𝐈𝐝𝐟𝐜 | 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐡 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫

nine

"SO HE'S YOUR ESCORT?"

gigi asked almost aggressively.

the blondes eyes were fixed on the curly haired fisher talking to some of the other boys neither of them recognized.

"um, yeah..." molly replied awkwardly. she didn't like this situation. she knew where it was going.

"isn't that, like, a little weird? you guys are practically related," gigi said a little more hostile.

the brunettes eyes trailed around, hoping someone could come and save her from the uncomfortableness of this conversation. "well, i mean, he's just taking me to a ball and we're not blood related at all so," she defended. "just family friends."

"but you guys grew up together," she sassily pushed back. "i think its a little weird to be honest."

"what's a little weird?" suddenly steven was at his sisters side upon noticing her stiff body language.

gigi looked a little thrown off. "oh, nothing. we were just talking about how jeremiah is her escort."

the oldest conklin's face turned from neutral to a scowl. what was she even on about? "how is that weird?" he asked curiously with a scoff.

"i mean, isn't that kind of like you taking belly?" gigi compared.

steven wasn't having it. "no. they're not the same at all."

before the blonde could snap back with something, paige and another women were walking into the room. "attention, everyone," she began. "please welcome our debutante waltz instructor, ms. covington, all the way from ms. covington's school of ballroom dance in newton."

as the room applauded the women in yellow, molly noticed steven and shayla step to the side a bit before she felt a hand at the small of her back and a figure emerge at her side. "hey," jeremiah murmured quietly with a smile.

she looked up towards him, feeling relief that gigi would finally shut up. "hi."

"thank you, paige," ms. covington said. "as you all know, the waltz is the most highly anticipated part of the ball. so, please join your partners now." quiet chatter sounded through the room as everyone paired up and waited for further instructions. "and we will begin with fundamentals, starting with the box step."

jeremiah took molly's right hand in his left, the other coming to rest on her waist while hers came to rest on his shoulder as they began with the steps. "hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly, noticing a mood change in her.

she immediately shook her head. "nothing."

"molly," he said firmly. "c'mon. you can tell me."

she glanced around, seeing gigi watching the two of them. "i'll just tell you later."

"now that we have the steps," ms. covington started to speak. "lets pick up the pace."

thankfully for the conklin, jeremiah was a complete natural and he was able to lead her perfectly. as they all began to speed up their steps, the two heard a loud groan come from nicole. belly was now apologizing over and over, constantly asking the older girl if she was alright.