Riven Lomax never really got along with the eldest Fisher brother, Conrad, he'd always teased her, annoyed her and spent most of his time with the boys and Belly. When she arrives at Cousins for the summer, as she always had, the atmosphere is diffe...
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"Coming with Jeremiah... where?" Olivia questioned rapidly as Riven slid off her bed and grabbed an unused tote gym bag from her closet, "Who's gone? What is happening?"
"Conrad's not answering his brother's calls." Riven explained, pulling open her drawers, "Said he said something ominous to his roommate and then disappeared. Jeremiah's going to Brown in the morning to try and track him down, I'm going with him."
"To Brown? That's like two hours away." Olivia's eyebrows raised, "Your mom will kill you."
"That's why I need you to cover for me." She said, stuffing two sweaters into the bag, "With Spencer too."
"What am I supposed to say?"
"It's the start of summer, if they ask just say that I'm spending time with you and that we're having a sleepover at yours." Riven told her, "It's not an uncommon situation."
"No, but going to Brown to see your ex-boyfriend is." Olivia exhaled, "What's Josh going to say?"
"I'll handle him if it comes to it." Riven told her cooly, even though her stomach was twisting.
"What if you're more than a day?" Olivia continued to question, "What if Nancy finds out I'm lying? No offence, Riv, but your mom can be scary at times."
"Oh, I'm well aware."
Since Susannah's death, the Lomax household had changed. Riven wasn't sure if this was how her mom coped when her dad died, she had been too young to focus on details like that, but now she was older the atmosphere felt so different.
Grief took people in different directions, she knew that, but as she lost her friends, she also started to lose her mom and brother until eventually all she had left was Olivia. Who she was incredibly grateful for. And then eventually Josh came into the picture.
"She's going with Laurel to some book thing in New York tomorrow anyway. And if she finds out, at least it shows that she still cares." Riven explained, "Which I highly doubt she does anymore. It'll be fine. I'm sure Conrad's just somewhere studying, or asleep, or with..."
An unwanted thought came into her head. What if he was with a girl? Or the girl... the one from Susannah's funeral, who she'd found holding Conrad. Her stomach twisted at the thought. Conrad being with someone else made her feel nauseous. It physically pained her.
"I'll cover." Olivia told her, "Just keep me updated, okay?"
