"i hate this" louis groans as he tries on different suit jackets.
"oh shut up, do you see me?" i say, coming out in the 9th dress.
"oh i love this one audrey!" susannah tells me.
"seriously?" i say as i make a face.
"okay, clearly not that one" she laughs.
i walk back in the changing room, and grab the next dress on the rack. this one was a cobalt blue ruffle dress. it had tassels attached to the straps, and it fell above my knee.
as i come back out with a smile on my face, mom claps her hand over her mouth.
"oh my gosh, my audrey's all grown up" she gushes.
"mom, i'm only 13," i remind her.
"i think this one is it, whaddya you think aud?" susannah asks me.
"this is it" i confirm.
"alright, well for the charity ball, louis' tie will have to match the dress" she tells me as we both visibly cringe.
i mean, we've always matched. jere and belly did too, and steven and conrad always went alone or secured themselves dates.
plus, the charity ball was basically nothing. you sat around, the debs did the waltz only once, speeches, eat, and then susannah and adam opened the dance floor. actually last year, belly and jeremiah opened, they probably would again too. it as as many considered "a starter" for the debs, since it took place so early in the season. it's also notorious for how every deb screwed up at the charity ball.
the charity ball was always informal, hence the suits and mid-length dresses.
"audrey, do you still have your foxtrot?" susannah asks, as i hear louis complain.
"yeah, why?" i return, thinking nothing of it.
"it's settled then, you two will open the floor" she says matter of factly.
"what?" i say, spinning around.
"you and louis are going to open the floor at the charity ball" mom says blankly, looking at her phone.
"why can't belly and jere do it?" i complain.
"belly is a debutante, and by the looks of it, jeremiah will be her date. it's improper for a debutante to open" she tells us.
it's not like i haven't danced at a ball with louis, but opening the ball is a whole different story. you have to be the first people up there, with everyone staring at you.
"what about ivy and conrad?" mom asks as i shoot louis a look.
"i already asked, something about not doing opening dances," susannah sighs.
"i thought ivy was debbing again?" i question.
"no, she decided against it. makes sense, she's done it two seasons now" susannah says.
"alright, you two better hurry up and practice!" she adds.
"we will" we say in unison in a grumble.
i quickly change out of the dress, and hand it to the cashier. as she bags it up, i stare at the pictures on the wall. it's a progression of the debutantes, from the 50's to now. not unusual, it's Cousins Beach, this place is obsessed with the debutante season.
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯
i hate the foxtrot. actually i don't hate it, it just gets so repetitive. you just do the same steps over, and over. louis' not a bad dancer either, and we annoy each other as we dance.
"stop slouching," i jokingly tell him.
"stop slouching too birdie" he retorts back.
"if we stop now, we can get gatorade before steven and jere ransack the house" i say.
"but, if we stop two songs after we can get there as soon as mom brings in the muffins" he answers back.
"can't we leave now, and just sit in the kitchen, waiting for the muffins?" i complain.
"fine" he shrugs.
we both swing by the fridge, grabbing a blue and orange gatorade. blue for me like always, and orange for him.
"was it worth it, dropping your favorite song for this?" i say dramatically.
"no, i think i'll drop dead," he quips.
i pull out my phone, and check my snapchat notifications. evelyn, julia, sophie, hadley, claire, several from vivian, sylvie, bennett, will, and liv.
"who's hadley?" louis asks, peering over my shoulder.
"neighbor" i respond.
louis basically knows all of my snapchat friends, as he tends to take over my streaks.
"she's new" he says, raising an eyebrow.
"she's new to snapchat you creep, do you like her or something?" i laugh.
"yep, i totally love her from that wall picture she sent" he says.
i go down, and snap back everyone, except vivian, bennett, and will, i let louis do those. bennett lives 3 houses down, and vivian and will live next door obviously.
"we're home!" i hear steven cry as he walks in.
"we smelt you from four miles away" i pester.
"shut up aud" he responds.
"is shayla coming around?" i ask him.
"why do you care?" he says back.
"i just wanna meet the girl that actually wanted you as an escort, i mean it's a pretty small chance anyo-" i start, interrupted by jeremiah running in, and ruffling up my hair.
"i'm going to get muffins, c'mon!" he tells me, already swinging his keys and waltzing out.
classic jere.
"hey jeremiah" the cashier asks, pulling out the boxes and handing them over.
"hey!" i call back, racing to the car.
i open the first box, and pull out a chocolate chip muffin, but not before jere grabs it from my hand and takes a bite as i roll my eyes.
"that one's good" he mumbles through the food.
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"we're back!" jere announces as everyone stampedes down.
"i call blueberry!" belly says, swooping to grab it.
we get these muffins way too much, we are definitely addicts. like to the point that if we don't get these at least once a week, we'll probably combust.
"i'm going swimming," i declare, and quickly run upstairs and change. at the last second, i decide to text vivian to come over.
finally!" i tell her as she walks into the backyard.
"that was like five minutes!" she exclaims.
"whatever, let's jump" i say, waiting for her.
"okay, three, two, one!" we scream in unison.
"cold, cold, cold" i immediately complain.
we splash around for a few hours, before deciding to head into town on our bikes.
"belly's birthday is like next week" i say.
"what's this year's birthday dinner theme?" viv asks me.
"i think a midsummer night, we have flower crowns and everything!"
"that's nice, bells loves it so"
"you know, i'm happy belly realized her feelings for jeremiah" i say.
"uh, what?" we hear behind us.
"crap" i mutter under my breath.
wc: 1108
sorry to have been so mia these past days! so many events 😭
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birdie | a tsitp story
Fanfictionsummer was audrey's favorite time of year. not because school was over, but because she got to be with her favorite people in the world. every summer the conklin's, laurel, steven, belly, and audrey who was affectionately nicknamed birdie met up wit...
