chapter five
a shitty 24 hour diner
THE NEXT MORNING, Florence woke up to the sun rising. She yawned, stretching her limbs out for a moment as she sat up. Her mum and siblings were still sleeping peacefully, Camden snoring as he slept. Florence smiled softly, looking out at the ocean.
She got up from her seat, making her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. Florence walked over to where her clothes were, rummaging through them to find a long sage green skirt with white flowers on them and a slit up the left leg. She paired it with a cropped cami top and her white converse. She grabbed her tote bag, filling it with necessary stuff before walking back down the stairs.
She scribbled a note before placing it on the fridge where at least someone in her family would see it. The girl spun around, walking out of the house and towards the beach. It didn't take her long for her to get there, taking a gently stroll down the beach to the sound of the waves.
Florence slowed down when she saw a person sat on the beach, staring at the ocean. She recognised the boy making her way over to him and sitting down in the sand next to him carefully.
"So..." She started. "Last night was—"
"A shit-show." Conrad interrupted her.
"I was gonna say interesting but shit-show would work for you." Florence comment with a small laugh. "Do you even remember last night, you were very hammered?"
"I remember everything when I drink." Conrad told her.
"Right." Florence nodded.
"Which reminds me..." Florence looked over at the boy who spoke up once more. "Were you wearing my jacket last night?"
"Uh— yes." Florence nodded. "But it's because my cardigan wasn't dry after you threw me in the pool so Susannah gave me your jacket and I just didn't think anything of it. You can have it back if you want, I just have to go get it—"
Conrad let out a laugh, placing a hand on the girl's arm to stop her from moving. "It's alright, you can keep it. It suited you."
"Thanks." Florence smiled.
Conrad got a cigarette from his pocket, putting it in his mouth and getting ready to light it. Florence looked over before glancing back at the ocean. She looked over at Conrad once more before grabbing the cigarette from his mouth and throwing it away from them.
"What? Flo—"
"Would you let me smoke?" Florence asked him.
"No, Emmeline would kill me." Conrad stated.
"But you'd smoke with Camden." Florence raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah." Conrad shrugged. "But you're—"
"Don't you dare say younger, you're barely a year older than I am." Florence stated firmly. "Let's make a pact, I can't smoke, you can't smoke."
Conrad hesitated for a moment, looking over Florence determined face before he nodded. "Okay."
"Good."
The two stayed silent for a few minutes before Conrad turned to face Florence once more. "Wanna go and get the good muffins before everyone wakes up?"
Florence looked at him, "I have a better idea."
The girl stood up, holding a hand out to Conrad. The boy grabbed her hand, the two walking up the beach. Suddenly, Florence began slowing down, Conrad turning to her with an amused smile, a knowing glint in his eye.
"You're gonna go and pick the cigarette up aren't you?" Conrad asked.
"I'm gonna go pick the cigarette up." Florence spun on her heel, rushing down the beach to pick the cigarette up before turning back around and making her way back to where Conrad was stood.
The two walked off the beach, stopping at a bin so Florence could properly dispose of the cigarette. They then headed towards town, walking through the busy streets.
"Where are we going?" Conrad asked the girl.
"To get breakfast." Florence stated.
Conrad stopped walking, tugging Florence's wrist so she spun to face him. "Muffin store is that way."
"Not for everyone, just for us." Florence shrugged. "Come on."
Conrad walked for a few more seconds before he huffed once more, his hangover and the fresh air giving him a headache. "Florence, where are we going?"
"To get breakfast. You have a hangover and you wanna know the best cure to a hangover?" Florence asked him.
"More alcohol." Conrad suggested.
"In some cases but not this one." Florence shook her head continuing to walk down the street.
"So what is it?"
"Guess you'll just have to follow me and find out." Florence commented with a shrug. The two continued to walk down the street before they came to a diner. "Ta-da."
"The cure to my hangover is a shitty 24 hour diner?" Conrad spoke in confusion.
"It's not what it is that cures the hangover, it's what it serves." Florence smiled, walking into the diner. Conrad let out a breath before following her in and sitting opposite her in a booth. "I find that pancakes smothered in maple syrup is the best thing for a hangover."
"I think if I get that I'll be sick." Conrad told her.
Florence laughed softly. "I'm kidding. They have the best green smoothie here, better than Jeremiah's that cures hangovers and they serve a plate of the greasiest food they have here."
"That sounds more like it." Conrad nodded. "Why did you bring me here?"
"To help you get over your hangover." Florence shrugged. Conrad stared at her with raised eyebrows making the girl break out in a smile. "And they make my favourite milkshake here. And I can get pancakes with blueberries and cream made into a smiley face like in the Vampire Diaries."
Conrad let out a soft laugh, shaking his head fondly. "How is it that you're always so nice and yet always get something out of it too."
"I don't know how to answer that." Florence told him truthfully.
"No, it's not a bad thing. You're nice all the time to everyone, it's just—every time you're nice you get something too."
"I guess it's just a win-win thing." Florence shrugged. "I help people and my kindness is rewarded."
"Hmmm." Conrad hummed. The waitress walked over to them, the two ordering their respective meals with a smile. The waitress hurried back off towards the kitchen as Conrad and Florence conversed casually.
"What is going on with you?" Florence asked the boy.
"What do you mean?" Conrad wondered.
"I mean—this summer is different, I know. But you and Cam are just extra different. Grumpy, brooding, smoking, it's like you had a secret meeting right before we got here to be weird." Florence explained. "And don't get me started on the weird relationship you've got going on with Nicole now. You hated her last year."
"A lot can change in a year." Conrad grumbled.
"See, this is what I mean." Florence gestured to him. Conrad let out a sigh. "Did something happen? Is this because of your breakup with that girl? Or something bigger? Family problems? Daddy issues?"
Florence caught the slight change in demeaner in Conrad when she mentioned family problem, her eyebrows furrowing when it was gone as soon as she said about his father. Florence knew that he had no problem was Jeremiah, and clearly not his dad – well this current problem wasn't about his dad – which meant the only member left was—
"Florence." Conrad spoke up, noticing her far-away look, the same look she always wore when she was figuring stuff out.
The boy was cut off by the waitress putting their food on the table. And by the time she was done and the two got to eating, the subject was changed, them going back to their casual conversation full of laughter and Florence's awkward ramblings.
When they finished, Florence looked up at Conrad with a smile. "Hangover cured?"
"Yes." Conrad nodded with a small smile at Florence's smug grin. "As much as I hate to admit it, you were right, best hangover cure smoothie and the greasy food helped."
"And you liked my pancakes too since you decided to steal most of them." Florence commented.
"I had like two mouthfuls, you looked so excited I thought I was missing out on something." Conrad shrugged.
"Were you?"
"Yes I was, I should've gotten pancakes and greasy food." Conrad told her.
"I'm glad you liked this place. You shouldn't have judged it so quickly." Florence tilted her head to the side.
"Okay, okay." Conrad nodded, rolling his eyes. "This shitty place isn't so shitty I guess."
Florence laughed softly. "I try to come her every summer but usually I have to just get food and then leave, it's a bit sad as a seventeen year old to eat by yourself."
"I'll eat with you." Conrad practically whispered, his eyes soft and a small smile on his face.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Cool." Florence nodded. "A new tradition, I think."
"Can't wait." Conrad told her.
The two paid for their meal – well Conrad paid, the boy insisting on treating Florence since she was technically the reason for curing his hangover – before they left the diner. They decided to stop and get pastries for the rest of the family on their way back towards the Fisher's household.
They got back to the house to see everyone now up and dressed and stood in the Fisher's kitchen, along with the Castillo family who had obviously walked over to the house.
"Hey, where have you two been?" Emmeline asked, sharing a very obvious look with Susannah.
"We had breakfast." Florence shrugged. "Just doing my duty this summer in curing Conrad of any hangovers."
Conrad laughed slightly, receiving looks from everyone except Florence. The families were all confused and slightly weirded out to see Conrad laugh. Emmeline and Susannah shared another look.
"I'm going to go for a swim." Conrad announced. The boy moved to leave the house once more, grabbing his towel. Florence watched as he did, the boy taking his top off before diving into the pool.
"Hey Flo." Steven snapped his fingers in front of her face. Florence looked over at him, the boy wearing a teasing smile. "How was breakfast?"
"It was great, thanks for asking Steven." Florence smiled at him.
"We're going shopping so we can get clothes for the deb season, wanna join?" Emmeline invited her along.
"I'd love to come." Florence nodded.
And with that, the group all finished what they were doing and got ready for the day. When they were ready Laurel, Susannah, Belly, Emmeline and Florence all headed out of the house. They spent the day between shops, Belly and Florence trying clothes on, throwing some away and buying others.
Luckily for Emmeline's back account, Florence's closet already contained lots of country club couture, meaning she didn't need as many outfits as Belly did. Florence laughed as Belly spun and tripped, landing right on her mother's lap.
They walked down the street a few shops later, Susannah stopping in front of another shop. "Okay, they're called 'fascinators', and all the girls will be wearing them."
"Seriously?" Laurel sent Susannah a look.
"Seriously." Susannah laughed.
"I don't know about this." Belly shook her head.
"They're actually so cute." Florence told her. "C'mon."
Susannah moved first, walking into the shop and Florence grabbed Belly's hand, the two following closely behind with Laurel and Emmeline at the back. They bought a few fascinators before heading towards a dress shop to try on debutant dresses.
The mums picked a few dresses out, sending Belly and Florence to the changing rooms. The first dress that Florence tried on was a plain white dress with puff sleeves and a square neckline. She stepped out of the changing room to see Belly wearing a puffy dress. The two girls spun around.
"Oh boy. That is..."
"That's... No, put that away."
"Both are no-nos."
The girls spun around, going back into change. Florence this time was a A-line dress with a modest split up the left leg while Belly was wearing a lace dress. The mums all shook her head once again.
The girls changed once more. This time both girls were wearing strapless ball gown that were heavier than anything they had worn before. Belly and Florence both let out a sigh, falling to the ground. Florence decided she had given up, staying in the dress she was wearing as Belly changed again.
The girl, according to Susannah, had found her perfect dress but Florence noticed her gaze on the dress the cashier was holding. Emmeline then suddenly appeared, snapping Florence back into the real world as she held another dress in front of her.
"Try this one." Emmeline told her.
"Mum." Florence groaned.
"Last one, I promise." Emmeline stated.
Florence sighed, taking the dress and heading back into the changing room. It had a lace bodice with off the shoulder sleeves. It was a very light blush tulle colour with laced flowers in the material at the bottom. Florence patted it down before stepping out of the changing room.
Everyone in the room turned to her with a small gasp as she stepped in front of the mirror. Susannah stood up from her seat, moving to stand next to Florence. "Oh Flo, you look incredible."
"This is the one." Emmeline agreed.
"It's beautiful." Laurel added.
"Oh my god, Flo!" Belly gasped in shock. "Look at you."
"Bells." Florence laughed. "This one then?"
"Definitely." They all answered in sync.
"Okay." Florence nodded, spinning on her heel to change back into her normal clothes. Emmeline took the girl, along with her dress back to their house. Syd was with Jeremiah at the country club, deciding she would accompany boy while he worked and Camden was surfing on the beach so it was just the mother and the daughter in the house.
Florence went upstairs with her clothes, she quickly put them away before choosing a dress to wear. She decided to put on a neon pink and blue tweed minidress with a houndstooth pattern, and matching bright feathers on the shoulders. She paired it with black platform pumps and a dark blue very casual fascinator.
The girl grabbed her phone, knowing it was only thing she needed so there was no point in taking a bag. Her phone buzzed in her hand. Florence turned it over, noticing Shayla had messaged her. Florence had told her best friend that Susannah had signed her up to do the deb ball, Shayla being over the moon that Florence had agreed since it meant the two got to spend more time together.
Florence made her way down the stairs with a smile. Emmeline's mouth dropped in awe, grabbing her daughter's hand and spinning her around.
"You look amazing." Emmeline complimented her.
"Thank you." Florence smiled widely.
The two quickly got going to the deb tea so they wouldn't be late. When they arrived at the country club, Florence climbed out of the car, walking around to stop in front of her mother's window.
"I'll see you later." Florence told her.
"Flo." Emmeline called out when she went to leave. "If you hate it, text me. I'll come sneak you out and take you home."
"Okay." Florence nodded. "I better go before I'm late."
"Have so much fun." Emmeline shouted.
Florence waved goodbye to her mother, spinning on her heel and walking towards the country club. She was going to wait for Belly but she was already running late and assumed Belly was inside already. The girl walked inside the country club, weaving her through people and up the stairs to where the deb tea was being held. She stood at the door, noticing people milling around and moving to their seats.
The woman in charge, Paige, moved over to speak to her. "Hi."
"Hi, I'm Florence... Castillo." Florence introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, you're at table 2." Paige told her.
"Okay, thank you." Florence forced a smile. Florence began to walk over to the table when someone grabbed her arm. Florence turned to see Steven stood in front of her, dressed in his uniform and helping with the serving. "Steven!"
"As much as I hate to admit it right now, you look... decent." Steven stated.
"Thank you?" Florence furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think you can judge my outfit though."
"Shut up." Steven rolled his eyes, pushing her towards her table. "Go and sit down before I get in trouble."
"You stopped me!"
"Shut up!"
Florence let out a laugh, continuing her walk towards where she was supposed to be sitting. The girl's clicking of her heels caught the attention of a few girls sat at the table. Shayla sprung from her seat.
"Flo!" The girl exclaimed loudly, wrapping her arms around her best friend. "I'm so glad you're here. You look so good!"
"Thank you." Florence hugged her back. "You look so beautiful, as usual."
"Stop." Shayla waved her hand. The two girls sat back down, Florence greeting the other girls at the table. They all spoke casually, just chit-chatting until Belly walked over at sat down next to Florence.
"Hi." Belly greeted them awkwardly.
"Hey Bels." Florence smiled at her, calming her nerves ever so slightly.
"Hi." Shayla also smiled before assessing the bruise on Belly's face. "Is that from the other night?"
"Yeah." Belly nodded, touching the bruise every so slightly.
"Here, let me fix it." Shayla stated, grabbing her make-up from her purse. Florence pushed her chair back slightly so Shayla could reach the girl. Shayla got some concealer on her beauty blender carefully dabbing it onto Belly's face and blending it in to hide the bruise. "I think we're good."
"Yeah?" Belly chuckled softly. "Thank you."
"I told my mum the only way I would do this is if I bring my girlfriend, cause I thought it would be a deal killer, but the club has been surprising chill about this whole thing." Marisa, one of the other girls, explained once the tea had actually started.
Florence sat quietly, watching Shayla watch Steven, who was refilling their tea pots. The girl leaning up to whisper something in the boy's ear.
"I'm honestly shocked." Dara stated.
"Yeah."
"Literally, Dara, I was expecting a conversion camp to spring out of the bushes." Marisa continued. "No. Lesbians and debutantes are, like, a completely juxtaposing idea."
"Opposites." Gigi agreed.
"Yeah, but Cousins likes to pretend to be woke." Nicole reminded them. "Trust me. My family deals with it constantly."
"The things we do for college applications." Marisa sighed.
"It's insane."
"Don't worry, Marisa." Shayla reassured her. "You'll get in everywhere."
"Wait, where are you applying?" Belly asked.
"You know, the usual. Every Ivy minus Cornell." Marisa shrugged.
Gigi hummed in agreement. "Ithaca is so bleak."
The girls laughed as Marisa looked at Belly once more. "What about you?"
"Oh, Belly's only a sophomore. Right?" Nicole interrupted. "I think that's what Conrad told me."
"Yeah, I-I'll be a junior in the fall." Belly nodded.
"So, is this your first summer here in cousins?" Dara asked.
"No, I've been coming here for my entire life." Belly laughed awkwardly.
"She's a family friend with Jeremiah and Conrad." Nicole told them. "And Flo's family."
"Uh, so are you and Jeremiah, like, a-a thing, or are you gonna take him to the ball?" Gigi wondered.
"Um..."
"Oh, my god, back off, Geeg." Nicole ordered.
"It was a question." Gigi shrugged as the girls laughed softly.
"They're, like, basically related, okay? You have nothing to worry about." Nicole reassured her. Florence looked over at Nicole with a weird look, it was strange she pretended to know so much about Belly's relationship with the Fisher family.
"I'm not worried."
"Yeah, sure." Shayla commented.
"Keep telling yourself that babe."
"Gigi has had this thing for Jeremiah..." Nicole began to explain.
"Every since he got abs?" Shayla teased with a laugh.
"Pun intended. Absolutely."
"Relax." Shayla laughed. "I'm not into Jeremiah Fisher."
"Yeah, and your noticing his abs?" Gigi raised her eyebrows.
"She's too busy eye-fucking the waiter." Marisa stated.
"Dude, that's Belly's brother." Shayla told her.
"Doesn't make it any less true, though does it?" Florence retorted earning laughs from the group.
"Oh, that's gross." Belly looked disgusted.
"So, what's it like to live with Jeremiah and Conrad?" Dara asked Belly. "Conrad's so mysterious."
Belly froze slightly, not knowing what to say. Florence looked over at her, noticing her awkward expression had returned and decided to save the girl. "Conrad's actually a pain in the ass most of the time. I don't stay with them but I spent enough time with the them to know that living with the Fishers is just like staying with anyone else."
The girls visibly deflated at her answer, Florence deciding to change the subject ever so slightly by turning to look at Gigi.
"Jeremiah does make breakfast every morning though, and it's pretty good. Something to look forward to if you ever lock him down." Florence told her before looking at Shayla. "Steven is just a shit bag."
"You love Steven." Shayla stated.
"No I do not." Florence shook her head. "That is one thing I'm certain about. The lack of love I have for Steven Conklin."
"You have a hot brother too though Florence, don't you?" Marisa asked.
"Ooh, yeah, Camden." Dara nodded. "What's he like?"
"Uh..."
"Camden's the sweetest and moodiest person you could meet." Belly interrupted. "Like the grumpy love interest in a romance book, y'know."
Before any of the girls could say anything else, Paige got their attention, "Debutants. A few small housekeeping bits I'd like to go over. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Now, I understand some of you might think that debbing is outdated. It's something you're doing to appease your families. But the Cousins Debutante Ball is a part of history. Venerated, yet ever evolving, it's a tradition you'll someday pass on to your own daughters."
As Paige continued to speak, Shayla got her flask out of her pocket, unscrewing the lid and pouring some of it into her tea cup, knowing it would be needed to get through the rest of the session. Florence held her cup out, the girl filling Florence's up as well before passing the flask around the table subtly.
"It's a formal marking of this passage of time between your teenage years and your adulthood. One ends, and the other begins. It's a journey generations of women before you have taken. 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."
Florence turned to Shayla, "Have you noticed there's an odd number of us?"
"Yeah, I think they thought they'd be someone else." Shayla told her.
"I guess, Syd was gonna be here." Florence stated.
"You can just join me and Gigi." Shayla smiled.
"Awesome." Florence moved closer to them. Suddenly, Belly got up, rushing out of the room.
"What was that about?"
"I have no idea."
( 💌 ) isobel's notes
conrad and florence are soooo cute aren't they??
she found her deb ball dress ahhh
next chap is another full one