𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐄//𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧

{𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟}𝕍𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔻𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤

ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛᴀᴄʜᴇ...

      𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 after dress shopping, Susannah and Flory rushed over to the volleyball tournament, Flory swiftly changing into more comfortable clothes and making her way over to Belly's game. 

"Hey, Taylor." Flory smiled. Taylor turned around and broke into a wide smile, she walked over, immediately hugging Flory tightly.

"Flora Fisher! How are you?" Taylor greeted.

"Doing well, how are you, Taylor Jewel? How's the match going?" 

"I'm great. Match is going fairly well, Conrad is actually playing with Belly, right now. They've been doing good so far, up by quite a bit." Taylor said, gesturing towards the game. Flory smiled and nodded, intently watching Belly. She'd hoped to catch her before dress shopping but hadn't had the time. 

Eventually after a few matches, it seemed as though Team Belly was dimming, Conrad who was starting to get tired, was missing more of the hits and serves, failing the spikes more frequently. As for Belly, she hadn't lost any energy and was in her competitive mode, not stopping for anything. Flora was about to ask Taylor if she had noticed the confidence of Team Belly dimming when she saw an angry Shayla storm past her, a pleading Steven following closely behind. He ran a hand through his hair sighing in defeat as he watched Shayla walk away. 

"Hey uh, I'll be right back." Flora said to Taylor and walked away to Steven. "Hey, what's up, what happened?" She asked her best friend with a crumpled facial expression.

"I fucked up big time again." Steven sighed. "First I practically cheated on her, now I've fucked up and she's never gonna take me back. God, I screwed up. I wouldn't take me back if I was her either." Steven said sadly. 

"Steven, what did you even do that was so bad?" Flory asked.

"I played Poker with her ex. Lost all the money I had saved for my suit." Steven sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "She gave me a suit and told me she wasn't going to the ball with me. Told me I should take you or Belly or something. She was so mad." The boy sighed, looking devastated.

"Have you tried apologizing? giving her some space and then coming back to it?" Flora asked, hopefully.

"Yeah. Flo, I don't think she's gonna take me back. I screwed up so badly. I think this is really the end of us." Steven said, softly, his voice full of sadness. "I-I guess it's for the better. I mean- she deserves better anyways. We didn't fit. And I messed up."  

"Oh Steven." Flory sighed. He wiped his eyes quickly and kept his hardened face on. 

"I-it's fine." He said, hurt evident in his eyes. 

"It doesn't have to be, Steven. I know you really loved her. I know you're a good guy, and you're sorry, and that's the best you can be at this point." Flora said.

"Thanks, Flo." Steven said with a sad smile. He wiped his sad eyes, sniffing slightly. "I have the tux she gave me. She's so goddamn nice that she still let me borrow it even if it wasn't her I was taking. So I dunno, could I take you then? Just as friends? I mean you don't have an escort, I'm an escort, can't let it go to waste otherwise Paige'll be on my back the rest of the summer." Steven suggested. Flory hesitated, opening her mouth to speak.