𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
"a few small housekeeping bits i'd like to go over. we have a lot to look forward to this season." the lady, paige, announces to us. i look over to see shayla picking up her purse, "now, i understand some of you might think that debbing is outdated. it's something you're doing to appease your families." gigi looks over to shayla as well, a flask being secretly displayed, "but the cousins debutante ball is a part of history." shayla brings her glass to her and pours some of the alcohol into it, passing it onto gigi once she finished, "venerated, yet ever evolving, it's a tradition you'll someday pass on to your own daughters. it's a formal marking of this passage of time between your teenage years and your adulthood. one ends, and the other begins." i look over at belly, scared that they're going to get caught, "it's a journey generations of women before you have taken." marisa passes the flask on and winks at belly and i, "women who you can learn from and who can inspire you. debs, at each table is a big sister who will guide you through the season. so, please introduce yourselves."
i skim my eyes over each person at the table, stopping once nicole is the only one to speak up, "hey, little sis." she says to belly and i.
"hey." i laugh.
"honestly, my parents made me do it last year because, you know, like, all the women in my family have done it. but my big sis was great, and i actually ended up having a lot of fun. so just don't be nervous. okay? do you want some?" she asks belly and i, when i feel belly lean towards me, i follow her line of sight, seeing mo and cam walking down the hall.
"um, no, thanks, we're good, but, uh, we'll be right back." belly says as her and i get up from our seats.
"oh. okay." nicole says blandly.
"sorry." i whisper, belly grabbing my hand and pulling me across the room.
"cam." belly shouts as she opens the door, pulling me with her.
cam turns around, walking back up the stairs, "belly. what are you doing here?"
"lilah?" mo smiles, running behind cam.
"uh..." belly whispers.
"wait. are you debs?" cam asks, walking towards us, mo right next to him.
"yeah, i guess, technically, yes." i say. belly pushes me away from her and towards mo. i was caught by surprise and tripped into him. i shut my eyes in fear and embarrassment, but after not feeling an impact with the ground i opened them to see him smiling down at me, hands planted on my waist.
"you alright?" he asks, his smile practically reaching from ear to ear.
"yeah." i begin as he removes his hands from their previous spot, "i-i went down to the boardwalk yesterday, but, uh, your shop was closed."
"seriously? man, yeah, we were closed. but, uh, we're open every other day. i just have today off." he laughs.
"yeah. good thing you weren't there, though. you would've seen a-a sweaty version of me looking longingly at the storefront." i laugh.
"well, we never was you to be longing." he says, using his hand for emphasis.
"you know, i think it's too late. the longingness has set in." i say smiling, too caught up in the moment to think if that was even a real word or not.
"no." he gasps.
"no. i might just be longing forever." i say.
"okay, well, do you think going to a drive-in movie with me tonight might help with the longingness?" he asks, looking confused as to whether that was a word or not.
"yeah, i think it would." i say, smiling up at him, trying to ignore the heat rushing through my face.
"cool." he laughs, pulling out his phone, "uh, you know what? let me give you this. you can put your information."
i take the phone and begin to type in my number, "um... i think that should be good." i say, handing him the phone back.
"sweet. yes. okay. cool." he laughs, "so, i'll see you later." he says, walking towards cam who was already standing at the top of the stairs.
"okay. bye." i say, smiling.
"bye." he says, turning around to walk towards cam before rushing back to me, "you, um, you look really pretty."
suddenly the heat in my face returned, "thank you." i say, my cheeks starting to ache from smiling so much.
"of course. uh, bye. have fun. see you later." he says, stumbling back into cam.
"bye." i wave, belly pulling me by my arm into the room.
"you guys are so cute, i feel like a proud mom." she whispers.
𓆉
belly and i were in susannah's room getting ready for the movie. i finished putting on some lip balm as she spoke, "you girls look really cute. you are gonna have so much fun tonight."
the smile that hadn't left my face all day only grew in response to her comment, "we're just going to see a movie." i tell her.
"you both look nice." mom says, walking into the room with a smile.
"i cant believe crop tops are back." susannah says gesturing to our outfits. belly was wearing jean shorts and a crocheted tank top while i was wearing brown shorts with a green halter top, "remember how i thought i was such hot shit in that baby tee i wore freshmen year?" susannah laughs as belly hands her back her lipstick, "have fun tonight."
belly and i turn to exit the room as mom looks at us confused, "are you two not driving with us?"
"um..." i say, looking at belly and susannah.
"didn't they tell you? they have dates." susannah says, wrapping her arms around belly and i.
"sorry mom. um, his name is cam." belly says.
"yeah, his mom works at the club. really nice boy, very smart." susannah says.
"like, harvard smart." belly says.
mom looks towards me and my lack of explanation, "oh, uh, his names mo. he works at the bookstore on the boardwalk."
susannah looks at me in shock, "ledger? oh my god, i love mo! hes always helping around at the shop, he has today off, though." she explains. it took me a second before i pieced it together: he worked at the store that moms signing was at. god my brain barely works during the summer.
i look at her with a smile, glad that she was able to have a good input on him, too.
"it's fine. of course you can go. i've dragged you to enough of these book parties over the years. have a great date. both of you." mom smiles.
"thanks." belly and i say in unison. she takes my hand and leads me out of the room.
"do we need to talk about consent before you go?" mom asks.
"mom." we groan, rushing out of the room.
𓆉
belly and i walk into the living room as the boys sit on the couch playing video games. i cant help but look at conrad, wondering if i should be wishing it was him taking me on the date instead of mo. no. i'm done waiting for him.
"see you guys later." belly says.
jere turns around, staring at both of us before getting up, "damn!"
"are you kidding? no. yeah, fine, just abandon the game completely, jere." steven shouts. jeremiah rounds the couch, conrad looking back at us, of course making eye contact with me. i hate eye contact so much.
"you... look... hot." jere says, spinning belly and i around.
"hey, hey, hey, stop flirting with my sisters." steven says, looking at us.
"shut up, steven." belly and i shout.
"no, you shut up. well, you guys look good, though." he says, turning back to the game.
"you driving with or are you meeting us there?" jere asks us.
i look at belly, "we're not going to the book party. we're going to the drive in."
"with who?" conrad asks, turning towards us as belly and i's phones chime at the same time.
"dude, dude, focus. come on." steven says.
"um..." i say, looking down at my phone to see a text from mo saying he's here, "uh, okay. bye." i laugh.
"bye guys." belly says, following behind me.
i go up to the mirror in the living room, fixing my hair and making sure i look somewhat ok. i knew i wasn't as pretty as belly and was confused as to how someone like mo would want to go on a date with me. i mean, every other girl here is 10x prettier than me and it's just all so confusing.
"you look beautiful. you are beautiful. remember that, ok?" belly says, looking into my eyes. belly's the only one who knows about this, and thank god for her reassurance.
"ok." i whisper, trying to believe her.
when we walk outside cams car was parked right next to mo's burgundy 80s bmw. no way i'm getting picked up in a bmw. belly looks at me in surprise, "my dream hookup car."
my jaw drops and i slap her in the arm, "you're insane."
"bye, love you." she says, walking towards cams car.
"love you too." i say, walking towards mo's.
i open the passenger door and get in, "hi." i say.
"hi. you look... less longing." he smiles.
"i-i feel less longing." i laugh.
"okay, good." he says.
"what movie are we seeing?" i ask him.
"uh, it's an old movie called, sabrina." he says.
"audrey hepburn? two brothers? that sabrina?" i ask.
"yeah."
"yeah? i-i love that movie."
"it got really great reviews."
"oh, that's awesome. i-i'm sure it did. have you read the book?" i ask.
"wait, uh... sabrina fair?"
"yes! the movie is an adaptation of the book."
"no way, really? i fucking loved that book." he says, grinning.
"it's really good."
"yeah, it's awesome." he says, reversing out of the driveway.
𓆉
"and as had been traditional on long island for the past 30 years, the larrabees were giving a party. it never rained on the night of the larrabee party." the calming voice of sabrina spread throughout the large lot, filled with cars, "the larrabees wouldn't have stood for it. there were four larrabees in all: father, mother and two sons. maude and oliver larrabee were married in 1906."
my focus on the movie seemed to fade out as my eyes flickered to the tan boy next to me. he was gorgeous, there was no denying that.
as if he had read my mind he turned his head towards me. he looked back at the movie then back at me, "are you sure you don't want something to drink or...?"
"yeah, i'm okay, thanks."
"yeah."
truth is, i'm practically dying over here and him being next to me didn't help. i had never really been this close to a boy before, besides of course my brother and jeremiah. the only other one i've been near that i actually liked was conrad. but mo is so different compared to conrad. it's like, i'm still getting to know him, which is interesting rather than knowing everything about someone. theres never anything new to find out.
he shifted in his seat, drawing my attention towards him. he moved his right hand towards the edge of his seat, inching it closer and closer to the space between us.
my stomach started to flutter, heat spreading through my face. i moved my hand from my lap and put it on the edge of my seat.
he moved his closer and closer to the edge of my seat, my hand inching towards his. i felt his pinky hook around mine, but only for a split second. i flipped my hand over, feeling his finger tips graze over my palm. he gently intertwined his fingers with mine, softly rubbing his thumb across the top of my own.
i slowly peel my gaze away from our hands to look at him. his face was flushed as he rested his other arm on the door next to him, biting his bottom lip to hold back his smile.
𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼𓋼𖤣𖥧𓋼𓍊
authors note!
I FREAKING LOVE THIS CHAPTER I WAS SMILING THE WHOLE TIME WRITING LOL. mo and lilah make my heart go crazy. also, so sorry if this is badly written i randomly really wanted to write a chapter and once i knew it would have this scene i was so happy. the only bad thing is, i uh have never written a spicy scene like what will end up being in the next chapter SO if anyone is willing to write one that mostly follows the one in the show that i can change around to make it fit their characters more that would be GREATLY appreciated <3 but mo and lilahs dynamic makes me wanna cry... like him putting his hand out first??? hello??? mans is whipped. while writing this i was thinking of what i'm going to have happen towards the end with them and wanted to cry i am so sorry. also i have never read the sabrina fair book so i have no idea if it's good or not LMAO ANYWHO love you all lots!!