𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐀𝐫𝐞 | 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚒 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢

𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 | 𝚃𝙰𝚈𝙻𝙾𝚁

"Twenty bucks she calls you "Jeremy" again." Belly spoke, tilting her head to talk to Jeremiah.

The three were standing in front of the bus stop, waiting for Taylor's bus to arrive. Matilda was standing in between the two teens, subconsciously leaning forward in anticipation. She hadn't seen Taylor in over a year, and she missed her. The older girl had always been Matilda's fashionista, and the young girl loved the fact that Taylor was always brutally honest.

"I don't... I think she learned from last time." Jeremiah answered Belly, crossing his arms over his chest. Matilda looked up at him, pursing her lips, "I don't think so." she scrunched her nose as the sun blinded her momentarily, letting her lips tilt up in a smile as Belly spoke again, "That's how she flirts with you."

It always weirded her out when her brothers talked about their girlfriends or hookups, and hearing Belly talking about him like that was kind of funny, but it also kind of disgusted her. Kind of meaning really. She stuck her tongue out, furrowing her eyebrows as she muttered a low, "Ew."

A bus stopped in front of them, the doors only taking a few moments to open. Matilda's eyebrows shot up in excitement, her smile widening.

"Here she comes."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God." the two teen girl giggled, their voices becoming an octave higher than they usually spoke in. Jeremiah was looking at them weird, his arms still crossed over his chest. Matilda smiled as the two girls hugged, Taylor holding big balloons in her hands.

"Happy birthday!" Taylor exclaimed, her arms falling from around her best friend's neck.

"Thank you." Belly laughed, her smile widening.

"Ah, my favourite Fisher!" Taylor bent down to hug Matilda, the younger girl mirroring her actions, "No offence Jeremy."

Matilda smiled, bouncing on the heels of her feet in excitement.

"Belly, you little tart." Taylor continued.

"What?" Belly furrowed her eyebrows, confused, looking at her best friend.

"You finally took my advice. This outfit is snatched."

"Oh, my God, Taylor." the other girl laughed it off, but Matilda caught the slight hint of uncomfortable that laced her laugh. It wasn't completely genuine, and this made the younger girl frown shortly, tilting her lips downward in thought.

"Isn't Belly looking like a snack?" Taylor looked at Jeremiah, her aura letting out a thick layer of confidence, one that the girl had always had.

"Always." her brother replied. Matilda newly stuck her tongue out, this time mouthing a, "Bleah." It was weird to her; Jeremiah is her brother, and Belly is like a sister to her, and picturing them together was weird. Though now that she thought about it, she didn't feel weird when she pictured Conrad and Belly together.

"Thank you." Belly nodded, the awkward tension still present in her tone, still trying to hide it.

"Oh, uh, here, let me get your bag." Jeremiah took a step toward Taylor, extending his arms forwards to grab the bag.

"Thank you. You're such a gentleman, Jeremy." Taylor fussed over him, her tone flirty.

Matilda once again mouthed an 'Ew' her lips forming around the syllable like those two letters were broccoli. She hates broccoli.

"Of course." Jer replied, doing a little bow, as he sent her a smile.

"Um... It's Jeremiah, not Jeremy." Belly corrected, tilting her head towards her friend.

"I like "Jeremy" better."

There was an awkward pause before anyone spoke, one where Matilda looked down at the floor. She started gnawing at the inside of her cheek, frowning when she realised something. She was hungry. The little girl tugged at her brother's arm, starting to talk when Jeremiah acknowledged her, "I'm hungry, can we stop somewhere?" the boy rolled his eyes, but Matilda is one stubborn girl. She tugged again, smiling really wide, "Please." she elongated the 'e' as she turned to look at the other two girls, "Please." she repeated.

"Mm-hmm." Belly and Taylor looked at each other, sending a knowing smile to one another.

They already knew where they wanted to go.

And Matilda was happy because she would be able to eat.

___

Three bananas covered in syrup and sprinkles were placed in front of the four kids, and as Jeremiah muttered a "Wow." Matilda's mouth was already covered in syrup.

"I would literally eat this every day if I could." Taylor spoke, her words slightly muffled by the food in her mouth. Matilda continued to eat, nodding vigorously in agreement to Taylor's statement. The teenage girl placed her fork into the plate, "Mhm." she started looking for something in her bag, "Okay, open your present."

Matilda didn't stop eating, but she showed an unmissable interest in what was happening. She loved watching people opening presents, especially is she herself didn't know what was going to be in the package. She always wanted her birthday to somehow switch to summer, but in the end, she was eternally stuck with December.

Belly opened the bag, her eyebrows raising in surprise as she took out the magenta coloured bikini. Matilda lightly frowned; Belly had never worn something like that, nor did she think she willingly would.

"I think it'll look so hot on you." Taylor resumed eating after finishing her sentence, "Do you like it?"

Jeremiah chuckled, looking in between the two girls with a mix of disbelief and amusement, "Okay, Belly would never wear that."

"Nuh-uh, never." Matilda confirmed, strengthening her brother's statement.

"Actually." Belly looked at the two Fisher siblings, her tone almost offended, "I really like it." she laughed, tilting her body forwards, "Thank you Taylor!"

Matilda started biting her upper lip, deep in thought at the unexpected response Belly had given them. She was brought back to Conrad's preoccupations, seemingly unfounded at the time, but now, they were gaining a lot of significance. Belly was definitely changing way too much and way too quickly. Matilda wasn't sure she liked it.

She was brought back to the conversation when Taylor spoke, "Okay, so, what's the plan for tonight? Where's the party?"

"Well, Susannah always plans a big lobster dinner." Belly started explaining.

"Boring. No." Taylor almost rolled her eyes.

"But it's really good." Matilda scrunched her eyebrows together.

Taylor seemingly ignored the girl's statement, continuing with her argument, "It's your sixteenth birthday. We have to go out."

Belly intervened, "No, no, no. These dinners are really, really fun. And Susannah had the idea to make it 'Midsommar' themed, so she got she got flower crowns especially made for us and everything."

The conversation was starting to get boring, Matilda observed, so she kind of started ignoring them. She concentrated on her delicious desert, eating spoonfuls of it with almost no pauses for air.

It was soon time to go, making their way to the car as they continued talking.

Matilda couldn't wait to jump in the pool.

___

heyyy i'm so sorry it took
so long and it's not like super
long, but I have so much
homework its not even funny .

i hope it was good!!

this took me so long because my
parents didn't want to renew
prime membership, but I
did convince them , so i'm back?

I NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING

Are you team conrad or
team jeremiah?

OKAY BYEEEEE