Shots Fired (Jeremiah Fisher)

Debutante Ball

• July 24th •

It's debutante day.

I knew that my mom would be here and that we'd have to get up super early and so I slept in my own room last night, knowing that if I slept with Jeremiah, I would not go to sleep at a reasonable time. Thankfully I made that decision, because Susannah was the one to wake me.

I hadn't spoken to her since finding out about her cancer and so as happy as I was to see her in the morning, it was quickly replaced with sadness.

"Good morning, Angel Flower." She greeted as my eyes opened.

"Morning, Suz." I tried to smile for her as I sat up.

She noticed my face and I saw her frown. "Ange, I'm sorry."

"Why?" I asked.

Is this woman really apologizing for having cancer? I see where Jeremiah and Conrad get it from now. My heart sank at the thought of her worrying for me when she was the one who was sick.

"You weren't supposed to know yet," she sat on the bed. "I wanted one perfect summer before.."

She trailed and I already knew where the sentence was headed.

"Is that why you invited me to Cousins?" I asked.

She nodded.

"And why I asked you to be deb. I needed to see my girl in a white dress." She let out a small sigh and then smiled weakly. "I'm so happy you immediately decided to be a debutante."

My eyes began to brim with tears. The thought of this being the last time I got to spend quality time with Susannah broke my heart. I wish I'd dedicated more time to her than I did. I'd had a really crazy summer, but all in all, it was exactly what she wanted.

I was happy.

"Well.. I'm really fucking sad.. but you got what you wanted. I had the best summer of my life."

She smiled wider and hugged me. She then wiped away the tears that had escaped my eyes and ran down my cheeks.

"No crying, sweetheart," she said although her own eyes were betraying her. "We gotta get you ready for this ball. Are you ready?"

"I am." I nodded with a smile and sniffle.

"You and Jere will be perfect," she said causing butterflies to swirl through my stomach. "What's the status now?"

"He's my boyfriend now."

She gushed. "Oh, I always knew you two were destined for each other. This'll be an experience you remember for the rest of your life. One you'll tell your kids about."

Hopefully not any time soon. Maybe we shouldn't have fucked raw yesterday. Lord, please let this birth control work, I promise I'll start going to church every Sunday... or every other Sunday... maybe once a month?

"Also, I need you to stay out of the family room today," she warned. "I'm unveiling all the paintings at the end of the night."

"Got it."

Susannah left to go downstairs and I pulled out my dress from my closet and laid it on my bed. There was a knock on my open door and I whipped my head around to see my handsome boyfriend smiling at me from the doorway.

"Good morning, beautiful." He said as he approached me with open arms.

I went into his hug, pressing my chin on his chest to get a good look at him. I felt incredibly lucky to be able to call him mine. Nothing felt better than being in his arms. I wanted to stay there forever.