EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED, jeremiah fisher

𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦

[𝙧𝙤𝙨é 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮]

𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗗 around the dinner table, a pot of Susannah's famous bouillabaisse in the centre of the table. Steven and Jeremiah were doing something on Steven's phone, Belly and Gwen were whispering between themselves, and Conrad was sitting silently at the head of the table.

"Steven, I swear to God, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket." Laurel threatened. The screen basket was where the mothers would put the teen's phones if they were using them too much.

"It's just, we want to see your beautiful faces." Susannah smiled, she and Margot were always being the good cops to Laurel's bad cop. "Can dinner be a screen-free zone? You know, like the olden days." Susannah said, earning a laugh from the other two mothers.

"Steven," Jeremiah said, trying to get his attention. The boy didn't move a muscle, his eyes still glued to his phone. Jeremiah rolled his eyes before plucking the device out of his hands and throwing it onto the couch as if he was shooting a goal in basketball.

"Dude, are you kidding me?" Steven scoffed, finally looking up.

"Boom! Nailed it." Jeremiah exclaimed, sitting back in his seat.

"Okay, okay, okay, we get it, you've been working out," Steven said, clearly annoyed at the other boy.

"Oh, you're just jealous because Jere has a better body than you." Belly chuckled. "Right, Gwen?"

The girl looked up from her plate, a thoughtful expression on her face. She looked between the boys, taking in each one before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Jere has the better body. Sorry, Steven." She shrugged.

"Uh, no, actually, it's all about the lean look now. Otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits." Steven disagreed, causing everyone to laugh at his ridiculous reasoning.

"Tailored suits." Conrad echoed. Everyone immediately looked over at him. Those were the first words he'd said all dinner.

"When are you leaving for training camp, man?" Steven asked. Conrad had been playing football for ages, and now that he was in college he needed better training so he and the rest of the team were being sent to a camp where they would get trained like all the big leagues.

The table went quiet, everyone waiting for the boy's answer. "Uh, he quit football," Jeremiah said, shocking everyone. Gwen was shocked, Conrad had loved football, she couldn't think of a reason why the boy would want to quit something that he loves doing.

"Wait, really? You quit?" Steven asked. Conrad hummed, causing Steven to look even more shocked. "Are you kidding me, man? I'd kill to play college ball." Steven said.

"He can always change his mind," Susannah said from across the table. Conrad sent an almost deadly glare her way and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not gonna change my mind. I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways." Conrad told them.

"And that's okay. People grow out of things, it's just how life works." Margot said, trying to defuse the tension that was growing in the room. Conrad sent the woman a smile, she always stuck up for the kids.

"Well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?" Laurel asked the boy. Steven's eyes lit up in excitement.

"Oh, dude, you can work at the club. Yeah, with me and Jere." Steven suggested, Jeremiah agreeing with him straight away. 

"I'm not gonna work at the club," Conrad told them.

"Wait, you guys are working this summer?" Belly asked, looking between the boys, and then at Gwen, almost as if she was asking if she knew about this. The girl just shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to the boys across from her.

"Yeah, I'm lifeguarding and Steven's working at the snack shop," Jeremiah told her before fist-bumping Steven.

"Oh, Belly, I almost forgot," Susannah exclaimed, getting up from the table to grab something. "I have a surprise for you." She said, passing Belly an envelope. As soon as Gwen saw what it was her face lit up.

"So, this is why you had to stop by the country club." Laurel chuckled. Susannah just smiled, waiting for Belly to open the envelope.

"What, uh, what is that?" Steven stuttered, craning his neck to see the letter.

"I wrangled Belly an invitation to be a debutante," Susannah said, the smile on her face growing wider by the second.

"Is that the thing where the girls wear white dresses and curtsy?" Belly asked, inspecting the invitation.

"It's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society. I know it sounds silly, but I swear it's fun. Girls come from all over New England to Cousins just to be a part of it. You'll make so many new friends." Susannah explained.

"Gwen did it last year, and she looked absolutely gorgeous, and I'm sure you will too, Belly." Margot chimed in, smiling at her daughter.

"I cannot believe you two are still holding on to this archaic dream," Laurel said to the two women, before getting out of her chair and leaving the room.

"No, it used to be about finding a husband, but now it's about networking. They teach you leadership skills, like how to market yourself, and it benefits charity. It's, um, like a bat mitzvah." Susannah explained to the girl.

"It is not like a bat mitzvah. There is nothing religious about a debutante ball." Laurel laughed, walking back into the room with a bottle of some sort of wine.

"The whole deb scene is bullshit. It's for sheep." Conrad scoffed.

"You're a sheep, Conrad." Gwen scowled, before turning to Belly. "Don't listen to him, debbing is really fun. And, Conrad was literally an escort last year." That earnt a laugh from everyone in the room, except, of course, Conrad.

"Gwen's right. It's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity." Susannah agreed. Steven laughed, almost spitting out the food he had in his mouth.

"Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Mature?" Steven laughed, looking at Susannah, who was nodding her head. "Belly?" He asked. "A couple months ago you had a cat funeral. You made us all wear black."

"Shut up, Steven. I saw you crying in your room." Belly retorted.

"Wait, Mochi died? Dang. I'm sorry, Bells." Jeremiah said.

"Belly. Don't you want to get all dressed up?" Susannah asked, getting everyone's attention.

"It's just not Belly's kind of thing. She's our feral little alley cat." Laurel said, causing Jeremiah and Steven to laugh.

"I'll think about it," Belly told Susannah. Gwen knew why she was doing it. A) because no one could say no to Susannah, and B) because she wanted to prove everyone wrong, she wanted them to see that she was growing up, and that she wasn't the same old Belly anymore.

"She'll think about it," Susannah repeated, before turning to Margot and clinking their glasses together. The two women took a giant swig of wine, Margot almost downing the whole thing in one go, causing everyone to laugh at the woman.


𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗬 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦
i think i'm going to make
all the chapters around one
thousand to two thousand
words because i don't want
them to be super long.

next chapter is the bonfire!
i'm so excited to write it