I flutter my eyes open to see Ashleigh's face hovering over mine. What is happening? Is she about to kiss me? Oh my god. I mean I've only ever seen her as a friend but she is pretty attractive and all...

"Oh my gosh, finally! I thought you were dead, dude," Ashleigh moves away and I sigh of relief. What was I thinking? Why would Ashleigh be kissing me while I'm laying next to a fountain in a park in the middle of the night. She was just checking if I was okay.

Wait.

Why the hell am I lying on the ground in a park in the middle of the night?

I suddenly get up, surprising Ashleigh.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asks.

"I feel great," I say and she looks even more surprised. I suddenly remember the last couple of hours. "Shit, the party!" I start to run.

"Slow down!" Ashleigh follows, holding a skateboard.

"Since when are you a Sk8r Boi?" I ask and she ignores me, not looking amused. "Haha, see you l8r boi!" I laugh at my own dumb joke.

"Let's just get back to yours, Drunkie." She does, however, look amused by her new nickname for me.

"No!" I take the skateboard from her and start skating down but she catches up to me and manages to yank my new skateboard away from me.

"If you walk home with me right now, I'll let you keep it," she says.

"Deal."

When we get back to my house, all that I see is a huge mess. "Where is everybody?!" I yell.

"I kicked everyone out," says my brother, appearing from behind the couch with a large trash bag in his hand.

"I'm sorry, you did what?" I ask, annoyed.

"What? The party was getting out of control. I had to break it up before the cops showed up," he shrugs.

"Fair enough, I'm going to bed," I say, unbothered. I turn around towards Ashleigh. "Thanks for looking after me tonight, Ash. You're the best."

***

I wake up thirstier than ever. I flutter my eyes open to see a skateboard by my side. I wonder who left that here. I slowly get out of bed and everything around me is spinning. I hate this. I make my way to the kitchen and drink three whole glasses of water and make myself some toast. It's the only thing that makes me feel better when I'm hungover.

I struggle to remember much from last night but I do remember one thing. I whip my phone out and text Ashleigh.

'Ash, did Will tell me that he loved me last night or did I dream that?'

Ashleigh doesn't take long to reply.

'Oh, you poor thing. You probably dreamt it. You ok?'

I stand in front of my bathroom mirror and splash my face with some water. I can't believe how much I've been missing Will. I can't believe that I dreamt that he said he loved me. I can't believe how pathetic I am. Can't I just admit to myself that he was just after the chase? And then he got me and got over me. He's one of those guys.

I convinced myself that he's a good guy but maybe his reputation was what was right all along.

I'm done. I'm done moping over a guy who doesn't care about me. Jules is right, I'm awesome and no guy is worth all this pain. Speaking of...

"Jules! Where are you?" I call her only to get her voicemail. "Call me back!"

I look around and see no sign of her having spent the night. I go to Wyatt's room and ask him if he's seen her.

"She wasn't there when I kicked everyone out last night," he shrugs.

"You kicked everyone out? Why?" I question.

"'Cause it was getting too wild, remember?" He says and I act like I do remember.

I'm sure Jules is fine. She's a big girl. I go back to the kitchen and clear up a bit. It's already pretty clean so I'm guessing Wyatt did a bit before going to bed. I see my favourite bottle of rum that was full yesterday and it's almost empty now. And then I suddenly remember.

Holden!

We were kissing and I just ran off from him. He must think I'm giving him such mixed signals. Well, I'm done with that. Holden is cute, funny and totally my type. I'm not going to let anything or rather anyone hold me back. I'm not going to let him hold me back.

I decide to do a quick Facebook search and find Holden pretty easily. I see 3 mutual friends, Starla, Darla, and Chase. I guess people who hate each other in real life can still be friends on Facebook. I mean, I'm friends with Aunt Augusta. Her boomer posts are a hoot.

I add Holden and shoot him a message, 'Hey, last night was fun. Maybe next time we should hang out sober.' I hit send before I start to overthink it.

Boom. That's one thing done. I call Jules to get her voicemail again and start to worry a little. Maybe Ashleigh knows where she is.

"Jules? Now that I think of it, I didn't see her at the party before you ran off," says Ashleigh when I call her and ask. "Oh hold on, Chase is saying something."

"The hot brunette in the red dress? I saw her talking to your brother a little before everyone left!" I hear Chase yell out.

"Wait, you were at the party?" I ask, surprised. I definitely do not remember him being there. "And Wyatt said he didn't see her."

"Ouch, yes I was! And no, your other brother. The creepy one!" he yells out again.

"Oh, Colt!" I say.

"Right, I still can't get over that," says Ashleigh. "Call Colt then?"

"Alright, I'm putting you on hold," I say and dial Colt's number only to hear a loud ringing sound from the couch. I look behind one of the cushions to find Colt's phone. Great. I take Ashleigh off hold and tell her.

"I guess we should go to Colt's then. Pick you up in 5!" She hangs up.

She gets here in the speed of lightning, "Where's Wyatt?"

"So that's why you came." I wink.

"What? No, I came to find Julianna. Seeing your hot brother is just a bonus," she says.

"He's been in his room all day," I shrug and Ashleigh looks disappointed.

"Alright, let's go."

We get to Colt's condo quickly and ring the doorbell a bunch of times only to get no response.

"I have a spare key that Colt gave me a few weeks ago," I say and Ashleigh nods.

"Colt!" Ashleigh yells out when we enter. "I don't think he's home, Kat."

"Doesn't seem like he is," I say and check his bedroom to see it empty.

"This is so weird," Ashleigh looks concerned. "What if both Julianna and Colt have been kidnapped?"

"I'm sure they haven't been kidnapped," I chuckle.

"Maybe Wyatt knows where Colt is?" Ashleigh suggests.

"Good idea," I get my phone out of my pocket and call Wyatt. "Hey, have you heard from Colt today?"

"Didn't you see him asleep on my floor when you came in earlier?" Asks Wyatt.

"Wait, what? Seriously?" I ask.

"Um yeah, weirdo. Bye." He hangs up.

"Apparently Colt has been in my house this whole time," I inform Ashleigh.

"No way," she laughs. "Alright, let's go back.

We go back straight to Wyatt's room and I notice a large lump covered with a blanket on the floor.

"You're so dumb," Wyatt laughs when he sees me.

"What? I thought that was your pile of dirty clothes." I shrug.

"Hi Wyatt," Ashleigh twirls her hair. Way to be obvious, Ash.

I wake Colt up and ask him if he's seen Jules only to get a "Huh?" in response.

"Julianna! Chase said he saw you talking to her," I repeat.

"Oh, yeah, she's probably with Forrester. Can I go back to sleep now?" He covers himself with the blanket again.

"Wow, I can't believe I didn't think of that." I laugh.

"Same," says Ashleigh and my phone starts to ring.

"It's Jules," I say.

"What a coinkidink!" Ashleigh says and Colt shushes us.

I step out of the room and take the call.

"Kat? What's wrong?" Asks Jules, sounding concerned.

"I couldn't find you and I got worried!" I say.

"I'm with Alex," she says. "Don't you remember playing matchmaker with us all night before the Officer McHottie got there?"

"Uh, no," I say. Oops. "But I'm happy for you!"

"Haha, thanks. I'll be back soon. See ya!" She says. I get a notification on my phone as soon as she hangs up. Speaking of Officer McHottie...

Holden Becker has accepted your friend request.

I see that he has also replied to my message.

'How about dinner on Friday night? Maybe you can tell me why you ran off on me then.'

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A/N

Hi everyone! Wow, it's been so long. One good thing about this fkn virus is that I've got a lot of time to write haha. In all seriousness though, please stay safe! Wash your hands, sanitize, and maintain social distance!

Thank you so much for reading and sticking with Frisson despite my slow and erratic updates. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I want to thank all the people who have been voting and commenting in the last few months. You guys motivate me so much!

Also, please check out my other book while you're waiting for Frisson to be updated. It follows a similar style of romance and humour. It's called The Line Between Reality & Fiction❤️

Xoxo
Kat