invisible string // jeremiah fisher

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟

In Denial

"I am so sorry it took me so long, Paige." Evelyn apologized as she set the finger sandwiches down on a table. All of the other debutants had arrived and taken their seats, her mom would kill her if she found out she was late.

"Was it the kitchen staff? I hope they had everything prepared on time or-"

"No! No, not at all, it was totally my fault I- I guess it's harder than I thought to walk in heels and balance a platter of food at the same time." She said, with a polite smile.

Paige loosed a short laugh, "Alright, well, you are at table two, next to Nicole."

"Thank you." She said as she took her seat. Evelyn noticed that the table seemed to be split in several different side-conversations, none of which Belly looked to be a part of.

"Hi, everyone!" Evelyn greeted, taking her seat and placing her table-linen in her lap. She was met with kind smiles and 'hellos' from the rest of her table, whom she knew well. Then she turned to her designated big sister, "I am so so sorry, Nicole. My mom dropped me off early so I could help and it took me longer than expected I-"

"Evelyn. Calm down, it's fine. We haven't even started yet, you're good." Nicole promised.

Evelyn smiled, "You are literally the best deb sister ever."

Nicole laughed, "Aren't I?" she joked.

"Where were you?" Belly whispered as Evelyn turned away from her conversation with Nicole.

"Oh, you know, just off kissing Paige's ass." She whispered back.

"What?"
"I'll tell you later." She promised.

"I told my mom the only way I would do this is if I could bring my girlfriend, because I thought it would be a deal killer, but the club has been surprisingly chill about the whole thing." Marisa told the table as Evelyn and Belly focused back on the group conversation.

"I'm honestly shocked." Dara said.

"Literally, Dara, I was expecting a conversion camp to spring out of the bushes." She joked, making the table giggle. "No! Lesbians and debutants are, like, a completely juxtaposing idea."

"Yeah, but Cousins likes to pretend to be woke," Nicole pointed out. "Trust me, my family deals with it constantly."

"The things we do for college applications." Marisa said.

"Don't worry, Marisa. You'll get in everywhere."

"Wait, where are you applying?" Belly asked.

"You know, the usual. Every Ivy minus Cornell."
"Ithaca is so bleak." Gigi said, the rest of the table laughing.

"I know. What about you?" Marisa asked Belly.

Evelyn noticed Belly seemed nervous to answer, so she said, "Oh, Belly and I are in the same grade. And I don't know about her, but I am absolutely dreading junior year."

As the rest of the table laughed, Belly gave Evelyn a thankful smile.

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

"No, I've been coming here for my entire life."

"Yeah, she's, like, family friends with Conrad and Jeremiah." Nicole said.

"So, are you and Jeremiah like, a thing? Like, are you gonna take him to the ball?" Gigi asked Belly. Evelyn thought she seemed a little forward. And why was she asking about Jeremiah anyway? It was none of her business who Belly was taking.

"Oh, my God, back off, Geeg." Nicole said, the rest of the table giggling.

Gigi tried to defend herself, "What? It was a question."

"They're, like, basically related, okay? You have nothing to worry about." Nicole assured her.

"I'm not worried." Gigi swore.

"Yeah, sure." Shayla said.

Nicole filled in Belly, "Gigi has had this thing for Jeremiah-"

"Ever since he got abs?" Shayla finished, making the girls laugh. "Relax, Gigi. I'm not into Jeremiah Fisher."

"Yeah, and you're noticing his abs?" Gigi asked, skeptical.

"Um, she's too busy eye-fucking the waiter." Marisa pointed out.

"Dude, that's Belly's brother." Shayla said, embarrassed.

"Oh, that's gross." Belly said.

"You know, I will never understand what you see in Conrad and Steven." Evelyn said, talking to Nicole and Shayla.

"Not Jeremiah?" Gigi asked.

Evelyn scoffed. "Especially Jeremiah. He is just so infuriating. I honestly cannot comprehend how you could even admire his abs when everything he says is so annoying."

"Sounds like someone is in denial." Nicole said, the rest of the table laughing, except for Gigi who glared at the girl in question.

"Who, me?" Evelyn asked.

"No way, Evelyn and Jeremiah have hated each other since..." Belly trailed off, thinking. "Actually, when did you start hating him?"

"Well, I don't exactly remember, but it doesn't matter because we-"

"Hold on, you mean to tell us that you live next door to a- sorry Gigi, but let's be honest- totally hot guy that you've supposedly hated for years, and you can't even remember why?" Shayla asked.

Evelyn paused, processing what she said. "Yeah."

"And you have never once had any sort of romantic thoughts or feelings toward him?" Nicole questioned.

"I- I have a boyfriend I don't-"

"Okay, I love you, Eve, but Harrison was such a shitty boyfriend. Plus, you guys broke up!" Belly said.

"Belly, you just don't know him like I do. And we're basically back together again, we just haven't made it official yet."

Before she could be interrogated further Paige's voice interrupted, "Hello, Debutants! A few small housekeeping bits I'd like to go over. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Now, I understand..." Evelyn felt her thoughts drift away from Paige's speech, tuning out her words. Instead, she thought about what the girls had said to her. Sure, it was a little dumb that Evelyn hated Jeremiah for no reason, but she wasn't about to stop now. She was nothing if not a stubborn bitch. And just because he was hot they could automatically assume she liked him?

"Hey, Evelyn, want some?" Nicole whispered, passing her a flask under the table. The rest of the girls were all sipping from their tea. Had it already been passed around? How long had she zoned out for?

"Uh, no, I'm good. Thanks." She whispered back, passing it to Belly who then passed it to Shayla.

After reorienting herself, Evelyn realized that she had missed everything Paige had just said. "Bels can you summarize because I-" Evelyn started, before something outside caught Belly's eye.

"Uh, I'll be right back." She said, standing up and running out of the room.

"What is that about?" Gigi asked.

"I have no idea." Evelyn answered.

☀☀☀

sorry this chapter is shorter lol it was kinda confusing to write

anyways don't forget to vote, comment, save, and whatever else

Love, Cressida