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"Hello?"

"Hey. Dakota?" Conrad says hesitantly

"Hey, man. What's going on? Everything good?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Conrad stammers, "Just- Do you have a second to talk?"

"Sure." Dakota says as he plops down on his bed with a sigh, readjusting his phone in his hand

"Um.. it's about Liz."

Dakota lets out a small sigh. Aside from a few texts here and there, Dakota hadn't spoken to Conrad in what felt like forever. The first conversation they're having being about Liz wasn't ideal, but Dakota put that aside, for now, "Okay, what about her?"

"I don't know if she's told you anything about us, but- uh, I just wanted to ask if you think there's still some sort of chance that we can be together."

"I mean, wouldn't that be something you'd talk about with her?" Dakota chuckles

"Yeah, I guess." Conrad chuckles softly, "I guess what I'm asking is if you think I'd be good for her. The reason she decided we should take a break is because of all the stuff going on with my mom. She thinks I should be focused on only that."

"Well, she's probably not wrong."

"And I know it's affecting her. You too, of course." Conrad says, "But it hurts, like, my chest physically hurts, to not be able to tell her that I'm in love with her."

Dakota sighs, "Look man, I know that Liz loves you. I also know that she's doing this because she loves you. It might seem twisted as shit, but it's how she works."

"Yeah, I get it." Conrad says, "Do you think you could talk to her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe see where she's at." Conrad suggests, "I don't know, that's probably not a good idea either."

Dakota pinches in between his brows as he squeezes his eyes shut, "I can try."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He sighs, "I can't guarantee that's it's gonna work though."

"That's okay." Conrad says. Dakota can hear his smile as he speaks, "Thank you so much."

"No problem."

"Alright. I love you, bro."

Dakota smiles softly, "I love you, too, man."

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"All right, you guys, you can throw those canapés on this cart. And I don't think anybody's gonna notice, 'cause they always prep way too much food for deb season anyway. So..." Cam says

"Sounds good to me." Skye says as Conrad's phone chimes

River smacks Dakota's hand as he brings more food to his mouth, "Stop."

"What? I'm fucking starving." He says reaching in again

"I heard something crazy today." Cam says, "You know that guy Liam Meyer? That rich kid from the East Side?" Liz nods, "I heard he bought a Maserati and then crashed it two days later."

"Okay, so I know the answer is likely "daddy's money," but, um, how did a kid afford a Maserati?" River says

"Yeah, well, that was a whole other thing, because, uh, his grandparents had, like, this trust fund for him. He got a judge to let him access it a couple of years early. Boom. Maserati."

Liz looks over at Conrad's whose eyes light up, "He got a judge involved?"

"Yeah, his parents were pissed."

"Cam Cameron, fountain of gossip. I did not expect that side of you." Skye says

"You know, I have layers." He smiles as Skye chuckles

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Liz walked into the movie room with a tray of food. Belly smiles as she sets it down.

"Whoa. You guys weren't messing around." Jeremiah says as he takes a tray from Cam.

"Yeah, well, just be careful."

"Oh, I will. I got it. Don't worry."

"Hey, have you heard from Taylor and Steven?" Belly asks

"No. I can go look for him." Conrad says. Belly nods.

"Yeah, I'll-I'll come with you." Jeremiah says

"20 bucks says they're hooking up." Dakota says as he throws food in his mouth. Belly grimaces as Liz smacks the back of his head. Dakota sits up and turns to her, "Ow."

"Ow." She mocks. He reaches and hits her arm. She hits him back as she stands up. He reaches again, but misses as she scoots away. He places his food to the side and gets up. Liz squeals as she side steps him. He chases after her as River and Belly laugh at them.

•••

Dakota and River swore that they hadn't been paying attention. His head had fallen back against her shoulder a little while ago and it seemed like no one else had been paying much attention either.

"There's extra napkins if you need them." Cam says as Steven drops his food

"Thank you."

"I'll take one." Skye says as they reach for one. Taylor groans as she tosses a piece of her apple aside.

"Taylor, that's gross." Belly says

"No, I saw a TikTok about this. You just poke a couple holes so that the smoke is, uh, able to pass through and then you just..."

"Yeah, but you can't just... you can't just smoke random weed."

"Belly, it's not random weed. It's Lost and Found rich people weed." Taylor says as she keeps poking

"It's probably really good." Dakota says

"Can you hand me another one?" Taylor sighs as she puts her other apple to the side

"Yeah." Belly grabs an apple and hands it to her

"Well, you need any help, Tay Tay?" Steven teases

"Could you just give me a minute? Damn." She says as she stabs a hole in the apple

"Okay, c... can you just be a little more neat, please? Also, you can't smoke in here. The upholstery..."

"I'm not going to smoke in here." She says

"Yeah, but you're getting your apple pieces everywhere and all he asked was for you not to be a fucking slob." River snaps

"All right, uh, well, why don't we take this outside before Cam Cameron has a stroke?" Jeremiah smiles

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The boys yell as they ride on the back of the golf cart.

"I'm hitting the gas!" Cam yells

"Oh, yeah!" Steven yells

"Oh, come on." Jeremiah says

"Doesn't really... It's not supposed to go that fast." Jeremiah, Steven, and Dakota jump on the back as Cam tries to go faster, "Can you try and be a little quiet? 'Cause we're actually not even supposed to be out here."

"Come on, hit the gas!" Dakota says

"I'm hitting the gas."

"Wait, guys, guys, guys. I think I know what the problem is, man." Conrad says as they stop

"What?"

"I think there's too many of us on here."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That makes sense." Jeremiah says as he pushes Dakota who falls back into Steven causing them both to fall off. Jeremiah laughs as the boys regain their balance.

"Oh! Comin' for you."

"You are so gonna pay for that."

"Go, go, go!"

"All right, all right. All right, all right."

The girls trail behind them as Taylor keeps stabbing at her apple, "This is so annoying. Weed is not supposed to be this difficult."

"You're definitely doing it wrong." River says

"I mean, it's like..."

"Can I give it a shot?" Skye says

"Yeah. Have at it."

"Thanks." They say as they take the apple

Taylor laughs as Steven plays around with the boys. Belly smiles knowingly at her, "What? What was that look?"

"Mm. You and Steven. It just... seems like there's kind of a vibe."

"No, there's no vibe. I save all my... all my vibing for Milo."

River chuckles, "Poor Milo."

"Okay."

"Steven really hurt me last year. It's just... It's not the kind of hurt that just goes away easily. You know?" Taylor says as she looks around at the girls, "Or, like, ever, maybe. I know you get it." She says as she points to Liz. The girl raises her brows in acknowledgement.

Belly smiles at her as she looks up, "I think I loved Conrad longer and truer than anyone in my whole life. And I'll probably never love anyone like that again." She shakes her head, "To be honest, it's kind of a relief. 'Cause I don't know, I don't know if I could survive that shit."

The girls chuckle as Taylor looks to Liz, "Can we just leave first love in the past? Like, where it belongs?"

"Yeah. Sure." Liz says as they laugh

"I saw you and Jeremy on the boardwalk. And tonight on the couch." Taylor smirks at Belly. River rolls her eyes at the nickname, "There's something there. Doesn't matter how far apart you sit, you know? It's there."

Belly smiles, "Yeah, I feel like there... there could be something, you know?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Like this charge building between us. But, you know, then he reminds me how much I hurt him before. I don't know. I'm like... I shouldn't even be thinking about him like that."

"Mm-hmm. Almost got it." Skye says as Belly looks back at them

"Push, push!" Dakota yells

"Put your back into it!"

"Oh, God!"

"You idiots broke it?" Liz yells

"All right. All right, this thing is officially dead." Jeremiah says, "Why don't we crash up
there for the night?"

"Well, that would be perfect timing, because I have discovered the secret of the apple bong." Skye says as they hold the apple up

"Good job, Skye." Jeremiah chuckles

"You know, that's surprising." Cam says

"I have layers." Skye smiles. Liz and River look over at each other. Liz laughs at River's bewildered look.

"Great. Start unpacking." Jeremiah claps

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