Lᴏᴠᴇ Aғғᴀɪʀ (3)

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"All right, don't look too happy." Julia says as they all stand in the driveway. "You're not getting rid of me forever. Your wicked Aunt Julia is still just a phone call away."

"Thank you for everything." Conrad nods

"I'm glad it worked out."

"We should get going, too." Laurel says

"Oh."

"Uh, a-actually, I was wondering can-can you stay for, like, one more night ?" He says looking to Megan and Laurel. "Come on. We have to help Con study for his final. It's tomorrow."

"Dude, you know I'm 18, right ?" Steven says, "Like, I don't need my mom's permission to..." He trails off as Laurel gives him a look

"Hmm ?"

"I need my mom's permission to study." He nods immediately. Julia and Megan laugh.

"Laurel, please. They're not gonna let me transfer to Stanford if I don't pass this." Conrad says

"You better do more than just pass."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You really got in ?" Belly says

"Yeah." He says as he looks towards Liz who smiles softly at him.

"Does this mean I have to sleep on a sleeping bag tonight ?" Laurel says

"Oh, we've got the motel room for one more night. You two want it ?"

"Oh, heck yes. Thank you."

"Perfect." Aunt Julia says

"Oh, Skye, parting gift." Conrad says as he hands Skye a plate

"Thank you, Conrad, my dear sir."

"My pleasure."

"Mm-hmm."

Liz walks up to Conrad as everyone is hugging each other goodbye.

"Megan letting you stay ?"

"Yeah, of course."

"You really don't have to do this."

"Oh, yeah, no, I know, but, uh, I also know how much Stanford means to you." She smiles, "I mean, you made me proof your essay five times."

"No, I didn't. No, I didn't." He shakes his head

"Yes, you did." She says in a sing-song voice. "Five times." She says holding up five fingers.

"I did." He smiles

"I want to help."

"Okay. Thanks." He nods before he turns back to the house.

Megan walks up with Dakota. "I'm going to go stay with Laurel. You guys gonna be okay ?"

"Of course, we are. When have we ever given you a reason to think we wouldn't ?" Dakota scoffs

Liz raises her brows as Megan looks at her. "You're gonna be okay, right ?"

"Yes." She chuckles

"Okay." Megan says before she walks over to Laurel's car.

"What ?" Dakota says as he holds his arms out. "Mom, you don't trust me ?"

"No." She says as she gets in the passenger seat. Liz laughs at his bewildered look as they drive off.

"Unbelievable."

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"All right." Liz claps, "Come on. It's time to start studying, you lazy bums."

"No, I'm too tired to study. I need a power nap." Conrad says as he lays on the counter

"Mm."

"Okay, we're tired too, but it's-it's already afternoon. I mean, we have to work all night and leave really early tomorrow." Belly says

"Who invited her again ?" Steven says as he leans on the counter with Jeremiah and Dakota

"I work best under pressure." Conrad mumbles

"Please, Liz ? Just one hour ?" Jeremiah says

"Fine. One hour, and that is it."

"You're an angel." Jeremiah smiles

"Go before I change my mind." She says as she rolls her eyes

"Okay."

Dakota hits her head as he passes by her. She hits him hard on the back. He immediately grabs it at as he leans on the doorway. "Ow !" He cries

"So dramatic."

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Liz and Belly were the first ones up. They stood in the living room to wake Conrad and Jeremiah up.

Liz sprays Conrad with water causing the boy to jump awake.

"Rise and shine." She smiles

"Oh, no." He groans

Liz looks over as Belly tries to wake Jeremiah by spraying him. "Jere could sleep through a tidal wave." Conrad sighs

Belly unscrews the cap and dumps the water on him. Jeremiah jumps up, "Oh !" He turns and sees Belly smiling at him. "Oh. Good morning, Bells."

"Morning. It's almost 5:00. We let you sleep for an extra half hour so you better be grateful."

"I'm grateful." He smiles

"All right. Let's go." Belly says as she helps Jeremiah up.

"All right. Let's go study for Mr. Stanford."

Conrad follows behind Liz as they walk into the kitchen.

"All right. Gonna have fun !" Belly says as they make it to the kitchen.

Steven walks in eating a cheeseburger. He sits by Dakota who fell back asleep on the blow up chair.

"Yes ! Mickey D's cheeseburgers ?" Jeremiah says as he reaches

"No, no, no. No." Belly says as she smacks his hand away. "These are a crucial part of the reward system."

"Well, why does he get to have one ?"

"All right, okay, this is how it's gonna work. Conrad studies, he gets a burger." Liz says

"What about me ?"

"Conrad studies, you get a burger." Belly smiles. She laughs as Jeremiah groans. Liz leans on the counter as Conrad walks up to her.

"It's a reward system, huh ?"

"Mm-hmm." She nods

"What else do I get ?"

Liz raises her brows with a smile, "What else do you want ?" He smiles as she taps the counter. "Just the cheeseburgers."

"Ah."

"All right. Let's get to it." She claps as she turns to everyone else. She goes through the papers. "So, let's see. I have a practice test."

"Thank you. Seriously." Conrad says as she hands him the test. "Thank you."

She nods as he sits by Belly. Liz frowns as Dakota snores. Steven looks over at him and pushes his shoulder. "Dude."

"Hmm." He grumbles. Liz turns and grabs a cheeseburger. She throws it at his chest. He barely moves.

"Ow." He mumbles. His hat still covering his eyes.

"No way." Steven chuckles.

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"Okay, this one's not too bad." Liz says as she goes through her cards. "All right, where's the Golgi apparatus located ?"

"Right near the nucleus." Conrad says

"That's correct ! Bravo ! Ready ?" She says as she grabs two burgers

"Oh, yeah." Jeremiah says. Liz tosses him a burger and he struggles to catch it. "Oh, oh."

Steven laughs as he watches him. Liz tosses Conrad a burger and he catches it with ease.

"Good job, everyone." Liz says as she picks her cards back up. Dakota looks over at her with puppy dog eyes and downturned lips. Liz rolls her eyes as Jeremiah laughs.

"Shut up." She says as she tosses him a burger.

"Mmm. Thank you."

"All right, next question."

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"All right, you guys." Liz yawns. Belly smiles as Conrad and Dakota get down to do push ups.

"Six with me." Conrad says. "One." He says as they start

"Okay, enough to boost your energy, but not to tire you out. Okay ?" Belly says

"No promises."

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They spend the next couple of hours taking notes and highlighting different things to help Conrad. Dakota mostly eating the food, but helping nonetheless.

Liz sat at the counter as she took some notes. Everyone else sat around the kitchen as they did the same. Belly turned as she stood at the counter.

"Come on, you guys. We still have miles to go before we sleep." She says

Steven groans as he looks up at her. Dakota sighed obnoxiously from his place by Conrad.

"All right. Fine. You know what ?" Belly says as she pulls out her phone. She hums as she plays a song.

"My mom loved this song." Conrad says

"Duh. Come on !" Belly says as she pulls him up

"Where ?"

"Dance breaks are essential..."

"I don't dance."

"... for all-nighters."

"I don't do that."

"Yes, you do !" She smiles. "Liz come on tell him he does."

"I think she's right, Connie." Liz smiles as she stands up.

"I don't dance. I don't dance." He says as Liz fakes playing drums in front of him.

"Okay, okay." Jeremiah says as he points at Steven and Dakota. The two boys get up.

"Let's go." Belly says

The three boys high five as Belly and Liz dance around Conrad. Dakota, Jeremiah, and Steven hold hands as they shake back and forth.

"Come on. Come on." Liz says as Belly dances towards the boys.

"I'm not gonna do it." He says as he tries to hide his smile. He shakes his head as Liz plays the air guitar.

"Yeah !"

"Last night !" Dakota sings

Liz gets Conrad to finally jump and down with her. "Yeah !"

They all dance around the kitchen singing along to the song. Steven and Dakota dance back and forth as Belly and Jeremiah dance together. Liz and Conrad link arms as they jump around in circles. Liz switches and links arms with Belly. The girls laugh as they jump around.

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After the dance break, instead of studying for hours, everyone crashed. Falling asleep in various places around the kitchen on different blow up toys.

Liz groans as she stirs awake. She sits up and looks around the room to see everyone asleep. She notices Conrad is missing. She gets up and exits to the backyard and finds him laying on a pool chair.

"Are you thinking about tomorrow ?" She says as she lays on a chair next to him.

"Yeah. Venus is still an evening star. Gives me some kind of hope or something."

"Yeah, I think... you should feel optimistic." She smiles lightly

"It's just hard knowing how much I fucked up." She looks over at him, "What if... they kick me out of Brown and I-I don't... you know, they don't want me at Stanford and..."

"Then you'll figure it out."

"Yeah."

"And... if you're lucky enough to get another chance..." She pauses, "you'll do everything you
can not to fuck it up again."

She notices how quiet he's gone. She sits up and leans over to look at him. She smiles as she realizes he fell asleep. The girl lays back on the chair and looks up at the stars.

It's not long before she's fast asleep herself.

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