Due to past – and recent – experiences, I wasn’t one to keep quiet when something was bothering me. Hence, the next day I told the boys how suspicious I was of Carrie and how I was sure she didn’t like me. However, the opposite of what I expected was what I got.
Rather than ask for my reason, both Aaron and Mason had gotten so angry at me, we had fought but eventually made up. Aaron had accused me of giving him mixed signals and not wanting him to move on, especially since I had been the one who urged him to ask Carrie out in the first place. His words about me craving his attention at his own expense still hurt me, but I decided to bury it.
On the other hand, Mason had insisted I was jealous of Aaron’s relationship with Carrie because I still had feelings for him. Seeing his insecurity rear up because of something I had said broke my heart. Since I never wanted him to doubt my love for him, I had vowed to stay out of anything that involved Aaron and Carrie.
However, it seemed even that was proving itself impossible.
For some reason, Carrie tried her hardest to be around me wherever I went. She probably thought the incident at Mason’s house must have suddenly made us closer or even friends. With the boys watching closely, I pretended to like her, even though everything about her caused my senses to stay on guard, and it had nothing to do with Aaron.
Somehow, she had gotten Noelle to be on her side too and, by so doing, decided to join us in our preparation for prom.
“I can’t believe in a few days, we’re going to be graduating high school,” Noelle said with a sigh.
The three of us were seated in Carrie’s bedroom, who had begged and begged for us to get ready at her house and have the boys pick us up from there.
“Me neither,” I whispered, thinking back to everything I had been through since I started my senior year at Redwood High. “It truly has been a journey,” I said, a little more loudly.
“I hear it’s been a rough year for you, Kat. Aaron told me everything,” Carrie said with pity shining brightly in her eyes, a false pity no less.
I faked a smile, “I’m sure he has.”
I was strangling Aaron in my thoughts, even though I knew he must have meant well. He was probably trying to clear some ridiculous rumor about me.
“So, what are your plans for college?” She bounced excitedly on the bed, and even Noelle raised a brow.
Hesitating, I said, “Um… nothing yet. The boys and I applied to the same college, but we haven’t heard anything yet.” A subtle spark of jealousy in her eyes ignited, causing me to regret what I said immediately. It left me wondering if I had just imagined it.
“Well, I think I’m going to take a year off and travel,” Noelle cut in quickly, sensing the sudden tension in the room.
Carrie’s gaze swiveled to meet hers. “What about Jake? What would that mean for you two?” she asked with concern, but Noelle did not show that she was worried.
She simply shrugged and said, “Jake and I are soulmates. A little distance can do nothing to tear us apart.”
She radiated so much confidence that I felt myself swell with pride, marveling at how far we all had come.
“Must be nice,” Carrie muttered, her eyes dropping with a tinge of sadness, before plastering a broad smile on her face and clapping her hands together. “Enough of all the seriousness,” she said. “Let’s get dressed and have the boys’ mouths dropping in utter awe and shock.”
It took us hours to fully get ready, and I was glad we had told the boys to take their time in coming to pick us up.
By the time we were ready, I had to admit that all three of us looked absolutely gorgeous, with Noelle in her white dress, Carrie in black, and I in a short blue gown that flared out in ruffles at the waist.
“Oh, no!” Carrie exclaimed.
“What now?” I muttered under my breath while Noelle – who heard me since she was standing close to me – asked more genuinely with a look of warning directed at me.
“The charm bracelet Aaron got me is missing. I must have lost it while tending to my dad’s garden a few hours ago,” she said, and they turned to me with a pout and pleading look. “Please, please, help me find it. I promised Aaron I’d wear it tonight.”
“Me? Why can’t Noelle go?” I asked outrageously, not caring how it sounded.
“Come on, please. You are better at these things; Noelle wouldn’t want to break a nail digging in the dirt. No offense, Noelle.”
“No worries,” a beaming Noelle replied.
“Come on,” Carrie said and walked out of the room for me to follow.
I stood still for a moment until Noelle nudged me forward, “Go on, Kat. You never know, maybe this would bring you two even closer.”
I sent her a ‘never in a million years’ look, and she simply rolled her eyes and pushed me forward. “Fine,” I grumbled and went after Carrie.
