In Cousins, the post surfing haze had dissipated into the afternoon heat, and Natasha strutted up to the door of the banquet hall. Her outfit for the tea-party part of the debutante event stuck against her body with a light layer of sweat, pearls adorning her neck and a matching fascinator perched on the top of her head. A perfect manicure rested on her fingernails, one Susannah insisted she pay for regardless of the countless times Laurel and Tasha told her not to. She walked up the stairs to the banquet hall, where circular tables filled the room and many young girls like herself sat in their assigned seats. Belly appeared at the door a couple minutes after Tasha had taken her seat at table two. Jeremiah was at her heels, smiling shamelessly as he wasn't wearing a shirt.
"Jeremiah. Where's your shirt?" Paige, the coordinator, gave Jeremiah a dirty look, while all he could do was try to hold back his laughs.
"Paige. Always a pleasure. This is Belly." He motioned to Belly. "I mean, uh, Isabel Conklin, the young woman my mom told you about. My future wife." The last statement earned him a slap on the arm from Belly, a blush rising to the girl's cheeks. Tasha stifled a laugh, watching the situation unfold before her.
"She's late." Paige's expression remained stoic, completely unamused by Jeremiah and Belly's banter. Belly gave her a quiet 'i'm so sorry' and looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "You're at table two with your sister."
"Are those the little brie and fig jam sandwiches with the prosciutto?" Jeremiah spotted the sandwiches on the table and his eyes lit up in yearning.
"Don't you dare. Those are for the girls. Jeremiah, those are for the girls!" Paige tried to stop the boy from taking one but he moved fast, grabbing a couple before running out of the room, stopping briefly to whisper something to Belly. It wasn't until the situation had cleared up that Natasha grasped full understanding of the girls sitting around her. Belly sat down on Tasha's left, closer to Nicole, the girl from the bonfire. The other girls introduced themselves as Nicole helped Belly cover up her bruise from the other night by applying concealer on top. There was a couple at the table, Marisa and Dara, who engaged in a conversation about lesbians and debutantes. There was a girl named Gigi and another girl at the table, Tasha immediately recognizing her as the girl Steven was hanging around at the bonfire, Shayla. The topic moved to colleges, and Marisa asked Belly and Tasha which colleges they were applying to.
"Oh Belly's only a sophomore, at least that's what Conrad told me." Nicole quickly answered for Belly and threw Tasha a cold sideways glance before continuing. "I don't know about her though, Conrad's never really mentioned you before."
"I'm actually a Junior. Looking for colleges, but not really applying right now." Natasha answered, giving Marisa a small smile before taking a small sip of the tea sitting in front of her.
"Uh, so, are you and Jeremiah, like, a thing, or are you going to take him to the ball?" Gigi spoke up, questioning Belly. Some of the girls gasped, giggling slightly at Gigi's boldness.
"Oh my god, back off Geeg." Shayla chuckled and patted the girl's shoulder in between laughs. "It was a question. I'm not worried." Gigi smiled and shrugged.
"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, babe."
"So, what's it like living with Jeremiah and Conrad?" Nicole inquired, looking at Belly and barely even looking at Natasha. "Conrad's so mysterious." At this statement, Natasha almost gave in and started laughing hysterically, but Paige cleared her throat, getting the attention of all the debutantes.
"Hello, debutantes. A few small housekeeping bits I'd like to go over. We have a lot to look forward to this season." She looked around the room with her hard, judgemental stare. "Now, I understand that some of you might think that debbing is outdated. It's something you're doing to appease your families. But, the Cousins Debutante Ball is a part of history. Venerated, yet ever evolving, it's a tradition you'll someday pass on to your own daughters. It's a formal marking of this passage of time between your teenage years and your adulthood. One ends, and the other begins."
