Page 43 of The Pinkie Pact

That was just the latest text from her among a bunch of others, plus missed calls. Oh, whoops. I'd completely forgotten to text her back earlier, and now, it was late afternoon.

"Oh, sorry. I ran into Bear, and we've been hanging out," I wrote.

"Oh, thank God. I'm still really, really sorry. Are you mad at me?" she wrote back.

Uh, I wasn't sure what to say because, yes, Iwasstill mad at her. But I didn't want to make her feel bad and suffer until we could actually sit down and hash it out.

Finally, I just wrote, "We're good. We'll talk about it all soon."

She sent me a bunch of puppy dog eyes emojis, and I realized it would be hard to stay mad at her for long.

After another Netflix binge and some pizza, Bear took me out with his buddies, and because I felt terrible thinking about Kara sitting alone in our dorm stewing about everything, I texted her and asked her to join us in Georgetown.

When she showed up and started her way toward us, I'd already had my three drinks. But I decided that tonight I'd keep on going because, well, I could really use it. I didn't have my bracelets anyway. And besides, I was here with Bear, someone I could trust completely. The dude had some serious tolerance to alcohol. Maybe it was his sheer muscle mass.

Once she reached us, Kara threw her arms around me in the middle of the loud, crowded bar. "You know I'm so sorry," she yelled in my ear. "Please don't be mad at me. I can't handle it if you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad," I yelled back, the remorseful look on her face making it easy to forgive her which was strange because, usually, I could hold onto those grudges.

"Kieran's not answering my calls or texts," she said. "Have you heard from him?"

"No."

And I decided not to elaborate about how strange he'd acted this morning either. The alcohol was already flowing through me, making me feel damn good, and with the ear-deafening music, it was hard to have an actual conversation anyway.

Bear handed me two drinks, and I gave one to Kara, which she quickly guzzled.

"Let's ditch the pinkie pact tonight," I shouted to her.

With a grateful nod, she let out a huge breath. "I'm down with that!"

The bar pulsed with the energy of a Friday night, alive and crowded with college kids letting loose. Kara, Bear, and I danced like crazy, pausing only for more drinks. And God, did it feel amazing.

The alcohol pumped through my body, giving me energy, taking all my worries away. After showing such restraint, it felt incredible to blow it all off.

One of my favorite songs blasted through the bar, and Kara and I sang at the top of our lungs dancing with each other as Bear and some of his friends looked on laughing.

For hours, we drank and danced and drank and danced some more until the lights came on, and they kicked everyone out. Even though we'd closed the bar down, it still felt like too soon.

With his arms around us, Bear escorted us out along with all the other drunkards spilling into the dark streets of Georgetown. He insisted on walking us home which was really sweet because the bridge into Foggy Bottom was super creepy at night.

By the time we made it to our door, I was so grateful for Bear and his strong body to lean on. Kara and I both gave him a million kisses on his cheeks as he laughed and crushed us to him in a big bear hug.

"You're the coolest, Bear!" Kara said, shouting and slurring her words. "Too bad I'm in love already."

Shaking his head, he laughed and helped us with the door. "Good night, ladies. Hope you make it upstairs okay."

Kara and I waved from inside, blowing him kisses on the other side of the large window. When we turned to face the security guard, we both sobered up and attempted to look normal until we made it into the elevator and busted up laughing.

She hung onto me as we stumbled down the hall to our room. "Oh, my God, Sky, you're the best friend I've ever had. I was so scared to lose you."

"You'll never lose me, girl," I said, trying to get the key to fit into the stupid keyhole that wouldn't stay still.

Finally, we made it inside, safe and sound, both of us collapsing on our beds.

"You know, I just did it to try and help Kieran," she said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, grabbing my water bottle from my nightstand.

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