𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫.

044.

cindy, taylor, and belly stood outside the school, engaged in small talk. taylor let out a light laugh, "he's so extra. although he did earn it with that speech." the two girls nodded in agreement.

"that speech kind of pierced my soul," cindy pursed her lips. belly and taylor exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter, causing cindy to swat at them. "don't laugh."

a brief silence enveloped the group, and belly sighed, "i feel like i've been in this nightmare ever since susannah died." her forehead wrinkled as she swallowed, and taylor reached for belly's hand, running her thumb over her knuckles. "maybe it's time to wake up."

taylor's phone chimed from her pocket, and she pulled it out, scanning her texts before looking back at her friends. "oh, i gotta go find milo. he needs my help putting together a look for tonight."

"cool," belly nodded, then turned her attention to cindy, her head tilting to the side. "um, do you want to come over after and help me with ours?"

cindy froze, her brows furrowing. "huh?"

"no fucking way. are you guys coming?" taylor exclaimed, excitement in her voice as she reached for the girls.

cindy muttered, "i never agreed to this."

belly smiled widely, "i think i should sign up for volleyball camp, too." taylor's excitement reached a new level as she screamed loudly, drawing attention.

"oh, my god!" taylor cheered, "babes, this party is gonna be insane. like, you are going to die when you see milo play." the pure excitement on her face made the girls giggle.

"milo's a bitch" cindy began under her breath, making sure taylor didn't hear.

steven appeared behind her, adjusting his gown that draped low. "uh, no, yeah. i mean, you literally might, 'cause, whew, man, i could smell him from the podium." he joked, watching taylor's face twist in annoyance.

"well, i'm sorry, excuse me. my man doesn't have that korean gene that makes you have no body odor." taylor shot back. steven didn't take offense, mostly treating it as a backhanded compliment as he laughed it off.

"okay, all right, come on, guys." he shooed them along as taylor said her goodbyes and ran off to find milo. "our parents are meeting us at the restaurant."

cindy held her clutch tightly, grinning up at steven, the older brother figure before her, as they started to walk. "it was an okay speech. susannah would have loved it."

"yeah, i know. also, i'd like to see you do better," he nudged her shoulder, "you know, i'm glad you guys are coming to the party tonight."

belly's jaw dropped, "wow! i can't believe what i'm hearing. you really want me at your party?" her whole life, the boys had left her out of everything.

steven rolled his eyes, "well, i never said 'want.'" he chuckled, his expression turning slightly serious. "i just think it's better than moping around at home. you should drive."

the keys fell into belly's hands with ease, her eyes widening with joy. "really?"

"i gotta read all the love in my dms from my speech anyway. let's go," he urged, draping an arm around cindy as the three of them laughed.

cindy sat with her parents and the conklin family, occasionally fixing her outfit and hair to make sure she looked good.

"yo, this is dope. i'm going viral on tiktok." steven chuckled to himself, his eyes glued to his phone screen. adam eyed his son in confusion, turning to his ex-wife who just shrugged.

"is that a good thing?" he asked, his son nearly laughed in his face. steven breathed out with a snarky smile.

he shrugged, the cockiness pouring off of him making belly roll her eyes at her older brother, "what, millions of people around the world watching my speech on a loop?" steven pursued his lips with a nod, "yes, dad, that is a very good thing. i gotta forward this to con and jere, man."

cindy cleared her throat as she felt the stares of her mother. she tucked her hair behind her ear, looking down at her clean plate. the waiter had come just in time, placing the receipt down as well has holding a box of fortune cookies, the group of six each reaching for one. cindy was eager to open hers, expecting it to answer her life problems, she furrowed her brows as she cracked open the cookie, flattening the piece of paper.

''happiness is an activity." she read hers aloud, they all laughed at the nonsense, she dropped it on the table with a small chuckle, "um, okay."

"work first, but make sure to play later." belly shared hers with a loud cackle, more laughter echoing as the paper pile grew.

steven cleared his throat as he opened his, pursuing his lips as he clicked his tongue, "okay, well, everyone agrees you are the best." he nodded, attempting to flaunt.

"it doesn't say that." cindy sneered. steven raising his brows in offense, shaking his head as he showed the paper, quickly pulling it away before they could read it, "you want to see it? look, i don't know what you want from me. it says it right there."

"i know we keep telling you. we're so proud of you." john beamed at his oldest, grabbing his hand from across the table for a mere second, "you're gonna have the time of your life
at princeton. right, laur?"

laurel nodded with a grin, "yeah, i loved college.that's where i met susannah." she had spoke as if susannah was in boston, the whole table fell silent, cindy biting into her bottom lip as laurel caught herself, too.

"so, how are things going with your book?" michael asked, switching the subject to ease the sudden tension, laurel smiled with appreciation.

"my publisher is hounding me to do this meet and greet event with booksellers." laurel revealed, everyone congratulating her, she didn't budge, "i said no."

sophia raised her brows, taking a swig of her wine, "why?"

"because it's not necessary." laurel replied blankly, silence filling the air again. steven cleared his throat, his chair screeching as he stood. the tension shifted everyone's moods.

"okay, uh, well, it's time for me to go get ready for the party. mom, mwah. dad, mwah. sophia, mwah. michael, mwah. thank you for lunch." steven bid goodbye, blowing air kisses as he collected his things, belly and cindy standing up as-well, tucking their chairs in.

cindy scratched the back of her head, "we're gonna go with him. uh, thank you it was delicious." belly agreed as she said goodbye to her parents, leaving the adults in the soaking silence.

"we'll head out too, steven said he'd drive cindy back."

author's note, do you guys want smut or no?