─── DEBUTANTE TEA (⌗ ♥︎! ) 一 the summer i turned pretty ❜
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After breakfast, Susannah mentioned that the first debutante's activity was later in the evening. The debutantes, and some girl who debuted last summer, would be having tea at the country club, and since either of the girls had clothes they could wear to a tea party, they had to do some last-minute shopping.
During the shopping trip, Avery and Belly got to talk for the first time as they tried on ridiculous dresses and more ridiculous hats, and they agreed to help each other survive this debutante thing.
The house was quiet when they got back. Too quiet. Jeremiah and Steven left early for their first day at their summer jobs at the country club, while Conrad was nowhere to be found. Avery tried not to overthink his whereabouts, pretending she wasn't searching for him as she made her way to her room.
She closed the door and turned to the bed, where she threw the shopping bags. She sat down and reached for the bag where her dress was when she noticed a piece of paper folded on the bed. She grabbed it after reading her name written on it and recognizing the handwriting.
I know what you are doing, Aves. I'm not an idiot. Pretending nothing happened last night isn't going to work with me. When you walked away from me last night, I knew you would overthink and jump into stupid decisions. I wasn't a little bit surprised you ignored me this morning. It fucking hurt, but I knew it was coming because I know you. I'll give you time if that's what you want, but please don't ignore me. We are better than that.
P.S. I know you are shopping right now, but I'll be at the beach if you feel like talking and have time before the tea.
Avery wasn't surprised he figured out what she was doing after all, no one knows her better than him, but it still sucked knowing she might have fucked things up with someone who knew how she would react before she had any idea.
For a second, she sat there thinking back on the previous night. Remembering how she got up, looked out her window, and saw him standing in the backyard. How she didn't think about it twice before walking downstairs and making her way to him. How the moment she was in front of him felt something shift in the air around them. How he kissed her as if doing so was all he had ever wanted. How he held her until she was ready to go, even though he knew what would happen next.
The brave part of her wanted to run down to the beach, find him and talk about it. But the coward one, the one who was being louder, wanted to stay in that room and hide.
Avery was weak and let the coward part win, using the debutante tea as an excuse that she kept telling herself over and over again. So, instead of running to the boy and either ruining or fixing their friendship, she got ready for a tea she didn't even want to go to.
