stella was sitting with her legs stretched out across the backseat. isabel was practicing her driving and jeremiah was teling her where to go. "you excited to see taylor?" he asked.

stella threw a chip into the air, trying to catch it in her mouth. it landed on her eye, making her swat it away. "taylor? oh dude, i love taylor!"

without taking her eyes off the road, isabel scrunched her face up and lied terribly, "yeah, uh, of course. so excited."

jeremiah and stella looked at each other and chuckled. "you sure?" he said.

"look, she's my best friend in the world, but, um, i mean, you know how taylor is," isabel said. she was smiling more now. "she's like a hurricane."

"oh, yeah, yeah. hurricane taylor," jeremiah agreed.

stella scoffed and let out a laugh. "i love hurricane taylor."

"and i guess i always feel like the supporting character around her," isabel confessed. stella's laughter quieted. "which, normally, i don't mind."

oh, shit, stella thought. we're getting personal? she better not ask for advice 'cause that's where this ends.

"but it's your birthday," jeremiah said understandingly. "and you're the main character, belly, not her."

stella raised her eyebrows and turned the corners of her mouth down as if saying, good advice, i guess.

he always knew what to say. she envied that kind of talent. he glanced back at stella with the same expression as if he had also surprised himself with his own advice.

"yeah. thanks, jere," isabel said. this time she did take her eyes off the road for a split second.

the car swerved making everybody in the vehicle fall to the side. isabel got the car back on track quickly though.

while stella and jeremiah were recovering from the incident, they looked at each other with wide eyes.

he exhaled deeply before isabel looked around the car nervously. "whoops," she said.

"bells?" stella said unsurely. she stifled a laugh. "you're probably gonna need a part two to this driving lesson, okay?"

"and part three and part four," isabel replied.

everyone in the car was laughing. stella stared at her bag of chips, crinkling the edges to entertain herself.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the bus that taylor was in pulled up to the station. "oh, yeah, party girl is back!" stella was getting excited.

taylor and stella had always gotten along because... they just did. they both loved to go out and have a good time.

isabel giggled while she watched the bus pull up. meanwhile, stella and jeremiah were standing a few feet behind her. "twenty bucks she calls you 'jeremy' again," stella bet proudly, poking at his arm.

jeremiah tilted his head to the side and laughed. "i dont- i think she learned from last time."

"you think?" stella raised her eyebrows.

isabel turned around. she had been listening that whole time. "that's how she flirts with you, jere."

"here she comes!" stella said excitedly, rocking back and forth on her feet.

taylor gasped once she was out of the bus. "oh my god! oh my god!"

isabel giggled and went in for a hug. stella lightly tugged on jeremiah's arm excitedly.

"happy birthday!" taylor said in the hug. she carried a pile of balloons with her.

isabel smiled. "thank you."

"hey, stella!" taylor moved on to the girl standing beside jeremiah. while she was hugging stella, she noticed isabel's outfit. "belly, you little tart."

"what?" she replied confusedly.

"you finally took my advice. this outfit is snatched," she said in a 'duh' tone. she noticed stella's outfit too which was just a simple t-shirt and jean shorts paired with her nike socks and blazers. "stel, you too. you know, less is more."

"oh, my god, taylor," isabel said shyly.

stella laughed. "god, i missed you."

"seriously, you're literally rocking a t-shirt and shorts and you still look like a snack. isn't stella looking like a snack?" taylor asked jeremiah while grabbing stella's waist.

he laughed with stella. "always."

his smile is the perfect mixture of cute and hot, she thought. okay, what? what did i just think right now-

everyone went quiet for a moment.

okay, somebody say something, stella thought. ha... okay, seriously. somebody.

"oh, uh, here, let me get your bag," jeremiah offered to taylor.

she happily shook her bags off her shoulders. "thank you. you're such a gentleman, jeremy," she giggled.

"of course," he bowed, sending stella a defeated look. he owed her twenty bucks now.

"um, it's jeremiah, not jeremy," isabel corrected her.

taylor flirted with him with her eyes. "i like 'jeremy' better."

isabel chuckled awkwardly and looked at stella who just shrugged. jeremiah readjusted the bags in his hands. "uh, should we, uh, head home?"

taylor gasped and took isabel's arm in her hands. "ooh, actually, can we make a stop first?"

they both hummed, meaning that they had agreed that they should stop somewhere before they went back home.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the three teenagers were sitting outside an ice cream shop at a picnic table. stella sat next to taylor and isabel was next to jeremiah.

jeremiah groaned after putting a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "wow."

stella had her own little cup of ice cream. mint chocolate chip. her eyes rolled back as she ate another bite. "oh my god. best flavor."

taylor and isabel were sharing a sundae with bananas in it. "mmm. i live," taylor said after taking a bite. "i would literally eat this every day if i could."

"me too," isabel agreed, putting another spoonful in her mouth.

"mmm, okay. open your present." taylor dug into one of her bags.

jeremiah was resting his head on one of his hands. he raised his eyesbrows at stella who returned the same look.

while isabel was opening her present, he slowly reached his spoon over to stella's cup and grabbed a small scoop. her jaw dropped as he smirked and put the spoon in his mouth.

stella shook her head and grabbed his cup from in front of him. she took a similar sized scoop and put her spoon in her mouth dramatically, pushing his cup back to him.

"that's what you get," she said teasingly. jeremiah kept his eyes on the girl. he couldn't help but just watch her sometimes.

isabel pulled a purple-ish bikini out of the gift bag. "i think it'll look so hot on you," taylor mentioned before anyone could say anything.

belly's never really been into that kind of stuff, stella thought.

jeremiah's eyes widened. he chuckled, sharing a look with stella.

"do you like it?" taylor asked isabel, taking another bite of her ice cream.

a scoff left jeremiah's mouth. "okay, belly would never wear that," he laughed.

stella kept her mouth shut because maybe isabel wanted to have her own hot girl summer. she wasn't going to judge.

"actually, i really like it." isabel held the bikini top up to herself, then smiled really big. "thank you, taylor."

"you're welcome," she replied before nudging stella. "okay, so, what's the plan for tonight? where's the party?"

"that's what i'm talking about," stella smirked, nudging her back.

stella returned to their ice cream after isabel said, "well, susannah always plans a big lobster dinner."

"boring. no," taylor complained, giving stella a look that said, you're kidding, right? she let stella continue eating her ice cream and turned back to isabel. "it's your 16th birthday. we have to go out."

"no, no, no. these dinners are really, really fun," isabel insisted.

jeremiah and stella looked at each other and decided to stay silent. they both knew that a party would be more fun than one of those lobster dinners.

"and susannah had the idea to make it midsommar themed," isabel continued. she smiled as she explained, "so she got flower crowns especially made for us and everything."

taylor pressed her lips together. "don't you think you should be spending your birthday with people your own age?"

"i am," isabel said. "you're here."

stella looked up from her ice cream. her and jeremiah glanced at each other. "hello?" she put her hands up.

jeremiah chuckled. "are we invisible?"

taylor shrugged and looked between him and stella. "and i guess steven."

isabel scoffed, still trying to prove her point. "and cam's coming, too. you know, you should invite daniel, stel."

"are you sure?" stella asked. she wasn't one to have a guy meet the family after one or two dates.

"oh, well, now you have to! we have to meet stella's secret lover," taylor shimmied her shoulders.

everyone else at the table cringed. "you make it sound weird," stella laughed to cover up her scrunched up face.

taylor ignored their reactions and turned her attention back to isabel. "well, i'm so excited to meet the guy who finally got you to take your eyes off of you-know-who."

isabel's face turned serious. "taylor."

"what?" she said, acting innocent.

stella had an inkling that isabel might have a crush on conrad. she never confessed to stella though. maybe it was because she was best friends with him. isabel had never confessed to jeremiah either. and by the looks on both of their faces, they both knew exactly who she was talking about.

jeremiah and stella gave each other a look. they were both thinking the same thing.

damn, i owe stella ten bucks, he thought.

stella smirked to herself. that bet that i made, like, two years ago finally came in handy, she thought.

isabel accidentally glared at the other two teenagers at the table. as usual, jeremiah broke the awkward silence among the group. "i have an idea," he announced. "we can go to nicole's big blowout at her place tonight. maybe go after dinner?"

stella nodded proudly. finally, a good party.

"yes!" taylor immediately agreed. "who's nicole?"

isabel smiled at the thought of nicole. she looked up to her a lot. "she's my big sister for the deb ball. she's super nice and just really cool and fun and..."

the sides are taylor's mouth started to turn down, listening to her best friend talk about her new friend that she was growing close with. she threw down her spoon and scratched the back of her head uncomfortably and groaned.

"ugh, i'm, like, melting right now. can we go back to the house?" she asked, already gathering her things. "i want to change into my bikini and jump in the pool."

taylor smiled flirtaciously at jeremiah who didn't even notice her. he was already looking at stella who was clumsily trying to finish the last of her ice cream on the way to the trash can.

he smiled and called to her. "stel, you gonna get in the pool later?"

she wiped her mouth after throwing the cup away. "oh, uh, i don't know. i might just sit out there."

he didn't want to ask if she was going to change into a bikini or not because that would be weird.

would it be weird to ask? he thought. why do you even care? i don't care-

"sure. okay," jeremiah said.

taylor put her bag over her shoulder. "i call shotgun."

jeremiah's eyes widened while a playful smile grew on his face. he looked at stella who let out a loud laugh. "damn it, taylor!" she said jokingly, walking towards the backseat of the car.

she was stuck in the backseat on the way to pick up taylor from the train station and now, she was in the backseat again. a laugh left jeremiah's mouth as he poked stella's side.

"shut up." she pushed his hands down, holding back her laughs. stella was very ticklish. "come on, belly."

"okay, hold on," she said, taking her final bites of her ice cream. "i'm coming.

jeremiah sent stella a cocky smirk while she pretended to be grumpy, getting in the backseat. he pushed the joke even further and opened the door for taylor. stella watched as she placed her things in the front seat. "enjoy the front seat, taylor," he said happily, tilting his head at stella.

"oh, wow. look who decided to be nice," taylor said, flirting with him.

for some reason, it didn't sit right with stella. taylor's flirting, i mean. it never bothered her when she did it during the other summers. so why now?

jeremiah balanced on one leg and closed the car door. stella leaned out the rolled down window. he walked by her and poked her nose, making her scrunch it up. "you're stupid," she teased him.

*flashback*

𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐨

conrad slowly lifted his head to look at stella, hiding his mischievous smile. "tip #1. don't date stupid boys. or just any boys." he didn't want her to get hurt.

"stupid boys?" she laughed at him.

his face brightened. "yeah! stupid boys like... like..." he looked around for an example. "like jere."

they both burst into a fit of laughter together.

*flashback ends*

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

y'all, this chapter might be my longest one. what are you guys thinking about the story? pls tell me if it's boring lmfaoo :)) i can't wait to write the party scenes. AHHH <33

pls vote, comment, etc. THANK YOUU

if you guys have any ideas, please comment them down below :))

[ unedited ]