My Summer Girl ( Steven Conklin x OC )

6.

After they all went shopping Laurel dropped the girls off at the Country Club and they began to head to the debutante tea. As they walked around Cordelia saw Jeremiah. He was shirtless so you could see his tanned abs. He was so proud of his abs. "Hey. Jeremiah." she called out. 

He turned around confused until her saw Cordelia and Belly. He looked them up and down, especially Belly. "Oh, my God. Uh. Wow. I didn't even recognize you two."

"Tell me the truth. Um, do we look like a fools?" Cordelia asked gesturing to her and Belly's matching outfits. Susannah insisted they should wear the same dress but in different colours.  

"Um..." he paused and laughed a little "Uh, no, y-you look good. You both look good. Um, let me walk you over."

 "What?" Belly asked Jere as she noticed his gaze on her. He shook his head "Nothing. Uh, let's go." he lead them through the building. "Uh, are those... are those pineapples?" he asked gesturing to her dresses.  

"Pineapples?" the girls asked looking at their floral dresses, then at each other, completely confused. 

"No, they're flower... Have you seen flowers before?" Belly teased him.  

"I-I have," he stuttered " but that is, for sure, a pineapple. That's a nice pineapple dress you got there." 

As they passed by he window Cordelia saw some cookies on the tea platter "They have strawberry, raspberry, raspberry type cookies. Oh, they're to die for." 

"I know it was a special request I had for the chef, I know they're your favourite" Jeremiah said smiling. He then laughed again "Okay. I-I still never thought I'd see the day where Little Belly Button and Cordy were wearing fascinators." 

"Jeremiah." A woman said looking at him as the three of them entered the room.  

"Paige." he said with a charming smirk. She shook her head and asked "Where's your shirt?" 

He ignored her and dramatically kissed the back of her hand "It's always a pleasure." 

"Mm-hmm." she nodded.  

"This is my best friend Cordelia. Cordelia Summers and this is Belly. I mean, uh, Isabel Conklin, my future wife." 

Belly slapped his arm jokingly. Paige wasn't happy "They're late." 

"We are so sorry." Cordelia apologised. She checked her clipboard "You're both at table two." 

The girls nodded and heard Jere gasp "Are those those little Brie and fig jam sandwiches with the prosciutto?"

"Don't you dare." Paige warned him "Those are for the girls." He was still looking at them "Jeremiah, those are for the girls!" 

"Just-just one." he said he grabbed it and told Cordelia and Belly " Knock 'em dead." 

She smiled and whispered to him "I'll bring some home later". Jeremiah nodded and ran out of the room. 

They looked around for table two and Belly froze "Oh, my God. That's the girl Conrad was kissing at the bonfire."

"It will be fine" Cordelia assured her. She walked over to the table confidently "Hi." the table stopped chatting and they all stared at the girls. 

"Hi." Belly said quietly.

They invited them to sit down and carried on chatting. Marisa said "I told my mom the only way I would do this is if I could bring my girlfriend, 'cause I thought it would be a deal killer, but the club has been surprisingly chill about the whole thing." 

Dara agreed "I'm honestly shocked."

"Yeah. Literally, Dara, I was expecting a conversion camp to spring out of the bushes." Marisa said "No. Lesbians and debutantes are, like, a completely juxtaposing idea. Opposites."

"Yeah, but Cousins likes to pretend to be woke." Nicole explained "Trust me. My family deals with it constantly". 

"The things we do for college applications. It's insane." Marisa exclaimed. "Don't worry, Marisa. You'll get in everywhere." Nicole comforted her friend. 

"Where are you applying?" Cordelia asked curiously joining in. She shrugged "You know, the usual. Every Ivy minus Cornell. Mm-hmm. Ithaca is so bleak." they all laughed "I know. What about you?"

"Oh, you're a Junior and Belly's only a sophomore. Right? I think that's what Conrad told me." Nicole said hopefully. 

Belly joined in "Yeah, I-I'll be a junior in the fall."

"So, is this your first summer here in Cousins?" someone asked.  

"No, we've been coming here for our entire lives." Belly said explaining the beach house. Nicole nodded "Yeah, they're both, like, family friends with Conrad and Jeremiah."

"Uh, so are you and Jeremiah, like, a-a thing, or are you gonna take him to the ball?" A girl with long blonde hair, Gigi, asked Cordelia and Belly. 

"Oh, my God, back off, Geeg." Nicole exclaimed. Gigi shrugged "It was a question." 

"They're, like, basically related, okay? You have nothing to worry about." Nicole assured her. The blonde shook her head "I'm not worried." 

"Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that, babe. Gigi has had this thing for Jeremiah..." Nicole explained to Belly and Cordelia. 

"Ever since he got abs?" Cordelia asked knowing a lot of people began to like him after that this caused the girls to laugh "Pun intended. Absolutely. But you can relax. I'm not into Jeremiah Fisher. He's my best friend" 

"Yeah, and your noticing his abs?" Belly teased. Cordelia couldn't fault her there. 

"So, what's it like to live with Jeremiah and Conrad?" They asked curiously. "Yeah. Conrad's so mysterious." the girls agreed. 

Paige suddenly interrupted "Hello, debutantes. A few small housekeeping bits I'd like to go over. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Now, I understand some of you might think that debbing is outdated. It's something you're doing to appease your families. But the Cousins Debutante Ball is a part of history. Venerated, yet ever evolving, it's a tradition you'll someday pass on to your own daughters. It's a formal marking of this passage of time between your teenage years and your adulthood. One ends, and the other begins." 

Cordelia began noticing the girls passing around a flask of what looked like whisky and pouring it in their tea. 

Paige continued unaware "It's a journey generations of women before you have taken. Women who you can learn from and who can inspire you. Debs, at each table is a big sister who will guide you through the season. So, please introduce yourselves."

"Hey, little sis." Nicole said turning to Cordelia and Belly.

"Hey." Cordelia said she gestured for the flask in Nicole's hand and poured some in her own tea.  

"Honestly, my parents made me do it last year because, you know, like, all the women in my family have done it. But my big sis was great, and I actually ended up having a lot of fun. So just don't be nervous. Okay?" then she gestured to the flask asking Belly "Do you want some?"

"Um, no, thanks, I'm good, but, uh, I'll be right back." she said getting up and walking out of the room.  

"Oh. Okay." Cordelia said but she was already out of range. 

"Sorry. What is that about?" Nicole asked Cordelia. She shook her head "I don't know"