Back to You

Forever Family

The room grew really awkward after Taylor and Belly headed upstairs as Jeremiah and Steven stood and sat, respectively, in different areas of the room. 

It was wrong on so many levels for the three of us to feel so uncomfortable around each other. I figured it would be up to me to get Steven and Jere talking - but how?

"I wasn't expecting you until tonight. I thought you'd come up with Laurel and Cleveland," I said, addressing Steven. 

"I was going to, but I thought it would be kinda dope to hang out here all day with you guys like we used to.

And we did - during the summers, from sun-up to sun-down, the three of us had been tight, going everywhere, doing everything together in the BG era - before girls. 

Girls had changed everything for us. But surprisingly, the first girl to change our dynamic hadn't been Belly - it had been Taylor Jewel. 

The same girl who was the main reason for this chasm between Jere and Steven right now. 

Flashback: 

Belly had invited her friend from home, a girl named Taylor, to visit for the first time this summer. Which, in retrospect, was fair. She didn't have built-in hang buddies as we did, Jere, Steven, and I called ourselves the three musketeers, which I knew made Belly mad, but it just was what it was. We were a team and good friends and boys. Belly was the only girl, and that wasn't something she could change, or that Steven would have wanted her to, he liked having Jere and me to himself. 

I knew the minute that Taylor walked in; things were going to change. I was older than the other guys and a lot wiser about the type of girl that Taylor was. To summarize, she was that flirty girl who wanted every boy's attention on her, and she had a huge influence on who Belly became around her. She wanted Belly to be more open to her options, and I wanted the exact opposite. Have I mentioned that I was not a fan of Taylor Jewel? Like, not even a little bit.

She'd already attempted to flirt with me, probably because I was the oldest, and that made me the biggest challenge. But I already knew what my answer was should she ever be brave enough to ask - I wasn't interested. The truth was that I had it bad for Belly, and there was no way I was going to let Taylor screw up Belly's crush on me. 

And yes, of course, I knew Belly had a crush - she was not subtle about it. I just felt like she was too young for me to pursue anything with her, but that didn't mean I wanted to spend my time elsewhere - I still wanted to spend it with her. 

I still wanted to be there for her.

It was why she and I were sitting together now after she'd left the game of Truth or Dare that Taylor had coerced the boys and her into starting. 

I had found her on the pool deck crying and sat down beside her. 

"What's wrong?" I asked her, and she quickly wiped at her tears when she realized I was there. 

"Nothing," she said, sniffling. 

"People don't cry over nothing Belly, come on, you can trust me," I said as I lifted her chin so she was facing me. An act I instantly regretted as I felt an endorphin rush go through my whole body at the contact. I quickly dropped my hand, but she was already staring into my eyes, and I couldn't keep myself from looking back. That was the effect she had on me. 

"Jere kissed me," she blurted out, and I felt this rush of anger directed at him. 

"Why?" I found myself asking. I'd had no indication up to now that Jere had an interest in Belly - so I was thrown.