happier ⇒ the summer i turned pretty

FOUR!

avalon woke up the next morning quite early. she was the first one awake in the house.

she tiptoed down the stairs into the kitchen. she got herself a bowl of cereal and took it into the living room.

thoughts from last night were coursing through her brain.

the summer had just started and things have already turned to shit.

all of a sudden she could hear someone walking down the stairs but couldn't tell who it was.

it was jeremiah. she let out a sigh of relief.

"good morning av!" he plopped down next to her on the couch, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"morning!" she said with a mouth full of cereal.

"so um-" he hesitated for a moment. "how are you feeling?"

she sighed and looked over to jere, "oh you know, just peachy!" she spoke sarcastically.

they both smiled awkwardly to each other. there really wasn't much to say about what had happened last night.

to kill the silence, jere turned on the tv. they both kept switching from looking at the tv, to looking at each other.

"jere, do you think steven will be mad at me the entire summer? i mean we've never fought like this." she looked down and anxiously played with her hands.

"come on av, who could stay mad at you?" he smirked.

she let out a laugh. "but still, he was pretty mad."

"he'll get over it. he's mad at belly too, and that's his sister. they always make up, so you will too." he reassured her and put his hand on hers to calm her down.

eventually everyone else started coming downstairs. avalon stayed on the couch while everyone else was in the kitchen. the moms kept trying to make conversation between the teens to help ease the tension, but it wasn't working.

the boys all went outside to eat by the pool. they were all good with each other still.

belly sat at the kitchen table quietly, eating her cereal and playing on her phone.

avalon kept looking over to her to try to get her attention. she wouldn't look up from her phone.

the moms had conversation with each other while making coffee, and eventually joined the boys outside.

it was just avalon and belly left in the house. there was silence except for the faint voices coming through the windows from outside.

belly stood up and put her bowl in the sink. she started walking towards the stairs.

"hey belly hold on!" avalon quickly got up and ran over to her.

belly turned around to face her. she rolled her eyes in the process.

avalon took a deep breath. "listen bells, i'm really sorry about last night. i wanted you at the party, i really did. there was just so much going on when i got there that i blanked and forgot to text you."

belly crossed her arms and looked down at the ground, thinking. "i'm not mad anymore. it just hurt my feelings. i mean, you know how i hate being left out of things."

avalon nodded. "i know."

"but you're the one who always checks on me to make sure i feel included. so i guess that's why i was mad, because you didn't."

"i promise i'll make it up to you bells." she held out her pinkie.

belly smiled and connected her pinkie to avalon's. "kiss your thumb or it doesn't count"

avalon kissed her thumb, then belly did the same.

"i knew you two would make up eventually!" jere danced over to them from around the corner.

the two girls looked at each other, then at jere. "eavesdropping? really?" av shook her head.

jere put his hands up "arrest me" he laughed.

later that day

belly and avalon hung out in their room most of the day. they didn't have a chance to hangout with jeremiah or conrad since steven was hogging them.

"this is bullshit! we should be able to hangout with them. i could care less if steven is mad." avalon stood abruptly and threw her phone on the bed. she put her hair up in a ponytail and walked to the bedroom door. "you coming?" she asked belly.

she nodded and followed avalon downstairs. the boys were playing video games in the living room.

"look who finally decided to join us!" jere shouted in excitement.

steven didn't even look at them. he kept his eyes glued to the game.

conrad glanced up and nodded his head at them.

the girls walked over to the couch and sat down. avalon sat next to conrad and belly sat next to jeremiah.

avalon and conrad shared looks to each other. they felt so comfortable with each other, yet so awkward.

the boys finished the game they were playing and steven stood up to go outside. everyone could tell he was upset.

"i'll go talk to him." avalon got off the couch and walked to the door.

"i'll go with you for backup." jeremiah offered.

"no it's okay, i have to handle this myself." she smiled at him, then walked outside.

steven was laying on one of the pool chairs, looking out at the view.

"hey stevie." she laughed quietly.

"you know i hate when you call me that." he kept his gaze on the view, the sun was starting to set.

she sat down on the chair next to him. she looked at him for a few moments, then looked out at the sunset.

she was trying to find the right words to say. before she could say anything, steven spoke first. "i'm not mad at you." he sighed, "at least not anymore." he looked down at the ground.

"oh." was the only thing she could think of. she didn't know what else to say. steven had never been that mad at her before.

he turned his body around to face her. "i just didn't want my sister there i mean, i don't want to see her at parties. it's just weird." he made a disgusted face at the thought.

"she's growing up steven, there's not much you can do. we all are." she half smiled.

he sighed and looked at her, "yeah, we are."

they looked at each other for a few moments, but to avalon it felt like forever. they just kept their eyes on each other. before she could look away, he started leaning in towards her.

"woah woah, wait!" she backed away. "i can't."

"oh uh-" he shook his head frantically. "shit i'm sorry, i shouldn't have-"

"no no it's okay, it's just that i finally got back on good terms with belly. i don't want to, you know, mess it up." she put her hand on his to reassure him.

he sniffled and pulled his hand out from under hers, and stood up quickly.

"steven-" she said concerned.

"i-it's fine av. just forget about it." he waved his hand in the air and walked inside.

she sat there for a few moments, thinking. last summer she hooked up with conrad, which has been belly's crush for as long as she can remember, and now belly's brother almost kissed her. all of this could ruin their friendship in an instant, and she didn't want that to happen.

A/N: i am sooo sorry it took so long to get this chapter out!! i've been super busy with school and other things so i haven't had much time to write. hopefully i'll have some more free time and motivation to write more often :)