Bucket List

Back at the Beach

I was sitting by the pool when Jeremiah and Belly came up to me.

"Hey, Leni," Jeremiah said as he nudged me, "You wanna go down to the beach with me and Belly?" I looked up at the two of them from the pool chair, trying to shield my eyes from the sunset.

"Oh I was gonna with mom to pre-sign the whale of a tale," I hesitated.

"Come on Len," Jeremiah pleaded with puppy dog eyes, "Come to the beach with us" Belly started trying to do puppy dog eyes as well, but no one could do it like Jere did. 

"Yeah, Come on Leni," Belly pretended to sniffle, "You don't hang out with us anymore. Do you even love us?"

"What? I went to the movies with you just a day ago," I laughed, "You know what? Fine, I'll go, just let me go put on my swimsuit" I jumped up from the pool chair and went upstairs to get a towel and my swimsuit. 

We walked down to the beach and Jeremiah and Belly immediately started to race towards the glittering ocean. I smiled and laughed at them as I walked behind them. 

I set my towel down as Jere and Belly fought in the water. Letting myself relax on the beach, I breathed in the smell of the ocean and felt the sand sticking to my legs. 

After a bit, Belly floated in the water and Jeremiah sat next to me, all drenched in water. 

"Why'd you come out of the water," I asked.

"Why aren't you going into the water," Jeremiah raised his eyebrows.

"I don't feel like getting wet right now" I said. Jeremiah winced.

"Well then you're not gonna like this," he said before hugging me with his drenched body and shaking his hair.

"Hey!" I yelled. He ran off and I followed after him. I pushed him into the water and he grabbed onto my wrist, making me fall with him. 

Later, during dinner, we sat around the table as we ate.

"Steven I swear to God, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the phone basket," mom threatened.

"It's just we wanna see your beautiful faces," Susannah interjected, "Can dinner be a screen free zone? You know, like the olden days."

 Steven didn't listen to either of them. Jeremiah, taking the initiative, snatched the phone from Steven and threw it in the phone basket.

Feeling insecure, of course Steven tried to brush off the fact Jeremiah had been working out. 

The conversation moved quickly. Conrad had quit football, and although Steven offered, Conrad said he wouldn't work at the country club. 

Jeremiah and Steven were going to work that summer, which both me and Belly were unaware of. Then suddenly, Susannah remembered to give us something. 

"I wrangled Leni and Belly invitations to be a debutante," Susannah said proudly.

Susannah tried her best to explain why it might be fun, while everyone else made fun of the idea. 

"The whole deb scene is bullshit," Conrad commented with a scowl, "It's for sheep."

"No it's not," Susannah stated, "It's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity." Steven choked on his soup.

"Oh sorry, I'm sorry, mature?" Steven cackled, "Belly?" Steven brought up the funeral we had for Mochi. Trying to embarrass her and "call her out".

"Steven, shut up, Belly and I saw you crying in your room," I retorted. Jeremiah, being the only one of the boys able to read the room, showed some empathy, while Susannah tried to circle back to the debutante thing.