HOW TO BE A WINGWOMAN
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where cali becomes a certified wingwoman
a/n: commenting and voting helps me update and I love reading them, so pls don't be a ghost reader!!
"You're dripping water all over the place."
Calista slid the screen door closed, following everyone into the kitchen. She smiled at Laurel, who returned it as she slid into the seat next to Sussana.
"She's gorgeous." The Fisher mom said, turning to Belly. "You have always been lovely, but, oh, honey, look at you!"
Belly laughed, cheeks turning red, "I think I look pretty much the same."
Calista nodded in agreement. She knew Belly's appearance had changed since last year, but she didn't see as much of a change as other people made it out to be.
The conversation paused once one of the Fisher boys walked in. All of them noted his uneasy facial expression. "Can I steal Cali for a second?" He asked, scratching his head.
The mentioned teenager raised her eyebrows in suspicion. She stood up, making eye contact with Belly, then Jer who was making his way towards her. "Uh, sure."
Calista followed along as Jeremiah pulled her upstairs by her arm.
Stopping at the top, the girl spoke up, "Why do you look sick?"
Mouth opening to answer, he looked to his left. Once he did, he closed his mouth and his grip loosened.
Following his eyes, she saw Conrad staring at them through his doorframe. He was laying down on his bed, one earphone in, and obviously wondering what they were talking about.
Not caring, Cali looked towards Jeremiah telling him to continue. He didn't want to talk there so he took her hand again and dragged her into his room.
She watches him slide close his door. "Ok Jer-"
"I think I like Belly." Cali's head snapped up.
She blinked, "what?" This whole time she thought their relationship was strictly platonic.
Jer watched her, thinking she didn't get what he was trying to get across. "Romantically."
The girl collapsed onto the bed still in disbelief. "No shit you meant romantically."
Jeremiah walked towards her shaking his head. "The problem is, our relationship right now is more like..."
She knew what he meant, "more like best friends?"
"Exactly" He agreed, starting to pace around his room, "so what do I do?"
Calista sat up supporting herself with her arms, "Woah, what makes you think I know what to do?"
"You and Conrad started out-"
"That's true but look at us now."
Jeremiah faced her to argue, but realized it wasn't worth it. "Anyway, since you're my wingwoman, I need you to tell me what to do."
The girl thought about it, "Go in there right now, and ask her to hangout."
He nodded making his way to the door, "That's easy."
Cali narrowed her eyes as he opened his door. "And don't invite Steven."
Jeremiah threw his head back. "Should've said that before I got confident."
"Go." Calista said smiling slightly.
Jeremiah did the opposite and went to sit on his bed instead.
Grabbing a pillow, she threw it at him. "Go!"
"Ok, ok!" He said barely dodging it. "I'm going."
———
"How did I-"
She sat up looking at the time. Helping Jer with his love life couldn't be that tiring. She ended up waking up two hours later.
Getting up, she went to his door. Glancing at her reflection on the way, she noticed her more than messy hair. It was expected, but not appreciated.
Yanking open the door, she found herself face to face with Steven.
It took him a couple seconds to take in her appearance. Once he did, his mouth was wide open, eyes wide.
Still feeling delirious, Calista was unaware of what idea the Conklin boy created in his head. "What?" She questioned, tilting her head.
When he didn't answer, and it was more like a one sided staring contest.
Blinking, she realized what he must've been thinking. "Oh! Uh- no, not what it looks like."
His only response was raising his eyebrows, the effects of his shock wearing off.
"No one else is in there, just me."
They both gained the attention of someone hanging around. Wondering what was going on, Conrad Fisher made his way to the doorway to watch the scene unfold.
Steven wiggled his eyebrows, "Don't worry C-dog, you're secret's safe with me."
Cali chuckled as the boy made his way downstairs, "Don't call me that."
Conrad watched as she attempted to comb her fingers through her hair, speaking up once they were out of earshot. "Really Calista? My brother?"
It was one thing that he decided to talk to her now, but it was another thing when he called her by her full name.
Last summer when he called her Calista it was different, but now it was out of spite. He knew it bothered her.
"Don't talk to me." Cali rolled her eyes, turning around to walk away.
He stepped into the hall, suddenly angrier. "You can't be mad, especially after what you did last summer."
That sentence caused her to turn back towards him. "After what I did?" She said pointing to herself. The time spent trying to avoid the anger she felt was useless. "You should be apologizing to me!"
"You want to act like the victim?" He let out an angry laugh, "trying to make things about yourself already? You had lots of practice last summer, so it should be easy right?"
It was getting too out of hand for a conversation she didn't want to have in the first place. She shook her head, "what the hell is wrong with you?-"
"No, what's wrong with you? You're walking around like you didn't ruin everything! Like you're not the reason people find it impossible to be happy around you!"
Normally, she wouldn't care about words thrown at her, but what he said crossed the line. He used information that she trusted him with, against her.
Conrad realized that it was something he shouldn't have said as soon as the words came out, but he was too stubborn to back down, they both were.
Saying they were both angry would be an understatement. Calista knew she should've stepped away moments ago, but her bottled up anger caught up to her.
The door downstairs creaked open loudly for both of them to hear. "Dinner! Dry up and wash hands!"
Both teens, secretly thankful for the argument breaker, walked angrily towards their rooms.
They gave one last look to each other, and slammed both doors shut at the same time.
———
It was either Lifeguarding or the Deb ball
After Jeremiah flexed to impress Belly, Cali zoned out. She still gained information about Conrad quitting football and her mom wanting her to actually do something out the house this summer. After compromising, she was given a choice at least, lifeguarding or the debutante ball.
It wasn't a surprise to Calista and Conrad when they ended up the furthest away from each other. That was one of the reasons she spent dinner wishing for it to be over.
Her mom wanted her to do something out of the house along with everyone else, so halfway though, she was given a choice between the debutante ball and lifeguarding. (Which wasn't on the table until her mom figured out Calista's certification hadn't expired from back home.)
It was an easy answer, and everyone at the table knew what she was going to pick.
More conversing happened, but Cali found herself zoning out after Jeremiah flexed to impress Belly. She did still gain information like Conrad quitting football, and Mr. Conklin coming for the fourth.
After dinner, Calista decided to hangout with Belly. Partially because they hadn't gotten to fully catch up, but she also wanted to see how it went with Belly and Jeremy.
Both girls were both made their way to the pool for a relaxing night swim, but when was anything relaxing in the Cousins home?
Calista stepped outside, watching Conrad blow out a cloud of smoke.
She knew that they both would have changed once she came back, but she wondered if she really knew him as much as she thought she did?
The sight reminded her of last year, when it was her sitting there instead.
That night, Conrad snuck up on her while she was lost in thoughts. "What's on your mind?"
Younger Calista took her feet out of the water, "Just... thinking."
The boy reached his hand out to help her stand up. "About?"
This was usually how far anyone would get to making her talk about her feelings, but this was different.
"My dad." She played with her fingers, "He hasn't seemed like himself lately."
Conrad was listening intensely, making sure he didn't miss a word. He noticed something was wrong with his best friend as soon as she arrived, and the last thing he needed was to mess things up now.
"Everytime I talk to him, it's like I'm talking to a robot stuck on a sad emotion." She continued, "I tried to cheer him up, but I think it started to make things worse."
The boy led her to sit down, making eye contact with Cali. "Have you tried talking to your mom about it?"
"Yes, multiple times, she tells me he needs time, but it's been so long."
"I know it seems hard to wait, but it will get better with time."
Calista looked back at her hands, tears starting to form. "Sometimes I feel like it's entirely my fault."
"Listen to me." He tapped her knee, "Nothing about this is your fault, all you've done is help. If anything, the only thing that would be your fault is him feeling better."
Nothing anyone could say would make her feel absolutely better, but that went a long way. "Thanks Connie."
His lips pulled into a smile as she leaned his head against his shoulder.
Younger Cali was thankful she had someone like him to talk to. She wasn't sure what her future would look like, but she was sure they would stick together no matter what.
———
QOTC (Question of the chapter): Do you think Calista chose the deb ball or lifeguarding?
may talks again: irrelevant to the storyline, but I'm a lifeguard, and watching Jeremiah guard in the show made me laugh so hard lol. Anyway I do owe many chapters so there will definitely be another soon.