Page 26 of The Pinkie Pact

"Right? I can't get out of there fast enough."

A family with small kids walked by then, and we were quiet for a minute as they passed us, taking in the dying sunset. The lights in the monument started to glow around us, reflecting against the water of the Potomac.

"So what are you up to tonight?" Kieran asked.

"Not sure yet," Kara said. "Maybe a Sig Ep party."

He raised a brow. "Just stay away from the grain alcohol maybe?"

Kara's lips formed a sly smile. "We'll see."

He sighed, making me realize Kara hadn't told him about our little pinkie pact, and I wondered why. Did she just like to torture him? Or was she afraid we might fail?

"What about you?" Kara asked him.

Studying the buildings in the distance, he said, "I have to go to some dinner party at Christina's friends."

"Oh, that sounds like a blast."

"Yeah. Can't wait," he said, his voice dripping with annoyance.

God, I just didn't get him. Why be with someone like that, someone you didn't seem to even like anymore?

"Oh, and just a heads-up," Kieran said. "She wants to have you two over for dinner sometime soon."

"Oh, God, no," Kara groaned.

"Yep, I'm afraid so."

I was speechless. Didn't Christina hate us? Clearly, I'd been caught up in some weird Emerson family drama, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Maybe I needed to make some other friends besides these two.

Well, I had Bear. But we didn't exactly get too deep about anything... just lighthearted conversation and dancing and, well, kissing.

"Hey, guys," Kara said, picking up some trash. "I'm gonna throw this out."

Kieran moved to stand up.

"No, no. I'll be right back," she insisted.

"It's getting dark, though," Kieran said.

"It's literally right around the corner, and there are a ton of people there," she argued, pointing ahead before she took off.

Settling back down, Kieran reached for the bag next to him and pulled out a brownie. "Almost forgot about this," he said, unwrapping it and offering me some. "Want to share?"

"Of course." I broke off a portion and bit into it. "Oh, that's good. There might not be any left for Kara."

"It can be our little secret," he said, something about those words setting off butterflies deep in my belly.

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I kept quiet as we finished off the brownie, staring straight ahead at the darkening sky as a quiet fog started to settle in.

"I wonder where Kara is," Kieran said after a few moments, frowning as he stood up.

Standing up as well, I gathered our remaining trash. Just then, Kieran's phone buzzed, and he reached for it in his pocket.

His brows furrowed, he shook his head. "It's Kara. She says she needed the bathroom, and she's in a cab heading back to your dorm. She couldn't wait and hates the public restrooms here."

"Oh," I said, feeling a bit confused that she had taken off like that.

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