⊹ Chapter 35 ⊹
The Truth Will Set You Free
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Shortly after Jeremiah and Steven's dance routine was over it was time for the couples to sit down for dinner.
Dinner was a choice between steak and chicken. Violet went with the chicken while Conrad chose the steak. Susannah asked if he'd chosen that particular option because he was planning to bulk up for the next football season.
Her question naturally made Conrad a little annoyed but he tried to play it off not wanting to ruin the mood of the night. The Fisher boy was thankful that Paige and had come to speak to his mother effectively taking her attention off of him.
"You know, this room, the room looks stunning." The blonde woman gushed. "I just... I really want to thank you."
"Oh, that's so sweet." Paige smiled happily accepting the praise.
"You've made this a really special night for both of my boys."
While Susannah was going on a tangent about how beautiful everyone and everything was, Jeremiah and Belly were having their own conversation. Both Violet and Conrad couldn't help but listen in on the two.
"Hey, does my mom seem okay to you?" Jeremiah asked skeptically observing his mom's drunken behavior.
"Sure, why?" Belly shrugged not looking up at him while stabbing her fork into her chicken.
"I don't know, she's been sleeping a lot and smoking a lot more pot."
"She seems fine to me."
"Yeah, but I heard your parents talk about it and your mom seemed really upset." The curly haired boy sighed.
Conrad felt guilty that he was the only one besides the adults to know about his moms condition. He could tell from the look on Violet's face that she was thinking about what Jeremiah was saying.
"I don't..." Belly trailed off not knowing what else to say to Jeremiah.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom." The younger brother mumbled quickly leaving the table.
♒︎
It was time for the big dance that the girls had spent weeks practicing for.
Violet was obviously feeling nervous about the whole thing. She was afraid that she was going to mess up in front of everyone.
Conrad could tell his girlfriend was nervous from the way she was picking at the skin of her cuticles. She rarely did it unless she was super nervous which is why he made it his mission to calm her.
The boy slowly leaned over so that his lips were almost touching the shell of Violet's ear. The red head could feel his warm breath against her skin causing goosebumps to appear all over her body.
"You'll be fine." Conrad mumbled lowly just so she could hear. "Just follow my lead okay?"
"Okay..." She replied back looking into his beautiful blue eyes as he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.
Their interaction wasn't missed by the Conklin girl who remained sitting at the table. As much as she liked to deny it she still liked Conrad. She desperately wished that she was the one he came with.
"I don't know where Jeremiah is." Belly suddenly exclaimed tearing her eyes off of Violet and Conrad. The teens eyes frantically searched around the large room for her date.
"He'll be here in a minute, I'm sure." Susannah smiled reassuringly at the brunette. "Go, get ready."
"Okay." Belly sighed walking over to the other debutantes and their dates who were lined up on the dance floor. "Hey, have you guys seen Jeremiah?" She asked avoiding eye contact with both Violet and Conrad.
"I think I saw him go outside." Conrad shrugged not really caring about anyone but Violet in the moment. His only worry was helping calm her nerves.
The two teens watched the Conklin girl ask a few other people about Jeremiah's whereabouts before Paige's voice suddenly came over the microphone announcing that it was time for them to dance.
Violet couldn't help but feel a little bad for Belly as she watched panic rush over the younger girl's face. She couldn't imagine how stressed Belly was at the moment considering her date was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe you should go dance with Isabel." The Montgomery girl suggested still looking at Belly. The brunette was standing at the edge of the dance floor sadly looking at the ground.
"Are you kidding me?" Conrad huffed not believing what his girlfriend was saying.
"This is a once in a lifetime thing for her that she's missing out on." Violet explained.
"And it's not a once in a lifetime thing for you?" Conrad shot back taking her hand and beginning to lead her along with the music. "There's no way in hell I'm abandoning you to go and dance with someone that tried to ruin our relationship."
"I just feel bad." She sighed following along with Conrad's movements.
"Don't." The boy said pulling his girlfriend closer to him. He didn't care if they weren't following the proper moves that they'd been taught. Conrad just wanted to have her as close to him as possible. "This night isn't all about Belly. It's about you too."
"I love you." Violet blushed looking Conrad in the eye.
"I love you too." He replied leaning down to lightly kiss her forehead.
The blonde woman smiled fondly at her son as he danced. She loved watching him with Violet. Susannah could see how in love the two teens were and it made her heart happy.
She was thankful that Conrad was going to have someone like Violet around when she wouldn't be in the future.
"Jeremiah, honey, where were you?" The Fisher woman questioned noticing her youngest son walk up to their table.
"I-I ate something." The boy stuttered. "I think maybe the shrimp was bad."
"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry." Susannah said getting up from her seat and touching Jeremiah's forehead to check for a fever. "You know, the caterer is gonna be hearing from me."
"Okay, Karen." Laurel chuckled from her seat.
"I'll get you some ginger ale." The blonde smiled turning to a staff member.
♒︎
"I think I messed up some of the steps." Violet chuckled as her and Conrad walked back over to his family's table. The dance was now over and Violet now could say that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.
"You were great." Conrad said taking Violet's hand that he was holding and bringing it to his lips for a short kiss. "I'm glad that I came with you."
Jeremiah had noticed his brother and Violet approaching the table and immediately felt sadness rush throughout his body.
"I'll be right back." He said rushing towards his brother.
"Oh, no, honey, are you gonna be sick again?" Susannah questioned clearly clueless. "Where is that ginger ale? I'm gonna get you one from the bar."
"Hey, Jeremiah, where were you?" Violet asked looking at her ex best friend.
"Conrad, we need to talk, all right?" The boy mumbled looking directly at his brother. "It's important. It's about Mom. I found something out."
"Um...Yeah..." The older boy stuttered nervously looking from Jeremiah to his girlfriend. "We'll-we'll talk about this later, okay?"
"No, it's important."
"It's okay." Conrad insisted placing a comforting hand on Jeremiah's shoulder.
"You already know, don't you?" Jeremiah seethed connecting the dots as to why his brother had been acting odd all summer.
"Know what?" The redhead asked confused. "Connie what's going on?"
"You've known this whole fսcking time and didn't tell me?" The boy shouted as anger surged through his body.
"Jere..." Conrad was cut off by his brother tackling him to the ground.
"Oh, my God!" Violet gasped as she watched her boyfriend dodge punches from Jeremiah.
"What're you doing?" Susannah cried as she stood over her boys. "Stop it. Both of you, stop it."
"What is going on?" Violet exclaimed mostly to herself.
A couple of other guys including Steven pried the two brothers off of each other. Everyone was just standing around trying to figure out what was going to happen next.
"Mom..." Jeremiah trailed off as he looked up at his mother. "We know, Mom. We both know."
"Know what?" Susannah asked as tears pooled in her eyes. She didn't want to believe that her secret was finally out. She wasn't ready for her perfect summer to be over yet.
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^ Violet's Dress ^
^ Violet's Makeup ^
^ Violet's Hair ^
^ Violet's Nails ^