White Noise

12

I flinched instinctually, but ending up bumping into what seemed like a hard, solid rock. My breath hitched and I looked up, catching a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at me. That was when I lost my breath completely.

He smirked. "Did I scare you?"

"Yes," I murmured, unable to get any other words out.

He let out a laugh that caught me off guard and wrapped his arm tightly around me, pulling me in so my ear pressed against his chest and my knees went weak. While hugging me, he asked, "How've you been?"

"Alright," I said and he freed me from his hold. I regained a confident posture, thinking about how Caroline stood around Blake and his friends. Hopefully I sounded smooth and not nervous like I felt when I said, "I could use another beer though."

He tilted his head in a nod towards the kitchen door. "Lead the way."

He was close behind me as we walked and I felt his eyes on me the whole way. When we got through a thicker part of the crowd, he placed his hand on my back so we could stay together and shivers ran down my spine from his touch.

He only let go of me once we had made it to the kitchen and I reached into the cooler, grabbing two beers, one for each of us.

"Ever shotgunned a beer?" he asked, cracking open the tab of his can after I handed it to him.

I felt a little embarrassed because honestly I didn't even know what that was. I'd heard the word maybe a few times in relation to drinking, but I couldn't tell you a thing about what it meant. Instead of asking though, I simply shook my head and cracked open my own beer.

"I'll teach you one day," he said with a mischievous smirk. My stomach twisted in response. "So who'd you come with?"

"My best friend," I said after swallowing a gulp of the nasty beer. I felt some of the effects of the two beers I already had, but my nerves were making me drink this one even faster. "What about you?"

"Friends," he replied vaguely and slyly gave me an up and down as I took down more of the alcohol. It was beginning to taste less and less awful. He leaned against the kitchen counter. "You look amazing."

My cheeks must've been red as a tomato because he laughed huskily under his breath. I couldn't even make eye contact with him as I gulped down even more of my beer.

He reached out to grab my arm, gently pulling me closer to him. I still refused to make eye contact. "So, do I get to meet this best friend of yours?"

I hope not. Instead of saying that though, I shrugged and replied as coolly as possible, "Maybe. If we can even find her."

"What about your sister?"

My head snapped up and I finally met his eyes. He knew Caroline? Better question, how did he know Caroline?

"What?" he asked. His face fell as he scanned my features.

I squeezed my half empty beer can now, causing the aluminum to fold in on itself a little. "How do you know about her?"

"You've mentioned her a few times over text, Katie," JD's concerned frown turned into a concerned smirk. "Plus, I saw you staring at her when I finally found you. You guys look almost identical. Even if you hadn't told me, it'd be pretty easy to tell you're related."

Right. The blonder, prettier version of me. I was surprised he hadn't already left me to go for her after seeing her in person. It was this reason—same for Lauren, who was also much prettier than me—that I wasn't exactly excited to introduce him to Caroline, even though I promised her I would. There was another part of me however that wanted to, just to prove to her that I could actually get a guy too. That I wasn't just her weird sister Kate that only had a life because of Lauren. That maybe we could finally be able to relate to each other on more than just having the same irrelevant father and depressed mother.