𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑨𝑳𝑻𝑾𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑹
✸ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 ───
stolen kisses, pretty lies
🍉☀️🌸 ﾟ･ׂׂૢ࿐
WITH each step she took closer to the Fisher's house, the more and more Vivica was regretting things.
Was Belly going to be upset about her being there? Was Cam?
She still didn't know how Conrad felt about her "dating" his brother either. She wished she could tell him that it changed nothing and that it wasn't real, but of course, she and Jeremiah had sworn not to tell anybody.
The volley of never ending worries rolling through her head stopped when a knock was delivered to the Fisher's door, and only then did she realize that she was the one who'd done it.
Sucking down a deep breathe, she put on her best hi, im dating your brother, surprise! smile and waited.
In seconds, the door swung open in front of her, revealing Belly. Well, too late to turn back now.
"Oh," Belly mumbled, her smile faltering. She'd been expecting Cam when she opened the door, not her best friend's new girlfriend. Even so, she pasted on a smile and greeted her. "Hi. Come on in."
"Hey," Vivica grinned, crossing through the threshold of the house. "Happy birthday!"
She lifted her hand to shove into Belly's hand a small gift bag which contained her birthday present. "Here."
"Oh my gosh, you— you really didn't have to get me anything." The girl shook her head, the smile on her face now genuine.
"Oh please, I'm imposing on your birthday dinner, the least I could do is get you a present. Sweet sixteen, right?" Vivica asked.
Please, she thought. Please take my gift and make me feel at least a little less guilty about being here.
Belly nodded, then told her, "You're not imposing, seriously. Jere's really excited that you're here."
Vivica just smiled in response, gesturing for the girl to open her gift. But in the back of her mind, she was thinking about how totally unbothered Belly seemed by her presence. Jeremiah surely wasn't going to like that.
Carefully, Belly pulled pink tissue paper out of her giftbag. Then, she reached her hand in and retracted the gift, her eyes falling on the pair of sparkly flower earrings she'd been given.
"Oh wow," Belly gasped with a smile, watching the light reflect off the glitters. "These are beautiful, thank you."
At that, she pulled Vivica into a chaste hug, taking the girl by such surprise that she barely had time to reciprocate it.
"Vivica's here!" Belly called into the kitchen once they separated. Quickly following her announcement came the squeak of a chair across hardwood floors, and then the pattering of feet.
Through the door came Jeremiah.
"You're here." He grinned, walking over and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"I'm here." She smiled, as his hand found home at the small of her back.
"C'mon, everyone's in here." He told her, pulling her away to the dining room where everything was being set up, just as another knock came to the front door.
"That's Cam." He whispered in her ear so that nobody else could hear, teasingly poking her in the side. With a bark of laughter like he'd told her something funny, she swatted his hand away.
When they entered the dining room, Vivica felt all eyes fall on her. Talk about nerve-wracking.
She'd been here countless times, seen these people so many times that she could recognize them all in a crowd of hundreds, yet it felt different now. Now, she was there as a girlfriend, not just the girl down the road that liked to surf with the boys.
"Oh, Vivica, hi!" Susannah smiled, setting down the bowl in her hands and pulling the girl into a hug.
"I'm so glad you could come, sweet girl. How are you; how are your parents doing?" The woman asked as she let her go.
"We're all doing great, thank you. And thanks so much, again, for having me over." Vivica responded with a smile.
"Oh please, you know you're always welcome here." Susannah waved her off. "Oh! I need to get the salad."
"Here, let me help." Vivica offered, following the woman into the kitchen.
On the way, she passed by a rather sour-looking Conrad, who'd yet to speak to her. Okay, so maybe he wasn't the biggest fan of the situation.
Even so, Vivica wasn't going to let that get in her way. As she passed by him, she messed his hair up with her hand playfully, chirping, "Hey, Connie."
Pushing her hand away quickly, he grumbled back a hello in response. Though, instead of laughing at her like he used to, his face just remained as stoic as it had been before.
Ignoring her friend and not letting his bad mood ruin hers, Vivica scooped up a bowl full of salad from Susannah, insisting that she would help even the smallest bit, and carried it back to the table.
Setting it down, she found majority of the company had now arrived to the room, including Steven, Belly, Cam and a girl she didn't know.
"Hi, you must be Taylor, right?" Vivica asked the girl, remembering the one unfamiliar person on the list of invitees Jeremiah had told her.
When Taylor nodded, a small hint of a frown on her face, Vivica introduced herself, "I'm Vivica, it's uh, nice to meet you."
She stuck out a hand for shaking, and after a brief moment of staring at it, Taylor gave it a quick shake and a smile.
Soon enough, everybody was seated around the table in a rather interesting format that Vivica found hard to quit thinking about, but had to make herself leave it be.
She sat at Jeremiah's side, their fingers laced together in a very obvious way so that everybody at the table could see it even if they didn't want to.
On her other side was Steven, who'd very un-nonchalant complained to Jeremiah about it, to which his friend had laughed and told him that he would survive the night.
Directly across from her and Jeremiah was Belly and Cam, the two couples facing each other in an obvious way.
About five minutes after everyone had their food served and had finished complimenting the chefs ( Susannah and Laurel ), Jeremiah started doing what he did best: irritate people.
"So, Cam," He began, catching everyone's attention. "Mind if I call you Cam Cameron?"
Vivica gave a small smile as she adjusted the flower crown now settled on her head ( Susannah had given it to her, insisting she should join Taylor and Belly in the midsommar theme ).
"Yeah, man. Feel free. I think it's funny." Cam assured him, waving it off.
"Maybe you should just stop introducing yourself like that." Vivica chuckled, having witnessed Cam's nervous behavior too many times to count.
"It's a habit!" The boy shrugged in his defense.
Beside him, a crease appeared in Belly's brow. She flicked her gaze between Cam and Vivica several times before asking, "You guys are uh, pretty good friends, huh?"
Ignoring the pang in her chest that came from knowing Cam apparently hadn't mentioned her much, Vivica nodded.
"Oh yeah, Viv and I go to school together." Cam informed Belly. Vivica wished she had been the one to answer now, because they both knew they did more than just go to school together.
They spent their free time together, almost every waking moment. The two of them and JB were a common trio in the club's youth, one which was known by every snobbish member whether they liked it or not.
"Well, I'm glad you're here, both of you." Susannah told their guests with a smile.
"Cameron, I know you mom, Denise, from the club." She continued. "I've heard lots about you."
"Thank you so much for having me, Susannah." Cam smiled. "My mom says hi."
"I haven't seen Anika at the club in a while, though. How is she, sweetie?" The woman asked, switching her attention to Vivica as Laurel passed a dish to and discussed with Cam. She knew she'd already asked once, but her concern was genuine and it felt necessary to reinforce it.
"She's alright, thanks." Vivica replied. It was only kind of a lie, much less than the rest she'd been doing all night. "My dad's been on this long business trip since school ended; I think she's just missing him."
Her mother was not missing her father, but Vivica felt as if she said it out loud it might come true. Gosh, she wished for nothing more than for it to be true, for them to go back to being happy and in love and all those pretty things that parents were supposed to be.
"Oh, really? Where's he off to?" Susannah questioned. Thankfully, she didn't say what she was thinking— which was that everyone knew Isaac Crestview never did out of town work because he hated leaving his girls— because then, Vivica might let it slip that he was out of town to escape arguing with his wife 24/7.
"He's up in Manhattan doing some big shot case with some clients he wouldn't tell me about." Vivica explained, waving it off as a nonchalant occurrence.
"Oh, well that's good, isn't it? We'll have to have the whole family over when he gets back." Susannah smiled, taking a sip from her drink.
After that, Vivica's attention was stolen by her boyfriend's antics that were annoying Cam.
"So, why don't you eat meat, Cam Cameron?" He asked provocatively, wagging his fork around the air.
"Um, the meat industry is like, the number one contributor to global warming." Cam told him. Then, he shrugged and chuckled, "And I just, like animals."
Jeremiah nodded, even though he'd asked the question without really caring about the reason, he just wanted to make conversation.
From the other side of Belly, Taylor stuck her hands up and said, "Just don't come for my leather jacket."
"I'm pretty sure you mean pleather." Steven scoffed from across from her, teasing the girl.
Jeremiah cooed at the remark, even though it was far from a good one. He and Steven high-fived, like a couple of ten year olds, as Taylor extended her middle finger to them and the other two girls rolled their eyes.
"You know, uh, actually, Belly eats meat." Jeremiah continued after clearing his throat, back on the bandwagon of irritating his friend. "So, you let her kiss you with those lips?"
"Guys." Belly grumbled, eyes widening at her brother and best friend, an obvious attempt to kick one of their shins occurring underneath the table. "Stop."
"Jeremiah!" Vivica chided him, though her laughter betrayed her. The laugh was fake, but it felt necessary. She, for one, did not want to hear anything about Cam's lips being on anyone's. Unless they were hers.
"No, I don't judge anyone for not eating meat. It's just like, a personal choice. I don't care." Cam shrugged, being his usual kind self.
Vivica smiled besides herself, unable to ignore how irrevocably sweet this boy was.
Catching the look on Vivica's face, Jeremiah was quick to continue talking, finding himself wanting to wipe the smiles off of both Vivica and Cam's faces, as well as continue pestering Belly.
"So you don't mind if like, her lips touch a dead animal, and then those dead animal lips touch yours, right? Ow—!" He yelped at the end of his question, Belly's wandering foot finally landing a blow to his shin.
Cam, the lighthearted character that he was, found it all in good fun and let out a laugh.
"I don't mind at all, actually." He shrugged. "Um, in fact . ."
Vivica wanted to throw up her dinner as Cam leaned over and stole a quick kiss from Belly, bringing a bloom of pink across the girl's face.
All she could think was how that should've been her sitting beside Cam, the one on the receiving end of his sweet kisses and meaningless jokes.
At that, Steven and Jeremiah faced one another and faked gagging noises, much to the displeasure of every other member of the table.
"Oh, I'm dating a child." Vivica groaned into her hands, though her laugh told everyone at the table she was more than happy to be dating the immature boy beside her. Oh, if only they knew.
"You're tellin' me," Belly grumbled. "I have to live with him."
After Vivica's reaction of laughter, Belly managed to crack a smile.
Once the room was quiet for more than two seconds, Belly decided it was time to reverse the roles and interrogate Jeremiah's date.
"So Vivica, why didn't you come back to be a deb big sister this year? I was kind of expecting to see you at the tea the other day." She asked.
Belly hadn't been expecting to see her, she barely knew who Vivica was two weeks ago. But it felt appropriate to add on to her question.
At that, Vivica felt several curious eyes fall on her, and suddenly her drink was harder to swallow.
Unlike other people, her experience with the whole deb ball was a personal shit show— not that her mother would ever let that get out.
Clearing her throat rather awkwardly beforehand, she answered.
"I uh, just didn't really have time for it this year. Between working on weekdays and giving tennis lessons at the club on weekends, I'm pretty packed. Besides, I was never very good at the dancing anyways."
She finished with a laugh, trying to keep the interaction lighthearted.
Could she have been honest with Belly and explained how awful the experience was for her? Yeah, but the girl seemed to really be enjoying herself from what Jeremiah had told her, and Vivica was not going to be the one to spoil that.
"You're working at the club, right?" Belly asked.
"Yep," Vivica nodded. "Speaking of the whole deb scene, how are you liking it? Oh! Who's your big sister?"
At the question, Belly smiled, her eyes briefly flickering over to Susannah, who was listening with a happy heart.
"I'm actually really enjoying it. I'll be honest, I was a little unsure at first, but it's been really fun so far." Belly admitted with a grin. "And my big sister's um, Nicole."
Vivica nodded in understanding, her eyes shifting over to Conrad for a moment. He was staring down at his plate like it might run away if he looked away, having been uncharacteristically silent the entire dinner.
"And you know, um, I'm thinking maybe we should go to her party." The birthday girl added, looking between Jeremiah and Taylor.
"Oh my gosh, yes!" Taylor squealed in excitement. "I love you. I'm so excited."
The two hopped up from the table and took off up the stairs to get ready. No longer trying to hide her dislike for the debs, Vivica sent Jeremiah a very indiscreet look, portraying that she did not want to go to this party.
"It'll be fun, I promise." He assured her quietly.
With a sigh, she agreed to go, only doing so because in the back of her mind, she knew Jamie was there and he'd need a ride home.
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