"I'll be doing just fine once that money's in" Ava snapped before ending the call.
* * *
I don't get it. She's got to have a reason for acting this way, she just won't talk about it. But why am I the one catching all the heat? Ava and I got back, way back. Even after some years apart, we picked up like nothing changed.
But something did change. A few weeks ago, everything was fine. I still remember that rooftop party at Eclipsa Haven.
----
Flashback Chapter 2: The Stars Are Brighter.
Ava glances up as I walk out of my bedroom. "Damn, look at you! Them pants putting you on, girl" she says with a grin and eyeing my outfit like she's about to steal it.
I twirl around, giggling "What you think?"
She tilts her head, "Girl you look sexy. Your booty growing!"
"Stop it," I chuckle as I make my way to the full length mirror in the living room. I catch Ava's reflection, and for a moment, I'm grateful. For her, for the years we've known each other. For this sisterhood we've built.
She sips her wine before getting up to stand next to me, her high heels clicking against the floor. "I swear you gon' make me rethink my whole outfit." She says with a smirk. "But nah, baby, you look good. You gonna make Jermaine go crazy"
----
* * *
We were unbreakable sisters, tight as ever. Everything was fine. But ever since she lost her job, she started changing. I noticed it right away, even though she barely spoke about it.
But how bad could things be that she's treating me this way? Did I do something? Is that why she keeps shutting me out? The whole situation is so twisted it's messing with my head. Ava was always my rock, you know? The one constant I could count on when life got heavy.
Now I'm the one falling apart, and she's nowhere to be found. I should be crying to her, but she's just...gone. That's not how it's supposed to be.
I sniffle as tears threaten to spill as I sit on the couch. I lit an incense stick, with it's smoke curling into the air. It's supposed to bring peace and calmness, but it's not working. Nothing is. You ever feel that hole in your chest? The kind that just won't fill no matter what you do? The emptiness that makes everything around you feel...meaningless?
I hate that I'm breaking down over this. Everytime I think about her, my heart cracks open again. They say let go and move on to find inner peace, but how? When the person who's drifting away was more than a friend? Ava was like family to me. And I'm sitting here, not even knowing why. I'm just hurting in the dark, lost.
And if that wasn't enough, Jahari's laying in the hospital with his....uncertain condition. The kind of uncertainty that eats away at you and leaves you scared and helpless. It doesn't get easier. Nothing does.
Everything feels like it's falling apart. This dark cloud hanging over me...it's chaos. I get it, life comes in phases and seasons, but this? This isn't what I was ready for. It's easy to talk about better days, but it's hard to believe in them when the storm keeps crashing down.
