UNSOLVED

9

Taylor and Abigail stood with a group of people from their department, drinking their beers and laughing. This party was different from the first one Taylor had attended for a number of reasons. She felt more comfortable, she had Abigail there, and she knew more people. The fact that the house was even bigger and there were even more famous people there than at the previous party in March intimidated her, but not nearly as much.

"There you are!" A familiar voice exclaimed. Karlie was approaching their group with two people in tow.

Karlie had given her the longest hug when they had seen each other again earlier. It had earned her a pointed look from Abigail, but also put the biggest smile on her face that she still couldn't wipe off. She felt confident tonight. The long look with which Karlie had not-so-subtly admired her outfit, plaid black and white high waisted shorts and a simple black tank top, also had something to do with it.

She said she missed me. The text message was all Taylor had been thinking about. She felt a little bad that she hadn't replied to it, but she just hadn't been able to come up with anything. 'I missed you too' would have felt natural, yet entirely too much. Luckily, Karlie hadn't mentioned it earlier.

"Hey" Taylor greeted Karlie and smiled.

Her eyes went wide when she saw who was standing next to her. Karlie laughed. "I wanted to introduce you to my friends, but I see you already know who Cara is?"

Taylor blushed. "Oh yeah. I do. It's nice to meet you, Cara. I'm Taylor." She awkwardly shook Cara's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too" the British model said. "I've heard a lot about you-"

"And this is my best friend Derek" Karlie said quickly, interrupting Cara and giving her a death stare. The blonde man standing next to Karlie chuckled.

"Hey Taylor, it's nice to meet you." They shook hands.

Taylor suddenly felt uncomfortable, like she was being presented on a silver platter. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Abigail curiously looking into her direction.

Before any more awkward tension could ensue, Cara started making small-talk, and Karlie looked relieved. Abigail joined them and was introduced, and the group talked for a while.

The conversation went towards Karlie's recent trip to LA.

"All these women I interviewed were so inspiring" Karlie gushed.

"Taylor, you studied English literature at college, right? You have to tell me about college sometime. I've been thinking about taking computer coding classes, I really want to learn more. And the project inspired me a lot."

Taylor could feel Derek's and Cara's eyes on her. She nodded.

"Yeah I did. But I'm sure college here in the city is different than it is back home." She bit her lip. "But I'd love to, and I think it's awesome you're thinking about going back to school." She smiled at Karlie.

Abigail looked confused, and Taylor realized she had no idea about Karlie's interest in science. She shrugged. She didn't feel like it was her business to tell her friend personal details from Karlie's life that she trusted her with.

Cara started asking Taylor all sorts of questions about her personal life, and Taylor felt a little overwhelmed at the brunette's straightforwardness. She noticed that Karlie looked embarrassed and wondered what was going on. Derek, for the most part, just stood there, grinning and observing. It unnerved Taylor as well.

Nevertheless, the conversation went on for a while, and then the group dispersed, joining other people to talk or to get more drinks.

Taylor found herself in the kitchen where a few guys Taylor knew in passing were mixing cocktails. She had been talking to Selena, who had already excused herself again. So now she was alone with the guys. She was having fun making small-talk but felt like one of the men was giving her a little too much attention.