Seasons Changing

Perks of Being a Deb

The next morning felt... normal. Waking up in Belly's bed made the reality of Cousins so much more real. I sat up and realized Belly wasn't even in her room.

As I got up to go to my drawer in her room, I realized I hadn't brought anything over here yet. I contemplated wearing on of Belly's over sized shirts, but then remembered I hadn't even showered yet. So, I put a hoodie on and threw my hair in a low bun with my front pieces out.

I slowly made my way downstairs following the commotion to the kitchen. "We need to go shopping!" Susannah says excitedly. "What are we shopping for?" I asked. "Didn't you hear, Belly's gonna be a deb" Steven tells me. "What? Belly we are going to have so much fun!" I squealed.

"This sounds... expensive" Laurel quietly says. "Oh, don't worry Laur, it's on me. It was my idea after all, and we still need to style you for your book party, so..." Susannah assures her. "Belly, are you sure you want to do this? It doesn't seem very you." Laurel asks.

"Now, which one of you is gonna be Belly's escort to the ball?" Susannah asks the boys. I nudged Lucas and he shook his head no. The other two made excuses. "Wow boys, don't fight over me. None of you are going to take me, I'm going to find my own date." Belly announces.

"Hey, what about me? None of you want to volunteer for me?" I ask pretending to be sad. "Please, you can as anyone at the country club, you're fine" Steven says. "You hear that Belly, and since they didn't volunteer for you, they think they same thing of you by that logic" I laughed, "Um Susannah, can I go shopping with you guys for a dress?" "Sure!"

••••

"Good morning dad" I greet as I approach him in his kitchen. "I'm going shopping today for my Deb dress". "You're doing that? I didn't think you were because you didn't last year?" "Yeah, I was just waiting to do it with Belly. Also, Luca starts work today so-" "Wow, I can't believe it" he starts to say while looking sad. "What?" "My kids are growing up. I feel like I miss so much by living so far away". "Dad-" "No, I know, go have fun". I start to turn and leave. Then turned back around.

"Dad, you are a very busy man. You've built so many business is Cousins, literally. Yet, you still have time for Luca and I. You remember all of our events. Even if you can't come, you always call. You might not be in person but you're very personable and we know you love us. You're a good dad." I tell him. He brings me into a hug. "Thank you baby girl. That was nice to hear" he tells me. When he pulled away, he reached for his walled out of his pocket. "Don't ask me for a budget, I want my little girl walking out with a dress that makes her feel like a princess". "Dad- I have money of my own-" "So do I, now take it before I change my mind". "Thank you Dad, I love you" I say as I run out the house.

••••

Susannah had us not only look for dresses for the ball, but outfits to wear to rehearsals and our lessons. I'm not that big of shopping. Let alone clothes shopping, I don't really like trying on clothes. Susannah made it fun though. It's like she gets paid to compliment me. But it's so genuine. I really love that about her.

At a certain point, Belly tried on a dress that Susannah really loved. I could see in Belly's face it wasn't for her. Then a worker showed a plain dress. It was so pretty. Belly's face lit up. Susannah shut the dress down. Claiming that these girls go all out for the deb ball and the dress wasn't enough.

••••

After shopping for what felt like forever, and still not finding a dress Laurel took us to the deb tea. We were all dressed up. "Thanks Laurel" I say as we leave her car.

"Belly, hey, I didn't even recognize you" Jeremiah says as he heads out way while holding towels. "Tell me the truth. Um, do I look like a fool?" she asks him. "Belly, we look hot" I assure her. "No, you look good" he added on, "Let me walk you guys over" he suggests.

As we entered everyone started. A woman named Paige instructed us to go to table two. "Ryan, isn't that the girl Luke was with"? "Hmm?" I ask as I look towards our table. My heart sinks. The girl truly is nice, but after seeing her all up and close with Conrad last night definitely wasn't a good feeling.

"Hello" we greeted the table. The girls smiled back. They seemed genuine. Nice. Their smiles were wide and their eyes were glossy. Very pretty girls.

"I told my mom the only was 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." a girl with blonde hair and a plain green dress complained. "Yeah, but Cousins likes to pretend to be woke" Nicole speaks up, "Trust me. My family deals with it constantly." "The things we do for college applications" the girl in the green dress says.

"Is this your first summer in cousins?" a girl across the table asks Belly. "No, I've been coming here my entire life." "Yeah, her family stays with the Fishers during the summer." I cut in. "Wait, I don't really recognize you either" the same girl states. "Oh, I normally hang around my brother and the guys too. My dad lives next to the Fisher's beach house. My brother and I visit every summer with our mom." I answered. "Uh, are you and Jeremiah, like, a thing, or are you gonna take him to the ball?" a girl with longer blonde hair and a pretty blue and white dress asked Belly.

The girls at the table teased the girl who questioned who was named Gigi. "So what's it like to live with the Fishers? Conrad's so mysterious." a girl asked Belly. Before she could answer, she was interrupted as the tea was about to begin.

As the speaker was talking about there being a past Deb at each table called a "big sis" a girl named Shayla started passing a flask around the table. Once Nicole got the flask she turned to Belly and I, "Hey sis. 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". Belly turned down the flask and ran out the room. Leaving the girls and I to discuss further.

••••

"Where's Belly?" I ask the boys as they play video games on my father's couch. "She went on a date at the drive in" Jeremiah answered, "And she looked really good". "Really? She didn't tell me about a date"I say as I plopped down on one of the chairs in the family room, "What time are we leaving?" "After this game I guess" Lucas speaks up. "Okay, I'll go get Dad".

••••

"You don't think you should slow down?" I ask Conrad as I notice him downing a bottle glass by glass. "Why?" "Because this is Laurels night, wouldn't you want to-" Suddenly, Conrad gets waved down by Laurel and another author. Apparently the author is writing a book about sailing, yet knows nothing... about sailing. He offered Conrad a job teaching him, but Conrad was skeptical. "Did my mom put you up to this?" he asks Laurel. "What? Why?" she asks. "Typical" he says as he walks off and joins the rest of the boys on a couch. I didn't even attempt to address that.

After speaking with some authors I noticed the boys start to leave. "Where- where are you going?" "To the drive in" Steven answers. "Isn't that where Belly is for her date?" I questioned. "You coming?" Conrad asked. I thought about it. A genuine invite from Conrad. He had a slight smile on his face that was so inviting. "Um, yeah sure" I say as I followed them out the door.

••••

As we approached the car Belly was in the boys started teasing her. Which I didn't know was part of the agenda. Belly opened the driver door to Jeremiah's car where Steven happened to be. She started yelling at the boys then noticed me in between Conrad and Lucas. "Really Ryan?" "To be fair, I didn't know they came for that. I just joined them on the ride." "Let's go" Lucas says from beside me. "Really Luke, it was your idea to come in the first place" Steven says as he drives off.

"You guys are assholes" I say as we exit the lot. "Come on, I saw you laughing" Jere says. "Doesn't make you less of an ass" I laughed as I kicked his seat. "Also, Imma stay at my dad's tonight. I haven't spent a night there yet." "Are you gonna go too Luke"? Steven asks. "Nah, I'll stay" he responds.

Jere dropped me off at my dad's before finishing their night. "Thank you Jere, goodnight everyone" I say as I wave the night away.