ৎ ָ࣪ 𓄹 ﹙ 𝟬𝟬𝟯 ﹚˖ ᨒ .ﾟ ꗃ 𓄸
❛ DEBUTANTES ! ❜

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           𝓐fter getting escorted home by the cops, the group of teenagers were scolded by Laurel for being irresponsible. The next morning went by with Belly hopelessly chasing after the boat that her lover boy left on at dawn with little to no luck. Aurora sat next to her mom and Laurel, listening as the women went on and on about how Susannah wanted to make portraits of them, and how they had to sit there for hours.

"Do we really have to physically sit for our portraits? Can't she just like, look at a picture on her phone or something? Get out!" Jeremiah questioned the moms as he pushed away Steven who was all up on him, clearly not knowing what personal space meant.

"What? Why?" Steven laughed, enjoying the chance to tease someone. Aurora could only smile at the scene, knowing she missed moments like that. Her smile began to drop as soon as Steven approved her, meaning she was his next target of the morning.

"She needs to see you in the flesh in order to capture your essence while you're still young and full of hope. Her words." Rose explained in an excited tone, trying to mock Susannah in a way. Everyone in the room let out a quick laugh.

"Well, Conrad does not have hope. Actually, he's hopeless. But my hangover smoothie, it cures all." Jere grinned, pointing at his brother who was laid out on the couch. Conrad complained in disagreement.

The blonde shook her head, feeling Steven's heavy breathing on the back of her neck. It sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind.

"Can you stop?" The girl nearly shouted, scaring the childish boy into retreating. "Okay, fine. You're such a crybaby." Steven teased, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, seriously, Steven. Get out. This is a delicate science and your heavy breathing is gonna break the yolk." Jeremiah defended her, finally getting the boy to leave the kitchen area and sit down.

"She hasn't painted you since you were little. I think it'd be nice to have these portraits for when you're older." Laurel piped up, trying to bring up the main conversation again. She was used to her son acting a fool, so it was easier for her to ignore him.

"Old? No, when I'm older I'm sure there'll be like holograms or something I could watch of myself. You know?" Steven stupidly stated, everyone just looked at him in complete silence. Jeremiah eventually started using the blender, blocking him out.

Conrad sat up on the couch, covering his head as the loud noise made his hangover worse.

"Just sit for your portraits. You don't see Rory or Conrad complaining." Laurel mentioned, looking back and forth between the two. Aurora was more focused on her phone than the conversation but she nodded and hummed in agreement anyways.

"She's not even listening and Conrad's barely conscious. Hey, here." Jeremiah mumbled to himself, handing Conrad the smoothie he made for him. "Thank you." The older brother groaned, drinking the smoothie as quick as he could to cure his head pain.

"Come on, man. Hurry your ass up, alright? I can't be late for my first day of work." Steven rushed Jeremiah. "We won't. We're good." Jeremiah told him, earning a smack on the butt from Steven. Aurora rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. It was too early.

            "Good morning, my love." Belly walked into the kitchen, kissing Rory on the cheek as she took the empty seat right next to her at the table.

           "Morning beautiful." The blonde grinned, her mood brightening instantly.

          "Belly, where have you been?" Rose raised an eyebrow, patting the slouching girl on the back.

           "Is that a bruise?" Laurel questioned in a state of worry, her eyes a bit wide and confused.

            "Um, I bumped into someone." The girl came up with a quick lie. Rory mentally facepalmed.

             "You bumped into someone?" Laurel repeated her, almost not believing it but she did.

             "Doesn't look that bad." Conrad piped up, actually speaking now that Belly was near.

             "Who asked you?" Aurora scrunched her face up in perplexity, knowing that it was technically his fault she had the nasty bruise in the first place.

            Conrad did nothing but scoff, knowing exactly why she spoke to him in such a manner. He also knew he kinda deserved it and decided not to argue.

             "Uh, cereal?" Jeremiah cleared his throat, trying to change the subject. It worked pretty well.

              "Sure," Rory and Belly both chimed. The boy began to make both of them a bowl.

            As he grabbed the milk, Rory stood up and took it from his hands. Their fingers brushed against each others slightly, feeling electric at the touch. They both made eye contact for a split second and smiled.

           "I can pour my own milk. Thanks." The girl poured her milk and then handed it to Belly who then did the same. Jeremiah put it back up after.

            "Oh my God! Belly and Rory are gonna be debutantes!" Susannah rushed into the kitchen all ecstatic, attacking both girls in hugs.

            "Really? You both agreed? That's awesome!" Rose piped up, joining their hug, which ultimately squished the teenagers. Laurel sighed.

            "It's really not that big of a deal." Belly laughed, not liking all the attention she was getting.

           "I'm sorry, Belly? Rory? Those things?" Steven's mouth was open in disbelief, he just couldn't imagine seeing them dolled up like actual girls.

           "Shut up, cretin." Belly scoffed, and Steven could only let out a string of laughter.

           "Ok, this is gonna be so much fun, just you wait. There's the tea, the auction, the ball of course, the rehearsal. I gotta write this down. We need to go shopping!" Susannah began to spit out word vomit, clearly the most excited out of the moms.

           "This sounds expensive." Laurel made that awkward moment face she usually does.

            "Oh, don't worry, Laur. It's on us. It was our idea after all." Rose piped up cheerfully, wrapping her arms around the less affectionate woman.

            "And we still need to style you for your book party." Susannah grinned, joining the two.

           "Belly, are you sure you wanna do this? It doesn't seem very you." Laurel ignored her two best friends, putting her focus on her daughter.

           "It's not. She's probably just doing it because Rory wants to." Conrad dryly stated. The two girls looked at him with irritation in their expressions.

           "Conrad, could you please be a little more supportive? And so what if that was the case? Belly and Rory are best friends! Now, which two of you boys are going to escort them to the ball?" Susannah asked the three boys, genuinely interested in their answers. She's known for a very long time now that her sons would end up with her best friend's daughters.

           "Not me. I went last year." Conrad was the first to object. "Yeah, and I swore off balls." Jeremiah objected as well. Everyone laughed, but mostly Steven. "The dances, dude!" Jeremiah quickly defended.

            "Wow, guys, stop fighting over us." Belly sarcastically announced, a bit hurt by that.

            "We're not going with either of you. We'll find our own dates." Aurora glanced at Jeremiah for a split second, wishing he would've volunteered to be her date so that she wouldn't have to find someone else.

             "Wikipedia says debutante balls require instruction, morals, and social etiquette." Laurel read out loud, staring at her laptop intently.

            "I'm going for a swim." Conrad announced before he left the house, catching Belly's undivided attention. She looked down sadly as he disappeared.

            "They could use some etiquette." Steven cracked up, but no one else thought it was funny.

            "No offense, but I don't feel like a country club is the best place to teach our girls about morals." Laurel seemed worried about the teenage girls.

           "Laurel, times have changed. There's a girl debbing this season and she's bringing her girlfriend as an escort. Plus the club is fine with it." Rose stated.

           "How very progressive of them." Laurel finally gave in. Aurora and Isabel cheered happily.

          "Hurry up! We have shopping to do!" Susannah loudly exclaimed, rushing the girls.

           𝓢hopping for dresses was way more fun than Aurora could have imagined. She bought so many expensive outfits she was sure her wardrobe would be transformed by the end of the summer. The whole thing felt unreal, like something out of a fairytale. Even the cute little hats that she got to match her dresses costed more than she would ever pay on clothing.

The girls got dropped off at the country club by their moms and their nerves began to set it. Belly caught Rory by surprise when she reached for her hand and held it as if she were an anxious little kid.

"We got this." Aurora tried to encourage the girl, her lips parted slightly. Belly nodded.

"Oh my God, wow," Jeremiah approached the girls, completely starstruck.

"Ok, tell the truth, do we look like fools?" Isabel genuinely asked the boy for his opinion.

"Uh, no. You look good. Let me walk you over?" The boy offered, his eyes nervously flickering from Rory to Belly, and then to the ground.

"Let's go." Aurora interlinked one of her arms with Belly's arm and the other with Jeremiah's.

He walked them all the way inside the building, showing them exactly where they needed to go. All the girls in the room stared as they entered.

"Jeremiah, where's your shirt?" A woman stepped forward. "It's always a pleasure." Jeremiah ignored her question, instead kissing the older woman on her wrist as a proper form of greeting.

"This is Belly and Rory. I mean, Isabel Conklin and Aurora Monroe. The young women my mom told you about. My future wives." The boy winked at the girls and they both smacked him on the arm.

"They're late." The woman gave them a bit of stern look, but it was obvious she meant no harm.

"We're so sorry." Belly was quick to apologize. "You're at table two." The woman answered.

Jeremiah continued to goof around before he finally left the girls alone. They stared at table two, seeing a couple familiar faces. Yikes, it didn't look good for Belly. First was the girl that was kissing Conrad, and second, the girl that was with Steven.

Aurora gave Isabel a look as they approached the table, hoping she wouldn't freak out and try to run away or do anything stupid. They both took seats next to each other, knowing they'd be fine together.

"Hi," Belly greeted everyone with her smile. "Hey," a few of the girls replied dryly. Wow. They could've at least pretended to be more friendly.

"I'm sorry, are any of you mute? Hello?"Aurora spoke up, smiling sweetly at them. Everyone spoke up and greeted the two girls that time.

"Stop it." Isabel whispered to her. The blonde girl rolled her eyes and put her head down.

Everyone at the table eventually started to engage in conversation soon after that.

"I told my mom the only way I would do this is if I could bring my girlfriend cause I thought it would be a deal killer but the club has been surprisingly chill about the whole thing. I'm honestly shocked." A girl spoke up, hinting that the whole thing was boring. She had more to say but Rory eventually tuned her out.

"Cousins' like to pretend to be woke. Trust me, my family deals with it constantly." The girl that was with Conrad explained to everyone at the table.

"The things we do for college applications." Another girl spoke up, shaking her head.

"Don't worry, Marissa. You'll get in everywhere." The girl that was with Steven nicely stated.

"Wait, where are you applying?" Belly asked the girl, seeming interested in their conversation.

"You know, the usual. Every Ivy. What about you two?" The girl motioned between the two girls.

"Oh, Belly's only a sophomore and Rory's only a junior. I think that's what Conrad told me." The girl that was with Conrad answered for them.

"Yeah, I'll be a junior in the fall. And Rory's going to be a senior." Belly smiled awkwardly. Rory smiled as well but it wasn't genuine. Usually, she was nicer than this, but the way they acted at first rubbed her the wrong way and she didn't know how to react to it. Maybe she was overthinking, but she didn't feel welcomed at all.

"Is this your first summer here in Cousins?" A girl asked, the girls shook their heads.

"We've been coming here our entire lives." Aurora finally joined the conversation.

"Yeah, they're like family friends with Conrad and Jeremiah." The girl that was with Conrad spoke up for them again, which they were thankful for.

"Do any of you date Jeremiah? Are you gonna take him to the ball?" A girl questioned.

"Oh my God, back off, Gigi! They're like basically related. You have nothing to worry about." The girl spoke up for them again. Awkward.

"I'm not worried." Gigi exclaimed, earning a side eye from Aurora. She should be, the girls thought.

"She's had this thing for Jeremiah ever since he got abs." The girl that was with Steven giggled out. The Gigi girl gave her the deadliest look ever seen.

"Relax! I'm not into Jeremiah Fisher!" Steven's new girl exclaimed. "Yeah, and you're noticing his abs?" Gigi shot back a remark quickly.

"She's too busy eye fucking the waiter." Another girl chimed in. "Dude! That's Belly's brother!" The girl gave her friend an incredulous look. Belly and Aurora both scrunched their faces up in disgust.

"That's gross guys." Belly shook her head and Rory let out a laugh at how appalled she looked.

"So what's it like to live with Jeremiah and Conrad? Conrad's so mysterious." A girl eyed the two down, wanting to know some insight.

Both girls were at a loss for words, not knowing what to say or where to even start.

"Hello, debutantes, I understand some of you may think that debbing is outdated. It's something you're doing to appease your family's, but the Cousins debutante ball is a part of history." The lead woman started to give them a speech, interrupting their conversation. Everyone listened silently while the others snuck alcohol to each other and drunk it.

"Hey, little sis!" The girl that Steven was with introduced herself to Rory while the girl that was with Conrad did the same to Belly. It was weird, but fun, and also a little different from what they were used to.

"Come with me real quick!" Belly grabbed Rory and pulled her away from her conversation with the girl she now identified as Shayla, her big sis.

"Where are we going?" Aurora followed Belly's lead, being lead into the halls where she recognized Marcus and his friend Cameron.

"Wow, you're debs?" Marcus stared in awe. Cam did too, but his jaw was dropped.

"Surprise!" Belly did jazz hands.

"You both look stunning." Cam complimented.

"Thank you." Rory grinned, not knowing what else to say. She wasn't prepared at all.

"Well, uh, we're going to the drive in movies tonight. Would you two like to come? We have our own cars so we'll be separated but not really." Marcus began mumbling, but the girls still heard him.

"Yeah, we'd love to." Belly answered him before Rory even got the chance to think about it.

"That's great!" Cam gave his phone to Belly and they exchanged numbers so Rory and Marcus thought it would be smart to do the same.

After that the boys left. Rory punched Belly in the arm harshly, annoyed that the girl dragged her into a double date. How cliche but also how cute.

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oo. ┊ 𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐀❜𝐒 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 ！ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ
❪ 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁'𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚃𝙴 ❫ ✩₊˚. ◛ ·˚ ༘ ᝰ ── 💌

It's literally been a whole year since I've updated this book and for that I'm so sorry! But I graduated so I have too much free time on my hands and decided to go ahead and lock in on all my books!!!