Treading Water- tsitp fanfic

Girls Day

Nat's POV

Steven, Jere, and I paraded around the kitchen, dancing and twirling to Come Inside of My Heart by IV of Spades as we cooked breakfast. I was on pancake duty, Jere was on hangover smoothie duty, and Steven was on annoy the twin's duty. "You know you're very lively this morning for someone who was absolutely plastered last night," Jere commented, "Conrad over there looks like he just came back from the dead."

We all laughed as Conrad groaned for us to be quiet, "You know I bounce back fast, hangovers just aren't my thing," I said shrugging, "kinda like how being useful isn't Steven's thing." 

Jere and I lost it as Steven put his hands up in defense, "Hey that's not fair, I set the table."

I scoffed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever," I paused smiling to myself, "Hey, on second thought Jere could I have a smoothie, I'm gonna need it if I have to continue listening to Steven's whining all day." We lost it again, Jere high-fiving me. I think I would've been content sitting there all day with those two boys, making stupid jokes at the dispense of their feelings, it felt just like old times.

But it wasn't old times, and not just because of the obvious reason. We were growing up, Jere and Steven are working at the country club, and me- while I'm a debutante. God, my mom is lucky I love her. 

Just then Belly came in. I grimaced before reaching to touch the bruise that was forming on her cheek."It's not as bad as it looks," she assured me, "and hey, I never got the chance to thank you for punching that dick wad in the face for me."

I smiled, "No need, no one gets away with hurting me Belly." I said as I threw my arm around her. She laughed before leaving my embrace to get some breakfast. 

I was sipping on my hangover smoothie when Mom entered the kitchen in a clearly excited state. She was holding an envelope and squealed saying, "Belly's gonna be a debutante." Everyone looked at her in shock, myself included. Like I said, Belly tends to do the right thing without even being aware of it, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit surprised.

Just then Laurel spoke up from where she had been quietly sitting at the table, "Belly, are you sure? This isn't like you."

"That's because it's not," piped up Conrad from the couch. Of course he would protest, when I agree to do the deb ball he's proud of me, but when Belly does it, 'it's not like her'.

I roll my eyes, "Don't listen to them Bells, I'm glad you're doing it, now we can suffer through it together. Which means it might, just might, actually be fun," I say, hooking my arm through hers. Laurel comments on how pricey it'll be, but Mom promises to cover it all as she's the one who dragged Belly into it in the first place, leaving Laurel no chance but to agree. 

Mom starts getting carried away and asks which one of her sons is going to be Belly's date. They both protest and I laugh saying that she's gonna drag us all down. Mom scoffs and tackles me in a hug, ruffling my hair, doing so until I take it back. By the time I do, I'm out of breathe from laughing so hard. 

Belly pipes up saying she'll find her own date and it hit me like a rock, I need a date, fuck. I took a deep breathe, no worries. How hard can it be, Mom said one girl was bringing her girlfriend which meant I could bring a girl, doubling my options. Yeah, it'll be easy, right?

Mom interrupted my thoughts, "Alright ladies, let's get to it, we've got shopping to do!" she cheered. I internally groaned, this was going to be a long day.

----

Two stores in, and it is so much worse than I had imagined. I've now tried on twenty something outfits, and my mom acts as if we're not even half way done. "Mom don't get me wrong I love spending time with you, like I really, really do, but I don't know how much more of this I can take," I said, exasperated.