To Kiss Kate

14. the invite

Katiya Carpenter's Point of View

I let out a long breath as I got in the car. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe any of it had really happened. It was a party in Hamilton, New Jersey. Why would anyone drug me? I assumed that it was like Hannah said. Someone put xanax in their own drink, then it accidentally got mixed up with my own. I wished that I could understand better what happened last night, but I trusted Jack to give me all the details he could. We had finished our talk smoothly, him seeming happy somehow, as if he had been worried I would be angry at him instead of vice versa. He had to take care of me. I wasn't someone that people took care of. I felt horrible, guilty, and generally bad for him. He was so kind, and considerate all the time and this is how I repaid him.

We also had to discuss the sex. We had only touched on the topic, I somehow remembered the main details of it, but he had helped to fill in the details of condom usage and ending with a knock on the door. The whole night was awful, for everyone, and that was my only consolation.

We agreed to hang out later and work on being with each other, but hearing the events of last night, it felt wrong. I unfortunately knew that I needed to talk to Jason. As much as I hated to, it had to be done. I pulled out of the parking lot and dialed Jason's number. It rang twice before he picked up.

"Kate? Hi, what's up?" I let out a internal sigh.

"Hey, Jason. I'm sorry to call, I was wondering if you could give me any information about last night? Sorry, I know its probably a sensitive subject." There was silence on the other end. "Jason?" He coughed and began to talk.

"Information? What do you mean? Weren't you there?" I heard a voice in the back, but I couldn't recognize who it was.

"Yeah.. I drank a lot though. Blacked out. Genny told me you were freaking out?" I decided against telling him about possibly being drugged, and I heard him talking muffled to the other person, but he must have put his phone down or something, because I couldn't make out any of the words.

"Yeah. I'm always freaking out, right?" He supplied a forced laugh that I didn't fall for.

"Jason." I said, and again, was faced with silence.

"Listen, Kate. You haven't really wanted anything to do with me in awhile, and I think its pretty fucked up of you to call me like this when you were at the party, along with all of your friends... If you want me out of your life, just keep me out of it. Maybe you should ask City Boy for more information..." I was stunned. "Goodbye, Kate. Have a good day." He hung up the phone abruptly. Well, that was odd. What did he mean ask Jack for more information? I decided to let it go until I saw him later, and was glad to see that my dad's car was not in the driveway. I prayed that he was at work and not at the bar, but time only time will tell on that one.

I went into the kitchen and made a salad for lunch. I needed time to breathe, time to myself without thinking about Jack or Genny or anyone. Just me.

I had already called into work for the day, I knew I couldn't handle that today. I sat in my bed and watched Netflix on my laptop for awhile, letting myself completely unfold.

I woke up around 5pm, knowing that I had plans with Jack at 6. I didn't neccesarily want to hang out with him, but he seemed to want to make up for last night, and I did too. I knew that if we avoided each other I would risk losing him. I hated that I felt this way about him, so soon. It was kind of ridiculous. I had texts from Genny and the group chat, which I also didn't feel very involved in.

Genny
Heyyy. We didn't talk about last night after you left. Come over before Hannah's???

Hannah: My house tonight? 9, nothing exciting. friends.