Publicity • mgc

25. The New Year Conflict

thanks for voting on my last chapter y'all should vote here

happy valentines day even though you should appreciate your partner always

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Karina had enough of being around her friends. Not the girls, no, she could never get enough of her best friends, but everyone else, she was completely done with. And it came as a surprise to everyone when they woke up one morning and Karina wasn't in the house.

"I'm calling 911." Michael announced.

"I don't think it's 911 here." Danielle said, sitting on the kitchen counter.

"I think she'll be okay." Dakota shrugged, biting into an apple. "This is Kari we're talking about, she's not stupid."

Luciana crossed her arms. "Dakota, this is Kari we're talking about, the one who we constantly have to stop from getting arrested."

"She's never been close to being arrested, I'm with Dakota, she'll be just fine." Jennifer chimed in.

Michael slammed his phone down on the dining table. "Karina is out there wandering around a place she's never been to. How are you okay with this?"

Ashton walked into the room with Nina, a deep frown on his lips. "Michael, Karina is highly independent. She does pretty much everything on her own. I think she'll be alright."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Ashton. Michael sighed, sinking down into a dining chair. "She should at least answer her phone." He mumbled.

Karina had left the mansion early that morning. She felt suffocated again, so she set out to have a nice day on her own. She liked being alone.

She walked around the markets, went sight seeing again, played with children outside a beautiful cathedral. She went to feed monkeys and even went to a spiritual place and got her aura cleansed. They told her that she's taking her life too serious, and everything would be much simpler if she just loosened up and was more open to trying different things. That was something she kept in mind the whole day.

"Hey," someone tapped her shoulder, making her turn around. "you a tourist?" A naturally tanned man, with slightly curly black hair, and a small beard, asked. He gave her a warm smile and she remembered what they told her at her cleansing. "Just wondering, cause you look kinda lost." The guy chuckled. Karina nodded her head and stuck her hand out. "I'm Karina." She introduced.

The man smiled. "I'm Jack."

Karina nodded. "Are you a tourist, Jack?" She asked him.

Jack nodded his head, then chuckled and shook it no. "I used to be. I first came here when I was seventeen, at a school trip. I fell in love and after college I came to live here." Karina shifted her weight from one hip to another, then nodded her head in a gesture for him to go further with explaining his life. "I work with kids at a run down school. I help raise money for them and I teach there as well." Karina now smiled, satisfied with the story.

"A teacher? So how old are you?" She said.

"Twenty-five. And you?" To say he didn't find her a bit attractive would be a lie.

"Nineteen." She responded.

Jack nodded his head, a little uneasy at how young she was. Six years apart. "I was just about to go ride some four wheelers through the desert with some friends. Wanna join?"

Karina snorted at how funny that sentence sounded, but nevertheless she hesitantly nodded.

"Cool. Ever been on a motorcycle before?" He smirked, handing her a helmet. Karina widened her eyes and bit her lip. "Dear God, if I die, tell Michael I love him." She joked, looking up at the sky and putting the helmet on.