𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒¹ - steven conklin

6. good old days

"think fast, little monster!" steven threw her the gift. it was a princeton hoodie for her and a princeton t-shirt for belly. "so you won't have to steal mine when i get in"

"i didn't know you were still considering princeton" willow said. "but thank you a lot, boo"

"my dad said i could try for some scholarships or get financial aid or something"

"oh, but why-" laurel got interrupted by susannah. "conrad, is your turn"

 "i, i forgot" he mumbled, and everybody spared a glance at him. willow tried to make eye contact, but he was too concentrated on his shoes. 

what was going on? he put his mind and his soul into that gift. both of the girls thought that.

"alright, so it's my turn!" susannah handed both of them a little box. into belly's, there was a gold necklace, for willow, inside there was a pearls necklace.

"your grandma gifted it to me when i was sixteen, so now it's yours!" she helped her to put it on and willow hugged her tight.

"fine, fine, now we can have breakfast?"

"jere, you're a lost case"

⭑○◦

"are you guys playing chicken?" nicole and conrad appeared on the backyard porch.

"without me? guys i hate you!" willow's voice echoed from the front of the house. she was standing on the porch in her debutante's dress, posing for her portrait. 

"don't move, darling! i'm almost done" susannah exclaimed.

"it was taylor's idea" belly said, and nicole waved at her. "she's my best friend from home, she's here for the weekend"

"cute!"

that morning, taylor arrived at cousins by bus for belly's birthday, and with willow and jeremiah belly drove to the bus stop to get her.
as always, taylor called jeremiah jeremy, claiming she liked it better.
she wanted to stop for a banana split on the beach.
and she got excited when belly said that nicole was throwing a party that night, but she didn't want to go. it wasn't her thing.

"yeah, yeah...do you guys want to play a real game?" belly suggested.

"there it is!" susannah smiled, admiring her only daughter's portrait. the kids weren't allowed to see them before they were all done, so willow ran inside without hesitating.

"i wanna play too, give me a second!" five minutes later, they were playing volleyball in the pool. 

steven and willow against taylor and belly. 

"c'mon little monster!" steven shouted when willow scored.

it was taylor's turn to serve when she hit nicole's head, who was sitting on the pool edge with conrad, chatting with him.

"oh my god" taylor giggled. "i didnt'-"

"taylor." belly frowned . "i'm so sorry nicole"

"it was an accident" taylor said, concerned by how much belly cared about the girl who was with the she had a crush on for years.

"let's get you some ice or something" conrad walked her inside.

"feel better!" belly felt guilty.

"c'mon belly, conrad can take care of nicole. let's go inside and look at ourselves in the mirror some more"

conrad stopped and look at taylor in the eyes. "yeah, have fun with that" then he disappeared inside. 

⭑○◦

"why don't you eat meat, cam cameron?" jere asked.

they were having all together the traditional lobster birthday dinner, around the big table, chatting and laughing.

"the meat industry is like the number one contributor to global warming...and i just like animals"

"just don't come for my leather jacket" taylor giggled.

"i'm pretty sure you mean pleather" taylor flipped steven off and willow laughed.

"belly actually eats meat, so you let her kiss you with those lips?" jere continued, and everybody laughed.

"no, i don't judge people for eating meat, it's just a personal choice. i don't care"

"so you don't mind if, uh, her lips touched a dead animal, and then those dead animal lips touch your lips, right?" belly ad taylor made eye contact, they clearly looked pissed and belly kicked jeremiah's leg under the table.

"i don't mind at all, in fact.." he leaned over belly and kissed her.

for the second time, willow's jaw dropped, while steven and jeremiah started pretending to throw up.

"alright, guys, alright. belly's allowed to kiss. but that's it" laurel bursted into a laugh.

"no, please, mom you're so not funny. no more wine for you" her daughter complained.

"i'm sorry" steven started. "i don't understand why anybody would want to kiss somebody who once fully shat in the bathtub" jeremiah almost chucked with his drink.

"come on, i was like two years old!"

"more like six"

"shut up steven!" belly blurted.

"it feels like a lifetime ago!" susannah sighed.

"i remember when taylor visited last summer, and you and you" willow pointed her brothers. "dared him" she pointed steven. "to pee in the fireplace and you stunk up the entire house for days. do you remember that?" everybody laughed.

"i blamed the neighbor's cat!' susannah exclaimed.

"we were drunk, we were drunk." steven explained.

"on what, like half a white claw?" taylor said.

"she got you there!"

"you know, i'm thinking maybe we should go to nicole's party" belly said, wanting to rove the guys wrong. she could handle a stupid party.

"yes!" taylor and willow exclaimed. "we love you!"