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Jeremiah had helped Dakota bring his bags into his room. Dakota had no intentions of unpacking right now, so he went to go bother his sister. As he walked up to her doorway, his steps slowed. He saw her looking at the cork board she has had on her desk full of different pictures from over the years. He knocks on her door making her turn to him. She blinked rapidly as she looked at him.

"Yeah?" She says softy

Dakota shrugs, "Nothing. Just checking on you. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good." She nods as she walks over to her bag

"You sure?" He says as he sits on her bed

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" She sighs

"Because I was standing there for awhile."

She turns to him, "Really?" Dakota hums in agreement with a small nod, "I didn't hear you."

"Of course you didn't. You were admiring your Conrad shrine." He deadpans

"I don't have a Conrad shrine." She scoffs as she continues digging through her bag

"You have more pictures with him on there than you do me and I'm your brother." She huffs as she turns with an annoyed expression, "Not just your brother. Your twin brother."

Liz rolls her eyes, "I have pictures with everyone on there. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever." He says as he stands up to leave her room, "Hopefully you finally admit your love for him."

Liz's eyes widen, "Shut up."

"What? Am I wrong?" He chuckles as he raises his hands, "Literally everyone knows it."

Dakota watches as she stands up and storms toward him. She turns him and pushes him out, "You're literally so annoying."

He turns back to her, "I know you are, but what am I?"

"I know you are, but what am I?" She mocks before she slams the door in his face. Dakota laughs as he walks off.

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"Steven, I swear to God, if you look at that phone one more time, I'm putting it in the screen basket." Laurel threatens. Everyone sat at the dinner table with Belly, Laurel, and Liz sitting on one side. Dakota, Steven, and Jeremiah on the other and Susannah and Conrad on the ends.

"It's just, we want to see your beautiful faces." Susannah smiles, "Can dinner be a screen-free zone? You know, like the olden days."

Steven was still looking down at his phone, so Jeremiah took the opportunity to snatch it out of his hands and toss it into the basket. Jeremiah and Dakota cheer as Steven starts complaining, "Okay, okay, okay, we get it, you've been working out."

"Oh, you're just jealous because Jere has a better body than you." Belly jokes as Liz smiles

"Uh, no, actually, it's all about the lean look now." Steven says as he gestures to his body, "Otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits."

"Sure, sure." Jeremiah jokes as the girls chuckle

"Tailored suits." Conrad says softly as he smiles lightly

Steven turns to Conrad, "When are you leaving for training camp, man?"

Conrad stops and looks at him as he hesitates to answer. Jeremiah answers for him, "Uh, he quit football."

Dakota frowns, "Wait, really? You quit?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Are you kidding me, man? I'd kill to play college ball." Steven says

"He can always change his mind." Susannah tries

"I'm not gonna change my mind." Conrad cuts her off, "I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."

"Well, if you're not playing football anymore, what are you gonna do all summer?" Laurel says causing Conrad to shrug.

"Oh, dude, you can work at the club. Yeah, with me and Jere." Steven smiles

"Yeah." Jeremiah agrees

"I'm not gonna work at the club." He chuckles

"Wait, you guys are working this summer?" Belly says

"Yeah, I'm lifeguarding, and Steven's working at the snack shop." Jeremiah says as they fist bump. The table goes quiet as Belly looks down.

"Oh, Belly, I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you." Susannah jumps up to grab an envelope. Laurel smiles as Belly is handed the paper.

"So, this is why you had to stop by the country club." Laurel says

"Mhm."

"What, uh, wh-what is that?" Steven says looking over. Dakota was just as curious as he was.

"I wrangled Belly an invitation to be a debutante." Susannah smiles brightly

"Is that the thing where the girls wear white dresses and curtsy?" Belly asks as she squints

"It's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society." She explains, "I-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."

"I cannot believe you are still holding on to this archaic dream." Laurel says as she leaves to go to the kitchen

"No, it used to be about finding a husband," Susannah calls after her, "but now it's about networking. They teach you leadership skills, like how to market yourself." Conrad frowns towards Liz as she shrugs, "And it benefits charity. It's, um, like a bat mitzvah." Susannah shrugs

Laurel laughs, "It is not like a bat mitzvah. There is nothing religious about a debutante ball."

"The whole deb scene is bullshit. It's for sheep." Conrad says. Belly looks towards Liz as she shakes her head in disagreement.

"Yeah." Dakota says

"No, it's not. It's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity." Susannah says as Laurel pours her a glass of wine

Steven drops his spoon as he starts laughing. Belly looks over as her face scrunches in annoyance, "Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. Mature?"

"Yes." Susannah nods

"Belly?"

"Mhm."

"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 snaps tilting her head causing Dakota to chuckle.

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

"Belly." Susannah calls as Belly looks up, "Don't you want to get all dressed up?"

"It's just not Belly's kind of thing." Laurel shrugs, "She's our feral little alley cat." She says as she fixes Belly's hair. The boys on the other side start laughing as Liz rolls her eyes.

"Alley cat." Dakota chuckles

"Shut up, Dakota." Liz says

"I'll think about it." Belly says.

Susannah raises her glass as she smiles, "She'll think about it."

Dakota's eyes widen in amusement as he looks toward Steven who holds in a laugh.

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Dakota sat outside with Steven. Jeremiah went inside to get Liz so they could make their way to the bonfire.

"Dude, Liz literally takes forever to get ready." Dakota sighs

Steven chuckles, "Same with Belly." Just as he says this, Jeremiah comes out the front door, "She coming?"

"Yeah. I made her go get Conrad." He says closing the door

"Yikes." Dakota laughs as he stands up

"Wait, isn't Belly swimming?" Steven says

"I don't know." Jeremiah shrugs

"Dude, I think she is." He says as he steps off the porch, "No way I'm letting her convince Liz to let her come."

The two boys follow behind him around to the backyard. Sure enough as Steven said, Belly was asking Liz to come along.

"Uh, no." Steven says causing Liz to turn

"The moms are getting everything set up for your movie night." Jeremiah says

Conrad puts his blunt out standing up, "See you."

"Let's go, slowpoke." Dakota says as Conrad walks toward them. Dakota puts his arm around his shoulders as they walk together.

"Have fun with the moms!" Steven yells back to Belly causing the boys to laugh

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As soon as Jeremiah had found a place to park, everyone hopped out. They did their usual making sure everyone had their ringers on before everyone dispersed. Jeremiah and Dakota found their way back to each other as they talked with some girls. Dakota raced to down a cup of beer as their friends cheered them on. Dakota threw his cup down cheering as some friends patted him on the back.

"Dude, you're too good at that." He says dapping Dakota up

"Duh." Dakota laughs. The two look over as they hear commotion. They see Belly arguing with Conrad.

"Bro." Jeremiah sighs before they both jog over, "Belly." He says as they make it over it to them, "You came! Great, we can all hang out, you guys."

"I'm about to take her home." Steven steps up

"What?" Dakota frowns

"Yeah, we're leaving. Are you kidding me?" Steven scoffs trying to grab her arm

"Okay, Steven, chill out. Come on." Jeremiah says putting his arm out to stop him, "Go- go hang out with Shayla or something."

Shayla speaks up from Steven's side, "Let's go. Come on."

"Fine." He huffs, "But just stay right here and don't talk to anybody."

Dakota chuckles, "Okay. All right. Chill."

As Steven and Shayla walk off, Belly turns and sticks two middle fingers up, "Fuck you!"

"Woah." Dakota chuckles. As Dakota finally gets the chance to look around, his eyes land on River. As much as he hated to admit it, she looked beautiful.

The girl seemed to sense someone looking at her as her eyes trail over to Dakota. Most people look away when they've been caught staring, but Dakota hadn't looked away yet. So, River did. Dakota's face dropped for a split second before returning to normal.

"Listen, for one, I'm really happy you're here." Jeremiah says. Belly smiles at him before two girls call after Jeremiah and Dakota. Dakota wastes no time in making his way over. River felt her heart drop a little.

Jeremiah hesitates, "Okay, I will be right back."

He runs off after Dakota leaving the three girls standing there. River eventually just tells the girls to walk with her to get them away from Conrad. For her, it was for her to get her mind off of Dakota.

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The party seemed to go on well for a few more hours. That was until someone had decided to mess with Conrad causing a fist fight between the two. Dakota wouldn't have really cared much and probably cheered him on if it weren't for his sister getting hit because of the other guy.

"Yo." Dakota says as he and Jeremiah run over to her. He helps her stand upright, "You okay?"

Before Liz could answer, Dakota hears sirens causing everyone to scramble.

"Come on." He says helping his sister to the car.

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