ruined me ( conrad fisher )

005, eat the rich

━━━━━━ ☀︎,━━━━━━━...‥・

"THANKS, LAUR,"

      Leilani had spent the entire morning rotting in bed, and if it were up to her, she'd still be there watching TV. However, Danielle had other plans as there was a deb lunch -- Leilani wasn't so sure what it was. But, Danielle dragged the curly-haired girl out of bed and handed her a series of outfits to try on. Each one screamed debutante, but Leilani finally settled on the one that made her want to gouge her eyeballs out the least—a pastel yellow sundress, paired with a small white daisy hairpiece.

      Because Laurel and Belly had to wait for Leilani to get ready, they were sure they would be late. The car ride was mostly silent, except for the occasional questions from Laurel, catching up with Leilani since last summer.

      "Okay, we're here," Laurel announced, making Leilani internally groan. She hated the idea of having to sit and eat lunch with the girls she hated with every bone in her body. She didn't even know why she hated them so much -- but the feeling was mutual.

      "Thanks, Laur," Leilani smiled, opening the backseat door, and stepping out.

      "Yeah, thanks Mom,"

      "Sure," Laurel smiled, watching the two girls start to walk away from the car.

      "Belly?" Laurel called out, making both the girls turn around. "I just want you to know that if you decide you hate it, or if the girls are mean, or even if the food is bad, you can text me. I promise I won't say I told you so,"

      Leilani smiled as she looked back at Laurel, wishing Danielle cared enough to even lie and say those things to her.

      "I'll be fine," Belly smiled, turning to walk away.

      "Humor me?" Laurel said, making Belly turn back around.

      "Use our code phrase, and I'll be right there," Laurel spoke.

      "Mom," Belly warned, looking over at Leilani. She could tell Belly was embarrassed, she tried her hardest not to laugh.

      "You remember it from when you were little, right?" Laurel asked.

      "Lemon Jelly Belly," the two said in illusion.

      "That's cute," Leilani joked, earning a smile from Laurel.

      "Have fun, you two!" Laurel called out, as Leilani and Belly walked towards the country club.

      "Lemon Jelly Belly?" Leilani snorted, looking over at Belly. "We used it when I was really little -- I don't even know why she brought it up," Belly stuttered over her words, making Leilani smile.

      "No, I wish I had something like that with my mom," Leilani shrugged.

      "What's going on between you and Conrad?" Belly changed the subject completely.

      "What do you mean?" Leilani turned her head in confusion as she asked. If Belly were anyone else, she would have opened up on the spot -- but Belly has had a crush on Conrad her whole life -- and Leilani did not feel like causing a fight for the rest of the summer.

      "You guys have been acting weird since last summer, what happened?"

      "Nothing," Leilani lied, furrowing her brows as she looked forward -- before meeting Jeremiah's gaze.

      "Hey!" Belly smiled, looking over at Jeremiah, though he didn't hear her.

      "Jeremiah," Leilani said, which finally caught his attention. Jeremiah smiled, as he ran over towards the pair.