around to see the boys just pulling ahead of Taylor and Skye at the last second, meaning their team won.

"Yeah!" Conrad cheered.

"No! Oh my god!" Belly groaned.

"Suck on that!" Sydney exclaimed loudly.

"Fuck this shit." Florence huffed in frustration.

The group all made their way to the sweet shop, the boys and Sydney gathering everything they wanted.

"Get ready to pay up, Belly." Steven called over to the girl.

"You know, I think that's why my mum banned us from playing." Belly sighed.

"I could pay. I mean, I made a ton of money shorting bitcoin, so..." Skye informed them offhandedly.

"You are one of the most interesting people, I've ever met." Taylor commented.

Skye shrugged, waving her off with a soft smile. Florence couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she looked at Skye, "You enjoyed today."

Skye rolled their eyes. "I suppose."

Florence laughed softly, "You like us."

"I guess I do." Skye replied with a small scoff at Florence's teasing. "You know you are one of the most amazing people I've ever met."

"Funnily enough, that's not the first time I've been told that." Florence responded but she smiled softly at the compliment.

"I think I get why everyone loves you so much." Skye stated, making Florence's eyebrows knit in slight confusion.

"What do you mean?" She wondered.

"I mean, everyone adores you." Skye gestured to the group around them. "You and Sydney are the closest siblings ever, you and Belly, despite whatever animosity seems to have transpired, have lead this team in a way that no two other could. Jeremiah has nothing bad to say about you, Steven made a comment about trading you for a packet of twizzlers but I think everyone knows that that means he couldn't live without you, Conrad looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky, and there are hundreds of photos of you in Susannah's house, not just with everyone, but by yourself as well."

"You got all that from one day?" Florence tilted her head slightly.

Skye shrugged. "I'm observant."

"You're incredible." Florence corrected, the two sharing a small smile.

The team then began to reassure Belly that she was made for her volleyball team, that her coach would be insane to not allow her back onto the team.

"They're both right, Bels." Florence added after Skye had finished their reassurance. "You are made to be captain, and you are strong enough and healed enough now to be on that team and do well on that team."

Sydney suddenly appeared next to the group, clearing her throat slightly. "Sorry to interrupt."

"Is it time?" Belly wondered.

"It is time." Sydney announced. "The Tower of Terror awaits."

"I'm gonna go get you a barf bag." Steven spoke teasingly, turning with a small laugh.

The group all turned around, paying for the sweets before making their way to where the Tower of Terror was. They all stared up at it as it dropped from the air. Florence made a small face, she distinctly remembers it being more terrifying when she was younger.

Belly and Jeremiah began walking towards it, the boy deciding to accompany the girl so she wasn't alone. The others all cheered for them as they got strapped in, the ride beginning to go up and up into the air.

The group watched from below, and Florence could feel Sydney visible tense as Belly and Jeremiah interlocked hands, sharing prolonged eye contact before the ride dropped suddenly. The group began to cheer for them but Florence knew that Sydney's cheers were less enthusiastic at the sight of Belly and Jeremiah staring at each other.

They all stayed at the boardwalk until the sun had set and they were all sick of staying out and decided to go home. Belly invited Cam to go back to the house with them meaning Florence was stuck in a car with Conrad, Steven and Sydney. The girl was far too tired to deal with any of their antics, or their incessive bragging about them winning and so she took the spare wired headphones that she left in Steven's car and put her music on full blast, leaning against the window.

Steven began driving home, looking at Florence in the back seat to make sure she couldn't hear anything before speaking up, "I can't believe I'm saying this but today was actually really fun."

"Today was so much fun." Conrad agreed.

"Yeah." Steven nodded. "I don't know man, I haven't seen you this happy in a long time."

"It felt good to feel like a kid again. I'll tell you." Conrad explained. "And I know that my mum only ever wanted us to be happy, but... it's been hard. You know? Today was good."

"You know, I don't wanna start things up again..." Steven began, letting out a breath. "But I noticed there was a vibe..."

"Between Belly and Syd because I noticed too." Conrad spun around to face the youngest Castillo sibling.

"What?" Sydney suddenly sat forward, looking between them. "He definitely meant you and Flo but okay."

"Well, I mean both couples." Steven made a face causing both of them to send him a look. "Just observations."

"Well, I appreciate your observation." Conrad commented, smiling softly as he looked out the window.

"I don't." Sydney deadpanned.

"You and Belly are still in love with each other deadass." Steven retorted.

"Okay." Sydney let out a sigh, sitting back in her seat, but even she couldn't hide the smile that spread across her face. If Belly's brother said that there was a vibe, then there had to be... right?

Conrad turned slightly in his chair to look back at Florence, the girl leaning against the door with her eyes shut. She looked peaceful, and Conrad couldn't help but stare at the beauty that was Florence Castillo.

The group all arrived back at the house, Steven waking Florence up by opening the door and causing her to nearly fall out of the car, her only saving grace being her seatbelt.

"Dick." Florence commented, chucking the headphones on the seat and climbing out of the car.

"Oh my god. I cannot wait to crash in my bed." Steven spoke loudly.

"Or you could take a shower? That's disgusting." Taylor suggested.

"Yeah, stop picturing me in the shower." Steven retorted.

Florence rolled her eyes as she watched her best friend shamefully flirt without even realising.

"Hey, you dropped this." Conrad stated, causing Florence to turn around. The boy handed her pancake jellycat.

"Oh, thanks." Florence took it off of him, beginning to walk back to the house, following after Sydney and Belly.

"Why didn't you want a unicorn like Steven said?" Conrad wondered, trying to came across nonchalant.

"I pick my teddies based on what means the most to me." Florence shrugged. "Pancakes hold more sentiment to me than unicorns."

The girl sent him a smile before stepping into the house, however her pace slowed dramatically as she looked around the place she called a second home.

"What the fuck?" Jeremiah exclaimed loudly.

Conrad followed behind Florence, closing the door but just as the rest of them, he stopped next to Florence before the two of them walked towards the living room, where everyone else was, only for everything to be gone.

The house was completely and utterly empty.

Like no one lived there.

Like Susannah never existed.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
as promised a new chapter and
you haven't had to wait forever!!!!!
hope you enjoyed this chapter
of fluff and then sadness at the end
these episodes were so jelly based
so i hate writing them because i
am forever team conrad