𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 // 𝙟𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙖𝙝 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧

[ 𝙩𝙚𝙣 ]

susannah stormed into the kitchen with the biggest smile on her face. anne was slowly trailing behind her tiredly. "belly and stel are gonna be debutantes," susannah announced, holding back her joyful laughter.

isabel laughed and looked at stella. "you checked yes?" she said in disbelief.

stella looked at her with even wider eyes than isabel. "you checked yes?" she asked the same thing.

they both laughed while susannah crushed them into a group hug. "it's really not that big of a deal," isabel smiled.

steven and andy both looked at each other in disgust. "i'm sorry. like, belly?" steven huffed. "like, my sister? like, that thing right there?"

"shut up, cretin," isabel's smile dropped.

andy raised an eyebrow at stella. "blink twice if you've been brainwashed or something, stella," he crossed his arms.

jeremiah laughed softly. he almost looked confused, but he always kind of looked like that. at least, that's what stella told herself.

"okay, this is gonna be so much fun. just you wait," susannah said excitedly. "there is, uh... there's the tea, the auction, the ball, of course, the rehearsal. i got to write this down."

"oh god," stella's mom, anne, rolled her eyes. she was secretly excited to see her daughter dress up and have fun, but she would never admit that to susannah.

jeremiah raised his eyebrows and smiled downwardly at stella. "ooh, you're gonna be a deb," he teased her.

stella shrugged and shook her head, hiding her smile. "okay, you have to lifeguard this summer and make sure people don't drown," she teased him back. "they should have a lifeguard for the lifeguard if you're gonna be the one working."

"hey! the hardest part of my job is to save the people taking swimming lessons from you." he tilted his head to the side with a smirk, waiting for stella's response.

she just playfully messed up his hair and turned around. "we'll see."

susannah gasped suddenly, making everyone whip their heads around to look at her. "we need to go shopping," she said as if we were supposed to already know what she was going to say.

isabel laughed while stella turned her nose up subtly. she wasn't a huge shopping person, but it is what it is. 

"this sounds... expensive," laurel said unsurely.

anne agreed with her. "i was about to say that."

susannah waved her comment away. "oh, don't worry, you two. it's on me. it was my idea after all, and we still need to style you for your book party, laur."

laurel spun her chair around slowly. "belly, are you sure you want to do this?"

"stel, you really don't have to do this if you don't want. remember, the more time you spend doing this deb ball, the less money you'll make at the country club," stella's mom reminded her.

stella laughed and nodded. "it's okay. i want to do this. plus, less messes for j to clean up after," she joked. jeremiah laughed and threw an arm around her shoulder.

"seriously, belly," laurel continued. "it doesn't seem very you."

conrad spoke up. "it's not."

oh, he'll speak up about her, but he won't even carry a conversation with me anymore, stella thought, almost jealously. 

stella stared at her best friend. he's been acting so differently and it's been driving her mad. 

"conrad, could you please be a little more supportive?" susannah said. conrad stayed silent and stared at the wall while his mom continued. "now, who's going to be whose escort to the ball?"

"not me. i went last year," conrad muttered loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

jeremiah hesitated before saying, "yeah, and i swore off balls."

susannah tilted her head to the side while stella and steven stifled their laughter. even andy let out a small chuckle. they laughed into each other's shoulders while jeremiah shook his head.

"the dances, dude," he laughed with them.

"wow, guys. stop fighting over us," isabel said, turning back to her cereal. "um, i'm not going with any of you. i am going to find my own date."

stella agreed with isabel. "yeah, me too."

andy scoffed and scrunched his face up. "uhh, you? finding your own date? who would want to go with you?"

"shut up, andy," stella pressed her lips together annoyedly. "at least, i socialize with people. worst case scenerio, i make a friend and i go with them as friends."

laurel was scrolling through countless websites that had information about debutante balls. she started to read one aloud. "wikipedia says debutante balls require instruction in morals and social etiquette..."

"i'm going for a swim," conrad mumbled on the way out.

steven teased isabel about needing some etiquette. laurel and susannah talked about whether a country club was a good place to teach that sort of things.

morals and shit, stella thought.

"well, hurry up! we have shopping to do!" susannah rushed.

laurel closed her laptop. "it's not like i was getting any work done anyway."

"you have shopping to do," jeremiah teased stella. he put the dishes that he had used to cook in the sink and rinsed them off. "should i tell the people at the country club that you won't be teaching any kids to swim today?"

"i guess so," stella sighed. she'd much rather be cooling off in the pool than go shopping for a dress. "don't have too much fun without me."

"i shall try," he said, leaving the room with a small smile on his face. "come on, steven! to the country club!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

double update!! btw, i'm sorry if these chapters are boring and short. the tea is coming up, but for now, we shall be patient :)

please vote, comment, etc. THANK YOUU

if you guys have any ideas, please let me know in the comments <3

[ unedited ]