Secrets

Chapter Eighteen

Karlie stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her brown hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing more make-up than usual. She gave herself a weak smile. She had only been at this party for half an hour, but she already wanted to go home and curl up in bed. She sighed. Cara exited one of the stalls and used the sink next to Karlie. She looked at her friend with concern.

"You don't look like you're having fun" Cara stated, looking back at Karlie through the mirror.

"I'm sorry. I'm not in the best mood tonight" Karlie answered truthfully.

Cara turned towards the taller girl.

"Whatever it is that's going on in your head, you most likely can't solve it right now. Try to enjoy yourself a little, hm?" she said.

"Yeah, I will try" Karlie smiled weakly.

Cara smiled back and started moving towards the door, pulling Karlie with her.

"Your costume is ridiculous, by the way" Karlie reminded her friend for the hundredth time that night.

They were at a Halloween party at their regular bar, Sunset and Vine. Karlie hadn't gone out much since the semester had started again, in fact the last time she had been here was at her birthday party. Cara had to drag her to this party too, not accepting that she would sit in her apartment by herself. Cara was wearing a Mario costume, complete with a red hat and blue overall.

"No it's not! Just wait until Luigi shows up!" the British girl defended herself.

"And besides, yours is like, the nerdiest shit I've ever seen" she giggled.

Karlie just jokingly shoved her friend in response. The girl wasn't wrong. Karlie was wearing a full-body NASA space-suit costume, the only thing missing was a helmet because she hadn't wanted to carry one all night. Karlie felt, admittedly, a little too warm in the costume in the stuffy bar, but she thought it was still better than wearing one of those 'sexy astronaut' costumes. She didn't judge the women who wore costumes like these, she just thought they were ridiculous. She wanted her costume to be accurate, and you just can't wear a mini skirt in space.

They made their way over back to their friends, and Cara started squealing when she saw who had arrived. She pulled Karlie with her on her arm towards a brunette who was dressed up as Luigi, the outfit coordinated with Cara's. Cara introduced them.

"Hey, I'm Alex" the girl shouted over the music in a raspy voice.

Karlie noticed how blue the girl's eyes were. They reminded her of Taylor's, but she pushed that thought away. She was trying to have fun without the singer tonight, she told herself.

"I'm Karlie" she shouted back and smiled.

She wondered if there was anything going on between Alex and Cara, given the fact that Cara hadn't stopped talking about the girl she had met in one of her classes, but she decided to ask Cara about that another time.

Derek came over and handed Karlie a beer, which she gratefully accepted. He was dressed up as Waldo, with a white and red striped shirt and big glasses. Karlie couldn't help but think that it fit his funny and light-hearted personality.

The two friends talked for a while as far as that was possible, given the music and chatter around them. Cara and Alex had joined another group of people at the other side of the room that Karlie didn't know. Joan, a girl who lived in Karlie's student housing complex, made her way over towards her and Derek.

She hugged Karlie, and Karlie introduced her to Derek.

"Where's Jourdan?" the girl asked.

"Oh, she's at another party tonight, with her boyfriend" Karlie explained.