"I'm sorry I left without telling you about it okay? I really am, but I'm not gonna apologize for leaving!" Amy yelled out, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. Both Karma and Amy knew it was a bad idea to go along with Shane's plan. Well, perhaps 'going along' wasn't the right way to describe it. Shane basically tricked them into riding to this place in the woods together. He talked about an epic roadtrip, campfires, mountains and some bullcrap about becoming one with nature. A perfect getaway from their problems, he said. What he didn't mention was that Karma and Amy were both gonna be there. When Karma arrived at Shane's house he said there was no more room in the car. All seats were taken. Liam was in the front seat, smiling at Karma apologetically. In the back seat sat Lauren, god knows why. But knowing Lauren, she probably had her reasons. And of course Lauren wouldn't go anywhere without at least one of her minions, so that made four people altogether. Shane promised Karma would have a ride, and she shouldn't have been surprised that it was Amy who appeared in another car, thinking she was gonna drive them all there. No, instead of spending time apart, Karma and Amy would be stuck together. They had to give it to him, Shane had a way of talking people into things. He could be very convincing, and on top of that, he said the cabin they rented was already paid for. Once they reluctantly agreed, Shane speeded away, very 'subtly' leaving them alone together. In the end Karma and Amy decided that their only topic of conversation should be about directions. After a few hours of driving however, and their destination still nowhere to be found, tensions arose and the one thing they didn't want to talk about became an inevitable subject.

"I cried myself to sleep for two weeks! Do you even realize –"

"No!" Amy said, the tone of her voice slightly catching Karma off guard. "You're not gonna make me feel guilty about this! All I wanted to do was save our friendship, I just needed this so I could –"

"What about what I needed?" Karma interrupted. "I needed you! This year my parents lost everything, I had to move into a juice truck and I got betrayed by my best friend and my boyfriend, and when we finally fixed things between us you decided to bail on me!"

Amy laughs cynically at Karma's rant, shaking her head in disbelief. "God Karma. How many times are you gonna keep throwing that in my face? I'm sorry I slept with Liam, I know I crossed a line, but I can't undo the past! And you know what, I thought we were moving forward but then you kissed me in the pool! Remember? Or did you forget about that again?" Amy blamed as Karma looked at her slightly pained. "Karma, let's be honest, it's always been about what you needed. And that night, you needed somebody to make you feel better, and I was there for you. But every time I try to focus on what I need, you're the one standing in the way!"

Though Karma knew Amy was probably making some valid points, the latter got to her. She couldn't believe they went from being best friends to Amy thinking of her as just some kind of obstacle blocking her way. "Standing in the way? Really? I don't know if you realized, but this hasn't been easy on me either! The one thing I always knew for sure was that no matter what happened, my best friend would have my back. But ever since… since this whole mess between us, there's this distance. You're shutting me out and I feel like I'm losing my best friend!"

"Well I'm sorry if my falling in love with you was an inconvenience for you," Amy said bitterly. "You know I didn't want this to happen, but it did! And you started this, you… and this… stupid plan of yours! You pretended to be in a relationship with me, and even after all that we've been through, after I told you that I was in love you… you never gave me the time or space to get over you. Not to mention you kept sending me these extremely confusing signals! You knew how I felt about you and you still kissed me and then told me it meant nothing! You don't think that messes with my head?"

For a moment it remained quiet. While Amy took a deep breath to compose herself before focusing on the road again, Karma struggled to find the right words to say. Truth be told, it was all very confusing for Karma as well. She was so sure that these signals Amy referred to were all some kind of unfortunate coincidence or part of another planned scheme. They didn't really mean anything, did they? The kiss they shared in the pool however… this was the one that didn't make sense. Or maybe it made the most sense? Karma couldn't quite explain it. Sure, there was a ton of alcohol in her blood, but there was something about that kiss that threw her off her game. Perhaps it did mean something, Karma realized. But how could she have told Amy it meant something, when she couldn't tell her what it meant?

"You're right. I shouldn't have kissed you," Karma finally spoke. She looked at Amy as the dashboard light lit up just enough to reveal the hurt expression on her best friend's face. Even though the damage had already been done, Karma knew she couldn't put Amy through even more of this unless she was absolutely sure what her feelings meant. But right now her mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, and it was so easy to lose sight of what really mattered. "I just wish things could go back to the way they were," Karma admitted with a defeated sigh.

"Me too Karma. But that's just not possible," Amy said while keeping her eyes on the road. "Things changed, and we're just not… us anymore."

Karma didn't look at Amy this time. Instead, she looked out through the window into the dark, into nothingness. It somehow seemed to match how she was feeling right now.

Empty.

"What happened to us Amy?" she wondered out loud.

At this point, Karma realized Amy was holding back tears. She watched Amy force a smile before finally answering. "You know exactly what happened."

Karma wished there was something she could say. Something that would somehow make it all better. But there was no magic word, no way to make these past few months disappear. As both girls had nothing left to say, it went quiet.

"You need to take a turn to the left soon," Karma said after a while. There was no emotion left in her voice.

"Turn left where? I can barely see anything," Amy said as she squinted her eyes, trying to see through the trees. "Are you sure we're going the right way… It just doesn't seem right."

"That's what it says on the map," Karma said, a little agitated at Amy's lack of trust in her. "Just keep going."

"Fine," Amy replied briefly.

"Wait, what's that?" Karma asked then, pointing at a strange figure on the side of the road ahead of them. It was barely visible through the darkness, but at their speed, they wouldn't have to wait long to find out. They quickly approached what seemed to be a fourlegged creature, and before they knew it, the animal was standing in the middle of the road. "Oh my god it's a deer, Amy look out!" Karma gasped out in panic, but it was too late.

Amy tugged at the wheel, trying to avoid the deer, who didn't seem to care at all bout the oncoming car and simply froze in front of them. With a pinch of luck they successfully avoided the deer, but the sudden turn sent the car spinning out of control. With screeching tires the car tolled off the road. This is where things went quite literally downhill, down and further down… until one tree and a crash brought everything to a halt.

And just like that, everything went quiet again.