A Cruel Summer

Chapter 3

Karlie, Misha, and Mikey find their seats as Misha exclaims "Kar! These seats are amazing! We can see the whole stage!"

"Yeah Karlie this view is awesome" Mikey agrees.

"And we made it just in time," Misha says as a clock with a countdown appears on the gigantic screen behind the stage.

"Are you Karlie Kloss?" Karlie snaps her head from Misha to the direction of the voice in front of her.

"I am," Karlie responds with a shy smile.

"No way! This is so cool!" the girl responds excitedly. "My sister went to your coding camp this summer! I'm such a huge fan. Can we take a selfie?"

"That's amazing, of course we can," Karlie replies as the tension and nervousness she had previously felt about the crowd's potential reaction to her seeps away from her body.

"Thanks, Karlie! Enjoy the show!" the girl says after they take the photo and turns around to face the stage.

The clock on the stage has now hit zero and before she can even realize it, a giant smile has spread across Karlie's face as she sees the girl who stole her heart, in-person for the first time in 4 years.

Karlie completely forgets the environment she's in. She doesn't care that there are hundreds of people watching her. Hundreds taking videos and pictures. She's completely locked in on Taylor. To this day, still mesmerized by the insane talent that is the Taylor Swift.

She sings along to every song, dances, takes videos with her friends. As the Midnights set begins, Karlie feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she sees a name that has not appeared on her phone screen in years.

Tree Paine.

"Fuck," Karlie says out loud to herself as she opens the text message.

Tree Paine: Meet me outside of section 114. Now.

---

"You're drunk," Karlie says with a laugh as she enters Taylor's New York penthouse and is immediately greeted by the older girl crashing into her with a giant hug.

"No, I'm Taylor," Taylor responds, bopping Karlie on the nose with her pointer finger. "And you're Karlie, and this is Martha" pointing in the direction of the blonde girl on the couch. "And this is Lily, that's Este, Danielle, and Alana. Now that we're all acquainted, let's take shots. You need to catch up, babe."

Karlie laughs and steps further into the living room, greeting the other girls with hugs. "Oh, thanks for the introductions, Tay. It's not like I've met these ladies 750 times." Karlie says with a laugh.

"Good luck, Kar. She's on another level tonight," Martha says with an eye roll.

"You," Taylor says as she walks towards Martha and places her finger on her lips, "shush. I'm just excited! I love The 1975! We should actually get going pretty soon. Matty invited us backstage for drinks before the show."

"Who's Matty?" Karlie asks as Taylor hands her a tequila shot. She shoots the drink and bites down on a lime, held up to her lips by Taylor.

"Come on Kar, he's the lead singer. You know this. I make you listen to their music, like, all of the time."

"Oh, the greasy one?"

"Karlie be nice! Okay, we have to go. Come with me to my room to grab my jacket and purse" Taylor says as she is already walking towards the staircase.

With Karlie following her into the bedroom, Taylor immediately turns to Karlie and places a hard, desperate kiss on her lips, Taylor's hand gripping the back of her neck.