See A/N at the end...

His name is Auggie and he helps Karma survive what she once would have thought was unsurvivable - a summer without Amy.

Or, at least the first week of it.

She meets him on the fourth day of lifeguard training. It's the first day she's managed to be paired with someone other than Shane and she's been waiting for this day, for this chance. It's got nothing to do with Auggie or even with Shane. It's all about her.

And by all about her, Karma totally means all about Amy. That her.

See, that her left. That her drove off in a bus with Lauren and a bunch of beefy looking guys and some girls in skimpy outfits and one with green hair and - again - Lauren. That her did something the Amy Karma knows would never do and that, more than anything, has informed every single thing Karma has done since she and Reagan hid behind the tree and watched the bus pull away.

It's simple logic, really. Basic common sense.

If that her can do it, then so can Karma.

Even if, right now, she's got less than no idea how.

Enter Auggie.

And really, that's not fair, that's putting too much one guy, one guy she barely knows and isn't even sure she wants to. Because it isn't about Auggie, not at all. It's about Karma doing something different.

The track is just an endless loop…

Yeah. Different is good. Different is great.

Different is a must.

So a chance to be with - to work with

(a relationship or an arrangement like she had with Liam or even a date is about the farthest thing from Karma's mind, no matter what kind of suggestive eyebrow wiggling Shane shoots at her when he sees her with Auggie)

someone else, someone she doesn't have a metric fuck-ton of baggage with is just the sort of different Karma thinks she needs.

And isn't that she doesn't like Shane or that, somehow, they haven't managed to actually get along for the last three days like the friends they're supposed to be. "Maybe," Shane says as he drops her off after their second day of training and a surprisingly enjoyable dinner out, "we just needed to spend a little time together."

Karma nods, as if it makes all the sense in the world. But, really, she thinks (when she bothers to think about it which, truthfully, is probably more than she should) that it probably has a lot less to do with them being together and a lot more to do with who isn't there.

Liam's gone off to find his dad and get over her (and probably under Zita and that bothers Karma a lot less than she thought it might). And Amy's gone off to, as Shane puts it (and makes her snort rootbeer out her nose) 'explode pussies' and get over her.

(And if Karma doesn't spend too much of her time wondering just why it is everyone feels the need to get over her and why they have to leave fucking town to do it, well that's kinda understandable.)

So she spends the time, gratefully, with Shane and doesn't mind, which isn't all that surprising since she's never had half the problem with him that he's had with her. Which, when she thinks about it (and she really tries not to) is odd, given that most of their problems are his fault.

"You outed me twice," she says on the third day of training, during their brief lunch break.

"Once," Shane says. He's leaning against a tree just outside the pool's fenceline, and she's leaning against him, sort of, her shoulder pressed against his but only because it's a skinny fucking tree and he's hogging the whole damn thing. "I only outed you once."

Karma shakes her head and sits up, staring at him resolutely. "Twice," she says. "First you told everyone I was a lesbian."

"An honest mistake," Shane says. "And an understandable one what with the way you and Am…"

He trails off realizing he's violating their unspoken agreement which is, basically, only one thing.

The first rule of lifeguard club? Don't talk about lifeguard club.

And by lifeguard club, they totally mean Amy.

Karma rolls on, ignoring him (or, for the sake of their very new and very fragile little friendship, pretending to). "And second," she says, "you told Liam I wasn't."

She's never been sure which of those she's been more pissed at Shane for, but then she's also never been sure which of them she bears more responsibility for and so, maybe, she thinks it's better to let that be a whole river's worth of water under some very big, Brooklyn sized bridges.

"He's my best friend," Shane says quietly and as oblivious as Karma can be, even she picks up on the subtext. I had to tell him. My secret or not, I had to.

"I know," she says. "He's… lucky like that."

They sit there for a moment, the two of them, in the shade of that one skinny tree and then the trainer blows the whistle and Shane stands, offering her a hand up that she takes. They head back inside and the names Liam and… the other one… aren't spoken again.

And so maybe they're making some progress but, let's be real, there's still enough baggage there to fill the hold of the Titanic and Karma would just as soon not spend her summer sorting through it all. Which is why there's a certain sense of relief

(and nervousness that's really bordering on outright panic)

when, on the fourth day of training, Shane is late and Karma finds herself paired with someone else.

"Hi", he says, holding out a hand

(a hand attached to a very well defined arm that leads up to a very well defined shoulder and chest and no. No. No. No. Not going there.)

"My name's Auggie," he says - and Karma is incredibly relieved that his voice is so… normal… not like someone putting on fancy airs or trying to hide an accent

(not that she knows anyone like that)

and she's almost drawn in, almost put at ease. And then… "You're Karma, right?"

She's pleased, a little bit, that he actually knows who she is but that pleased feeling is quickly replaced, flushed away by a slowly (or not so slowly) spreading panic because he knows who she is.

Karma, the fake lesbian. Karma, the daughter of drug dealers. Karma, the girl who danced on a table and let guys take shots off her.

He knows who she is. But the questions is… who does he know?

Karma does a quick scan of his face, especially his lips, trying to remember. He's got a pretty good bit of stubble going and not the 'I just didn't shave this morning' kinda thing, more like the 'carefully maintained to look like I just didn't shave this morning' kinda thing and she doesn't remember feeling anything like that when those guys… and their faces… and… oh…

(She thinks she might be sick.)

(And then she sees his hand and his smile and he's just waiting for her and no… different… different is a must and different is not puking.)

"Yeah," she says, taking his hand and hoping the word comes out sounding slightly less slurred than it feels, "have we met?"

"I think you sat in front of me in math, didn't you?" Auggie asks and Karma blinks and then smiles, a bloom of relief bursting in her chest.

"Math? Um… yeah, I think," she says, though right now thinking is about the last thing she's really capable of doing. "Fourth period? Mrs. Henshaw?"

Auggie nods and Karma smiles, grateful that she got that one right and that, just maybe, the only thing he knows about her is how annoying it is when her hair falls on his desk and that she sucks at trig.

"I guess we're partners today," he says, neither of them seeming to notice that he's still holding her hand. "Unless you wanted to wait for Shane…?"

There's a hint of something in his voice - something Karma thinks

(hopes)

might be hope, the hope that maybe she'll say "No, that's fine. I think Shane's getting sick of me anyway," and so that is what she says and there's that smile again, bright and open and full of teeth.

"Cool," Auggie says and then "Oh," as he realizes her hand is still in his and he drops it, quickly, ducking his head in embarrassment as he leads the way over to their dummy for today's CPR lesson.

Karma's glad his back is to her. It means he can't see her blush.

(And the view isn't bad, either.)

"This is weird."

Karma stares at Reagan across the small table, the straw for her mocha-choco-chunk milkshake brushing against her lips. "It's not," she says. "It's not weird."

Reagan stares back, but - much to Karma's surprise and relief - she doesn't arch a brow.

(Karma might not have ever been all that jealous of Reagan physically - not that she'd admit, at least - but those eyebrows…)

But then, the look on the older girl's face says what her still perfectly in place eyebrows don't.

This is weird. And you fucking know it.

"Alright," Karma concedes. "Maybe it's a little weird." She takes a long sip of her shake, the cold rushing to her brain and she squeezes her eyes shut against the pain. "But it's only as weird as we let it be," she says. "So we just don't let it be."

Reagan says nothing. She picks at her salad, spearing one cherry tomato with her fork, maybe a little more violently than need be. She glances across the table as Karma's phone blinks to life, her tinkling bells tone signalling a pair of messages.

Auggie: I can give you a ride to the pool tomorrow, if you want.

Shane: I can't give you a ride tomorrow. Sorry. Maybe that other guy. What was his name? Andy? Astrid? Arnold?

Karma rolls her eyes, forgetting for a moment that Shane can't actually see her. She's regretting ever telling him about Auggie - not that there was much to tell - because she'd somehow forgotten Shane's pathological inability to mind his own business.

She gets it though, she really does. Nothing would make Shane happier than to see her and Auggie hit it off, date for years, get married, have a bunch of little kids (at least one of them gay so he could be the 'guru' again) and for her to never, ever even look at Amy or Liam again in any kind of romantic sense.

And maybe it doesn't have to be with Auggie or the guy after him or the one after him but Karma has to admit it.

Shane's lifegoals for her? They don't suck.

She taps out a quick 'thanks, that would be great' to Auggie and an even quicker 'middle finger' emoji to Shane (thank God for iPhone) before turning her attention back to the Grumpy Gus across the table.

"What did we say?" she asks Reagan who just glares at her salad, as if the lettuce has personally offended her.

(And it is some sad looking Romaine but it's not Kale so, really, how bad can it be?)

She nudges Reagan's foot with her own under the table, surprising even herself with the gesture. They're friends, sort of, but they're not touchy feelie footsie under the table friends, at least not yet. "We agreed," she say, "we're going to help each other through this and not spend all our time moping and being miserable."

The key part of that, Karma knows is the 'all our time.' She's been doing well, so far, keeping busy and all but she knows it's far from perfect. It's a work in progress but what do you expect for those that got left behind?

Reagan stabs at a piece of lettuce - putting it out of its misery - the plastic tines of her fork scraping against the take out container. "Easy for you to say," she mutters. "Little miss popular."

As if on cue, Karma's phone tinkles again but she ignores it. "Reagan," she says. "We've got a deal, remember?" Reagan stares at the phone and Karma knows what she's wondering and how easy it would be to just tell her but she doesn't. Not yet. "You promised," she says.

"I was under duress," Reagan says around a bite of lettuce and tomato. "I was watching my girlfri… Amy drive off for the summer on a tour I really wanted to go on and I had just broken up with Nicole that morning." She reaches across the table and snatches Karma's shake up, taking an experimental sip.

Footsie under the table? I'll see that and raise you a shared beverage.

"Yeah? Well, I was watching my lifelong best friend drive out of town with the evil stepsister because I kissed her," Karma says, plucking a cucumber slice from the edge of Reagan's salad.

Reagan pauses in mid-sip, pondering. She sets the shake back down on the table. "I've never run anyone out of town with my lips," she says and shrugs. "You win."

Karma shoots Reagan her dirtiest look but then her phone tinkles again and she ignores it again, though Reagan doesn't.

"It's not her," Karma says. "I haven't… heard from her."

If Reagan notices the pause - strategically placed as it was - she doesn't show it. Karma's not lying, not really. She hasn't heard from Amy. She'd tell Reagan if she had; that was another of their promises to each other, made in the shade of that tree as Lauren stared at them out the bus window.

They would tell each other if they cracked and tried to contact Amy. Or if they heard from her.

Reagan, as far as Karma knows, hasn't done either. And Karma, as she just said, hasn't heard from Amy at all.

As for the other part…

"Me either," Reagan says, shaking her head.

Karma tries really hard to not notice the sinking feeling in her stomach. A small part of her had hoped the answer would be different. She'd hoped - as much to her surprise as anyone's - that Amy would have caved and reached out. And if she had chosen Reagan to reach out to…

Chosen. That's the word, isn't it? Amy would've chosen and if she chose Reagan, well thenher feelings for Karma… they'd be… yeah…

And Reagan and Amy could get back together and then, maybe, things could get back to normal around here.

But back to normal seems to be a bit farther off than Karma would like.

"What about Nicole?" she asks Reagan. "Have you heard from her?"

Reagan snorts. "You mean since she called me a fucking whore. accused me of sleeping with Amy behind her back and threw a plate full of waffles at me?"

That was a fun morning.

"I doubt I'll hear from her," she says. "I don't think she's the 'be friends after the breakup' kind of ex." She drops her fork and leans back in her chair. "And that is just more proof that this," she waves a hand across the table, between them, "is fucking weird. I can't be friends with one ex, I'm way too close with the other and now I'm friends with… you?"

Karma nibbles on the end of her straw, a habit she's had since she was ten that used to drive Amy nuts but Karma gave up peanut butter for her, so Amy could deal with a little straw chewing.

"OK," she says. "So it's weird. Doesn't mean it's bad. Or wrong."

And yes, she sees the irony of that defense and how easily it could apply to so many parts of her life. She sees it but Amy's only been gone a week and maybe really thinking about that is just one step (or ten) too different just yet.

Karma leans back in her own chair, eyes flicking to her phone as the screen lights up. She recognizes the ring tone (The Bitch is Back) immediately and taps the screen, declining the call because Shane is the last person she wants to talk to right now, especially since she knows why he's calling.

"Hot date?" Reagan asks and there's just enough of a smile on her face and in her tone that Karma doesn't feel bad when she flips her off.

"Shane," she says. "He's a texting machine."

Reagan nods. "Yeah, Amy mentioned that," she says. "And the other one?"

Karma doesn't look up from her phone screen. "What other one?"

"Karma…"

"Reagan..."

"Fine," Reagan says, "Don't tell me." She drops her fork on the table. "I'm late for work anyway." She stands up, grabbing Karma's shake as she does. "Same time Thursday?"

Karma nods but keeps her head down.

(She doesn't want Reagan to see the smile.)

"Cool," Reagan says. She starts to head off and then stops. "Karma?"

"Yeah?" Karma raises her head, looking up at the older girl, the sunlight behind her turning her into a dark featureless shape.

"Thanks," Reagan says. "For… not letting me sink into it. It would be… easy, you know? To just text her or call her or just check in. But that would be for me and this is supposed to be for her so…" She shoves her hands in her pockets. "So, thanks."

Karma nods but Reagan's already moving, headed for her truck and her job and her life that, for the last week, hasn't included Amy but has included Karma and as many catering and DJ shifts as she can find to fill the time. It's working for her now, but for how long?

That's why they have each other.

We'll get through this. Together.

Yeah. Together.

Karma looks down at her phone, opening her messages and scrolling through the drafts, the unsent words blinking up at her.

I met someone. Sort of. Maybe. His name is Auggie and he's a lifeguard with me and Shane.

Shane's not so bad. But if you ever tell him I said that I'll never speak to you again.

I didn't mean that. I'll always speak to you. Except when you're not here.

You're not here.

Why aren't you here?

Oh. Right.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

She flicks back a screen. The thread of messages between her and Amy. It would take her hours to scroll through them all, every one of them she saved, never once thinking they might be all she'd have left.

It's the last one that catches her eye, the last one she sent, the day Amy left. Reagan had just dropped her back at her house. They'd spent the day driving around and doing anything and nothing at all, as long as that anything and nothing had nothing to do with Amy Raudenfeld.

It was amazing, really - in an absolutely sad way - how few things the two of them could find that didn't remind them.

Reagan had just dropped her off at home and Karma was standing in front of her house, watching her drive off. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, her heart racing.

It was Amy, it had to be, she'd changed her mind, she was off the bus and on her way home and their summer

(their summer)

was back on and all was right with the world and she yanked her phone and tapped the message icon and...

it was Liam.

She deleted it without reading it. And then, before she could stop herself, she opened her convo with Amy, tapped out three words and sent them, the same ones staring up at her from the phone now.

I miss you.

There was no reply.

Karma closes her messages and locks her phone.

Yeah.

Back to normal's still a bit far off.

A/N: So, yeah, I'm writing a Karma-centric story. Which will probably cause some people's heads to explode cause you know, it's me. And we all know how I feel about Karma, right? Anyhoo... this is basically the story of what happens to Karma (and Reagan and even a little Shane) when Amy and Lauren leave for the summer in my other story Work in Progress. You don't have to read both to understand either, but it might help. But I got this idea in my head thanks to a friend and couldn't shake it so... Reviews and likes and whatnot appreciated if you like it or if you hate it you can always send me a msg on tumblr :)