The Summer I Came Home

Susannah's Big News

The table was quieter than usual. Belly picked at her food, her mind far from the meal before her. Dinner had always been a time of easy chatter in the beach house laughter filling the space between bites and gentle clink of silverware but tonight, the air felt thick with unspoken things. 

Susannah, however, seemed unaware of the tension. With a sparkle in her eye, she leaned forward, her smile a mix of excitement and anticipation. "Belly," she said, her voice light but somehow carrying the weight of something important, "I've got a surprise for you."

Belly glanced up from her plate, immediately dreading whatever came next. Susannah had a habit of dropping bombshells when she least expected it. But nothing prepared her for the glossy, cream-colored envelope that Susannah slid across the table toward her. 

"What's this?" Belly asked, picking it up cautiously. 

"It's your invitation," Susannah replied with a warm and hopeful smile. "To the debutante ball."

Belly froze, her hand hovering above the envelope. She'd heard about the ball before; of course, it was a big tradition in their town, a staple in the social calendar for girls in her circle. But the thought of being part of it felt so... old-fashioned, so out of place. 

She opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself. "I don't know, Mom. it feels ling of...I don't know. I mean, is it really necessary? Doesn't it seem a little-"

"Outdated?" Her mom finished for her, a playful glint in her eye. "I know what you're going to say. But, Belly, it's a tradition. It's important, and I really think it's something you should experience. Trust me you'll look stunning." Susannah said.

Belly frowned, unsure. She had always thought of the debutante ball as something other girls would be eager to attend, but she wasn't sure it was for her. Still, she couldn't bring herself to outright reject it.

"Mom probably thinks it ridiculous," Belly muttered, glancing at her mother, who was sitting across the table with her usual cynicism.

Laurel snorted, clearly hearing the remark. "A Debutante Ball?" how prissy can you get?" she said with a dismissive wave.

Belly smirked a little, the tension between them easing. 

Despite her discomfort, Susannah didn't back down. "What's wrong with a little tradition? It's about honoring the past, and there's a grace to it. You should think about it, Belly."

"I will," Belly said quietly, her fingers tracing the edges of the envelope. "I guess I'll think about it."

Conrad, who had been quiet throughout the conversation, now looked up at her with a contemplative expression. His eyes met hers, and for a split second, the usual playful testing that had defined their friendship felt absent. his gaze was weighted seriously, searching. 

"You're going to consider it?" he asked, his voice low.

Belly blinked, surprised by the question. "I don't know...maybe."

There was something different about the way Conrad spoke to her now, something that felt like a turning point. A charge hung between them, and Belly wasn't sure if she wanted to follow the current or resist it. He shifted in his seat, leaning slightly closer. 

"I just don't want you to do something you're not comfortable wit," he said softly, his words almost sounding like an offer of protection. "If you fo, it should be because you want to, not because you fell like you have to."

Belly nodded, feeling her pulse race in her ears. The simplicity of his words should have been comforting, but all she could think about was how her heart beat a little faster around him, and how things between them had started to shift in ways she wasn't ready to understand. 

Hayven's Grief

Upstairs, in the quiet solitude of her room, Hayven sat by the window, staring out at the fading light. The evening had cooled, but the warmth of the summer air still clung to the edges of the house. The sound of the waves crashing in the distance should have been soothing, but instead, it felt a constant reminder of everything that had changed. 

She pulled her knees to her chest, curling it on herself, and took a deep breath. The room smelled faintly of saltwater and sunscreen, the smells of summers gone by. The beach house had once been a place of safety, a refuge from the world. Now it felt hollow, as though it were holding its breath, waiting for something to heal something that might never come. 

Beneath her pillow, Hayven felt the familiar crinkling of the photograph. She pulled it out, her fingers brushing the edges as she gazed at the picture of her mom, smiling brightly, her arm wrapped around Hayven and Jeremiah as they stood on the porch of the beach house. The photo was worn, corners bent from the years of being handled, but it was one of the last photos she had with her mom before the cancer diagnosis. Before everything fell apart.  

She closed her eyes for a moment, swallowing the lump in her throat. Her mom had been everything to her her rock, her guide. Now she was gone, and Hayven was left with nothing but memories and a house full of ghosts. 

She pressed the picture back under her pillow and stared at the ceiling. There were so many things she didn't know how to talk about her grief, her feelings for Jeremiah, the awkwardness she felt with the others now that her family was incomplete. She didn't know how to bring the gap between her sadness and the world around her. It was easier to hide behind the quiet, to bury everything under layers of smiles and pretenses. 

And then, just as she was beginning to lose herself in the weight of it all, there was a knock at the door. 

"Hayven, you okay in there?" Susannah's voice floated through the door, warm and inviting. 

"Yeah," Hayven replied, pulling herself together. "Just thinking. I'll be down in a second."

A moment later, there was another tap, and this time, an envelope slid under the door. Hayven's heart skipped a beat when she recognized the familiar handwriting. It was an invitation just like Belly's

Hayven stared at the envelope, her fingers brushing the edges as she wondered why Susannah had given her one, too. She hadn't exactly been on the debutante radar she wasn't the type to flaunt herself or play the game of appearance. But there it was. The invitation to the ball, just waiting to be opened. 

Her first instinct was to toss it aside, to forget about it. But something maybe it was the quiet weight of her grief, maybe it was the desperate yearning to feel something different that made her hesitate. 

She opened the envelope slowly, the edges crinkling as she read the words on the card. "You are invited to the Summer Debutante Ball. Please join us for an unforgettable evening."

The invitation felt like a cruel reminder of the life she used to know before her mom's Illness before the cracks had started to show in everything she thought was solid. 

But as she stared at the words, her thoughts turned, inevitably to Jeremiah. He would be there, of course. He always was, always the charming, outgoing guy who belonged in that world. And Hayven well, Hayven was just a quiet friend. The one who stayed in the background, the one who never quite fit. 

And yet...part of her wondered, maybe for the first time, if things could change. 

It wasn't just the ball. It was everything she hadn't said, everything she'd buried. The crush on Jeremiah had never gone away, despite her best efforts. The hope that maybe, know-how, she could become something more to him. 

But Hayven knew the truth, No matter how many times she replayed the fantasy in her mind, she was just the girl who had always been there, never the one who was noticed. Jeremiah had never seen her like that. 

With a soft exhale, she slid the invitation back into this envelope and set it on her desk. She didn't know if she would go. But part of her just a small part wanted to. 

She was tired of pretending. Maybe it was time to step out of the shadows, even if just for one night.