"Tonight is going to be the night that I finally bag that dude," Karma insisted while applying yet another layer of lipgloss.

"Mm hm," Amy nodded inspecting the bruise which had slowly been appearing on the right side of her forehead.

"I can feel it," Karma continued. "I just have a good feeling."

"Sure Karms," Amy hummed adjusting and readjusting her hair to t ry and cover her forehead.

"What are you doing? You don't usually put this much time into your appearance. Do you have your eye on someone?"

"If you didn't notice I crashed head first into my locker earlier today, so I'm just trying to deal with the aftermath."

"Who is he?"

"What?"

"Who is he? Who are you getting all dressed up for? I haven't seen you put this much effort into your appearance for a while."

Amy looked down at her clothes, skinny jeans, a scoop back top and patent mary jane flats. Okay, so it was a step up from her usually baggy jeans and hoodie but Amy didn't necessarily think it was 'dressed up'.

"Who said it was a he?"

"She?" Karma asked turning quickly away from the mirror and toward Amy. "This isn't going to be like back in Hester is it?"

Amy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"The girl thing. The awkward tension between us. We were just getting back on track. You're not into girls anymore right? I mean you dated Oliver for the last six months of school."

Sure Amy dated Oliver. If by dating you mean 'entered a mutually fake relationship with Oliver to get over Karma and get her mother off her back'. It ended up being pretty fun, they went on awesome fake dates and they formed a pretty strong friendship which was still holding up while they were both in college.

"Psh. Of course I'm not into girls." Amy scoffed. "I'm over that and I'm definitely over you. I'm just dressing up for myself. Have you ever heard of that? It's a thing."

"Nope. Never heard of it. Let's go."

"Isn't this great!" Karma grinned scanning the room for her prey.

"Yeah, love it! Great atmosphere, great music." Amy nodded, scanning the room for something else, someone else.

"He's coming!" Karma squealed latching onto Amy's arm.

"Who?"

"Hey ladies!," Jonah shouted handing them each a beer.

Amy snatched Karma's before she could bring it toward her lips. "We don't take drinks that have already been opened," she deadpanned.

"Fair play."

"Don't worry about her! She doesn't get out much!" Karma grinned.

Amy rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Where's the food?"

Jonah nodded to the pizza boxes piled in the corner of the room.

"Cool, see you guys later." Amy said wandering off to the only thing she felt was worth her time.

"Wanna dance?" Jonah asked extending his hand toward Karma.

"I'd love to," she smiled letting herself be pulled toward the dance area.

"You know, that's a waste of some perfectly good beer!," someone shouted at Amy causing her to startle and drop both bottles into the sink.

Amy spun around irritated, "Mind your own business!" she shouted at nothing and no one in particular.

"Over here!"

Amy tracked the voice over to a settee in the corner of the room which Reagan was occupying, pizza box in her lap, beer raised in the air to grab Amy's attention.

"Oh…hey! You're here! I was just looking for you! I mean…I know you said you'd be here so I was keeping an eye out for you!"

"It would probably be easier if you came over here, instead of us screaming at each other from across the room!?"

"Okay!"

Amy hovered where she stood, much to the amusement of Reagan.

"You've got to use your legs weirdo!"

"I know how to walk!" Amy shouted defensively. "I'm just….enjoying the atmosphere!"

"Yeah, looks like it!" Reagan laughed, shaking her head and taking a sip of her beer.

Amy immediately dropped the pretence and walked over to Reagan, who was laying across the settee, her legs crossed at the ankles.

"You look nice. How does it feel to be out the hoody and jeans?"

"Oh….thanks," Amy laughed nervously. She immediately felt self conscious after realising that Reagan was wearing the exact same thing she had been wearing earlier that day. Not that Amy cared. She just felt a little over dressed. "It feels…..strange."

"Yeah, I hear you. As you can see I haven't changed one item of clothing." Reagan gestured down the length of her body. "I find something I am comfortable in and just wear it until it falls off me, then replace it with exactly the same thing. Oh. You wanna sit down?" Reagan asked pulling in her feet before Amy had the chance to answer.

Amy perched on the edge of the settee, awkwardly watching as Reagan eyed Clementine who was sitting with a boy in other corner of the room.

"You jealous?" Amy joked trying to catch Reagan's attention.

The boy took a shaky hand and brushed some hair out of Clementine's face, causing Reagan to shoot up into a sitting position, her pizza box falling to the ground. She leaned forward taking another sip of her beer, watching intently until Clementine's face broke out into a shy smile. Amy watched as Reagan breathed a sigh of relief and then turned her head to face Amy.

"What?"

"I asked if you were jealous…"

"Jealous of what?" Reagan frowned.

"Your girlfriend hanging with that guy. It was just a dumb joke, don't worry about it," Amy sighed.

"Why would I be jealous? We're in an open relationship."

"Oh wow. I'm so sorry. I- I- didn't realise, I- I wouldn't have said anything if-"

Reagan smiled at Amy before nudging her lightly with her knee. "I was joking. It was just a dumb joke. She's not my girlfriend. Well, she's a girl that's my friend. But we aren't seeing each other if that's what you meant."

"Thank god."

"You sound relieved."

"What? No. No! I'm just….happy for you. You know….happy that she isn't cheating on you or whatever."

"Well when you're in an open relationship that doesn't count as cheating. It's only when someone forms an emotional connection that things become blurry." Reagan explained.

"And how exactly do you know this?" Amy asked curiously.

"I like to read."

"But why are you reading abo-"

"Hey Rae," Clementine interrupted. "We're gonna go and talk about physics, wanna hang I know parties aren't really your scene."

"Nah, I'm good. You guys have fun. Oh and Francis?" Reagan pulled him down so that she could whisper into his ear. Whatever she whispered seemed to have the desired effect because Amy watched as his facial expression turned from giddy to scared and slightly confused.

"Yes Ma'am."

"See you later Rae," Clementine chirped.

"So is 'physics' like a code for some sex thing or?" Amy enquired once the two had left.

"Not even," Reagan laughed. "They are actually going to talk about psychics. Isn't that special?"

"You know, if you invite a girl to dance you should only have eyes for her," Karma said through gritted teeth as Jonah looked over at Reagan for what felt like the 100th time.

"I'm just keeping an eye on the party! I don't want my parents house to get thrashed, that's all!"

"So why do you keep looking into the corner of the room instead of the entire room?" Karma questioned.

"That's not true. I looked there like two times max!" Jonah insisted.

"More like two hundred times," Karma muttered.

Jonah smirked as something dawned on him. "Oh, you're jealous. That's what this is about isn't it?"

"Erm no. Far from it," Karma lied. "I just don't see why you're interested in someone who isn't even interested in guys."

"Says who?" Jonah asked, suddenly becoming more interested in Karma than he had been the entire dance.

"Are you blind?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at how she dresses and look how she is all over my friend. You're the only one who can't see it!" Karma spat.

"Well to be fair it looks as if your friend is all over her," Jonah pointed out.

"No. You're mistaken. My friend is straight"

"Yeah," Jonah nodded unconvinced. "It totally looks like it," he added as he watched Amy whisper something into Reagan's ear that caused them both to stand up and head toward the sliding back doors.

"Are you okay? You seem chilly," Reagan commented, eyeing the goosebumps on Amy's back.

Amy didn't have the guts to tell Reagan the goosebumps had appeared when her hand unintentionally brushed the small of her back on the way outside.

"Oh, I'm fin-"

But Reagan had already removed her jacket and was putting onto Amy and carefully doing up the zipper.

"There," Reagan said, playfully pulling the hood over Amy's eyes. "How do you feel now?"

"Better," Amy confirmed. "Really good," she added genuinely. Although if she was being entirely honest with herself it had more to do with the way Reagan's black t-shirt was carefully rolled up at the sleeves to reveal the tattooed sleeve on her left arm. The way she wore her t-shirt in general really.

"God. Isn't this garden insane!?" Reagan exclaimed knocking Amy from her thoughts. "You could fit like 10 houses in here?"

"Hey, can we walk further down? The music is still too loud for my liking and there are too many people around." Amy grimaced. "Sorry."

"Sure. No problem. Let's go."

"What do you think those two are doing out there?" Jonah asked glancing every so often at the doors.

"You have a hot girl dancing on your jock right now. Why do you care even care what they're doing right now?" Karma asked.

"I don't."

"Good," Karma smirked spinning around and pressing her lips against Jonah's. "Let's take this upstairs."

"Nah, let's take this outside. There are a lot of strange people here, don't want them walking in on us."

"Oh. Doing nature in nature? I approve." Karma smirked dragging a very eager Jonah by the collar.

"So quick question…." Amy said breaking the comfortable silence that had settled around them.

"What is it?"

"Why do you call me always call me a weirdo?"

"Because you're a weirdo, weirdo." Reagan stopped in her tracks, "Or does it bother you? I can stop if you want."

"No. No. It doesn't bother me. I was just wondering. That's all." Amy said quickly.

"It's because the first day we met you were just acting kind of weird. Well that and I didn't know your name!" Reagan laughed.

"Do you know my name now?"

"Of course I do!"

"How?"

"Oh…I looked at one of your worksheets." Reagan lied. She figured that now probably wasn't the time to tell Amy that she had literally combed through her life with a fine toothed comb.

"Wait, what's that noise!?" Amy hissed.

"What noise?" Reagan asked calmly.

"There, did you hear it!? I do not want to die out here!"

"Oh, hey there buddy!" Reagan cooed dropping to her knees. When she stood back up she had a black cat cradled in her arms. "You're a noisy guy aren't you. Here is your killer."

"Well that's...really embarrassing."

"I'm gonna call you Husqvarna."

"Husqvarna?"

"It's a chainsaw brand. That's what you thought he was right? A crazed guy with a chainsaw?"

"Yeah…I guess I did."

"Isn't he cute!" Reagan smiled as he gently pawed at her loose hair. "I wonder if he belongs to anyone. He is really thin, I can actually count his ribs. I wonder if he would like some pizza." Reagan peeled her eyes away from Husqvarna and looked at Amy. "Can cats even eat pizza? I don't know, I've never had a pet before."

Amy didn't know if it was the contrast between a tough looking girl cradling a cat, or the sincerity in Reagan's eyes as she asked for advice but Amy felt herself drifting toward her.

"I mean I guess I could buy some cat food on the way back but he must be starv-"

Reagan was cut off by Amy's lips pressing against hers, the force of the kiss crashing her against a nearby tree. Amy pulled back a little to gauge Reagan's reaction, which was wide eyes and raised eyebrows. But she decided lean back in for the kiss. This time Reagan dodged it.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No, it's not that. It's just that you're squashing Husqvarna!," she gasped as a weak meow escaped his lips.

"Oh my god…I fucking knew it!" A familiar voice screamed.

Amy leapt out away from Reagan as if she were on fire.

"Karma! What are the heck are you doing here? And why do you have lip gloss all over your face?" Amy asked turning her attention to Jonah.

"Don't worry about that!" Karma insisted waving her hands dismissively. "What did I tell you!? I told you she was into girls!" Karma said excitedly.

"Karma how many times do I have to tell you I'm not into girls! It was just a silly phase!"

"Actually she wasn't talking about you. She was talking about her." Jonah nodded toward Reagan, who was understandably wearing a hurt look on her face.

"fuck, Fuck, FUCK!" Amy screamed at herself internally.

"What are you doing bringing my best friend out here all alone? Luring her away so that you can take advantage of her? Is that what you do? Don't you have a girlfriend already? Where is she? I wonder what she'd have to say about this."

"Karma shut up!" Amy hissed.

"Why are you defending that weirdo!? You barely know her!"

Reagan swallowed uncomfortably her eyes darting between Karma, Jonah and Amy. She took note of the desperation shining in Amy's eyes.

"Erm, you're right. Kind of. Clementine isn't my girlfriend. But I did lure your friend out here and made a move on her. I thought she was into me and it was a dick move," Amy cringed at this. "I'm sorry."

"So…you're not into guys then?" Jonah asked.

"If only life were so easy," Reagan smiled sadly. "Okay, I'm gonna go now."

"I think that's for the best." Karma said coldly.

Reagan took a step toward Amy and Amy held her breathe as Reagan unzipped the pocket on her jacket and removed her keys.

"I'm sorry." Amy whispered.

"It's kind of chilly out here. Just give my jacket back to me when you see me okay? See you around Amy."

Amy recoiled at the use of her actual name instead of the nickname that she had grown used to. And for some reason it felt like a punch in the gut.

Reagan bent down and scooped up Husqvarna who was playing with her untied laces.

"Is he yours?" She asked showing the cat to Jonah.

"Yeah."

"He is in bad shape. You're a shit pet owner. I'm taking him. He's mine now."

"Okay, fine." Jonah shrugged. "Can I walk you to your car or something?"

"Sure, why not. Thanks dude."

Guilt tore through Amy's gut as Reagan disappeared into the house and out of sight.

"Wow. Are you kidding me!?" Karma hissed. "She is into girls and he is still clearly into her! Unbelievable."