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IN THE MONTHS that followed Carlyn and her friends moving across the country to New York, adjusting to college had been difficult.
Carlyn found herself in Chad's room a lot more than she was in hers. Being alone, especially in a city as big as New York, freaked her out. She'd been fine when her roommate had finally moved in, but after her roommate found out that she was Carlyn Windsor from Woodsboro and was friends with Samantha Carpenter (who had now been accused of being the true mastermind last year and of framing Richie and Amber), she'd moved out.
They were at what had to have been their millionth party in the three months they'd been in New York. It was September 27th, the night before the one year anniversary of what happened to them at Amber's house.
Carlyn wasn't sure why Chad had taken them to a party tonight of all nights, but she didn't really care. Going to parties after what happened that night had taken a bit to welcome, but she'd gotten there. Carlyn found herself returning back to the drink table to refill her red solo cup, or at the island in the kitchen, taking shots.
"Carlyn," a familiar voice called out. She lowered the shot glass from her lips, eyebrows furrowing as she searched for who'd called out her name.
When her eyes landed on the face of a certain curly-haired boy, she grinned and began walking over to him. "Ethan!" She wrapped her arms around the taller boy's neck and pulled him in. "Hey!"
Because of how much she'd found herself in Chad's room, she'd formed a friendship with his roommate. He was kind of nerdy, shy, and a bit awkward, but she thought it was cute.
"Hi," Ethan smiled, pulling away from her but keeping his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady. "How much have you had to drink?"
"Not enough," she shook her head, taking his hand and beginning to tug him back over to the drinks.
"Um — we should go find Chad," he hollered over the loud music.
Her face lit up. "He'll drink with me!"
The two of them went off to find Chad. They'd found him in the living room, talking to a girl. After what happened to Liv and Wes, Carlyn and Chad's late night talks had consisted of them ranting to each other about it and making a pact that they'd try to put themselves back out there.
Chad had been doing a lot better than she had.
"Chad!" she rushed over to him, out of Ethan's grip on her arms. The boy took larger steps to make sure she didn't fall.
