After so many dresses to the point where Olive would punch someone if she heard the sound of a zipper again, Olive tried on one last dress before she tapped out. The dress was beautiful. It was her favorite out of the bunch she had which is why she chose to try it on last, hoping maybe Susannah and Laurel would decide to choose it.
She walked out of her dressing room the same time as Belly, the other girl wearing a gorgeous dress that fit Belly perfectly. The two girls gasped at the sight of the other, catching Laurel and Susannah's attention.
"Girls, you two look like princesses." Susannah breathed out, a big smile on her face as Laurel sat beside her, a grimace covering hers.
"I would've said tooth fairies." She muttered and Olive's smile faltered slightly. Savannah noticed Olive's mood change after Laurels comment and stood up, her smile getting bigger in hopes it'd reassure the girl. "Everybody's eyes will fall out of their heads when they see our girls."
Susannah gently grabbed Olives hips and turned her around to face the mirror behind her. Olive smiled at her reflection. Susannah let out a small cheer at how big her smile had gotten. She doesn't know if she's ever seen Olive smile get so big.
"I love you so much, but you're ridiculous." Laurel laughed out, watching Olive and Susannah. The blonde looked at Laurel through the mirror, her eyebrows raised. "I love you so much, and I know I'm ridiculous."
Laurel continued to laugh at Susannah and Olives excitement as she looked around the room. Her eyes fell on a simpler, but still just as beautiful silk dress. Laurel sat up, her eyes growing wide. "Belly, what about this one?"
"Oh, no. It's too simple." Susannah said as eyes watched as one of the workers walk by and she perked up.
"We'll get these dresses." Susannah sang happily, making the worker smile and nod, Belly and Olive's eyes widen and Laurel's face drop. Susannah ignored Laurel's glare, looking down to Olive with a smile. "Go change back into more comfortable clothes, sweetheart." Susannah whispered to Olive, hitting her shoulder with hers. Olive's eyes stayed wide in happiness.
She nodded and quickly scrambled into the dressing room, excited that she's getting the dress she wanted.
Olive slowly walked into the banquet room where she'd be meeting the other debutantes. She went to the country club a little later than Belly, not being ready to go by the time Laurel wanted to leave. She ended up getting a ride to the country club with Cameron, who had just gotten back from his trip, and his mom.
Belly's eyes flickered to the door every time someone came in, fidgeting in her seat for Olive's arrival. When she finally saw Olive walk in in her red dress, a matching red hair piece and her bruised covered with makeup, Belly straightened up. She smiled at Olive and waved her hand.
Olive noticed Belly waving her over and smiled. She blushed in embarrassment when she noticed all the other girls at Belly's table turn to look at her.
She knew most of them from past summers, immediately taking note that Belly had chosen to sit next to Shayla, leaving Olive to sit next to Nicole.
Olive wasn't complaining one bit. She was honestly grateful she wasn't sitting next to Shayla, worried that if she did, she'd only tear herself down, picking herself apart to find all the perfect aspects of Shayla Steven liked that Olive didn't have.
She muttered a small smile as she sat at the table. Before she could even get a hello out, a body leaned over her from behind her seat. Olive jumped at how close the body was to her and turned around to see who it was.
Olive calmed, yet somehow got more nervous when she noticed it was Steven, filling up her glass with water. He looked down at Olive, meeting her eyes and giving her a small and goofy smile. Olive rolled her eyes, holding back her own smile as she turned to her glass of water.
She took a sip and watched as Steven left the spot behind her, moving to stand behind Shayla and fill her glass. Olive's heart dropped as she took her sip of water, her eyes glued on Shayla, who stood up with a beautiful smile, whispering something into Steven's ear that made him blush.
Olive blinked as she put down her glass and looked down at her lap. She never had boyfriends that lasted very long. Olive wanted the kind of love she saw in movies and TV shows. She wanted the classic cliches. She thought she was starting to get that with Steven until Shayla started talking to Steven.
And Olive never blamed Shayla. It's not like the girl could read Olive's mind. She was mad because something she had been wanting for so long, Shayla got in one night. She had something in her that made Steven chose her over Olive. Olive wanted that. She wanted Steven to look at her the way that he looks at Shayla.
"Olive?" Gigi suddenly asked and Olives head snapped up, her eyes wide as she looked around at all the girls looking at her. "What?" She asked cluelessly, making Gigi giggle.
"Where are you applying?" She asked again and Olive smiled, calming down a bit as she nodded. "Oh, um. Princeton. Or somewhere in the bay area. Like San Francisco." She said and all the girls eyes widened at her statement, Belly turning to her with furrowed brows.
"Berkeley. Nice." Nicole whispered as Olive turned to look at Belly. Her heart sank a bit when she noticed how sad Belly looked. "I didn't know you were looking into schools so far away." Belly muttered and Olive gave her a reassuring smile. She grabbed Belly's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Don't worry. Princeton's my top."
"I know Olive lives here, but is this your first summer here in cousins, Belly?" One of the girls across the table from Olive and Belly asked. Olive frowned at the question. It was honestly rude in her opinion. These girls could remember Conrad and Jeremiah, but the not girl that's hung out with them and has lived with them every summer?
Belly gave the girl a small smile, but Olive could tell she was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. "No, I've been coming here for my entire life." She said and Nicole leaned forward, pointing at Belly from over Olive. "Yeah, she's liked family friends with Conrad and Jeremiah." She said and Olive squinted, getting annoyed with how boy crazy these girls were and that's coming from her!
Olive sarcastically huffed, putting her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand even though it may be incredibly disrespectful as she gave the girls around her a fake pout. "Yeah, I mean... me, Belly and the boys have always hung out. It's kind of hard to miss her since we're with them all the time unless you're like... stuck up or something."
Olive felt pride at all of the girls glares towards her. Belly whipped her head to Olive and kicked her feet from under the table. Olive jumped, pushing herself off of her hand as she glared at Belly.
"I'm trying to help you." Olive grumbled as Gigi tilted her head at the two girls, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "So are either of you with Jeremiah? Like a thing? Or are you gonna take him to the ball?"
An awkward laugh leaves Belly's lips as Olive has to stifle a real one. "Ew." She giggled out at the thought of her dating Jeremiah.
"Oh, my God. Back off, Geeg. They're like basically related. You have nothing to worry about." Nicole laughed out before she turned to Shayla and smirked. "Just like you have nothing to worry about for asking Steven."
Olive straightened up at those words as Shayla smirked. Olive started to shake her head, looking to Nicole next to her. "Actually, Steven's my da-" "Hello, debutantes." Olive was cut off by the woman at the front of the room, gaining all of the girls attention.
"A few housekeeping bits I'd like to go over. We have a lot to look forward to this season. Now, I understand some of you may think debbing is outdated. It's something you're doing to appease your families. But the Cousins Debutante Ball is a part of history."
The woman's words started to go into one of Olive's ears and out the other as she watched a flask get passed around the table, every girl making their actions unnoticeable. She watched as it got closer and closer to her before the woman's words drew her back into the real world.
"Debs, at each table is a Big Sister who will guide you through the season. So, please. Introduce yourselves."
Suddenly, Nicole stood up and traded seats with Shayla. Olive felt her heartbeat start to beat rapidly as Shayla sat down in the seat beside her, giving her the sweetest smile Olive has probably ever seen.
"Hey, Little Sis. We are going to have so much fun together." Shayla cheered and Olive's whole mood dampened. "Yeah..." She muttered, trying her hardest to put her emotions into a look of nervousness.
She hated that Shayla was so nice. She hated how pretty she was and how she could probably do anything and everyone would still love her. She knew this was just her mind messing with her. Olive knows she herself is pretty too and there's probably a girl out there that thinks the same way about her. She knew that and she knew that all this hatred she was feeling wasn't even hatred. Olive wanted to be Shayla. Or at least be like her.
"You want some?" Shaylas asked, the flask finally coming around to Olive, breaking her from her daydream. "Yes, please." Olive blurted, not even caring how eager she sounded. She was going to need something to get through the rest of this day.
After being dragged out of her room and down the stairs, Olive ended up on the couch in between Conrad and Steven as the three boys started their video game in the living room.
Olive did not partake in the game, but instead played Sudoku on her phone, ready for one of the boys to die in the game so they can turn to her, complain, and Olive will give them a very monotone "Oh no".
When she heard someone walking into the living room from behind her, she turned around and smiled at Belly dressed up. Olive maneuvered around so she was facing the girl and gave her a big smile. "And where are you going dressed up like that, pretty lady? Because it is not the book signing."
Olive asked, resting her elbow on the back of the couch and her chin in her hand. Belly blushed at the compliment, looking down at her outfit before she gave Olive a bashful smile. "I have a date."
Those words made Jeremiah and Conrad turn around as Olive's eyes widened. Belly could've sworn the girls eyes sparkled in excitement for her. "Cam?" Olive mouthed and Belly's face turned even more red as she nodded. Olive squealed in excitement for Belly, moving around to lay down on the couch properly as she threw her fists in the air in victory, earning two elbows to the ribs from Steven and Conrad for distracting them.
Belly walked out of the house with a big smile and Olive watched her go with one just as big.
At the book signing, Olive made sure to stay glued to one person every ten-ish minutes. After following around Steven and Jeremiah, she decided to leave the pair when they started to stack a bunch of books onto Steven's head. She didn't want to get tied into whatever trouble they could get into.
Now, Olive was now following Conrad around. They were sitting in the kitchen and Olive was looking down at the pretty tiled floor as Conrad looked around. When he saw no eyes were on him, he grabbed the vodka on the counter beside him and a cup and opened it.
Olive looked up at the sound and an amused smile took over her face as Conrad started to pour his cup. She reached over and grabbed her own cup before facing Conrad, nodding to the bottle. "Give me some of that."
As Olive started to reach for the bottle, Conrad moved his hands so she wouldn't grab it. "You're underage." He grumbled and Olive sent him a playful glare and scoffed. "So are you." She snapped before she put her cup towards Conrad again. "Now fill the glass. I had a bad day."
Conrad just looked at Olive, not moving to fill her cup. Olive's whole facial expression dropped into an annoyed look. "We are both watching our crushes get with someone else. Fill the damn glass, Connie." Olive snapped.
Conrad watched Olive for a couple of seconds before he rolled his eyes and started to fill Olive's cup. The girl silently cheered as Conrad filled the cup to the brim, one more drop and the contents of the drink would spill.
"Shit. Dude, careful." Olive muttered before she looked up from her glass to Conrad, watching as he downed the drink in one go. Olive blinked in shock at Conrad, taking one big sip of hers, barely making a dent.
"So, you like Steven?" Conrad asked as Olive moved to lean up against the same counter as him, their shoulders pressed against each other.
"You didn't know?" Olive joked in an unamused tone. "I thought it. You made it pretty obvious." Conrad said, looking down at her. He watched as she swirled the cup, letting the alcohol create a small tornado.
"I do not make it obvious." Olive muttered, her eyes on the tornado. When Conrad didn't reply to her, she looked up at him. The boy had raised his brows and smirked, questioning if her statement was true. Olive rolled her eyes and turned to look ahead of the two of them. "I make it obvious."
Conrad nodded and looked ahead of them as well. It was silent between the two of them. It was comfortable before he looked down at her again. "But he's talking to Shayla now." Conrad said and Olive let out an annoyed laugh, taking what she wouldn't even call a sip anymore but a chug.
"Trust me. I know." She grumbled and Conrad frowned at Olive. Like he said earlier, he's always known about her crush on Steven. He never pushed her to tell him. If she wanted to, he knew she'd come to him.
"You okay?" He asked and Olive sighed, leaning her head to the side to rest it on his arm. "No. She's so... perfect" God, she hated saying that out loud, but she continued anyway. "And sweet and pretty. I can't even hate her. She'd be perfect for Steven." Olive muttered the last part, a little nervous to say it out loud out of embarrassment.
"You know you're all of those things, right?" Conrad asked, his eyes that had been trained ahead of him for so long finally looked down to her. Olive looked up at Conrad and gave him a small, slightly lopsided smile that he returned before he walked away, heading towards Steven and Jeremiah.
The boys and Belly had come back home hours after Olive, Laurel, and Susannah. The three ended up watching a movie for the night while they waited for the other four to get home.
Later in the night, after Belly had ranted to Olive about how the boys crashed her date with Cameron, Olive stood in front of her closet, eyeing all of the dresses Susannah had gotten her to decide what to wear for the next event when she heard a small knock on her door.
She turned her head just as the door opened, Steven's head popping into the small space open. "Can I come in?" Steven asked. Olive smiled and nodded her head.
Steven walked into the room and headed straight for Olive's made bed. He sat down and grabbed the small sloth stuffed animal that sat in the middle of the pillow and placed it in the middle of his lap.
Olive's attention was on him since he walked into her room when she noticed the glum, almost guilty look on his face. "What's wrong?" She asked, leaning back against her closet door so she was facing him.
Steven bit his lip and sighed. "I can't be your date to the ball." He said, making sure his words were slow enough for her to understand. His eyes were on Olive's star designed duvet, not wanting to meet her eyes.
Olive's heart rate picked up, furrowing her brows. "Wait, what?" She asked and Steven gulped. "Shayla asked me to be her date and I said yes." Steven answered and Olive pushed herself off the door of the closet, walking to the foot of her bed. She placed her hands on the bottom bed post.
"After you said you'd be my date?" Olive asked and Steven nodded. "Look... the two of us have been talking a lot and I really like her. I was worried that if I told her that I already said I'd be your date, she'd get the wrong idea about you and me."
There was a small pang in Olive's heart at Steven's word. She tried her hardest to shake off the feeling as she glared at him. "So you're gonna leave your friend high and dry without a date?" Olive asked trying to hold back any anger or sadness while Steven shrugged. "I didn't think you'd mind."
Didn't think she'd mind? Of course Olive minded! Not only has the boy she likes just drop her as his date to go with another girl, but now Olive was embarrassed. Even if she didn't have a crush on Steven, her date left her for another debutante. Who was supposed to be her partner now? Belly was going to ask Cameron and Jeremiah and Conrad already said they wouldn't do the ball.
"What do you want me to do now?" Olive asked and Steven got off the bed defensively, shrugging his shoulders. "How the hell am I supposed to know? That's not my problem!" Steven yelled and Olive gaped at him.
"Except it is partially your problem because you ditched me!" Olive yelled and Steven groaned, throwing his hands to his eyes.
"Ollie, just ask someone else!" Steven yelled and Olive took a step closer to him, tilting her head in annoyance. "Who? Jeremiah and Conrad already said they won't do it!"
Steven sighed. He forgot about that. His eyes fell to the ground as he started to realize where he messed up. "Look, I'll talk to Jere... I'll figure this all out." Steven said and Olive just shook her head. "Whatever. It's okay." Olive said, her eyes not meeting Steven's eyes. "Can you just go. Please?"
Steven watched Olive. Part of him was telling himself to listen to her and leave, but another part of him was telling him to stay. Telling him to walk up to Olive and give her a hug and take it all back. Telling him to not go with Shayla and go with Olive instead like he said he would.
But Steven didn't listen to that voice.
Steven instead walked out of Olive's room like she asked, barely giving her a second glance.
—awww hi i'm back<3
IM SORRY FOR THE LOGN WAIT BUT IM SO HAPPY TO HAVE THEM BACK
conrad and olive=my everything
i apologize in advance for these next couple chapters...
olives dress because i said so