Their group of friends was too close to break it now, Karlie was stuck, as well as Taylor, no matter how much they tried to escape from each other. Days passed by since the last test, and the bond between the two groups of girls solidified. Karlie, Cara, Jourdan and Daya met the rest of Gigi and Taylor roommates, Selena and Martha. They went to dinners together, did activities together, and spent their free time in one cabin or another, all while Karlie was dying inside little by little. Her relationship with Taylor was confusing, that weird tension never left them, but at least it had been reduced, it was not ideal, but enough to keep her sane. It was already common knowledge that Karlie and Taylor were not the most endearing friends, all they did was switch back and forth between bitter remarks and cold silents wars to see who could ignore the other presence for the longer time. At first, their friends were cautious, even a little surprised by the enmity, but now they accepted it as another group dynamic. They listened to their fights with unimpressed or amused faces, rolled their eyes in their direction when the fuss drawn more attention than necessary, but overall, they accepted it, they accepted it like the moon orbits around the earth or the sky is blue, not even bothering in asking why it was like that, or what was the cause.
In this time, Karlie learned a few things, the first one was that Taylor loved control, and most importantly, she knew how to use it gracefully. She had everyone around her finger, the blonde could be a fearless leader, without losing her warmth. Karlie realized Taylor was, in fact, an incredibly clever cynical bitch. She knew how to control people, all their weak points and their strengths, in a few days, she had analyzed their behavior, she had adapted to her new reality, had said the right words to the right people. Now, they had a table reserved just right beside the doors leading to the kitchen, which assured them with the best pieces of food, something Cara thanked profusely. Just took a sweet lie from Taylor and a suggestive arched eyebrow to have the boy in charge of the room at her disposition. For Karlie, it was vexing and irritating to see her power, to see everyone bow down and yield to her, to see how her clutches trapped all around her and bent them to her wish and taste. It was irritating and excruciatingly impressive, Karlie hated to admit that she admired her profusely, from her perfect facade to her incredible manipulation powers. Everyone was fooled by her. But not Karlie. Oh, not Karlie.
So now, they were lingering in Karlie's cabin. It was late, they just had dinner and opted to stay in. Martha and Gigi had clicked pretty well, and were sitting cross legged with Cara in her bed, while Daya and Jourdan were in the bed in front of them. Karlie was alone in her own bed, which meant Taylor and Selena were in front of her. Selena had bonded with Taylor, they were always together, and it was a good relationship, Taylor got irritated easily and the brunette calmed her almost instantly with some comforting words, while Taylor encouraged the shorter one to get out of her comfort zone. Selena, with Gigi, were the most patient people Karlie had the pleasure to meet, an amazing catalyst to their mad group. They somehow worked well, each one of them were good in their own terms, and complemented the lacks from others. It was nice.
"What's going to be the next test? We have been waiting for almost a week by now" Gigi's voice interrupter her thoughts and made her come back to reality "Even though I hope is not another paint war" Gigi sent her a knowing glance, full of accusation. Karlie smirked at her, remembering the red grenade she threw at the blonde, eliminating her from the game and making her hair red for three entire days. Karlie had begged her pardon countless times, she even bought her an ice cream from the food stall. Eventually Gigi gave up, seeing how their group friends were getting along, it was useless to keep her madness towards Karlie, so she forgave her with the promise of another ice cream. There's nothing that ice cream can't fix. They were on goods terms now, not that she could say the same with Taylor. Correction, ice cream can fix everything except from Taylor.
