love me like you • jeremiah fisher

chapter nine

I turned back into the conversation and noticed Belly and Steven setting up the volleyball net across the pool.

"Bri come on, it'll be me, you, and Jere since the girls are actual volleyball players." Steven beckoned me over.

I sighed before swimming over to him.

I splashed water in his face before turning to face the net.

"Seriously what did I do?" He asked annoyed. "You should have told me you were going to the deb ball with Shayla." I muttered.

"What?" He asked. "Shayla told me that you agreed to be her escort." I replied. "So, wait, are you jealous?" Steven laughed.

I turned around to face him already annoyed. "Of course not. You told me you were going to be my escort, now I have to find someone else." I fought back.

His eyes widened as if realizing what I had just said.

"Bri, I'm sorry, I forgot." He apologized. "Whatever." I sighed, ignoring him for the rest of the game. I didn't know who else to ask, Jeremiah and Conrad made it clear that they didn't want to go so I had no idea what I was gonna do.

The game went on for awhile before Taylor hit a ball causing it to hit Nicole directly on the head.

I winced, "Are you okay, I'm so sorry." Taylor laughed. "Taylor." Belly scolded. "It was an accident." Taylor shrugged.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Belly apologized. "Come on, let's go get some ice." Conrad said, helping the girl up.

"Yeah come on Belly, Conrad can take care of Nicole. Let's go inside and look at ourselves in the mirror some more." I turned to Belly confused, not knowing what Taylor meant.

"Yeah, have fun with that." The boy mumbled. "Come on." Jeremiah whispered, motioning for us to get out of the pool.

~

Everyone was laughing around the dinner table, as we ate the amazing lobster dinner that Susannah cooked.

"So, Cam." Jeremiah started, grabbing everyone's attention.

"You mind if I call you Cam Cameron?" He teased the boy. "Mhm yeah man, feel free. That's funny." Cameron laughed.

"I'm glad you're here Cameron, I know your mom, Denise, from the club." Susannah smiled, trying her best to make him feel welcomed.

"Thank you so much for having me, my mom says hi." He smiled.

"Cameron have you ever had miyeok-guk before? It's a Korean birthday tradition." Laurel asked him. "No, looks so good. Thank you." He replied.

"Belly told me you're vegetarian, so I didn't put any meat in it."

"Why don't you eat any meat Cam Cameron?" Jeremiah asked, causing me to kick him under the table. "Uh, the meat industry is like the number one contributor to global warning. And I just, I like animals." Cameron shrugged.

"Just don't come for my leather jacket." Taylor joked. "I'm pretty sure you mean pleather." Steven shot back, resulting in Taylor flipping him off.

"You know, uh, actually Belly eats meat. So, you let her kiss you with the lips?" Jeremiah started up again.

"Guys." Belly gave them a look.

"No, I don't judge people for eating meat. It's just like a personal choice, I don't care." Cameron answered back.

"So you don't mind if her lips touched a dead animal and then they touch your lips?" I rolled my eyes as he continued. I turned to Reign who just shrugged and continued eating.

"I don't mind at all, in fact." He leaned in and kissed Belly. Must be nice, I thought.

The boys immediately got rowdy and Laur had to calm them down.

"I'm sorry I just don't understand why anybody would want to kiss somebody who once fully shat in the bathtub." Steven announced to the group, I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing.

"I was like two years old." Belly defended. "Two? More like six." He shot back.

"Well I remember when we came last summer and you and you dared him to pee in the fireplace and you stunk up the house for days." I brought the attention off Belly, laughing along with everyone.

"I blamed the neighbors cat." Susannah gasped.

"We were drunk Bri." Steven tried to help his case. "Yeah on like half a white claw." I laughed. "She got you there." Reign chuckled, fistbumping me across the table.

"You know, uhm, I'm thinking we should go to Nicole's party." Belly began. I instantly lit up, clapping my hands together.

~

I couldn't decide what dress to wear, my entire luggage was flat on my bed.

"Blue always looked better on you." Steven called out as he walked into my room. "Thanks." I replied dryly, grabbing the blue dress.

"Bri, I'm really sorry about the whole deb ball thing. I was an idiot." He said, sitting down on my bed.

I sighed, walking over to sit next to him. "No, you're not. I'm glad you and Shayla are going together, you two are perfect for each other. I just don't know who else to ask." I admitted.

"Why don't you ask Jeremiah?" He questioned.

"Did you not hear him the other day when he literally swore off balls?" I squinted my eyes at the boy.

"Yeah, yeah. But you know if you asked him, he'll say yes right." I shook my head, running a hand through my hair.

"Or maybe you'll find a guy at the party." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes, shoving him out. "Okay get out, I need to change." I told him, closing the door in his face. "We leave in five!" He yelled. This was gonna be one hell of a party.

~

"Hey Belly and Taylor!" I greeted as the girls walked through the door.

Nicole pulled Belly away as Taylor and I went to go grab drinks. "Yeah? Well, I'll give you some lessons. I'm really good, actually." A familiar voice rang out.

"We'll I'll hold you to it." "Hey, all about it." I turned to see Jeremiah being awfully cozy with a random guy.

"So, how come I've never seen you at the pool?" He questioned.

"My parents had one put in." The boy smiled. "Hm, does your parents pool have all this?" Jeremiah replied, playing with the guy's shirt. My grip on the red solo cup I was holding tightened.

I saw both boys lean in to kiss so I turned, threw my drink in a nearby trash can and stormed out.

I can't believe Steven was actually starting to convince me that he liked me. I wasn't exactly looking where I was going when I bumped into someone.

word count: 1121
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