the way things go ೃ⁀➷ the summer i turned pretty

chapter 3 .

╰┈➤ season 1 ⋆ the summer i turned pretty

.ೃ࿐ ⋆·˚

      the dinner that susannah made for the first night with the conklins was always the same. there was seafood, shrimp, crab, and squid. and her famous bouillabaisse.
jasmine's first dinner at the house consisted of her favorites. she faintly remembers them prying her favorite foods out of her since she was too scared to tell them.
      she also remembers having a chair pulled up to belly's left hand side, and that's where she's sat for forever.

. . .

       that night, the family began to eat their dinner, jasmine picked at her food. occasionally glancing at belly next to her.
"steven, if you look at that phone one more time, i'll put it in the screen basket," laurel threatened.
     susannah shook her head, and flashed a smile.
"it's just we want to see your beautiful faces," she said, "can dinner be a screen-free zone? like the olden days?"
steven ignored her, and continued looking at his phone.
"steven," jeremiah urged, and grabbed the phone out of his hands.
"dude, are you kidding me?"
"boom! nailed it!" he cheered as he landed it directly into the basket.
jasmine laughed as she sipped on her lemonade.
"okay, okay, okay, we get it, you've been working out," steven said, scoffing.
"you're just jealous that jere has a better body than you," belly said simply.
"uh, no. it's all about the lean look now. otherwise you can't wear tailored suits."
everyone laughed.
"tailored suits." conrad repeated, shaking his head.
"when are you leaving for training camp, man?" steven asked, and looked over at the boy at the other end of the table.
conrad quieted down at the mention of football camp. jasmine and jeremiah made eye contact.
"uh, he quit football," jeremiah said. the whole table was quiet as they glanced around at one another.
"wait, really you quit?" steven asked, conrad answering with a curt nod, "are you kidding me man? i'd-i'd would kill to play college football."
"he can always change his mind," susannah said gently.
"i'm not gonna change my mind, i was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."
"well, if you're not doing football, what are you gonna do all summer?" laurel asked. conrad shrugged.
"oh, dude, you can work at the club," steven suggested, "with me and jere!"
"yeah!"
"i'm not gonna work at the club."
"wait you guys are working?" belly asked.
"yeah, i'm lifeguarding and steven's working at the snack shop," jeremiah explained.
"oh! belly, i almost forgot," susannah said, pulling out an envelope, "i have a surprise for you."

jasmine stared as she handed the envelope over to belly. she knew exactly what it was.

an invitation to be a debutane.

"so this why you had to stop at the country club?" laurel asked. susannah hummed.
"whoa, uh... wh-wh-what is that?" steven asked.
"i wrangled belly an invitation to be a debutante."
"is that the thing where the girls wear white dresses and courtsy?" belly asked.
"it's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society. i-i know it's sounds silly, but i swear it's fun. girls come from all over new england to cousins just to be a part of it. you'll make so many new friends."

jasmine tucked her head, and crossed her arms. she hated the debutante shit. her mother has always tried to get her to do it, and finally one day she said yes. but she chickened out, and now she has belly to do it. jasmine wishes she had said yes last year.

"i cant believe you're holding on to that archaic dream," laurel said as she stood up.
"same," jasmine mumbled.
"no, it used to be about finding a husband, but now it's about networking."
"yeah," jasmine chimed in, "it's to help with your leadership skills and how to market yourself, and it benefits charity."

jasmine's gotten this talk many times before that she's memorized her mother's whole speech. she thought she would speed up the process for belly, and explain that much of it.
      a part of her also didn't want to hear the same bullshit speech again.
"thank you jasmine. it's, um, like a bat mitzvah," her mother continued.
laurel came back back in with another bottle of wine, "it is not like a bat mitzvah. there's nothing religious about a debutante ball."
"the whole deb scene is bullshit, it's for sheep," conrad said, looking right at jasmine. he could read her like a book, and right now he could tell she felt weird with their mother giving belly a debutante letter too.
"no it's not. it's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity."

damn, is it cause jasmine wasn't mature enough for it? deep down, did she know that herself? did she know that she wasn't mature enough so she chickened out? was this on her?

"wait jazzy, didn't you used to do the whole debutante thing?" steven asked her, knocking her out of her brain.
"oh..." she trailed off, "no, no. mom wanted me to but i never did." she explained, glancing nervously at her mom.
"no, it's stupid and she knows it," conrad said.
"it's not stupid, just not my thing."

      she knew, that conrad knew, how much it annoyed her.
     she left it at that, and reached for more shrimp.

. . .

[ p.s this chapter is a little boring, i'm sorry. i swear, it'll hopefully get more interesting for you guys. ]