Together

138. Just as bad

Your Hand In Mine
-Explosions In the Sky

"Hold still," Sarah laughs.

"You're gonna poke my eye out!" Kiara screams.

"Oh my god," Sarah huffs with mock frustration. "You need to wear make up more."

Kiara rolls her eyes, flinching when Sarah, again, nearly takes her eye out with the eyeliner she's trying to apply to her water line. She blinks furiously once it's done, trying to get her eyes used to the unfamiliar substance. Not like she didn't wear make up ever, but Sarah was going a special kind of rouge tonight.

"You nervous?" Sarah coos.

"No," Kiara chuckles. "It's just a date, been on plenty."

"It's a been a year, Kie," Sarah gushes. "Ugh, you're officially in a serious relationship."

"Feel like we've always been serious," Kiara mumbles.

"You know what I mean," Sarah argues.

She bites her lip, looking into the mirror. Her and JJ have been going out officially for a year. Would probably have been a lot longer had they each owned up to their feelings when they actually realized them, but what are you gonna do? They were both stubborn, slow ass, turtles that took every detour imaginable to get to each other.

But they did get to each other.

"Stop," Kiara pleads, fighting involuntary embarrassment from the attention.

Sarah smiles, pulling another chair closer to the vanity she has Kiara sitting at. She gives her sister a side hug, cheek smooshed against cheek with pursed lips in an airy mwah as they laugh.

"Save it for your boyfriend," Kiara jests, playfully pushing Sarah away.

"God, I'm going to miss you," Sarah pouts. "Don't know what I'm going to do when you're off across country without me," she whines. "You and your surfer boyfriend riding into the sunset together."

Kiara barks a laugh, hugging her gut at Sarah's plight.

"I'm serious!" Sarah complains. "It's gonna be so weird without you around."

"Pope's not gonna be here either," Kiara defends.

"Okay, well, when Pope decides to be my girl best friend I'll mourn his loss a little more," Sarah says, faking a tearful expression and pout.

Kiara laughs, rolling her eyes before starting to feel a little bit more of what Sarah was joking about. She hadn't thought about it until now, but Sarah wasn't wrong.

She'd be moving across the county, not knowing anyone other than JJ. And it wasn't just that they wouldn't have her and JJ, but she wouldn't have them either. She'd be starting at a college campus completely without the support of her best girlfriend. She wouldn't be able to lock herself in Sarah's room when she's pissed at JJ or freaking out about a bad grade. She wouldn't have someone to lean on and talk about stupid shit that only they understood.

Don't get her wrong, she was immensely happy about going to San Diego with JJ. She wouldn't change it under any circumstance, she wants to do this next adventure with him. But that adventure means admitting that Sarah and the rest of the Pogues aren't a part of it.

Kiara hasn't been away from all of her friends since her kook year. It was the one thing that she never wanted to do again. It hurt like hell to be ripped from the boys and thrown to the wolves that were the kook academy cheerleading squad and miss queen bee herself, Sarah Cameron.

Then that fell apart as well and she remembers just thinking what a colossal mistake she made in not talking to her Pogues. How guilty she felt for ditching them for months. She's felt it before then, but with the whole school hating her she didn't have anything to distract herself from that reality.