⠀⠀After Emma attempted to turn that dinner into a fiasco, things were awkward for a while. Nobody really spoke. The waitress brought out their food. They ate in silence. Then Gismo accidentally sprayed ketchup all over himself, and things were back to normal amongst the group. They laughed and talked even more than before Emma had arrived. It was almost just like old times.

⠀⠀So when Alec invited Kalani to a party at the lake the next Friday night, she agreed to go.

⠀⠀Now she stands in front of her bathroom mirror, applying the first makeup to her face in almost a year. It's still very plain, just a coat of lip gloss and a little bit of mascara, but it's still something.

⠀⠀She steps back to inspect herself in the full length mirror. Her hair is long and straight. Her scars are covered by her cream colored sweater. Her legs look good in her black shorts. She's ready.

* * * * *

⠀⠀Her car pulls into the grassy area by the lake that everyone else is parked in, and she hesitates before stepping out.

⠀⠀The cool air around the water still feels familiar after all these years. The lake itself has not changed, but the party has. Music is blaring through the portable speakers someone brought. Kegs are set up on some of the rocks, and coolers with bottles of beer are on the floor. The ground is littered with empty bottles and crushed Solo cups. The rocks not occupied by alcohol are taken by couples already at third base. The shore is covered in teenagers dancing with— more like on— each other.

⠀⠀"I'm glad you made it," someone says from behind her.

⠀⠀She turns around to see Alec with a red cup, taking a big sip out of it.

⠀⠀She smiles. "Yeah, I am too."

⠀⠀He points over to the kegs and coolers. "Beers are over there, so help yourself. I've got to find Emma before she kills me. I'll catch you later."

⠀⠀And then she is alone.

⠀⠀A few songs pass, and the noise becomes too much for her. There are too many people here. It's too loud. The shrill laughter of drunk teens is hurting her ears. Multiple drunk guys have tried to get her to dance with them. Her breath is racing and her heart rate is spiking.

⠀⠀She needs to escape, just for a little while at least, and there is only one place she can think to go.

⠀⠀The rock.

⠀⠀Kalani makes her way over to the woods that line the water and walks right along the edge just like she did the night of her going away party with Alec. Only this time, when she gets to the point where she can see the rock they sat on together, she realizes that it's already occupied by two people.

⠀⠀A girl sits on a boy's lap. He has one arm wrapped around her waist to keep her seated and the other hand is grabbing her boob. They're deep in a make out session.

⠀⠀"You're sure no one else knows about this spot?" the girl asks. Kalani gasps as she recognizes the voice.

⠀⠀"Nobody else knows, babe," the boy replies, linking their lips again. Kalani's heart skips a beat.

⠀⠀She doesn't have a right to feel like this. She shouldn't feel jealous that Alec is with his girlfriend on some random rock. He probably doesn't even know that it's the same rock they kissed on. It was only one kiss. It's not like she can classify this as their place or anything.

⠀⠀But in her mind, it had been their place. It was where they kissed. It was where they admitted they loved each other. Him being there with Emma just felt... Wrong.

⠀⠀Kalani scrambles back to where the rest of the party is. The noise and the people and everything else she wanted to escape minutes ago now is exactly where she wants to be. Anywhere is better than watching Alec with his tongue shoved down Emma's throat.

⠀⠀When she gets back to the main lake area, she bumps immediately into Gismo.

⠀⠀"You alright?" he asks.

⠀⠀She nods. "Just... A little overwhelmed."

⠀⠀He takes her arm and gently guides her away from the crowd and over to where the cars are parked, sitting in one of the empty grassy areas.

⠀⠀"Thanks," she says.

⠀⠀"No problem."

⠀⠀"So, um, this is a strange question but..." She tries to think how to phrase what she wants to say without sounding rude. "What happened to Emma?"

⠀⠀Gismo laughs and shakes his head. "Oh lord, where do I begin with that one? Basically, everyone was mean to her because of the whole The Curtain thing, so to avoid all of that, she totally reinvented herself and became about fifteen thousand times bitchier than everyone else combined."

⠀⠀"And she and Alec?" Kalani hopes to not sound jealous as she asks this, but she needs to know how he ended up with a girl like that.

⠀⠀"The boy thinks with the wrong head," Gismo says simply. "It started at the end of tenth grade. They had a thing, but it wasn't official. Then, I don't know what happened, but at some point last year he decided to make it official. It's been hell ever since."