Splashing Between the Lanes

Chapter 10

We were all quiet at the waters edge. Kendall turned away. I knew this was our official moment. It should have felt weird. Maybe I should have been in the first stage of panic. My head should've been filling with pressure, or maybe I just shouldn't have been able to think straight. I don't know, but none of that happened, not even with Kendall right beside us. In fact, it wasn't weird at all. If anything, the fact that Tim was there was more weird than anything. I embraced Kara and wrapped my arms around her warm, drunken body. It felt right. I just wanted to be her comfort now.

We stood hugging for several minutes. Chris finally walked back over from the pits of the darkness. "Whats up with her?" he asked, breaking the silence within our four-person group.

I turned to the sound of his voice and caught his thin silhouette. Tim was still fixed on our bodies. As uncomfortable as it was for me that he was watching, I ignored it. I noticed Kendall turn back to share their gaze. "I don't know." I breathed quietly. It was all I could think to say, since I really had no idea where it came from, besides the faint smell of booze that brushed my nostrils.

I turned back to Kara's head as she lay frozen against me. "Are you okay?" I whispered. I, too, was curious about what this was.

We weren't an item and had never been seen making any kind of contact in public before. The last time anything happened in front of anyone was during our little discussion on the bus ride, over the whole commitment spew. Now, I had her face planted on my shoulder.

When she was finally able to collect herself and answer, her voice was bubbly and clear, "Yeah, Im fine." I took a couple of shots with Brooke. I just wanted to come see you, she muttered. She sounded fine, very sober in fact.

She's fine, I turned back to them. Then, we separated.

"Yeah, Im good." She giggled, confirming the message. "What are yall doing out here?" she continued.

"What do you think were doing?" Chris responded shrewdly. "Enjoying this beautiful Mother Nature, unless you have a better idea?"

I looked at him and then back toward Kara. "Of course not." She grinned. Soon after, we were back at The Hub.

Suddenly hungry, I went from platter to platter stuffing my face. The party was still going strong, although I did notice the room was more spacious when I sat at the bar in the corner beside Tori, who was standing in front of Griffin.

Kendall and Chris were across the room by the chocolate fountain. I finally caught sight of Christy and my mom, talking in the middle of the floor. I spotted Kara just a few feet away, talking to Cam. We were all scattered around the place.

Next thing I know, I'm in the back seat of Chris's car between Tim and Kara, riding the strip.

The music filled the little black car, blasting through the speakers. As the adrenaline consumed my body, it felt like we were in the middle of a video game, weaving in and out of the traffic down the street. Kendall was in the front seat, staring out on the black-lit pavement ahead.

I sat quietly, and no one else said a word as the car whipped down the street. Tim looked out the window, chewing on his bottom lip while Kara fumbled with her phone. She finally locked it and crouched forward. When she came back up, she pulled a bottle of Cîroc from her feet, it was like magic. I had no idea where it'd come from or how I'd managed to miss it climbing in. She wasted no time pouring some into the cup of juice shed taken from the party. Then, she lifted the bottle up to me. I passed on it. In the same motion, she handed it over to Tim. He was more accepting as he held his cup up to take some.

The ride was beginning to feel long, and when the bottle was placed back on the floor, Chris turned down a side road. The path grew darker and it was beginning to look more familiar. When we finally came to a stop, I'd recognized the area. Immediately, I was ready to go back to the beach. This area was more rural than the city wed just left, a very familiar but unidentifiable part of the world I'd been to before, with Taylor Brooks and Burgess. It was a quiet road; there was never much traffic.