Cruel Summer - Conrad Fisher

two

    "Oh, dude," Steven catches his attention, his eyes wide with excitement, "you can work at the club with me and Jere."

    He gestures between himself and Jere, as the blonde-haired boy nods in agreement, smiling brightly at the idea, "yeah."

    "I'm not gonna work at the club," Conrad tells them, laughing as if they'd just said the most absurd thing.

    "Wait, you guys are working this summer?" Belly speaks up for the first time in a while, her brows furrowed.

    "Yeah, I'm lifeguarding," Jeremiah explains, holding his fist up for Steven to props, "and Stevens working at the snack shop."

    "And Flo is working on her novel," Mom says, leaning over to squeeze my hand. When I told mom I wanted to go to school, she was ecstatic. We'd even found this killer scholarship, all I had to do was submit a completed, unedited novel by the end of the summer. The winning story got the scholarship. It was a long shot, but one mom was very supportive about.

    "Will you base a character off me?" Jere asks. He leans his long legs under the table to kick mine, something he rarely does.

    "Aw yeah," I nod, faking excitement. He sits up straighter, eager like a little kid,  "a little bridge troll or something, with curly hair."

    Conrad laughs, covering it so quickly with a cough you hardly notice. A surge of both pride and annoyance surges through me, proud that I could still make Conrad Fisher laugh, even when we aren't friends, but annoyed at the fact that he pretends I can't. That he'd rather awkwardly cough than admit, he finds me funny.

    "Oh, Belly, I almost forgot." Susannah stands up from her seat, grabbing something off the cabinet behind her, "I have a surprise for you." She waves a white envelope in the air before handing it to my sister.

    Mom sighs, "so this is why you had to stop by the country club."

     "What is it?" I lean over Belly's shoulder. As she pulls it out, I read over the paper, my brows scrunching up, "A debutante invite? Aren't they like completely sexist?"

     "Yes," mom says, at the same time Susannah begins speaking.

    "It's when a girl comes of age and is presented to society," Susannah explains to both Belly and me, "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," Mom stands up from the table, moving to grab the bottle of wine.

    "I agree with mom," I say, shooting Susannah an apologetic smile, "aren't debutantes essentially about arranged marriages? Like Bridgerton or something?"

    Susannah laughs at my reference, "it used to be, but it's not anymore. 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."

    Mom laughs, walking out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine in hand, "it is not like a bat mitzvah. There is nothing religious about a debutante ball."

    "The whole deb scene is bullshit," Conrad says. I turn to look at him, "it's for sheep."

    "Yeah," Jere agrees with his brother.

    "No, it's not," Susannah corrects the boys, "it's when a girl has a coming out. It's a formal recognition she's reached maturity."

    Steven snorts, dropping his fork on his plate as he chuckles, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Mature?" Susannah nods, her brow raised at my immature younger brother, "Belly? A couple of months ago, you had a cat funeral. You made us all wear black." Steven reminds Belly, clearly trying to embarrass her.

    "And you cried at it," I remind him, sticking up for Belly. I always do. Steven never tries embarrassing me, mainly because I have all the dirt on him.

    "Wait, Mochi died?" Jeremiah asks Belly, "Dang. I'm sorry, Bells."

    Before Belly can reply to Jeremiah, Susannah says something, "Belly, don't you want to get all dressed up?"

    "It's just not Belly's kind of thing," Mom says to her best friend. I wish they'd let Belly say if it was or not. Even if I think it's outdated and sexist, if Belly really wanted to do it, I'd support her no matter what, "she's our feral little alley cat."

    Jeremiah and Steven laugh, and I suddenly wish my legs were long enough to reach over and kick them both, "I'll think about it." Belly tells Susannah, shooting our brother a glare.

    "She'll think about it," Susannah tells mom proudly, "I did get an invite for you too, Florence... might look good in college applications? I get if you're busy, though."

She knew me so well. It would look good on applications, give me an edge that other applicants might not have; but I have novel to write and I have no clue what it's going to be about yet. Mom told me I'd find inspiration here, that my story would come to me. I just had to be patient. "Yeah," I nod. I can feel Conrad watching me and it takes everything not to look back at him, "I'll think about it."