EVA PUT ON SHORTS AND A LONG PURPLE SHIRT WITH HER FAVORITE PEARL NECKLACE BEFORE GOING DOWN TO THE KITCHEN. There she found Jeremiah cooking something while trying to chase away Steven who looked very interested in what he was cooking.

"Get out!" Jeremiah told him.

"What? Why?" Steven pretended not to understand.

"What are you cooking?" Eva asked, walking over to lean over her friend's shoulder.

"Why does she have the right to approach and not me?" Steven exclaimed.

"Because I know you're going to eat it all!" Jer rolled his eyes before smiling at the brunette. "This is my hangover smoothie. Conrad needs it." he laughed.

"Can you please just hurry up?" they heard his brother who was laying on the couch.

"Just go back to bed, all right?" his younger brother told him while Steven tried to approach again. "All right, seriously, Steven, get out. This is a delicate science and your heavy breathing is gonna break the yolk."

     Louis came in the kitchen with his uniform and Laurel, Caroline, and Belly woke up soon after while Jeremiah was giving his drink to his brother. Belly had a bruise on her forehead, a sign of the nudge she had received at the party. Susannah suddenly rushed into the room with the prom invitation card in her hand.

"Oh my God! Belly is gonna be a debutante!"

"It's really not that big deal." the girl blushed when Suz hugged her.

"Belly? Like my sister? Like that thing right there?" Steven asked.

"Shut up, cretin." her sister shouted back.

"Okay, this is gonna be so much fun!" Susannah exclaimed. "Even more if you do it too, Eva!"

"I don't know, I-"

"Just, listen. There's the tea, the auction, the ball of course, the rehearsal. We could do shopping all together! Having a girl day!"

"That kind of thing really isn't my style." replied Eva. "I'm sorry."

"At least think about it! Please! That would be so great! We could go out, have fun. Please." Susannah insisted, grabbing her hands and giving her a pleading look.

      Eva couldn't help but think that she now understood where Jeremiah got his persuasive gaze.

"Please, I don't want to do this alone." Belly added, also coming to take her hand.

"Please." repeated the Fishers' mother again.

"Okay, okay, fine, I guess I can make an effort." sighed the blonde, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yes!" Belly and Susannah exclaimed in unison as they jumped on her to hug her.

"I can't wait to see that, honestly." Louis said in a mocking tone.

"My little girls, you are going to be so pretty in your white dresses!" Susannah exclaimed. "We have to go shopping to buy everything you need!"

     Eva glanced at Jeremiah and gave him a 'help me' look which made him laugh.

"We have to go." he said to his three colleagues.

"Have a good day, guys. Evy, we'll pick you up at noon to go shopping!" Susannah screamed.

☆

     Eva looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit that the dress for the ball wasn't that bad. Susannah had chosen a long white dress for her that bared her shoulders and emphasized her waist while being evasive on her legs.

"My little baby." Caroline almost cried when she came out of the dressing room.

"You look so pretty." Susannah told her.

"It suits you very well!" Belly and Laurel exclaimed.

     The two girls therefore each had their own ball dress. But now everyday dresses were needed for dance rehearsals and for tea. Eva wasn't going to lie, she felt ridiculous in those tight dresses that were suffocating her. Belly seemed comfortable, but Eva was not. Especially when Susannah told them they needed a hat.

☆

"I honestly don't know what the hell I was thinking." Eva mumbled, trying to readjust her hat.

"Stop complaining and smile." Caroline advised her, amused, while she was parking in front of the pool because the rehearsehal was taking place in the premises.

"Have fun and call us if you need anything!" Laurel told them when Belly and Eva get out of the car.

"I need to go to the toilet." Belly whispered. "Wait for me, huh?"

"Sure but don't leave me alone too long, please."

      Belly rushed into the bathroom and Eva mumbled complaints as she tried to readjust her dress. Raising her head, she saw Jeremiah arriving with his arms full of towels and he gave her a questioning look before realizing who she was.

"Vava! Oh my God, I didn't even recognize you."

"Shut up. I know I look stupid." she growled.

"You're prettier than the other debutantes. And you look less stupid than them. You look good. Really." he smiled.

"If you say so. It's probably the worst idea I've had in my life. That hat falls on my eyes and the dress scratches me." she got angry, squirming to try to find a way to make the dress stop bothering her.

      Jeremiah laughed at her and put the towels on a low wall next to them.

"Come, let me help you."

      He approached and she turned her back to him. She felt him loosen the ribbon of the dress and he straightened the hat by attaching it to her ponytail with a pin.

"Here. Better?" he asked letting her go.

"Much better!" she exclaimed. "Thank you."

"At your service, my lady."

      She laughed. Jeremiah was only in his lifeguard swimsuit so he was topless and even so she had already see him many time like this, she couldn't say she didn't mind the view.

"Jeez, if it wasn't for your mom, I would never have accepted."

"Yeah. That was nice of you to say yes." Jer smiled at her. "It made her really happy."

"That's what I wanted."

"I'm good." Belly said, walking by them. "Hi, Jeremiah."

"Hi, Belly. Hey, you know what, let me walk you over."

"Uh." the girls watched him.

"What?" he said, as if he was unuware he was halfnaked.

"Nothing." Eva laughed. "Let's go."

      Jeremiah smiled and held out an arm to each of them. They grabbed it and they made their way through the building. They entered the room and the young girls who were already seated at their table gave them judgmental looks.

"Jeremiah." the woman who was obviously in charge said.

"Paige." he smiled.

"Where is your shirt?"

"It's always a pleasure." he answered, kissing her hand. "This is Belly and Eva. I mean Isabel Conklin and Eva Campbell. My mom told you about them. Meet my future wife." he winked, grabbing Eva's hand.

      The brunette rolled her eyes with an amused look.

"They're late." Paige said. "You're at table two. Both of you."

"Are those those little Brie and fig jam sandwiches with the prosciutto?" Jeremiah asked looking at the food.

"Don't you dare." Paige told him while walking away.

"Okay."

      But he had barely talked that he ran to the table to grab one.

"Those are for the girls! Jeremiah, those are for the girls!" Paige exclaimed.

"Just one!" he said back. "Knock them dead." he told his two friends before smiling at Eva. "Try to have fun. You look good." he kissed her cheek and ran away before Paige grabbed him.

      Eva chuckled and took Belly's hand before leading her to the table. They weren't next to each other because Nicole - Conrad's girlfriend - was sitting between them. The girls started discussing the colleges they had applied to and asked Belly and Eva where they were planning to go.

"Oh, Belly's only a sophomore. And Eva is a junior, like Jeremiah. Well, it's what Conrad told me." Nicole said.

"Oh. And, uh, I saw Jeremiah kissing you earlier." a blonde girl told Jo. "So are you like a thing or are you gonna take him to the ball?"

"Uh, no, we're not-"

"They're basically related!" Nicole laughed. "You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not worried."

"Keep telling yourself that, babe."

"Gigi has had this thing for Jeremiah." Nicole explained to Eva.

"Ever since he got abs." Shayla laughed.

"Oh, okay." Eva tried to laugh with the girls and Belly looked at her, knowing it wasn't a real smile. "Um, no, there's nothing going on between me and Jeremiah."

"What it's like to live with Jeremiah and Conrad? Conrad is so mysterious."

      Eva and Belly exchanged a look, not knowing what to say, but good for them Paige started to speak.

"Hello, debutantes. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Now I understand some of you must be thinking that debbing is outdated."

      Eva stopped listening because Shayla took a little bottle of alcohol out of her bag and discreetly put some in her glass before passing the bottle to Gigi. It went around the table and Eva put a little in her glass too. Finally something to spice up a little this stupid tradition.

"At each table is a big sister who will guide you through the season. So please, introduce yourselves."

"Hi." a brunette smiled to Jo. "I'm Meredith."

"Hi. I'm Eva."

"You don't really seem glad to be here, am I right?" the oldest laughed.

"Uh, yeah, actually, I do that only because of my mom's friend." she explained.

"I was like you at the beginning but I ended up having a lot of fun so don't be nervous. Maybe you'll like it."

      Belly suddenly ran out of the room and Eva saw Cam by the bay window. She smiled. Belly seemed to really like him.

— <camcameron3