Awa woke up with red eyes, the dull ache of restless sleep gnawing at her as she blinked into the late morning light. The clock on her bedside table read 10:45 AM. She had barely slept, tossing and turning until the early hours. Her mind had been in overdrive, haunted by the thoughts of Tina and Forrest, by the images her own brain conjured of them together.
She rolled out of bed, her body heavy with exhaustion, and padded barefoot into the hallway. The apartment was quiet—too quiet. Awa's eyes drifted toward the entryway, where Tina's jacket should have been hanging on the coat rack. It wasn't there.
Awa stared at the empty space for a long moment, a strange tightness creeping up her throat. She didn't come home last night.
Tina, her vibrant, bubbly little sister, had gone on her date last night, and now, it seemed, she had slept over at someone's place. Normally, Awa wouldn't have cared. Tina was an adult; she was free to do whatever she wanted. But this time felt different. It gnawed at her in a way she didn't fully understand.
Dragging herself toward the kitchen, Awa reached for her phone on the counter, her hand trembling slightly. She hesitated, staring at the screen. She wasn't jealous, right? It wasn't jealousy—she was just concerned. Tina was her little sister. Awa had practically raised her after their mother moved to another city. She was protective, maybe overprotective, but that didn't mean she was jealous.
But the thought of Forrest, the image of him laughing with Beatrice, and the fact that Tina had been so close to him lately—it all left her feeling unsettled.
It's not jealousy, she told herself firmly, though the knot in her stomach said otherwise.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of debating, Awa gathered the courage to call Tina. She pressed the call button, her heart pounding as the phone rang. One ring. Two. Three.
It felt like ages before Tina finally picked up.
"Hey," Tina answered, her voice soft, slightly breathy, almost like she had just woken up.
Awa's heart skipped a beat. "Tina? Are you... are you okay?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual, but the edge of concern slipped through. "You sound... weird. Are you still drunk or something?"
There was a pause on the other end, followed by a small laugh. "No, no, I'm fine, I swear," Tina replied, though her voice still carried that strange breathlessness. "Just, uh... I had a late night."
Awa's brows furrowed. Something felt off. Tina's tone wasn't the usual chipper morning-after voice she had whenever she stayed out late. There was something else—something more intimate.
And then, in the background, Awa heard it.
A muffled, deep chuckle. A man's laughter. Familiar, yet distant.
Tina let out a quiet, almost involuntary sound—something that made Awa's stomach flip.
"Tina?" Awa's voice tightened. "What was that?"
"Oh God," Tina murmured, her voice filled with embarrassed laughter. "Sorry, Awa. Hold on a sec."
There was a brief rustling, and then, through the phone, Awa heard Tina say, "Stop it, I'm on the phone with my sister! You're embarrassing me!"
The voice that responded, though muffled, sent a chill down Awa's spine. It was playful, teasing—but unmistakable.
It was Forrest.
Awa's breath caught in her throat, her fingers tightening around her phone as a wave of shock and confusion washed over her. She barely heard Tina say, "Sorry, Awa, I'm in the middle of something. I'll call you back later, okay?"
And then the line went dead.
For a moment, Awa stood frozen, her phone still pressed to her ear, her mind struggling to process what she had just heard. The laughter. Tina's breathless voice. Forrest's unmistakable chuckle in the background. It all felt surreal, like she had stumbled into someone else's life—someone else's world where everything she thought she knew had been turned upside down.
Forrest? How could it be him? How could her sister be... with him?
She had barely known him herself. They had only met twice, and both times had been strange, distant encounters. Yet the very thought of Forrest now, tangled up in this new dynamic with Tina, left Awa feeling something she didn't want to acknowledge.
Jealousy.
The word crept into her mind, unbidden and unwanted. But it was there, pulsing beneath the surface, raw and unrelenting. It made no sense—she had no claim on Forrest, no reason to feel this way. He was practically a stranger. Yet the image of him laughing, of Tina with him, wrapped in whatever secret world they were sharing, made Awa's chest ache with an intensity that frightened her.
Without thinking, she stormed into the bathroom, her feet moving faster than her thoughts. She turned on the shower, letting the water run, her hands shaking as she stripped off her clothes. She needed to calm down. She needed to clear her head, to make sense of this tangled mess of emotions.
But the moment she stepped into the shower and felt the warm water cascade over her skin, the tears came.
Awa pressed her hands to her face, sobbing quietly as the water mixed with her tears, hot and relentless. She didn't even know why she was crying. It wasn't like she had feelings for Forrest, right? She barely knew him. He was Tina's... whatever he was. It didn't make sense for her to feel this way.
But the ache in her chest said otherwise.
She stood under the water for what felt like forever, her body shaking as the tears came and went in waves. Every time she tried to pull herself together, another image would flash through her mind—Forrest's sharp eyes, his quiet intensity, the way he had been with Beatrice at the café. And then Tina, laughing in the background, caught up in something Awa couldn't understand.
Why did it hurt so much?
I'm not jealous, she told herself again, her hands trembling as they clutched the slick tiles of the shower wall. I'm not jealous. I'm just... worried. That's all. I'm worried about Tina.
But deep down, she knew that wasn't true.
The water continued to pour down, soothing her skin but doing little to quiet the storm inside her. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the thoughts to go away, willing the pain to subside.
But the ache remained, lodged deep in her chest, refusing to let go.
By the time Awa finally stepped out of the shower, the apartment felt eerily quiet. She wrapped herself in a towel, her body heavy with exhaustion, both physical and emotional. Her reflection stared back at her from the bathroom mirror—red eyes, flushed cheeks, a look of vulnerability she rarely allowed herself to feel.
I need to get a grip.
She moved through the apartment like a ghost, her mind still reeling from the conversation with Tina. A part of her wanted to call again, to demand answers, to ask Tina what was really going on. But another part of her—the part that still felt raw and wounded—couldn't bear to hear her sister's voice just yet. Not after what she had heard. Not after what she was starting to suspect.
Awa sank down onto the couch, pulling a blanket around herself as she stared blankly at the television screen. She didn't turn it on. She just sat there, the silence filling the room, heavy and suffocating.
What is wrong with me?
She wasn't supposed to feel this way. She wasn't supposed to feel... hurt. Not by Tina. Not by Forrest. But the knot in her stomach wouldn't go away, the sinking realization that something had changed—something fundamental in her life that she hadn't been prepared for.
He's just a guy, Awa tried to convince herself. A guy you barely know. And Tina's your sister. Why are you even letting this get to you?
But the truth was, she didn't know why it was getting to her. All she knew was that everything felt different now. The dynamic between her and Tina, the way she saw Forrest—it was all shifting, slipping out of her control.
Her phone buzzed beside her, and for a moment, she hesitated. Her heart leapt into her throat, thinking it might be Tina again. But when she glanced at the screen, it was Stanley's name that flashed across it.
Awa stared at the phone, her emotions swirling as she debated whether to pick up. Stanley had been her rock, her steady, reliable boyfriend who had always been there when she needed him. But right now, the last thing she wanted to do was explain how she was feeling—because even she didn't understand it. For the first time in her life, she didn't pick up the call when her significant other called.
The phone stopped buzzing, and Awa let out a shaky breath, her head falling into her hands. She felt like she was unraveling, caught between emotions she couldn't name and the crushing weight of uncertainty.
And for the first time in a long time, Awa didn't know how to hold herself together.
Hours passed, and the daylight began to fade, casting long shadows across the apartment. Awa hadn't moved from the couch, her mind still a haze of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard Tina's voice, Forrest's laughter, the quiet intimacy of their connection lingering in her mind like a ghost.
She was spiraling, and she knew it. But she didn't know how to stop.
I'm not jealous, she told herself for what felt like the hundredth time. But the hollow ache in her chest told a different story.
The apartment remained silent, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall.
And for the first time in a long time, Awa felt truly alone.