happier ⇒ the summer i turned pretty

TWO!

steven and jeremiah were on the couch playing video games while the mom's were all cooking dinner.

conrad still hadn't come downstairs and it had been almost an hour. avalon decided to go upstairs and join belly. they started unpacking their things. they were always the first ones to have everything unpacked and ready for the summer.

avalon could hear a door creaking open in the hallway. it was conrad's door. she could tell by how close it was since his room was next to her and belly's.

she waited until she could hear conrad reach the bottom of the stairs. she then tossed the remaining clothes from her suitcase into the dresser.

"hey belly i'm gonna head downstairs." she closed the drawer of the dresser and smiled to her.

"oh okay i'll be down in a few minutes!" she started to speed up her unpacking process.

as she walked downstairs she could smell the lovely dinner the mom's were cooking. it was susannah's famous spicy bouillabaisse dish that she made every year for the first day of summer.

"hey boys." she plopped down next to jeremiah on the couch.

"hey avie." steven looked away from the tv screen and smiled at her.

"dude pay attention, we're about to loose!" jere slapped steven's hand making him quickly look back at the tv.

she laughed and looked over to conrad who had a subtle smile on his face, which made her smile more.

something about conrad made her so happy, but she couldn't tell if it was in a friendship way or if it was more than that.

she had always thought of him as a friend until last summer. ever since then, she's been so confused about her feelings towards him.

it didn't matter whether she liked him or not. she couldn't do that to belly. she's had a crush on him since she was ten.

belly came running down the stairs. "perfect timing!" her mom shouted, "dinners ready!"

everyone got up quickly and ran to the kitchen. first nights dinner was always special. laughs filled the room while everyone ate the delicious food.

after dinner, all the teens made their way into the living room while the mom's finished cleaning the messy kitchen from cooking.

"so connie, you going to the party with us tonight?" steven asked, keeping his eyes on the tv screen that him and jere were playing video games on.

he shrugged his shoulders, "i don't know man, i might skip it tonight."

"what party?" avalon quickly sat up.

the boys all looked at each other awkwardly, waiting for one of them to speak up.

"oh uh, just a little party on the beach. nothing crazy." steven went back to playing the video game.

"doesn't sound like nothing." she leaned over closer to him. she wanted to get it out of him, and get an invite.

he pursed his lips, slowly taking his eyes off the tv and onto avalon.

she lightly smiled at him. she knew he wouldn't say no to her smile.

steven sighed, he couldn't let her down. "you can uh, come with us if you want."