𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫

𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧

   Belly asked Aurélie to stay over for dinner, and with Belly, you never say no. That's how Aurélie ended up seated to the side of Conrad while he sat at the head of the table. "Steven, I swear to god, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket," Laurel threatens her son who was distracted by his phone.

"It's just, we want to see your beautiful faces. Can dinner be a screen-free zone? You know like the olden days," Susannah asks the kids, sipping her wine. Steven didn't seem to hear her because he was still on his phone. "Steven," Jeremiah snatches it.

"Dude, are you kidding me?" Steven says. "Boom! Nailed it," Jeremiah said tossing Steven's phone into the basket. 

Aurélie applauded him, a melodic laugh coming from her mouth. Conrad glanced over at her, "Don't encourage him. He wouldn't get over the fact that he has muscles now."

"No let her, I'm glad she noticed these," Jeremiah flexed his biceps. Belly and Aurélie laugh. "We get it, you've been working out," Steven groans. "You're just jealous because Jere has a better body than you," Belly pointed at her brother.

"No, actually, it's all about the lean look now. Otherwise you can't wear tailored suits," Steven explains. "Tailored suits," Conrad smiles. "When are you leaving for training camp, man?" Steven looks at Conrad, changing the conversation.

Before he could answer, Jeremiah did. "He quit football." 

The room stays silent for a few seconds before Steven says, "Wait, really? You quit?" Conrad nods. Aurélie looks over at Conrad who was already looking over at her.

Conrad had been playing football from a young age, she knew that he only played to please his father though. She was glad he was finally doing something for himself now. "Are you kidding me, man? I'd kill to play college ball," Steven says.

Conrad's talent with football gained him big recognition. "He can always change his mind," Susannah speaks up. "I'm not gonna change my mind. 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 asks her godson. "Oh dude, you can work at the club. Yeah, with me and Jere." "I'm not gonna work at the club," Conrad shook his head.

"What, you guys are working this summer?" Belly asks. "Yeah, I'm lifeguarding and Steven's working at the snack shop," Jeremiah and Steven fist bump. Susannah gets out of her seat and says, "Oh, Belly, I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you," she comes back with an envelope in her hand.

"So, this is why you had to stop by the country club," Laurel chuckles. Steven asks what it is. "I wrangled Belly an invitation to be a debutante," Susannah smiles. "Is that the thing where the girls wear white dresses and curtsy?" Belly asks.

"It's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society. I know it sounds silly, but I swear its fun. Girls come from all over New England to Cousins just to be a part of it. You'll make so many new friends," Susannah reasons.

"I cannot believe you are still holding on to this archaic dream," Laurel gets up from her seat. "No, it used to be about finding a husband, but now it's about networking. They teach you leadership skills, like how to market yourself, and it benefits charity. It's, um, like a bat mitzvah."

Laurel chuckled as she walked back into the dining room with a bottle of wine, "it is not like a bat mitzvah. There is nothing religious about a debutante ball." "The whole deb scene is bullshit. It's for sheep," Conrad says, Jeremiah agreeing with him.

"No it's not," Susannah disagrees, "It's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity," Steven snickered, dropping is fork. "Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Mature?" "Yes." "Belly? A-a couple months ago you had a cat funeral. You made us all wear black."

"Shut up, Steven. I saw you crying in your room," Belly rolled her eyes, and Aurélie laughed. "Wait, Mochi died? Dang, I'm sorry, Bells," Jeremiah talked with his hands, frowning at the same time.

 "Belly," Susannah drew the attention back.

"Don't you want to get all dressed up?" "It's just not Belly's kind of thing. She's our feral little alley cat." This influenced laughter among Jeremiah and Steven. "I'll think about it," Belly told Susannah who smiled.

"If it helps, I'm doing it too. It's really good for college apps, shows that you're not average. We could make it our thing, none of them allowed, huh?" Aurélie looked from the boys to Belly. "Hey!" Steven gasped. "Okay, I'll sleep on it."

...

Aurélie stood in the backyard facing the lake, snapping a photo of the starry sky. After dinner she felt good about becoming a debutante. It would be fun and maybe Belly would join which would be better.

She turns around to head inside until she sees Conrad sitting by the pool with his legs in the water. "Oh my gosh, you scared me," Aurélie clutched her chest. "When did you get here?" He questioned, not seeing her walk out.

"Before you, apparently," She sat down next to him, smelling the smoke of marijuana. "You said weed messes with white matter." "Do you even know what white matter is?" He laughs, looking over at her.

"When we were younger, you said our brains are still developing and that-" "God, do you memorize every single thing I've ever said?" Conrad asks. 

Aurélie rolls her eyes, scoffing, "Get over yourself, Conrad. Your ego outweighs your looks. But I think you should quit," She gestures to the blunt.

"What'll you give me if I do?" Conrad says, exhaling the smoke away from her. "What do you want? A prize? I think you should quit for yourself," Aurélie leaned back against her arms, her feet playing with the water.

"Why are you doing this debutante thing?" he asked. "I do them all the time back home. I'm French for God's sake, Con," Aurélie chuckles. "But it's not you, and I think that there are other things that you could do this summer instead."

Aurélie frowned, "You only know summer me. And besides, you haven't known me for the past two years, Conrad. We don't know each other the way we used to." Conrad was silent exhaling again.

"I mean, come on! Why are you acting so different?" "Like you said, it's been two summers. We're not the same people as before." 

"If I know one thing, it's that I want the old Conrad back. I don't like this new attitude," Aurélie stood up, rubbing her hands on her shirt.

Before he could even reply, Jeremiah and Steven come out. "First bonfire of the summer!" "All right, we're totally taking my car. You're not driving," Jeremiah looks over to Steven making him laugh. "Come on, guys, we're leaving. You ready?"

"Is Belly coming too?" Aurélie walked over to them. "No she's having a movie night with the moms," Steven answers. "You should stop treating her like a kid, Steven. She's not a kid anymore, she's growing up," Aurélie tells him.

"She's 15, which still makes her a kid." "I was 15 last summer I was here and you still let me hang out. Am I a kid too?" "You're different, Belly is..." Steven tries to explain until Jeremiah cuts him off. "Let's go, slowpoke."

Jeremiah wraps his arms around Aurélie shoulder. They walk towards the car, Steven in front of them, Conrad behind. Aurélie turns her head to look at Conrad who already had his eyes on her.

author's note!

hey y'all! I hope you're enjoying seven!! I'm trying out short chapters, let me know how y'all like it. I don't really know how I feel about it.