after they got home from shopping, eden went upstairs to change and get ready for the deb lunch, belly doing the same.
when she was finished getting ready she exited her room and went across the hall to belly's room.
she knocked on the door and belly opened it to reveal eden in her pink dress with a mint green headband in her hair with a little bow hat on top.
"wow, eden. you look gorgeous. like always." belly complimented.
like always.
was belly jealous?
of course she was. she had always been jealous of eden. eden was always prettier and smarter and funnier than her.
she was the girl everyone looked at.
her and belly's best friend taylor.
not belly.
"thanks." eden smiled.
she looked belly up and down.
belly's outfit was the exact opposite of eden's. mint green checkered dress with a headband with a hat on the top that was pink.
"you look really pretty too, bells."
"thanks."
it was quiet.
"look, um, i just wanted to apologize for last night. i—."
"stop. eden, i blew it out of proportion. you wanted to go out and i shouldn't have been mad about it. you're allowed to do what you want. also, if i was still mad about it, i wouldn't have talked to you this morning nor would i have went shopping with you." belly interrupted.
"so are we good?" eden raised her eyebrows.
belly smiled and nodded. "we're good."
"are we ready, girls?"
they turned to see laurel standing behind them.
"yeah, i think just about." eden answered
laurel looked between the both of them.
"you guys look very beautiful. i still don't like it, but you're both still gorgeous."
"thanks, mom."
"thanks, laur."
"alright, let's go. if you guys aren't on time susannah will kill me." laurel said.
"oh yes. she'll have your head. most likely on a stick." eden nodded.
belly laughed and laurel shook her head.
"let's go."
the girls followed laurel down to the car.
the got in and on the way there, they listened to taylor swift, both girls screaming at the top of their lungs.
finally, they arrived at the country club.
the girls then exited the car.
"thanks, mom." belly thanked.
"thank you, laurel." eden added.
"sure." laurel nodded. "thanks for the performance."
the girls giggled and went to walk up to the club.
"belly?"
belly and eden stopped and turned around.
"you can go in, eden. belly will only be a minute." laurel informed.
eden nodded and made her way inside.
"eden fisher!" a voice called.
eden looked to see that it was steven.
her face lit up and she smiled wide.
"hey, steve-o!" she exclaimed.
"you look..."
"different?"
"beautiful."
she smiled and bit her lip. "thanks."
"yeah." he smiled back and nodded.
they were both silent for a moment.
"aren't you supposed to be working at the snack stand or whatever?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"i'm on my break." he nodded.
"oh, gotcha."
it was silent again and they just stared into each other's eyes.
"well, i should probably get going."
steven didn't reply. he was lost in her gaze. she was just too beautiful to look away from.
"steven."
she waved her hand in front of his face.
he jumped. "oh! sorry. i spaced out of a minute there. my bad. that's so uncool of me."
"very, very uncool of you conklin. i can't believe you got spaced out while talking to me. the one and only eden fisher." she shook her head.
"well, you're not very interesting, miss fisher." he joked, looking her up and down.
she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "i am offended! you cannot talk to a deb that way."
"right, of course, my apologies. where are my manners?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "oh, wait. i think i left them at home."
eden laughed hardly at that.
god, he was funny.
she took a breath.
"well, i should really go. it's gonna be starting soon."
"we should really go."
eden looked over. "oh hey, bells.
"i'd walk you guys, but my break is ending. good luck, eden. and break a leg, belly. literally." steven joked.
"asshole." she squinted.
"kidding. good luck."
"thanks."
"thanks, steve-o."
he saluted her and winked before jogging off.
"so—."
"hey! belly! eden!" a voice called.
it was jeremiah.
"ugh, i'm making a run for it. have fun with jere."
she quickly walked off and went upstairs to where the deb ball was being held.
she looked for her table number.
table 2
she smiled and went over until she saw nicole.
or even worse, shayla.
eden let out a breath and as gracefully as she could, she walked over to the table.
"hi, everyone." she smiled and took a seat.
everyone smiled back. "hi."
eden let out a breath and nodded.
so far so good.
wow, was she good at pretending.
she turned to shayla.
"you're shayla, right?" she asked.
"correct. i am certainly shayla." she smiled.
"hi. i'm eden." eden introduced. "you were with steven at the bonfire."
"yes i was. you're his friend who's dating the curly haired boy, right?" shayla raised her eyebrows.
shit
jace
eden didn't know why she kept forgetting about jace, but ever since steven showed up, her focus on jace was slowly slipping away.
"yes. yup. that is me." she nodded with a fake smile.
"mm. you're quite beautiful. i love how blonde your hair is. how does one's hair get so blonde?" shayla asked.
eden shrugged. "genetics."
shayla giggled. "i like you."
eden smiled. "i like you too."
it was true. she did like shayla.
for some reason she thought she wasn't going to, but she was kind of glad that she was going to get to know her.
eden then looked over and saw jeremiah taking one of the little sandwiches from the tables.
he then said goodbye to belly and belly walked up to the tables.
"hey, bells." eden smiled. "um...isabel."
"hey, edes. um...eden." belly retorted with a cheeky smile and eden smiled back.
the girls at the table began conversing with one another and surprisingly, eden talked a lot with shayla. maybe they were becoming...friends.
if so, that meant she was okay with her being with steven.
that meant she was officially over steven. right?
wrong
but eden would believe the lies she was telling herself.
she'd believe that she was truly over her silly crush on steven and just wanted to be with jace.
even though those were all lies.
AUTHORS NOTE
so i just realized steven was one of the waiters at the deb lunch after i wrote this, so just pretend he's not. okay cool.
muah,
lea <3