"Wakey, wakey, wakey. Yo! Karma! Wake up!"

My mind turned on so slowly that I barely registered Lanie's voice. When I finally opened my eyes, I frowned. There was a coffee table and a large TV in my eyeline.

This isn't my room.

Memories from the night before came back to me. Nathan creeping into the condo after his date-gone-wrong. Me eating my stress away with a tub of Ben & Jerry's. Then Nathan's offer to watch a movie. I also kind of remembered falling asleep.

But where was Nathan?

I was on the couch with a pillow under my head and the blanket from the night before spread out over me. Since I remembered falling asleep sitting up, he must have brought me this pillow and covered me. The kind act shocked me. It was so not Nathan.

"You alive, Karma?"

I looked up at Lanie who was watching me with concern. "Hey, Lanie."

"You okay? And why weren't you in your bed?"

Sitting up on the sofa, I ran my hand over my face. "Sorry. Couldn't sleep. I came out here and watched some TV. Guess I fell asleep."

With your brother, I thought to myself.

Even though we were just hanging out and nothing happened, it still felt like I did something I shouldn't have. There was an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of telling her. I was worried it would get awkward and questions would be asked that I didn't have answers to.

Shit. I was really overthinking this, wasn't I?

"I'm fine," I said at last. "You know me, L. I never sleep well in a new bed."

At least that wasn't a lie. I wish I could tell her the truth about USF. My gut told me it was too soon. Lanie was probably going to take it a lot harder than Harper. Or even me. One thing I loved about my best friend was how much she cared about other people.

Lanie Jenkins was one of a kind. The best of the best. The thought of hurting her with the truth killed me.

"I was thinking we could hang by the pool today," she said casually as she sat on the coffee table. "Unless you want to go down to the beach?"

I thought about that for a second. It's been a long time since I've even been in a pool. Damn...I've really been living a sheltered life, haven't I? I really needed to get out more.

"That sounds good. I'll go brush my teeth and stuff and get dressed. Do you mind if I eat some breakfast first, though? I'm starving."

Lanie chuckled and stood up from the table. "I can make us some pancakes while you get ready. Still like blueberries?"

"Ew no," I answered sarcastically. "Those are my all time favorite, Lanie. You know that."

"Shame on me!" She put her hand over her heart. "You're right. You're absolutely right. My apologies and it will never happen again."

"I would appreciate that," I quipped. I finally got up from the couch and stretched my arms and legs. I folded the blanket and returned it to its resting place on the back of the sofa before I grabbed my pillow.

I headed down the hallway to my bedroom. When I passed Nathan's door, I paused. I atleast wanted to say thank you for what he did. I lifted my hand and knocked. No answer. I tried again and got the same result.

With a sigh, I opened the door and peeked inside. All I saw was a duffle bag on the dresser and an empty messy bed. No Nathan.

Shutting the door, I went to my bedroom. Oh well. I would probably see him later anyway. Or maybe I shouldn't say anything about it...

Get a grip, Karma.

All this stress with my mom was making me crazy. I forced all thoughts of my mom and Nathan from my mind as I entered my room. My toiletry bag was sitting on the dresser and I grabbed it before walking down the hallway to the bathroom.

I quickly got through my morning routine before returning to my bedroom to get ready for the pool. I've always loved swimming and used to do laps with Lanie at this old gym by her house. Harper would come sometimes, too, but usually to work on her tan. Then it closed down and we never looked for another place.

Pulling open the second drawer of my dresser revealed the few bathing suits I brought with me. Today, I decided to go with the light blue bikini with the metal circle that held the front together.

Once I had my swimsuit and my coverup on, I grabbed my beach towel, sunblock, and a magazine before meeting Lanie in the kitchen.

She had the blueberry pancakes ready and waiting for me on a plate with extra butter and syrup.

"Thanks, L. This looks good." I slid on the bar stool and took a bite. This was just what I needed. Fluffy and delicious.

Lanie was flipping her own pancakes in the pan before she turned towards me. "It's no prob-oh my gosh! I love that bathing suit."

I smiled and glanced down. "Yeah? I bought it for this trip."

"So freaking cute."

"Thanks," I replied before looking around the kitchen. "Where's Harper?"

Lanie's attention went back to the pancakes. "She went down early to save us some chairs. I told her we would be right behind her."

The only thing that sucked about coming to Treasure Island for summer vacation was that everyone came to Florida for summer vacation. There was always a place to set up your blanket on the beach. But the pool was a different story. There was a limited amount of chairs available along with a limited number of people in the pool at a time. I just hoped Harper lucked out.

After breakfast, Lanie and I took the elevator down to the main level. It was a short walk to the pool and we spotted Harper right away. She was laying out on one of the lounge chairs, sunglasses off and eyes closed. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun as she sunbathed.

Next to her were two additional chairs. One was reserved with her bag sitting on it and the other had her beach towel and magazines. Thank God, I thought. We had a lot of ocean time yesterday and I was dying for some chlorine.

When Lanie sat her stuff on the chair next to Harper, I took the third one. After saying hey to Harper, I handed her her towel and magazines. Once the chair was empty, I sat on the side and started putting sunscreen on my arms, legs, and face.

"Oh no," Lanie groaned.

"What?" Harper asked.

"What is it, Lanie?"

When I looked over my shoulder she pointed to the deep end of the pool. "What do you think? My brother has his tongue down some future Happy Meal's throat."

I glanced in the direction that Lanie pointed. Sure enough, Nathan was making out with a blonde girl. From the looks of it, he had her pressed against the wall and her legs were wrapped around his waist.

Seriously? There were people here. Couldn't they do that somewhere else? Anywhere else? For a split-second, I wondered if that was the girl from his date last night.

Nah. Knowing Nathan, there had probably been a whole herd of women between last night and this morning. I bet the guy never slept.

Why do you care, my inner voice asked. I didn't care. At all.

Turning my attention back to applying my sunscreen, I just finished rubbing some into the skin of my face when I heard a squeal, a splash, then Nathan yelling, "Harper! What the hell!"

Harper popped out of the water with a laugh. "What? I didn't do anything."

Nathan's kissing partner looked annoyed at the disruption, and he sent a glare at Lanie. One that said she needed to get control of her friends so we wouldn't mess up his 'game'.

When he glanced at me, however, his expression changed. It was just for a second, though. It turned soft and almost...apologetic. But as fast as it softened it went back to pissed.

Lanie and I both looked at Harper before we looked at each other. We were such good friends that we didn't even need to talk to know what the other was thinking.

Nathan watched us closely, and when Lanie and I got up from our chairs, his brows rose with understanding. Just as he opened his mouth to tell us off, Lanie and I did cannonballs of our own, completely soaking Nathan and his kissing friend.

By the time we came up for air his friend was already getting out of the pool.

Nathan looked at his sister, his expression fierce. "Really, Lanie? Was that really necessary?"

Lanie feigned innocence and shrugged her shoulders. "What? We were just practicing our cannonballs."

***
Happy Halloween 🎃