it was dinner time. stella was sat beside jeremiah and conrad, who was sitting at the head of the table. steven was watching something on his phone and jeremiah was looking over his shoulder, laughing.

laurel, isabel and steven's mom, was not enjoying it. "steven, i swear to god, if you look at that phone one more time, i'm putting it in the screen basket."

"it's just, we want to see your beautiful faces," susannah, jeremiah and conrad's mom, added.

"she's talking about me," jeremiah muttered in stella's direction. she stifled a laugh under her breath. he smiled and sarcastically added, "what? what's so funny?"

susannah continued. "can dinner be a screen-free zone. you know, like the olden days."

jeremiah looked over at steven and noticed that he was still on his phone. "steven," he said before grabbing steven's phone out of his hand. he then continued to "shoot the phone" into the screen basket like a basketball. he made it. "boom! nailed it."

"dude, are you kidding me?" steven complained. andy, stella's older brother, laughed and nodded at jeremiah's good shot.

"that was good," stella laughed, putting her hands out for high fives. jeremiah happily high fived her and started flexing his arms.

steven rolled his eyes. "okay, okay, okay, we get it. you've been working out."

"oh, you're just jealous because j has a better body than you," stella scoffed, making jeremiah smirk in her direction and run a hand down his chest, gesturing to his abs. andy cringed at the interaction. stella let out a laugh, trying to cover up the fact that she was actually impressed with how much "stronger" jeremiah looked than last summer. "enough. i regret what i said."

steven rolled his eyes. "uh, no, actually, it's all about the lean look now. otherwise, you can't wear tailored suits. tell 'em, andy."

"no, yeah. the lean look is what all the ladies are looking for," andy smirked cockily.

"sure, sure," jeremiah mumbled, still smiling at stella playfully.

conrad finally spoke, but it was just a small mumble. "tailored suits."

stella tried to cheer him up by smiling at him, but conrad just forced a small smile for her then looked back down at his practically still full plate. he was acting odd and distant this summer. stella and conrad's friendship didn't feel the same as it was.

"when are you leaving for training camp, man?" steven brought up conrad's football plans.

everybody went silent. conrad glanced at stella before looking at the floor. jeremiah decided to break the silence. "uh, he quit football."

everyone looked around awkwardly. stella looked up at jeremiah then conrad, trying to read the situation.

steven was the first to speak. "what- wait, really? you quit?"

"mm-hmm," conrad hummed quietly. he maintained eye-contact with steven, trying not to look at stella or isabel.

"are you kidding me, man? i'd- i'd kill to play college ball," steven said, making things slightly more uncomfortable.

susannah cut in. "he can always change his mind."

"i'm not gonna change my mind," conrad shook his head. "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 asked.

stella, jeremiah, and steven sat up straighter. "oh, dude, you can work at the club," steven suggested happily. "yeah, with me, jere, and stel."

jeremiah and stella agreed excitedly and waited for conrad to agree too. "i'm not gonna work at the club," conrad chuckled.

"wait, you guys are working this summer?" isabel referred to the other three across the table.

jeremiah smiled and looked at the two teenagers beside him. "yeah, i'm lifeguarding. steven's working the snack shop. and stel's gonna teach some kids to swim or something."

steven and jeremiah fist bumped, then he turned to stella to do their "secret handshake". it wasn't all that secret.

"oh, belly, i almost forgot! you too, stel." susannah stood up from her chair and retrieved two envelopes from her bag. "i have a surprise for you two."

she handed out the envelopes and stella opened hers with jeremiah curiously peeking over her shoulder. laurel looked annoyed. "so this is why you had to stop by the country club."

susannah hummed and sent laurel a small smile. andy had his eyes trained on the envelope in stella's hands. "what, uh wh- wh- what is that?"

"i wrangled belly and stel invitations to be debutantes," susannah explained proudly.

belly looked up from her invitation. "is that the thing where the girls wear white dresses and curtsy?"

jeremiah let out a quiet laugh. "you have to curtsy," he teased stella.

susannah continued with her explanation. "it's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society. 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."

stella and andy's mom, anne, cut in. "i cannot believe you are still holding on to this archaic dream."

susannah defended her idea. "no, it used to be about finding a husband, but now it's about networking. they teach you leadership skills, like how to market yourself, and it benefits charity. it's, um, like a bat mitzvah."

laurel laughed loudly. "it is not like a bat mitzvah."

jeremiah nudged stella in the side. "sounds fancy."

laurel then went on about how there is nothing religious about a debutante ball.

conrad furrowed his eyebrows and continued playing with his food. "the whole deb scene is bullshit. it's for sheep."

"yeah," jeremiah agreed.

stella shrugged. she wasn't really into the whole debutante scene.

"no, it's not. it's when a girl has a coming out, it's a formal recognition she's reached maturity," susannah explained.

steven and andy let out stifled laughs. "oh, sorry. i'm sorry. mature?" steven chuckled.

"are we talking about the right stella?" andy covered his mouth so that his drink wouldn't spit out from laughing.

"a couple months ago, you had a cat funeral," steven reminded isabel. "you made us all wear black."

isabel scrunched her face up. "shut up, steven. i saw you crying in your room."

jeremiah looked around the table, realizing what had just been shared. "wait, mochi died? dang. i'm sorry, bells."

"and you!" andy laughed, pointing at stella. "you broke up with one of your boyfriends because he texted you too much and invited you too many places."

jeremiah's jaw dropped. stella put her cup down, laughing at the thought of her old boyfriend. "that was a long time ago and you know it! that was my first boyfriend and i broke up with him because i was lazy and i didn't want to go out then. i love going out now."

conrad glanced up at stella, knowing that this wasn't news to him. she had told him all about it because they were best friends. it was just different now.

"poor guy, stel!" jeremiah giggled, looking back and forth between andy and stella.

"i'm sure he was fine," stella defended herself.

susannah reminded them of the original conversation topic that had been thrown to the side. "belly, stel. don't you want to get all dressed up?"

"i don't know. i'll think about it," stella replied kindly before making a face at jeremiah that said i'm definitely not doing this.

laurel sighed for isabel. "it's just not belly's kind of thing. she's our feral little alley cat."

the rest of the teenagers at the table except for isabel and conrad started stifling their laughs. "alley cat," jeremiah repeated in between his fits of giggles and glanced up at stella.

isabel had finally decided that she'd think about it and susannah was pleased with that response.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

okay, i decided that i'm going to stop here but let me say that i'm kind of nervous that this chapter is boring so let me know if you guys thought this chapter was boring or if it was good

anyways, thank you guys. please vote, comment, etc.

AND THANK YOU for all the reads on this book, like what is happening right now lmfaoo

[ unedited ]