Splashing Between the Lanes

Chapter 3

I woke up to a bright sunshine the next morning, peeking in through the curtains. Of course, I reached for my phone to see what messages were waiting in my inbox. The first was from Kendall. Im so high, Lex, going to catch a ride home with Chris, it read.

I noticed it had come through earlier the night before. I imagine shed sent it some time around her disappearance from Tori and Sage. Her leaving wasnt much of a surprise; she was prone to just up and leave with people she was close to now and then. But what could I say? She did text me.

I never really understood the hype behind smoking though. I didnt know much about it personally, nor had I heard many conversations about it besides the common sleepiness afterward. But, I did often wonder where the fun in that was? I mean, you smoke, sit around, then when your body can no longer put out any more energy to stay awake, you sleep. Then again, Id been around a few smokers at parties, and they all usually seemed very much awake to me.

Id even read about the effects of anxiety and panicky experiences and how some people even twitch, which I learned from a research paper I did my senior year in high school. It all just seemed so overbearing to me and not worth the trouble.

The thought of that pulled me back to that dreadful night from the summer and then fast- forwarded to last night and the unnecessary misery with the Taylors. I flung my pillow over my face and squeezed it tight. If only I could erase that entire conversation. That moment Id even walked over to Sage not knowing that they were there. I looked at my phone again.

Girl, you are too much, Toris text read.

I dropped my phone down, wondering what she meant by that as the last two words lingered in my head, too much. I couldnt help laughing at her words as they came out of my mouth, even though overwhelmed. Last night was a great night thanks to Kara that Kara. The girl knew how to have fun.

I couldnt believe Id actually gotten on the beer pong table. I was usually the one at the party who laid low and watched the games from the side. The dancing was even more out of my norm. I mean, I know I was drinking, but I wasnt that drunk.

I finally rolled out of bed, ruffling over the pile of clean clothes lying at my feet, covering the entire bottom half of my bunk. I noticed a shiny piece of plastic sticking out from the fringes of tangled shirts.

I leaned closer to it, trying to make out the foreign object. The closer I got, the more familiar it became. I reached for it—the white ID. It was more like a school card, much like the one Id gotten in high school. It was banded by a red strip that cut horizontally across the front, with a picture enclosed in a framed blue square that was taken on picture day. Only, this one had a deep blue strip and the borders of the frame were lined in green. It was Kara who sat inside the lines with a childish grin spreading the length of her face. She wore her hair in long plaits, pulled behind her head while her distinct features pierced the young face. Even in those innocent little eyes, beauty still shined. I cant believe she still carried it around.

I remembered this. Last night. Kara grabbed my hand and pulled me to the floor. It was sticking out from the back pocket of her little blue shorts, glowing through the dim light. Thoughts of it sliding out and her losing it crossed my mind, so I shoved at it trying to push it down, but her pocket wasnt deep enough. The card still stuck out from the same revealing position, daring anyone bold enough to swipe it the opportunity. She must have realized what I was doing because she wasted no time in the midst of that dance to fix it. I remembered her looking into my eyes as I stood in front of her, shyly swaying side to side. Her left hand was resting on my waist, tugging almost aggressively. She attempted to guide me, making me dance even though I gave her every reason to believe it was a waste to continue, so it didnt last long.