something like summer - jeremiah fisher

iii

at dinner, steven and jeremiah were laughing at something on steven's phone, 'steven, i swear to god, if you look at that phone one more time, i'm putting it in the screen basket,' their mom warned.

'it's just we wanna see your beautiful faces,' susannah explained, 'can dinner be a screen-free zone? you know, like the olden days?' susannah asked, which earned her a laugh from laurel.

'steven,' jeremiah exclaimed snatching the phone and throwing it in a chair a few feet away from the table when he didn't put it away.

'dude, are you kidding me?' steven asked.

'boom! nailed it,' he said flexing his muscles slightly when it landed on the chair.

'okay, okay, okay, we get it, you've been working out,' steven said defeated.

'sounds like someone's jealous,' camila said jokingly.

'just because someone can lift more than a twig and has a better body than you do,' belly added with a smile.

'uh, no, actually, it's all about the lean look now,' steven explained, 'otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits.'

everyone laughed lightly, 'sure, sure,' jere said.

'tailored suits,' conrad grinned nodding.

'when are you leaving for training camp, man?' steven asked changing the subject.

when conrad didn't say anything, jeremiah spoke up for him, 'uh, he quit football,' which just earned the group another hot minute of silence.

of course, steven was the person to break it, 'wait, really? you quit?' he asked.

'mh-hmm,' he hummed.

'are you kidding me, man? i'd-i'd kill to play college ball,' he stammered surprised.

'he can always change his mind,' susannah quickly added.

'i'm not gonna change my mind,' he followed, 'i was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways.'

'well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?' laurel asked.

'oh, dude you could work at the club,' steven suggested, 'with me and jere.'

'yeah,' jeremiah agreed shrugging.

'i'm not gonna work at the club,' he said, almost sounding slightly disgusted at the idea.

'wait, you guys are working this summer?' belly asked when cami was just about to ask the same thing.

'yeah, i'm lifeguarding, and steven's working at the snack shop,' jere explained, leading to him and steven clicking their tongues and fist-bumping.

'why didn't you say so?' cami asked confused.

'i guess it just slipped my mind,' jere shrugged, not failing to see the slight hurt in his best friend's eyes.

'oh, girls, i almost forgot,' susannah said standing up and walking over to the small dresser behind her picking up two envelopes, 'i have a surprise for you,' she said handing one to each of the girls.

their mom chuckled, 'so, this is why you had to stop by the country club,' taking a sip of her wine.

'mhm,' she revealed.

'what, uh, wh-wh-what is that?' steven asked.

'what, are you jealous?' cami teased.

'i wrangled the girls an invitation to be a debutante,' susannah explained happily, before steven could reply to cami's snide remark.