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Liz makes her way upstairs after Belly. Both girls going into their respective rooms to unpack. Liz opens her door and a smile instantly takes over her face.

She sets her bag by her closet and looks around the room. Her eyes land on the cork board hanging by her mirror. As she walks over to the board, her eyes land on a picture of her and Conrad.

They were standing side by side and Conrad had his arm wrapped around Liz's shoulders as they hugged. Liz had brown hair and Conrad had eyeglasses. They both had their eyes shut with big smiles on their faces.

A small smile overtook her features as she looked at the picture. A knock on her door snapped her out of her daze. She quickly turned and saw her brother in the door way.

"Yeah?" She said softly

Dakota shrugged, "Nothing. Just checking on you." His eyebrows furrowed, "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good." She nodded. She walked over to her bag and started to look for a change of clothes.

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

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

"Because I was standing there for awhile."

She turned quickly to look at him, "Really?" He hums in agreement, "I didn't hear you."

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

"I don't have a Conrad shrine." She scoffed

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

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

"Whatever." He says standing up to leave her room, "Hopefully you finally admit your love for him." Her eyes widen as she looks towards him

"Shut up." She says in a hushed tone

"What? Am I wrong?" He says as his hands raise, "Literally everyone knows it."

She stands up and storms over to him. She turns him to push him out, "You're literally so annoying."

She pushes him out and he turns back to her, "I know you are, but what am I?"

"I know you are, but what am I?" She mocks before slamming the door in his face.

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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 says cutting her off, "I was just gonna sit on the bench all season anyways."

"Well, if you're not playing football anymore," Laurel looks at him, "what are you gonna do

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

"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

"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."

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

"Wait, Mochi died?" Jeremiah asks softly, "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."

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Liz sat at her vanity as Jeremiah knocked at her door. She turned quickly as he smiled, "You still coming to the party?"

"Yeah." She shrugged

"Good. Then you can go get Conrad." He nods

She stood up quickly, "What? Why me?"

"Because he actually talks to you." He chuckles as he walks out. She sighs deeply as she looked at herself in the mirror.

She made her way downstairs and passed Laurel on her way, "Hey, Laurel."

She quickly looked up before looking back down at her phone, "Hey sweetie."

"Do you know if Conrad is still outside?" She asked

"I think so. I know Belly is out there."

Liz frowned as she stood there for a second, "Belly?" She says softly to herself not thinking Laurel heard her

"Yeah. She went out for a night swim." She smiled at her. Liz smiled back as she made her way out of the back door.

She stepped off the porch and walked towards the pool. Her steps slowed as she saw Belly in the pool and Conrad sitting on the edge staring at each other. Her expression saddens as she watches them. She decided to ignore the pit in her stomach and continued walking to the pool. They notice her presence as she clears her throat.

"Uh, the guys said they're ready to go." She says as she looks at Conrad. He looks over to her as she looks back at Belly.

"Can I come, too?" She asks

Liz is cut off by Steven before she can answer, "Uh, no."

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

Conrad puts out his blunt and stands up, "See you."

"Let's go, slowpoke." Dakota says

"Have fun with the moms!" Steven teases as the boys walk to the car

Belly looks over at Liz who hold a sympathetic expression, "You want me to stay with you?"

"No, um.." She shakes her head, "It's okay. You can go."

"You sure? I wouldn't wanna be the only girl anyway."

Belly chuckles softly as she shakes her head again, "No, it's fine. Have fun."

Liz smiles before turning away.

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Liz stands at the beach with a cup in her hand full of a drink she definitely wasn't enjoying. She lost the boys as soon as she got here and she's getting irritated by the amount of drunk teens surrounding her. She's really wishing she stayed with Belly.

"Liz!"

Liz jumps as she turns. She instantly smiles as she ran towards them, "River!"

The girls collide in a hug as they both giggle, "Thank god you showed up." Liz sighs, "I was so ready to leave."

The girls let go of each other as River laughs, "I didn't know you already made it to Cousins."

"Yeah, we made it this afternoon. I meant to text you, but I completely forgot."

River waves her off, "No big deal, but I am glad I found you." She wraps her arm around her shoulder as they start walking.

"Why?" Liz frowns

"Because I can now find you someone to hang out with this summer. While also finding myself someone to hang out with this summer." She smirks

"I am not going to be the friend that gets a random date so you can find your boy toy." Liz scoffs. River rolls her eyes in fake annoyance.

"As much as I love the idea of you and Conrad together, I'm getting tired of this hard to get game he's playing."

"He can't play hard to get if he doesn't know I like him." Liz chuckles

"He knows. Anyone who's around you guys for five seconds knows." She says as Liz laughs again. Liz looks over to the left of River to see Belly and Steven arguing.

"Belly?" She calls as she walks towards her with River close behind. Belly looks over and sighs in relief as Steven holds her arm.

"Liz." She says as she tries to pull away from him.

Liz makes it to them as she groans, "Steven let her go."

"No, she's 15 she shouldn't be here." He says as Belly continues struggling against him. They continue fighting as Liz tries helping Belly. Finally, Steven lets her go, but unfortunately, she ended up falling in front of everyone. Liz hurries to help her up.

"Belly?" Liz and Belly turn to see Conrad and a girl too close for Liz's comfort.

Belly fixes her dress as she looks at Conrad. She notices the hat the girl had on, "I thought you hated the Red Sox."

The girl looks around in confusion, "Who are you?"

Belly frowns as she grows defensive, "Who are you?"

"Nicole. Conrad and I went to the deb ball together last summer."

"It was after you guys left to take Steven to look at colleges." He says

"I thought you said that deb balls are bullshit, and all debs are sheep." Belly says

"I didn't.." Conrad tries before looking at Nicole who still looks confused. He looks back over at Belly, "You're such a brat."

"Don't be an asshole." Liz scoffs. Conrad looks at her with an unfamiliar look in his eyes.

"Belly." Jeremiah says as he and Dakota jog over, "You came! Great, we can all hang out, you guys."

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

"What?" Dakota frowns

"Yeah, we're leaving. Are you kidding me?" He says as he tries to grab Belly's arm

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

The girl on Steven's side, Shayla, speaks up, "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."

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

"Wow." Dakota says

"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 hurries to them as Jeremiah hesitates, "Okay, I will be right back."

He follows behind Dakota as Belly stands there. She looks over to River who nods for her to follow them. Belly follows behind her as Liz stands there for a couple of seconds. She looks at Conrad who stares back at her before she rolls her eyes and follows behind the two girls.

•••

Liz was laughing at something River said when she heard yelling going on behind her. She turned to see what it was and realized it was a fight. She didn't think much of it until she realized that it was Conrad who was fighting.

"Shit." She muttered as she ran over to them. As she made it over there, the guy that Conrad was fighting was pushed back into her. She stumbled back as his elbow hit her face.

Conrad stopped for a second upon realizing that he hit Liz, "Liz." He muttered when the guy pushes him again, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Dakota and Jeremiah came up behind her as Dakota helped her stand upright, "You okay?"

Before she could answer, cop cars pulled up and everyone started to scramble.

"Come on." He says as he helps Liz to the car

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