timeless, jeremiah fisher

twelve

gina's pov

"good morning, little deb," i said, as i saw belly walking into the kitchen, while i was having my breakfast. jeremiah and conrad were also there in the kitchen. it was the day for the deb ball. i knew steven was probably with shayla already. and i knew how excited susannah was for today.

"morning gi," she said with a smile at me. i could see how happy she was. she was excited for the ball too.

"i, um, picked up some of those good muffins," conrad told belly, smiling at her, and opening the box box for her.

"i'm good. thanks, though," belly said with a small smile. i could see conrad's face fall a bit. i shook my head.

"i, on the other hand, would really like one," i said, taking one of the muffins. conrad gave me a small smile. he seemed to be back to his normal self today.

"belly, you should get going," susannah said, getting into the kitchen with belly's dress and her shoes, laurel right behind her. she turned to the rest of us. "everyone, stay out of the family room. i have done all the painting, and we'll have a big unveiling after the ball." she then turned to jeremiah. "uh, can you put that in laurel's car, honey?"

"yeah. yeah," jeremiah said, getting up and taking the dress from his mother.

"hurry, hurry," susannha said.

"yeah, aren't you driving me?" belly asked, looking at laurel.

"i'm going over with susannah, so i thought maybe you could drive yourself," she replied to the girl. and thankfully she had gotten better at it in the last couple of days. i could see how happy she was hearing that as well. even though it was only a few blocks.

"we'll see you at the club in a few hours," susannah said, as belly was starting to leave.

"have fun bells," i shouted.

it had been about 10 mins since belly left the kitchen when i got up, planning to head up to my room. that was when i heard staven yelling at jeremiah about something. i stayed in the kitchen listening to the conversation because in my gut, i knew where it might be going. "no! i saw you guys kissing," steven said. i shook my head.

"you're not going to beat me up, are you?" jeremiah asked.

"i am really thinking about it right now."

"it's belly. i would never do anything to hurt her. i swear."

"it affects more than the two of you!" he shouted. "does gi know?" he seemed to have calmed down. "i just don't want things to get all messy. or anyone else to get hurt."

"i haven't told her. i think she'll be for us happy though."

"oh she -"

"steven!" i said, coming into the room and interrupting their conversation, while pretending i didn't hear any of it. "shayla texted and you need to get ready soon!"

before either of them could say anything, i pulled him with me as we went upstairs. i could see his annoyed expression, but i didn't care right now.

"gi, what the fuck," he said as we walked into his room. i turned to face him and his expression changed immediately. "i also need to tell you something. jere and belly -"

"i know," i said sitting down on the bed with a thump. "i have known for weeks. even before anything actually started between them."

"and you didn't tell me?"

"so that you yell at him more?" i said with a small chuckle. "job well done, by the way. you almost told him about how i felt."

"sorry. i just didn't want -"

"i know! and i'll be okay." i pause for a second, looking at the floor. steven sat down next to me and hugged me. "it is hard to see them together, but i'll be okay."

-x-x-x-

"look at us," susannah said as we reached the clubhouse. i could hear the sadness in her voice. i gave her a smile. "it's perfect."

"mom, you're not going to cry, are you?" jeremiah asked, he had noticed how emotional susannah was as well.

"and ruin my makeup? no way," she replied, making me chuckle. "it's just everything will be different next year." i noticed laurels face fall on hearing that. "it may be the last summer we're all together."

"just don't forget, i get to dance with you tonight," jeremiah said, taking his mother's hand. they started to dance. she almost falls when he dips her. jeremiah looked a bit concerned. "mom, are you okay?"

"yeah, no, it's just, uh, it's been way too long since i danced. i must be out of practice," she said.

"come on, um, we should go inside," conrad said as he held her hand and left with susannah. steven and laurel follow right behind them heading into the club.

i could see how tense jeremiah looked. "hey," i said, holding his shoulders. "are you okay?"

"yeah," he nodded. "let's go inside." he gave me his arms. i take it, giving him a small smile, and we walk inside.

-x-x-x-

"look who i found!" conrad said, walking towards the seats where susannah, laurel, john, cleveland, and i were sitting. we were still waiting for the deb ball to begin. the wait was a bit boring, but it was okay.

"dad!" i said, seeing who was standing behind conrad. i got up and hugged him. "i didn't know you were coming!"

"i wanted to see the three kids in the deb ball," he said as we sat back down. "and i wanted to spend at least a week of summer here with my daughter."

i smiled. "i am glad you are here."

the debutante's start to walk out one by one as the announcer, paige, called out their name. "isabel conklin, daughter of john conklin and laurel park," i saw jeremiah and belly walk in as her name is announced. i smiled at them."a student at chesterbrook high school where she is captain of the varsity volleyball team. isabel is also an avid swimmer, and this summer raised $5000, for the county women's shelter."

"why is belly making that weird face?" laurel asked, looking at belly make some face. i chuckled a little.

"no idea," susannah answered. they walked towards our table, and all i could think of was how amazing he looked. and the only thing i wished was that i was standing with him. belly gave laurel the roses, as she hugs her. i raise my hand up and gave her a high five, before she walked back, standing next to jeremiah. i saw steven and shayla take their place in the room too.

"i'll be right back," laurel said a while back, i could hear her voice shake.

"where's she going?" i asked dad.

"she'll be fine," he replied as i saw john get up and follow her. i could see dad looked concerned too.

"it is my honour to introduce this year's cousins beach country club debutantes," i heard paige say. all the girls gave a courtesy. belly gave a grinning smile to jeremiah. and that made my heart sink.

the escort dance, which happened a while later, was a lot of fun. laurel was finally back too. everyone was cheering and shouting aloud. i could see jeremiah smile though the dance. i was smiling seeing that. but his smile was gone just a second later, when his eyes fell on our table. i followed his gaze, to look at susannah. i could see he still looked worried about something. i ignored it, wanting to enjoy the night and turned back to the conversation at the table, talking to dad and the others, trying to divert my mind.

"i don't know where jeremiah is" belly said, a little later when it was time for the actual ball to start. she was concerned.

"he'll be here in a minute. i'm sure," susannah said. "go get ready."

belly nods and leaves the table. i excuse myself, to go look for jeremiah when i see belly not able to find him. i could feel something was wrong. he wouldn't miss the dance. it was not like him.

-x-x-x-