Lauren wasn't gay. She was sure of that. And she was pretty sure she wasn't bi, either. She'd never thought about girls like that. OK, maybe she hadn't thought about girls like that very much, but everyone has a fantasy or two, right? She was sure that was all those had been.

That didn't explain kissing Karma. Not at all. That didn't explain kissing Karma or wanting to kiss Karma and it definitely didn't explain enjoying kissing Karma. There was nothing Lauren could think of that would explain that. Not one single thing.

Lauren hated Karma. Really. She hated her. Lauren hated the way Karma acted. She thought Karma was the biggest phony ever. Lauren hated the way Karma seemed obsessed with Liam Booker. She couldn't understand it. So what if Liam was hot or had those perfect abs or was popular?

Theo was hot. Theo had great abs. Theo was popular.

But Theo was a lying douche and Lauren was very happy to be rid of him. He hadn't even been a good kisser, not like…

No. She wasn't going there.

Lauren hated Karma's phoniness and hated her obsession with Booker. Most of all, Lauren hated the way Karma treated Amy, even if she would never, ever admit it. Lauren's secret might have been out and everyone in the school knew Theo had lied to her and used her. But she still had a little pride left and so she was never going to tell anyone that she actually cared about her step-sister.

In a way, Lauren blamed that on Karma. It was hard to stay mad at someone, or to even dislike them, when you had a front row seat to watching them get hurt day after day. Lauren hadn't cared. But then she heard Amy crying. And then she saw Amy crying. And then came the night of the wedding and Lauren heard every stupid word that came out of Karma Ashcroft's stupid mouth.

Stupid mouth. Very, very stupid.

But so soft…

NO! Not going there!

Lauren had been very happy when Amy found Reagan. Finally, her step-sister had someone who treated her right. Everyone could see that Reagan loved Amy and, even better, she wasn't afraid to show it. And if there was one thing Lauren hated about Karma most of all, it was that she could never get over her own insecurities long enough to give Amy what she deserved.

More than once, Lauren had imagined entire conversations with Karma as she stared into her bedroom mirror. Every one of them ended the same. "Girl the hell up, Ashcroft. Can't you see what you're letting slip away?"

That was what Lauren had planned to say to Karma the night of the party. She'd noticed the way Karma kept trying to get Amy's attention. It was kind of pathetic, really, and Lauren was sure if Amy had been paying any attention, it probably would have worked. Amy was a sucker for that sort of thing. Lauren knew her step-sister would always come running when Karma played the poor, wounded, hurt little girl card.

Lauren hated that card. It was embarrassing. It gave girls everywhere a bad name. She hated watching Karma try to do that. The entire night, as Karma made try after try at getting Amy's attention, Lauren hated her. As Karma started drinking more and more, Lauren hated her. When Karma let those dirty boys, all of them little man-whores like Booker, do shots off her, Lauren hated her.

That was what she went into that bedroom to tell her. "I hate you Karma Ashcroft." and her whole 'girl up' speech. Lauren was going to give Karma a piece of her mind and then she was going to find herself one of those man-whores because Lauren Cooper was not gay. Or bi.

But then the words came out of her mouth and they weren't the ones she had planned.

"Can I kiss you?"

Lauren wasn't gay. She wasn't bi. And she most definitely was not in love or like or anything with Karma. And when she finally realized what she was doing and ran out of the bedroom like someone was chasing her, she swore to herself that she would never, ever think of it again. And she would absolutely never do it again.

And she didn't.

Until sometimes between fourth and fifth period on Monday morning, when she pulled a confused Karma into the janitor's closet and shoved her up against the door.

"Lauren?" Karma was confused. She only barely remembered the night of the party and so it was a little weird to find herself in this situation. She had never imagined herself being pressed against the janitor's closet door by a surprisingly strong Lauren Cooper.

"Don't talk," Lauren said. She meant it, too. She couldn't hear Karma or she would think. And if she thought, even for a second, Lauren knew she'd lose her nerve. That would mean running from the closet and probably leaving the school and maybe even begging her daddy to move away from Austin. "Just don't talk," she repeated as she leaned in and pressed her lips against Karma's.

The redhaired girl couldn't talk, not with Lauren's mouth on hers. She couldn't talk and she couldn't think and she couldn't make heads or tails of all this. Lauren Cooper was kissing her.

Kissing her!

It should have felt weird. Karma was sure it should have felt weird to have Lauren's lips moving against her own. It should have also felt weird to have the little blonde's hands cupping her cheeks and then moving as Lauren wrapped her arms around Karma's neck. And it should have felt really weird when Lauren's tongue slipped between her lips!

But it didn't feel weird. It felt good. Really, really good. So good that Karma didn't think and just wrapped her own arms around Lauren's waist and pulled her closer. And when Lauren moaned a little into her mouth, Karma didn't think that was weird at all.

None of it felt weird to Karma until her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She didn't want to answer it, especially if that meant that she would have to stop kissing Lauren (because Karma was definitely kissing back). But then it buzzed again. And again. And again. And finally Lauren was the one who broke the kiss.

"You should… um… you should get that," she said. "Yes… get that."

And then Lauren smoothed her blouse down and ran her fingers through her hair and headed for the door. Karma tried to stop her but Lauren wasn't just surprisingly strong, she was also surprisingly quick. She was out the door and Karma was left standing there alone in the closet with a pair of very tingly lips and a surprising ache somewhere lower. Her phone buzzed again and Karma pulled it out.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" came Amy's whispered voice over the line. "Class started ten minutes ago!"

Ten minutes? Karma couldn't believe there was any way she and Lauren had been in the closet that long. If kissing Lauren for ten minutes had felt like that…

What would it be like if they didn't stop?

Karma pushed the thought away. "I was… um… not feeling well," she lied. "I was in the nurse's office. I'll be right there." She and Amy had math together this period, on the other side of the building. Karma collected herself and tried to think about anything other than Lauren's lips or her hands or her tongue.

Her tongue!

She left the closet and headed straight down the hall. Karma knew she'd have to stop at the nurse's office and get a pass or she'd be serving detention that afternoon. And then she started wondering if Lauren had been late for class and if maybe she'd be serving detention and that made her think about all the things she was trying to avoid, again.

Karma was so lost in thought that she never saw Amy behind her, peering around the corner at the janitor's closet door, a look of total betrayal on her face.