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THAT NIGHT AFTER THE BONFIRE, laurel scolded us. i guess it was deserved though.
i had no clue what was going on with conrad, why he was acting so different this summer, making me wonder what happened to the same conrad who would go on and on about infinity.
i slept in that morning, because of the fact that i stayed up way too late at that bonfire, but i eventually got up since i had work today.
when i went downstairs, dressed in a white lifeguard tank top, and red shorts, laurel, steven, and jeremiah were downstairs.
conrad was on the couch, and jere was making a 'hangover smoothie' for him, while steven was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.
"do we really have to physically sit for our portraits?" jeremiah complained to laurel. "can't she just- look at a picture on her phone or something?"
"right?" i agreed with him.
jeremiah backed up a little from steven, having enough of him hovering over him. "okay, get out." jeremiah pointed at the door.
steven laughed. "what. why?"
"she needs to see you in the flash to capture you essence." laurel said, fixated on her laptop. "while you're still young, and full of hope."
"so poetic, mom." i joked, while steven and jeremiah laughed.
"her words." laurel rolled her eyes at us with a smile.
"well, conrad does not have hope, actually. he's hopeless." jeremiah insulted, causing me to laugh a little. "but! my hangover smoothie, it cures all."
"can you please just hurry up." conrad rushed him from the couch.
"just go back to bed. alright?" jeremiah shot back to him, and steven started looking over his shoulder again.
jeremiah put a hand on steven's chest. "alright, seriously, steven. get out. this is a delicate science."
"she hasn't painted you since you were little. i think it would be nice to have these portraits for when you're older." laurel added in.
"oh, no." steven joked. "when i'm older, they'd have like, holograms i can watch of myself, you know."
"or, this is why we have technology." i say. "where we have pictures? on our phones?"
jeremiah started the blender, causing conrad to jolt awake.
"just sit for your portraits." laurel told me and steven. "you don't see conrad complaining.
"he'll complain when he's actually conscious." i shot back at laurel.
jeremiah went to the couch and tapped conrad. "hey. here."
"come on, man. hurry your ass up, i can't be late to my first day of work." steven rushed jeremiah. "those little country club boomers are gonna tip me so hard they won't know what hit 'em!"
i made a disgusted look at steven. "ew. steven, i swear."
"come on, y/n." jeremiah laughed. "my boys gotta get that bread."
"stop." i shook my head at him.
i look over to see belly walking in the kitchen, and i give her a small smile.
"good morning." jeremiah says to her in an enthusiastic tone.
"belly, where have you been?" laurel asks her in a serious tone. "is that a bruise."
belly stands next to me and i run my fingers over the bruise. "mom, relax, she tripped when we were at the bonfire and landed on her face." i lied, i knew belly wouldn't wanna tell the actual story
"doesn't look that bad." conrad said from the couch, i look over at him, and made eye contact with him for a few seconds before returning my focus back to belly.
"uh, cereal?" jeremiah asked belly.
"yeah, hit me." belly softly responded.
"oh, my god!" susannah ran into the kitchen. "belly and y/n are going to be debutantes!" she hugged both of us.
belly laughed. "it's really not that big of a deal."
i'd forgotten all about the whole deb thing. it'd be hard trying to balance a summer job and being a deb, on top of that, i'd have to find a date.
"i'm sorry, like those two? my sisters, right there?" steven teased us.
"shut up, cretin!" i shot back.
"okay, this is going to be so much fun!" susannah fantasized. "just you wait. there's the tea, the auction, the- ball, of course.. i gotta write this down. we need to go shopping!"
"this sounds expensive." laurel said.
"oh, don't worry, laur, it's on me." susannah smiled. "it was my idea after all."
"y/n, are you sure you wanna do this?" laurel asked me. "it doesn't seem very you."
in truth, not really. but if it made susannah happy, it made me happy. i had to do it for her.
"it's not." conrad, once again, added his two cents from the couch.
i don't know how he went from how he used to act towards me to.. this.
"conrad, could you please be a little more supportive?" susannah told him. "now, which one of you are gonna be belly or y/n's escort to the ball."
"not me." conrad immediately responded.
"shocker." i say, in a sarcastic tone.
"i went last year." conrad finished his sentence.
"me neither. i swore off balls." jeremiah told us, causing steven to laugh. "the dances dude!" jeremiah said, laughing.
"wow, guys!" i say, sarcastically. "stop fighting over us."
"i'm not going with either of you." belly finally spoke up. "i am going to find my own date.
"it says debutantes require instruction, morals, and social etiquette." laurel read off her laptop.
"i'm going for a swim." conrad leaves through the back door, as i watched him go.
"yeah, y/n could use some etiquette." steven laughed.
"and you wonder why you don't have a girlfriend." i rolled my eyes.
all the sound drowned out as i watched conrad from the window, in his shorts, and no shirt on. i missed how things used to be.
i felt a hand on my shoulder. "you alright, y/n?" jeremiah asked me.
"yeah." i tried push aside anything feelings. "we should probably go soon."
"wait." susannah spoke up. "before you go, we have shopping to do!"
"seriously?" i asked. "i have work. i'm not going shopping."
but that wasn't true. susannah is a really convincing person, so before i knew it, i was shopping around stores with susannah, laurel, and belly, for the debutante thing.
i tried on different dresses, all colors, and different accessory's, hats, sunglasses, and bow, bags over my hands and arms.
then, i had to try on a debutante dress, i found a beautiful white long dress, i loved it, but maybe conrad and laurel were right. this whole thing was not my scene.
