𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 || 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗿𝗮𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘅 𝗬/𝗻 𝗟/𝗻

𝟙𝟛.

"Jeremiah!"

Awkwardly leaning against the tree, waiting for Belly, who was now informing her bestie, Taylor, about all her activities today, I was finally relieved to see a familiar face. "Oh my god, y/n!" He finally comes over, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wow uh, I didn't even recognize you." He checks me out. "Be completely honest with me... On a scale from one to ten, just how ridiculous do I look today?" I let out a sigh, not exactly minding my clothes, but definitely feeling very out of place.

But I feel like that all the time anyway, so I guess it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

"Zero." He answers instantly. "You look amazing." He chuckles. "You think so?" I smile nervously. "Oh, I know so." He grins. "Anyone would be honored to escort you." He chuckles. "In a way, it's good you're not taking anyone with you." He then says. "How so?" I ask.

"Well... I wouldn't really trust the locals here very much." He shrugs. "Steven told me about that pedo that tried hitting on you and Belly." He informs. "Eh, he stopped after learning our ages, so..." I brush it off. "And after your threats, I doubt anyone will ever hit on you here." He chuckles.

"Hey!" I frown, not liking the sound of that. "Oh, c'mon. It's not even a bad thing. Everyone here's just looking for casual sex and relationship drama. You're better off without that toxic drama." He rolls his eyes. "I appreciate your concern, Jere, but I can take care of myself." I assure.

"I know that... It's just, after yesterday, I really don't wanna take any chances with you." He sighs. "Not after hearing my brother rant about it all fucking night." He adds. "Connie did what now?" I ask, the mushy, warm feeling inside my growing, as my heart rate steadily increased.

"Well, in short, he wouldn't stop blaming himself for it, even though it was technically Belly who got injured, and--" Before he could complete, someone calls him from afar. "Took you long enough." I roll my eyes at my best friend.

"Haha, sorry... Volleyball drama." She sighs apologetically.

"Oh hey, Bels." Jere greets, jaw dropped. "Tell me the truth, you guys... Do I look like a fool?" The girl asks, insecure all of a sudden. "When do you not?" I tease, earning an amused glare from Jere, who just nudges me with his elbow. "I-I mean, of course not!" I get serious now.

"Um, no. Y-you look good, Bels." Jere reassures. "Come, join us. Jere's walking me over." I then invite her out of courtesy. "Oh yes, of course..." Jere quickly sets aside the towels he was carrying. "May I?" He then offers us both his arms to hold on to.

"Aw, how gentlemanly of you." Belly rolls her eyes playfully, holding on to his bicep, as the three of us made our way inside. "Are those- are those pineapples?" He chuckles softly, referring to the pattern on the brunette's dress. "Pineapples?" Belly repeats, confused.

"No, you dodo. They're clearly little baby snakes." I scoff. "Pineapples? Snakes? SERIOUSLY?!" Belly bursts out laughing, twirling around and examining her dress a little. "No they're flower- Have you guys never seen flowers before?" She chuckles.

"I-I have, but that for sure is a pineapple." Jere rolls his eyes. "It's a snake." I argue.

After arguing for about 2 minutes, we all moved on to a completely different topic, all because some Karen was complaining about being served the wrong kind of cookies, to the fucking manager. Classic, isn't it?

"Well, they have strawberry, like the one Karen ordered." Jere continues. "Raspberry... The one's she got served." He adds. "But oh my god, the raspberry type ones are to die for." He explains, and by the time he said this, we had already reached.

"I still never thought I'd see the day where you guys were wearing a fascinator-" He chuckles, entering the room. The moment we stepped in, everyone went quiet, and all eyes were now on us. Well, actually just Jeremiah, cuz of how he was dressed, or rather, how he wasn't.

Everyone was dressed in such beautiful, fancy dresses. Susannah was right... They did go all out, even if it's just for one boring tea-party. Some of them were even glaring very rudely, proving just how insecure they truly were.

Not all of them, of course. Most didn't even seem to notice, and some were smiling politely too, carrying on with their day. But the ones who were are real bitchy. Especially the pink one at 2 o'clock. As for the rest of them...

Well, they seemed to be more interested in the shirtless boy right next to me. "Jeremiah." An older lady addresses, walking up to us. "Paige." Jere greets, smiling politely. "...Where's your shirt?" She asks, smiling fakely.

"Oh, so she's the boss you wouldn't stop whining about." I say a bit too loudly, and he just shushes me. "Whining?" The amused lady raises a brow at the lifeguard. "Ignore her. You know it's always a pleasure to be with you." Jere places a kiss on her hand, making me roll my eyes and chuckle a bit.

"Oh, this is Belly." He then introduces the nervous girl beside us. "Uh, Isabel Conklin." He quickly corrects. "She's the young woman my mom told you about, AKA, my future wife." He jokes, earning a smack from the brunette, making us all laugh.

"And this little devil, is y/n." He introduces. "She's the one my mom asked you to watch out for." He whispers jokingly. "They're both late." The boss lady simply smiles. "Oh uh, I'm sorry-" Belly is quick to apologize. "Won't happen again, boss." I assure.

"You two are at table two." She informs, and I just nod, glancing over at the table. "No way..." Jere's voice attracts my attention. "Are those the little brie and fig jam sandwiches with the prosciutto?" He grins, staring at the table before us.

"Don't you dare." The lady just rolls her eyes at the forever-hungry boy, walking up to a girl who called her. "Okay..." Jere simply sighs, winking at me before inching closer to the table. "Those are for the girls." Boss scoffs.

"Jeremiah, those are for the girls!" She speaks louder when she sees Jere steal one anyway. "Just-just one!" He calls back, ready to run. "Knock 'em dead." He winks at the brunette, and waves me goodbye before running away.

"Hahah- We're fucked."