OCEAN EYES ━ steven conklin ✓

𝟬𝟮 book nerd

Everyone but her and Conrad left earlier to do whatever they had to do during the day. Music played from the living room where Connie laid, hungover on the couch, "okay kid, what do you wanna eat?" Solange asked the next door neighbor, the Andersens lived next door to them for years so, of course, they said yes to her babysitting their eight-year-old son, Marvin. He was short with curly blonde hair and box like glasses, "do you have anything diet? I'm trying to keep off the water weight" the younger boy said.

Solange slowly turned around, raising her eyebrows at his words "diet? you weigh like ninety pounds...what diet do you need?" she questioned him, handing him the sugarless yogurt Susannah ate "that's how I'm trying to keep it, I don't wanna get over a hundred like those other kids at the playground" Marvin said.

"Girl, it's this one kid I know, he's on the way to being fat Alberts stand-in" he had enough sass in his voice to kill an elephant, Solange held back her laughter, sitting on the counter, Conrad walked into the kitchen, barely woke "who's the kid," the boy asked, leaning close to her as he took the yogurt container out of her hands, eating it.

"This is Marvin, the kid your mother is making me babysit" Solange introduced the two, taking her yogurt back aggressively-Marvin stood up, leaving his stool to walk over to the boy, smiling "Marvin Anderson, single" he reached his hand out to shake his.

"Sorry, I'm not into five-year-olds" Connie joked, opening the freezer and taking out a popsicle "five? honey, I'm eight."

Conrad and Solange exchanged looks, chuckling at the younger boy, "you aren't my type anyway, where's your bathroom?" he looked him up and down, walking down the hall as Solange pointed towards the bathroom "he reminds me of you when you used to have a crush on the mail man" Connie said.

"I never- okay you said you wouldn't bring that up, you used to have a crush on my aunt but I don't bring it up" Solange responded, air-balling the container and pulling out the brownie she'd gotten from Susannah's cabinet, Conrad rolled his eyes "oh yea, Jeremiah said to answer the phone cause he wants you to come to the country club, he wants you to taste Stevens disgusting smoothie."

"Uh, you should come" Solange invited.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm gonna go take a nap on the day beds" Conrad declined, doing the one thing that she wanted to do, Solange put on her sunglasses, covering her low-hanging eyes once more "can I borrow like thirty dollars, I won't pay you back but still" she questioned, flashing her smile.

"What do you need thirty dollars for?" he asked, pulling out his wallet before giving her the money "I gotta feed the kid somehow" Conrad sighed as he handed her the two bills.

Solange hugged him, his face reading a disgusted look "get off of me you mooch" Connie pushed her face away, and she happily danced around the kitchen, waving the money in the air "Marvin! put on some shoes, and get the leash" she shouted throughout the house.

"Do not put that kid on a Leash Solange!"

⁂

Solange walked throughout the country club in a bathing suit top and shorts, Marvin wore a backpack with a string attached to it so she wouldn't lose him-his mother Ms. Andersen gave it to her because apparently, he was 'free-spirited' and had the tendency to just run in the opposite direction, the teen girl reached forwards, covering his ears with headphones and turning the phone to max volume as they kept walking "Steven!" she called out.

The boy turned around, walking towards her after he handed a customer their order "oh hey...what the hell who's kid is that and why is it on a leash" he trailed off, rubbing his fish-netted forehead, Solange reached over, tying it to a bar on the seat so he could sit "this is Marvin, he's the kid I'm watching for the day."

"Okay, what about the leash?"

"What do you mean? cause' I don't wanna lose him" Solange honestly answered if she lost him his parents would never forgive her obviously and she didn't feel like finding him "remind me to never let you watch my kids in the future."

"Who's daughter is letting you near them?" Solange joked, changing the song to 'irreplaceable' by Beyoncé, earlier he said it was his favorite "please, I'd have you begging."

The girls' eyes widened, studying his face, more or so the smirk playing on his lips "begging for what?" Marvin asked, taking the headphones "how the hell did you hear that?" she asked.

"You aren't very intelligent and forgot to push the play button" the blonde sassed her, tapping on her phone screen and hitting the play button "keep talking and I won't feed you" Solange bent down, getting on his level.

"And I'll tell my mom you were talking about doing the devil's tango in front of me" Marvin shot back, Solange's eyes widened, staring up at Steven whose mouth dropped "I'll take a caesar's salad and a strawberry smoothie" he ordered.

"You heard him Steven" Solange demanded.

⁂

"Has anyone ever noticed how itchy jean shorts are?" Solange complained, scratching at her legs, the four teens sat board at Laurels' book signing-Marvin's older sister Angie came to pick him up around an hour ago, giving her no time to take a nap so yea, she felt moody, she walked today more then she did all year "you'd know if you actually wore regular clothes" Conrad chipped in, laying his head back on the couch.

"We have the same fashion sense you cannot be talking" Solange shut him down, sitting behind one of the bookcases, Steven came and sat next to her, Jeremiah's eyes following the two. Solange reached forwards and picked up a book titled 'Some other now' the girl tucked her hair behind her ears once again and scanned over the page, the raven-haired boy finding how focused she was intriguing "yes Steven?" she asked, chuckling as she caught him staring.

"What?" he joined in on the awkward laughter "you were staring at me..." she responded.

"Sorry, I just didn't think you'd be a book person" Steven answered, he really thought she looked at peace, calmed, pretty, while her eyes shuffled from word to word he never really saw her interested in anything growing up other than beating Laurel at just dance every day "it's all that nerd does, read" Conrad added.

Jeremiah had still been watching how they interacted, his lip tugging up every time he'd get closer, Steven was now close enough to read exactly what it said on the cover "a story about a girl and two guys? you're into cheesy romance?" he questioned her, she hadn't seemed like one of those girls to him, she seemed more like a girl who wouldn't read actual books, maybe magazines occasionally but that was it "it's not cheesy, it just depends on who the writer is."

"So what writers do you like?"

"Maybe Angie Thomas, the hate you give is one of my favorite books" Solange answered, it was her favorite book and movie although she hated who they cast to play Starr "since when do you read Steven?" Jeremiah asked him, earning a hit to the chest from Conrad.

"Uh, I don't" Steven responded, rubbing the back of his head "anyways, I'm bored" Connie changed the topic, feeling the air thicken.

Conrad sat up, a smile growing bigger on his face "you guys wanna go to the drive-in?"

𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠
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word count: 1305
imagine being dumped by
just getting blocked lolololololololol
idk what to do next chapter so 🌚