To Kiss Kate

20. the night

Katiya Carpenter's Point of View:

I stumbled into the kitchen of the house we were in, Genny following behind me. We laughed at our disheveled-ness and leaned against the counter.

"Hey. You guys need another drink?" I looked up, a summer kid I couldn't currently remember the name of standing in front of us.

"Hey, Aaron. What's up?" Genny said, she glanced around the room, seemingly ignoring Aaron and nudged me to look to my left. Jack. I looked at her and groaned.

I hadn't seen or spoke to Jack in a week. I had allowed Landon and the older guys to talk to him, knowing that it didn't impact them, but Hendricks was solid on hating him. I didn't hate Jack. As much as I wished that I did. I was surprised he showed up tonight.

"Let's go. I think he's coming over here, Kate." Genny said, grabbing my hand and pulling immediately. I didn't want to go, I wanted to talk to him, but I knew it was the vodka talking so I followed.

Genny dragged me all the way to the beach where a small group had left the party and made a fire. I sat next to Hendricks and Derek.

"You want a hit?" Derek asked, handing me a blunt. I shrugged and took it from him. They were listening to quiet music and talking loudly over it. I could hear the party inside loudly, it made me happy in a way. I laughed with everyone, and tried to remember the happiness I felt, to keep for tomorrow when I would be sober and sad again.

I don't know how much time passed before Hendricks stood up to go back to the party and I didn't follow. Soon after noticing I was suddenly alone, Alex Carrington was there.

"Hey Kate." I smiled, knowing my words wouldn't have been coherent.  "Where's Hendricks?" He sat in the seat next to me.

"I don't know. The party." I attempted to point towards the house and he chuckled.

"He just left you down here?" He asked, looking at the house.

"I told him I would come up soon." My words were blending. What I actually sounded like, I had no idea.

"Do you want me to walk you up?" He asked.

"No, it's okay." He looked at me softly.

"You shouldn't sit down here alone, Kate." He reaches for my knee. I froze. His thumb graced my thigh.

"Alex." He smiled. I knew that I wasn't smiling back.

"Kate, relax. We're all friends here. Come back to the party with me." I still didn't move, knowing this was my best defense at the moment. Alex had never given me this vibe before. "Kate, come on." Now he was standing above me, reaching for my hands.

"I want to stay here." I told him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I instantly fell into his chest and he laughed.

"Come on. We can go back to my house, it's just over there." He pulled me a little towards him.

"Where's Hendricks? I want to stay." I didn't know if my words were even comprehendable at this point. Alex pulled me out of the circle of chairs, and I followed purely based on the fact I could not control my own limbs enough to push him.

"Come on, Kate. Loosen up." He said.

"Alex I want to stay." I tried to move my arm out of his grip, my heart was starting to race. He was looking straight ahead until I spoke, he turned to look at me and smiled.

"Kate. It will be fun." He leaned towards me, and his lips touched mine just as I began to speak.

"Let me go. I want to go back." He scoffed at me and pulled away.