Shirtsleeves

Chapt. 27

Flashback

"All men are liable to error; and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it."- John Locke.

"Nice quote mom." Karlie mumbles as she glares at the small whiteboard attached to the fridge. Her mom was one for quotes, especially the kind everyone can see.

She glances down at the cold beer that's in her hand. The condensation because of the hot day makes the bottle slick, but she takes a long pull anyway. Keeping her eyes on the quote until she officially decides she hates it. Sighing, she slides on her sunglasses again and makes her way out of the sliding back doors.

"What's up Romeo." Kimby says as she lays out in the backyard. "Where's Juliet?"

"Shut up." Karlie mumbles in the same tone as she had to herself when she was inside. Slowly she slides herself in the chair between the twins. Noting mentally that both of them have their eyes glued on her.

"Can you stop looking at me? It's annoying." She remarks as she lifts her head towards the sun and closes her eyes.

"You're really hungover." Kariann says lightly as she watches her older sister.

"No, I'm not."

"Oh yes you are. How could you not be? You were embarrassingly wasted last night." Kimby says loudly, causing Karlie to flinch. Her head was killing her.

"I'm not hungover and I wasn't wasted, so shut up." She responds angrily and nothing is said for a moment. And the person who does speak is even a surprise to Karlie.

Kariann sighs, "Kar, you were really drunk. Mom and dad had to take the alcohol away from you.. And when you got upset about that, Taylor tried to calm you down and talk about it. You both ended up falling in the pool, because you freaked out."

Karlie flinches. She remembers nothing else except for most of that, especially when she knocked her and Taylor into the pool in front of the entire Kloss family, including the extended family. Fourth of July weekend was crazy, but not as crazy as she made it. And the only reason she remembers that is because Taylor ripped into it for her.

They haven't seen each other all morning.

"So, where is Taylor at?" Kimby asks in an almost mocking tone. As she keeps her voice loud, knowing very well that it makes Karlie upset.

"I don't know." Karlie mumbles again through gritted teeth, trying to hold back tears from behind her sunglasses.

Kariann sits up and lays her hand on Karlie's forearm to catch her attention. Once she feels her older sister shift in her direction, she offers a supportive smile. "She's with mom Kar, they went to the market this morning."

The blonde nods, feeling more relieved that Taylor is in fact still here and hasn't left her. They needed to talk. And maybe Karlie needed to sober up to do so. She quickly finishes off her beer and tosses it over to the recycle bin. Thankful for when Kimby comes over and gives her a bottle of water.

Sunlight beats down hard on the blonde as she cringes from behind her sunglasses. Her head feel heavy, and aches with the leftover of alcohol that's flooding throughout her system. Glancing quickly at her phone for the first time today, she sees it's already four in the afternoon.