As the week went on I'd work on the project a little each day. It was now Friday and I could probably finish it by tonight and have my weekend homework free. At least for chemistry that is. Karma had been acting weird ever since I introduced her to Danny. So today at lunch instead of eating in the library like I been doing the pass week, I went to the cafeteria so I could sit with Shane and talk to him about it. When lunch came around I got my tray and looked around for him. He was sitting where we always sat with Liam and Karma. I walked over and didn't pay any attention to the love birds.

"Hey Shane, can I talk to you?"

I could feel the other two's eyes on me.

"Sure what do you want to talk about?"

"No, can I like, talk to you over here?" I gestured to the empty table fifteen feet away. "Privately."

"Sure thing." He looked at Liam and Karma and gave them an 'excuse me for a moment' smile. We walked over to the table and sat down.

"Way to make it obvious it's about them." He said.

"Yeah I know but I needed to talk to you and I don't see you a lot on Fridays during the school day with all the clubs you lead."

"Well what is it?"

"Ok, I made a new friend named Danny. I introduced her to Karma and Karma's been acting weird ever since."

"What kind of weird?"

"Like, I think jealousy. She has walked to my second period everyday now. We say our goodbyes but I wait for Danny at the door. I can feel her always watching us as we go in the room."

"I thought you were avoiding Karma."

"I am, was, we have a project together. I told her we can't hangout, and besides going to one class together which takes less then three minutes, that's the only time we've been spending together." I said.

"Well you can't really blame her. You've taken away the one thing she can't replace, her best friend. So when she sees her best friend hanging out with someone else she's gonna get jealous."

"I think it is partly that too, but explain to me why she always kisses Liam when she meets him at his locker."

"Amy, their dating. Of course they're going to kiss. I think you're seeing more than there is to see."

"You're probably right. Thanks Shane."

"Don't forget my party tonight! It has a theme!" He got up form the table. "Keep me updated?"

"Since I barely talk to my best friend, you'll be first to know." I got up from the table and threw my tray away. I didn't have much of an appetite the pass couple weeks. I looked over and to no surprise of my own Karma was looking right at me. She glanced at the trash can then back at me, looking concerned. I gave Liam an annoyed look like I always do before leaving a room with him in it, then I left.

At the end of the day as I was walking to my car I looked up and saw that Danny was about twenty paces ahead of me. "Hey Danny!" She turned around, looked at me, then turned back around and started walking faster. "Hey, Danny, wait!" I caught up to her and put my hand on her shoulder and spun her around. "Danny wha-" I took a step back. "Oh my god are you ok?" Danny had a black eye, but not the really black kind, just a bruised kind of color.

"Look, if this is the price I have to pay to be friends with you then I don't want it." Danny's eyes teared up a little and she pressed her fingers to her eyebrow above the bruising. As if to press pain with pain.

"What are you talking about? Price of what? What?" I was so confused.

"She didn't tell you?"

"Who, who didn't tell me?"

Danny sighed. "Sorry, it's not your fault. I feel like I'm in danger or something. She said it wasn't intentional but today during gym class we were playing volleyball and I could've sworn Karma nailed me right in the face on purpose."

"Karma did this to you?"

"Yeah, we were on opposite teams, I figured it was because we've been hanging around each other and it made her mad. I know it sounds crazy but-"

"It doesn't sound crazy. Sounds like Karma. She's been acting strange for this pass week. I'll talk to her tonight, and I hope you don't let this ruin our friendship." I gave her the most sorry look I could fathom.

"Just talk to her, let me know if it's safe to be your friend first."

"It is I promise, I'm so sorry." She gave one last small smile and went on her way.

I drove home furious, amazed I didn't hit anybody on the way. I felt the best thing to do was to finish this stupid project and all the other homework I had before I let Karma have it.

Two and a half hours later as I was twiddling down on my studies I got a text. I glanced at my phone.

TEXT MESSAGE

SHANE

I slide my finger across the screen.

"Hey girrl, don't forget party tonight at my house. 10 o'clock!" — S

"Shit I already forgot, didn't you say there was a theme?" — A

"Gah, you must come! Good thing I reminded you. & yes the theme is the seven deadly sins." — S

"How do you dress for a seven deadly sins party?" — A

"You dress as your favorite sin of course!" — S

I only had one reason to go to that party.

"Is Karma going to be there?" — A

"Yess." — S

"I'll be there." — A

I had two and a half hours before I would leave for the party. I finished what was left of my homework and was quite proud of myself for finishing all my homework on a Friday. After that I went and opened my closet. I sat on the floor and begin going through some of the chores on the bottom. I picked up my phone. You know what would make this party better, Danny. Partly because Karma didn't like Danny but partly because I like Danny's company.

"Hey, Shane is having a party tonight, its themed. I was wondering if you want to go. You have to dress as one of the seven deadly sins. Starts at 10." — A

About five minutes later while I was shuffling through some cute shorts that I forgot I had Danny texted me back.

"I'd love too! What a cool theme. Do you think it's ok if I go? Have you talked to Karma?" — D

"No I'm going to talk to her at the party. Don't worry about it, if it comes to picking sides, I'm picking yours." — A

"Thanks. Guess I should go get ready. What sin are you going as?" — D

"You'll see (: Pick you up in thirty?" — A

"Haha, alright see you then." — D

Look at me trying to be all mysterious when I don't even know what sin I'm going as. I thought about each one and decided I would narrow it down.

PRIDE.

Well I don't think much of myself so, next.

ENVY.

I don't think much of anyone else either so, nope.

ANGER & GLUTTONY.

Neither of them seemed to fit me.

LUST.

Ha, I'm like the least sexual person I know.

GREED.

I don't have much of a need for anything except passing chemistry.

SLOTH.

Perfect. It's the only one where I can dress like a bum and blame it on laziness.

I wore jeans, my dads gray shirt that was too big for me, my black converse, and my infamous messy bun. So a normal Monday outfit really.

I picked up Danny thirty minutes later as promised.

She opened the passenger door and got in.

"What!" We both shouted.

"You picked sloth too didn't you?" Danny said. "Or are you like an in shape gluttony? And the shirt was from when you were eating too much at first."

"Haha no, yeah I'm sloth."

"It's the only one you can be a bum in!"

I smiled. "It's like you read my mind." Danny was wearing jeans as well but had a blue hoodie and snap back. "You know you live in the middle of nowhere. It's like, creepy. My GPS was like theres no road here, or here, or here. Give up."

"Haha I get that a lot. If I were a murderer I'd be half way there already with location alone."

I laughed, and we talked about our favorite scary movies on the ride over to Shane's.

When we got there we could here the music from two houses away, which is where I parked. Shane opened the door wearing nothing but a black speedo. I mean he didn't even have shoes on.

"Lust, I presume." I said. Danny was giggling.

"Duh, what else would I be?" Shane said. He looked us both up and down. "You know bum isn't a sin."

"We're sloth." Danny said. "Which is pretty much bum."

"Ohh, ok, yeah now I see it. It fits you Amy." He gave us both a kiss on the cheek. "Come in, come in!"

I thought he said 'coupon, coupon' till he gestured us to enter. The music wasn't giving conversation a voice tonight. When we got in I could see that lust was defiantly the dominant sin. Hester's so sexual, sometimes I forget because I'm so not. Every sin was present though. I saw people in fancy gowns and suits, greed. Some were dressed as famous celebrities, envy. There was an eating contest going on in the living room, gluttony. But I was looking for one face and I didn't see it, Karma. Danny suggested we go get drinks and hangout by the pool and I agreed. We were talking about our mothers, of all things to talk about at a party. We both feel unappreciated and unnoticed by them. I didn't realize how much we had in common, she also had a step sister. We were bonding for a good hour before I looked up to see Karma walk through the doorway that separates the house from the backyard.

Damn.

She had on arguably, the tightest dress at the party. My favorite color on her, too.

Red.

Her heels matched her dress and her hair was in a crisp bun. Leaving no hair to linger off her head, and she had a smokey eye going on. To describe her in a word, Fierce.

She locked eyes with me the second she walked through. I turned to Danny and she gave me a nod. Kind of like, go ahead, I'll wait here. I squeezed her shoulder and got up. I started to walk around the pool and Karma left Liam's side and started walking toward me. We met half way.

"Can we talk?" We said it at the same time.

"Come here." I grabbed her hand and brought her around to the side of the house. When we got there she looked at my outfit with a confused look. "Sloth." I answered the question her eyes were asking.

"Ohh." She said. "Fitting."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I looked her up and down again, enjoying the view might I add. "Are you lust too?"

"No, anger. Hence the red." She gestured up and down her body.

"You look…" I started to say.

"Hot right?"

"I was gonna say intimidating."

"I guess that's good too."

I had cooled off so much just from talking to Danny that I forgot why I wanted to talk to Karma. Even though I was staring at the reason whenever I looked over at Danny.

"What is your problem with Danny?"

"I don't have a problem with her."

"Do you always throw balls at peoples faces that you don't like Karma?"

"Ok, I didn't throw it. It's not my fault she didn't hit it back over to our side or move out the way and just give the point. She practically asked for it."

"Karma, I know theres more to this."

She sighed. "I feel like she's stealing my best friend away."

"Karma, you can't be serious, she's just a friend, no 'best' before it."

"I can't deal with this anymore. You're not talking to me and then having to watch her swoop in and take you away from me. I didn't do anything wrong and I have to pay for you falling in love with me. It's not fair."

"Karma, you can't fully say I'm the only one with feelings here. I saw the way you looked at me after we kissed during the failed threesome." She started to get anger in her eyes. "You said whoa."

She turned to walk away but I grabbed her wrist. I spun her around and pulled her in, to where are faces were inches apart.

She caught her breath. I whispered, "Tell me you didn't say whoa."

"Amy, we're best friends. That's all we were ever meant to be."

"Karma we haven't been just 'best friends' for a while now. Friends don't kiss like that."

She stared into my eyes as if searching for some answer my words weren't answering. "Amy," She began to push me away to where we were at arms length. "I'm with Liam, and you're in love with me, and I miss my best friend. None of these feelings were suppose to happen, but they're all happening and at the same time. I think I'm beginning to fall for him too. So you need to fall out of love with me or something, because I miss my best friend." She looked at me with almost pity, like, sorry I love a boy over you.

L O V E. In love with Liam Booker. I had nothing left, so nothing to lose. "Liam and I slept together."

She looked confused. "I'm sorry, you, you what?"

"Liam and I slept together the night of my moms wedding."

"The same night you told me you had feelings for me?"

"Yes."

"Well you obviously got over them fast." Her voice started to raise.

"It was in spite of you."

"You're being completely serouis right now aren't you?" Her face changing form confusion to anger very quickly.

"Yeah, why would I lie abo-"

Karma punched me in the face. A lot harder than I thought she could. I could feel the blood fill up the spaces between my gums.

"What the fuck!" Was all I could say.

"What the fuck. What the fuck? That's all you have to say?"

"I'm sorry Karma, I'd been drinking after we talked, and he had been too. You ruined both of our nights, and we found each other in a really lonely, angry place."

"Neither of you bothered to mention it? Oh just wait till I see him. We are so done."

"It meant absolutely nothing to me, I'm telling you, it was drunk me, not me-me."

She didn't say anything for a good minute or two. She was pacing around where we stood then she came back in front of me. "I forgive you." She barely said it. I could tell part of her was still mad.

"You, you forgive me?"

"Even though its extremely fucked up," she paused and looked at me, so I nodded like I agreed, yeah it was extremely fucked up, "I'm going to forgive you. Because like I said, I miss my best friend."

"But I just told you that to piss you off because you don't feel the same way about me."

"I know you did, but I don't care, us not being friends has that much of a toll on me, that even though you slept with Liam, I miss you more than I care to hold a grudge. An technically we weren't even dating when you did it so, I have no reason to be mad." Now she was starting to cool off. The more she talked the more she was at peace with the idea. Then her face crunched up again. "If I should be mad at anyone it should be him, because we're dating right now and I asked him who all he had slept with in the school and he did not say your name at all."

"I can't believe you're so forgiving towards me. What I did was beyond awful."

"It was, but I can't not have you in my life Amy, and these feelings are irrelevant to our friendship. You'll get over me, so in the mean time we're not going to avoid each other."

"I guess we can try."

She smiled and gave me a hug. "Also you haven't been eating lunch so I need to make sure you are, because you have me worried."

"Haven't had much of an appetite lately is all."

"You're sitting with us Monday." She said it like I had no other option. "Now I need to go find Liam and brake up with him." She turned and left me at the side of the house.

So now we're friends again. She still doesn't like Danny. She still doesn't like-like me. She wasn't mad about Liam and I hooking up. Nothing happened like it was suppose to just now. On the plus side, her and Liam are breaking up.

I couldn't help but smile to myself, and I didn't feel bad at all.

Karma deserves someone who would give everything to see her smile. Someone who knows all her ins and outs, ups and downs. Someone like me…

Stop it! I have to try and not think of her like that.

I said I would try.

I guess a bruise was already starting to form by the way Danny's eyes widened when I was walking back towards her.

"What the hell happened to you?" She got up and put her arm around me.

"You ready to go?" I was praying she'd say yes because I was ready.

"Course we can go. Didn't really want to come in the first place." We both laughed.

I looked up to Karma looking over at us. I looked at Danny who was holding me and she gave me a soft smile. I nuzzled my head in-between her neck and shoulder and we left out the back fence of Shane's house. I could feel Karma eyes on me the whole time till we were out of sight.

When we got to my car Danny opened the passenger side door for me. "I'll drive." She said.

She got in on the driver side and started to laugh. I looked at her waiting to let me in on the joke.

"She's really got a thing for inflicting pain on peoples faces doesn't she?"

"I guess so," I laughed along. "but we're good again, we're friends."

"You weren't before?"

"I was avoiding her, but she's not letting that be an option anymore so now I have to try and make it work." I realized then that Danny didn't know we were faking it before. "Since I'm still in love with her and she's moved on ."

She nodded. "Wanna go watch a movie at my place? I have ice." She looked at my cheek.

"That sounds great." I had a goofy grin on my face.

Even though I was in love with Karma, Danny had me feeling something too. I don't know what it was but maybe she failed a class just in time to save me from my feelings for Karma.

When we got to Danny's house we went to her room and started sorting through movies. Ice on my face, I asked her something I've been wanting to ask someone.

"Have you ever been in love with your best friend who didn't love you back?"

She looked up at me with some disappointment in her eyes. "Still thinking about Karma are you?"

"Sorry, it's not one of those things I can just stop thinking about. I want someone else's point of view on it too."

She set aside the first box of movies, obviously unimpressed with the selection it held. "I feel like everyone falls in love with one of their best friends at one point in time. I was madly in love with my best friend once. Her name was Jacklyn. She had brown hair with a red tint. Her eyes were brown too, and she had some freckles beneath them. She was a little bit shorter then me and always had something to complain about. She couldn't drive for shit, and she never seemed truly happy. But her laugh made my day, and her smile made my heart stop. Just her presence could make or break the room. Like if she wasn't there, I didn't feel a tension in my body."

"I feel like you just described Karma. What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing. She was straight."

"You never told her how you felt?"

"I thought about it countless times, of course. But I knew it would make no difference. You being the absolute perfect soulmate for someone doesn't matter if they're straight. Because all they see is a girl, not a person, not another human being, telling them they are in love with them."

"You are so right." I whispered to myself.

"At least you got to be with your best friend for a while. Never had to go through the torture of seeing her everyday kissing some boy. Or talk about how she liked some boy at the time."

I looked up. "Yeah, at least I had her for a little while." God I didn't like lying to Danny because she was so great, but I had to for the sake of the 'image'. If she knew I'd been lying all this time she'd probably never talk to me. I was too far in the lie now to deny it.

"Ah perfect." She held up a movie to see if I approved.

"Pretty Woman?" I was surprised.

"It's my favorite movie."

"No, its just, that is literally my favorite movie too."

"Then its settled." She got up and put the disc in her DVD player. "Where have you been all my life?" She asked.

I laughed. "Was wondering the same thing."

We watched the movie. At a comfortable distance from each other. Both of us definitely teetering in the friend zone since we met. But she knew I was in love with Karma and I think that was why she hasn't tried anything.

The rest of the weekend I didn't leave my house. The only time was to get the mail Saturday and that was because my mom made me. Both Karma and Danny were wanting to hang out but I lied and said I was grounded for giving Lauren a nasty look at the dinner table. Which was like the worse lie, and I haven't been grounded since sixth grade but it worked. I wanted to just be able to hear my thoughts. Think without any input of someone else around. See if I could get over Karma with the power of thought or something.

Monday came too soon and I walked into chemistry and Karma was sitting at out table with a smile on her face.

"How's the single life?" I joked.

"Easier than I thought." Luckily she went along with it. "Guess when you find out your boyfriend slept with your best friend and didn't tell you about it; breaking up is super easy."

"Are you sure we're ok? You can punch me again." I offered.

"We weren't dating at the time, and you were drinking, I wouldn't have told me either out of fear."

"You ready to present the project?" I asked.

"Yeah you want us to go first?"

"Best to get it over with. Then we don't have to worry about toping anybody." I said.

"Good point."

When Ms. Woods asked if there were volunteers for presenting before she would make us go alphabetically, we both raised our hands. No surprise that we were the only ones who raised our hands.

Karma presented the 2D creation she made. Which was actually really good. But what isn't Karma good at. When she was done I started to read my paper to the class. When I got towards the end of my paper I knew that Karma would know that it was in a way directed towards her while still flowing with the project.

"In conclusion, honestly, I don't understand the concept of the electromagnetic spectrum. But what I've come up with is that light can't be seen alone. It needs other rays to be beside it at all times so that it can be seen. Not like the ray of lights have a choice, they are drawn to each other." Karma looked up at me. "I don't see what the scientists might see through a microscope. I see something else when I look at a star. Like with people, you don't look at someone and think of their life thus far, you only think of what you see in front of you right then. Those stars died thousands of years ago. When you look up, you think you see magic, you think you see hope, but it's not. When you look up, you're looking at the past. You think stars are beautiful? Yet they're dead. Do you think death's beautiful? If you think death's beautiful, are you living the right way? A star is an illusion to our eyes to make us feel like there's more to life than there is. When people see reality they refuse to accept it and they look up. To believe in something so they still have something to believe in. Humans biggest fear isn't fear its self, its the truth. We refuse to accept truth, we refuse to accept reality, we refuse to think people are more than what we see, so were refusing to accept life. Maybe thats why stars seem so beautiful, because they represent death. The final escape from truth."

Karma was starring at me when I looked up. Ms. Woods began to clap. "Brava girls, great ending Amy."

We went to sit down and sat through all the other presentations. When class ended I got up and headed for the door. Karma caught me half way to Religious Studies.

"Amy, can we talk about the ending to your paper?" Karma asked.

"I think it was pretty self explanatory." I replied, still walking.

"You can't keep-" Kamra was cut off by Danny's voice.

"You're late." Danny said.

Smiling I said. "You're stunning."

She looked up as if pondering her response, then back at me. "You're forgiven."

Karma looked annoyed. "She's not late we just left chemistry."

"Pretty Woman movie reference." Danny filled her in.

Karma paused. "I knew that." Karma said. Even though I know she didn't know because she never wanted to watch Pretty Woman with me. "Text me later Amy, we'll talk tonight." With that she walked the opposite way of where Liam's locker was. Obviously sticking to her guns about being over him.

"Such a delight she is." Danny said.

I laughed. "Shut up." We went into class and I thought about what Karma had said.

Great, another talk. Talk talk talk talk talk. That's all she ever wants to do. Oh we're gonna talk alright. About her freaking sexuality. I'm going to make her say it. That she doesn't love me. Maybe if I hear her say it, it'll help.