What happens when a suicidal twenty-two year old meets someone who pushes her to be more than her grief. In return she teaches him how to be patient and a better person overall.
"Talk to me"
"There's nothing to say, I'm fine"
Zed stared at her bla...
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Ja'Kiya woke up hours later, stretching out her limbs with a small yawn. As she sat up slowly, her gaze swept across the room, searching for Zed. He usually sat quietly beside the bed, watching her sleep like a guardian angel. But today, the space beside her was empty, and an unsettling stillness filled the air.
Standing from the bed, she wandered to the window, peering out into the driveway. Zed's car was conspicuously absent, and though it didn't surprise her, a sense of unease settled in her stomach. Most days, Zed had someone pick up her car and take it back to her apartment, a subtle way of ensuring she spent more time with him.
"Okay, Zeddie, what do you want from me?" she murmured to herself, frowning as she began her hygiene routine, her mind racing through the possibilities of what might have gone wrong.
In an attempt to reach out, she dialed Leilani's number for a FaceTime call, but it went straight to voicemail without ringing. Frustrated, she tried again, only to receive the same result.
"Cmon girl" she muttered, her frown deepening. Pressing the button on her touch bond bracelet, she waited for a vibration that never came. Leilani wasn't responding, and that only added to Kiya's growing anxiety. Her fingers swiped her screen quickly going into the find my phone app. "Lani what are you doing?"
The Twin Twinkle contact name on her Find My Phone app blinked mockingly at her: *No location found*. What's going on? The thought gnawed at her, recalling the complicated web of surrounding Leilani.
"She wouldn't leave me...right?" The thought nagged at her
Yaze and Leilani were seeing each other off and on a year ago when the best friends slept together and from what Leilani told Kiya, there wasn't any issues because they weren't together.
Yaze was hurt by the news but it didn't bother him enough to want to end things nor pick a fight with Leilani. He simply nodded in response then asked her to play his ps5 with him. They'd been cuddling and on the game ever since. Leilani triggered her bracelet periodically that night, the following day as well, but today.....nothing.
Sending a short text to Yaze, Kiya stepped out of the room.
As she moved through the house, the walls adorned with photographs caught her eye. Each frame told a story, capturing moments of joy and laughter. Pictures of Nia, lined the hallway, alongside snapshots of Yaze and Jayla. One group photo featured a woman who was a few shades lighter than the others, her big hazel eyes strikingly familiar. Kiya squinted at the image, her mind racing. Where do I know her from?
It was only when she glanced back at a solo picture of Nia that the connection clicked. Nia's mom. Nia had her whole face. But that wasn't the connection that sent a chill down her spine. As memories of her past flooded back, Kiya felt the walls closing in. The trip to Guam, the revelation of her ex-boyfriend Jordan's infidelity, everything came crashing together in a tidal wave of realization.
