A call woke Emma up.

  She sighed softly as she stretched lazily across the cozy queen-sized bed, still wrapped in warmth, wondering who could possibly be calling her this early in the morning.

  Blinking rapidly while lying on her back, her thoughts drifting to and fro in sleepy confusion, she stretched her right hand toward the cupboard nearest to her bed, reaching for her alarm clock.

  She was certain the time hadn’t passed 6:30 a.m.—the hour the alarm had been set to for as long as she could remember—because everywhere was still eerily quiet.

  Even her closest neighbor, whose name she didn’t know yet, hadn’t started chopping wood. He was usually awake long before her 6:30 a.m. waking time.

  She had seen him only once, on Tuesday, while waiting for Derek to pick her up for school. That was how she’d discovered that the wood-chopper was a huge man who didn’t reply to greetings.

  She knew this because she had greeted him the moment she spotted him crossing the street—but he hadn’t acknowledged it at all, not even acting like she existed.

  She had made up her mind then to never greet him again. It felt like a waste of time, words, and saliva. Still, she’d wanted to ask Derek about the strange man when he arrived in his posh car—but the moment he’d dropped a kiss on her lips, she had forgotten all about the wood-chopper and his unsettling silence.

  Thinking of Derek now, Emma smiled widely, even though her friendly sleep was still romancing her eyes. The past two days had been the best days of her life—she was sure of it.

  She thought he was the best boyfriend ever, and it helped that they offered similar courses. He had kept his promise of picking her up every morning for school, staying with her around campus, completely unfazed by the hellos and flirty hi’s he received from desperate bimbos who chased after him even while she stood right there, throwing her nasty looks.

  He also drove her to work and back home, and of course, there were the small exchanges of touch here and there.

  Still lying down, she sighed dreamily. She couldn’t wait to see him today. The night before, after dropping her off from work, he had kissed her right cheek at her doorstep and told her he had a surprise for her the next day—which was today.

  Happiness and curiosity bubbled inside her as she touched her cheek absentmindedly. She couldn’t wait.

  Still lost in thoughts of her newfound love, she jerked upright when her phone rang again, shattering the quiet of the room.

  Her eyes darted to the alarm clock, and her brows scrunched together when she saw the time—5:15 a.m.

  “Who could be calling?” she muttered to herself as she reached out and picked up her phone gingerly.

  A huge smile bloomed across her lips when she saw her sister’s name dancing on the screen.

  The smile, spreading like a capital letter U, faltered slightly as guilt crept in. She suddenly felt bad for not replying Amelia’s texts—or calling her—since arriving at her new home. She knew her older sister wouldn’t let it slide.

  Cursing herself softly, she answered the call and pressed the phone to her ear, holding it in place with her right hand as she sat up properly on the bed, her back supported by a pillow against the headboard.

  “Hello…” she said, waiting a few seconds for her sister to speak, unsure whether it was a poor network or something else.

  “Emma!!!!” a voice screamed into the phone.

  On any other day, Emma would have pulled the phone away or warned her sister about screaming—she hated it—but not today. Today, she would take anything from her sister, even if Amelia called her Reds or Miss Aurella’s heels. She had missed her too much.

  “Amelia!” she shouted back.

  “How are you doing?” Amelia asked, smiling into the phone. She had truly missed Emma. The house hadn’t felt the same since she left. Loneliness crept in sometimes, and college was often her only distraction.

  She’d met new people and made new friends, but none replaced her sister. She had even spoken to their father about bringing Emma back, but the old man had been adamant about letting her stay alone. It sometimes made Amelia wonder if he was truly their father. She had almost asked their mother once—but had let it go.

  “I’m fine… how about you?” Emma said, interrupting her sister’s wandering thoughts.

  “I’m great. Just missing you,” Amelia replied, her voice dipping with sadness.

  “Me too. I wish I could see you,” Emma said, feeling the hollow space in her chest widen. Even with Derek in her life, she still craved the kind of companionship only a female bond could give.

  The girls around her were mostly mean, desperate to sink their claws into her boyfriend—everyone except Ava. But Ava was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing from class before Emma could even whisper bingo.

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  “We can do a video call!” Amelia suddenly screamed, laughing at herself for not thinking of it sooner.

  “Yeaaah!” Emma instantly shared her excitement.

  —-

  Emma noticed that Amelia had dyed the edges of her hair pink, and Amelia noticed that Emma’s red hair had gotten redder—richer in hue, fuller, and noticeably longer.

  Amelia whistled softly, impressed, as she took in the sight of her kid sister looking better, more beautiful in a way that felt quietly striking.

  “What!” Emma asked, laughing when she heard Amelia whistle.

  “Nothing,” Amelia replied casually. “Your hair looks fuller. Would you trim it?”

  She had always loved the reddish color, though she had often wondered where her sister had gotten it from. Their parents were both blond, and none of their relatives—including their grandparents—had that shade of hair.

  “I don’t know,” Emma replied, genuinely surprised by her sister’s observation. She hadn’t noticed her hair’s growth at all. She made a mental note to check it later.

  As for trimming it, she truly didn’t know. She barely knew her way around the county—college, her workplace, her house, and the fill-up station were the only places she frequented.

  She decided she’d ask Derek to take her on a proper tour during the weekend.

  “Well, it’s beautiful,” Amelia said truthfully.

  “Oh… okay. What about you?” Emma asked, her eyes widening slightly. “You dyed your hair pink?” She paused. “Do they know about it?” she queried worriedly.

  “Not yet,” Amelia replied, knowing exactly who Emma meant—their parents.

  Although their parents tolerated her more than Emma, for reasons she still couldn’t decipher, she also knew there were boundaries they wouldn’t like crossed. Dyeing her hair was definitely one of them.

  “Hmmm…” Emma sighed thoughtfully. “It looks good on you though,” she finally said, noting the bold, almost rebellious edge it gave her sister. It was a sharp contrast to Amelia’s usually gentle nature, and she liked it.

  “Tired of being too gentle?”

  “Maybe…”

  “Collegico!” Emma shouted playfully, completely unbothered by the fact that the word didn’t exist in any dictionary.

  “Where the hell did you learn that from?” Amelia asked, laughing along with her. “Is that what your friends say?”

  “Maybe,” Emma said innocently.

  “I see. So tell me about your stay in England. Every juicy detail—don’t miss anything out. Have you met anyone yet? Have you—” Amelia rattled on, words tumbling over one another, before Emma cut in.

  “Amelia!!” Emma interrupted, laughing.

  “What!”

  “Can you just take a deep breath?”

  “I’m breathing already. What’s the need for a deep breath?” Amelia replied, batting her eyelashes exaggeratedly. The gesture looked so ridiculous that Emma burst out laughing again.

  “Why are you laughing?”

  “Well, I don’t understand why you’re batting your eyelashes at me. I’m not Blaine,” Emma replied with a chuckle—one that vanished instantly when she noticed the sudden change in Amelia’s face at the mention of the name.

  Blaine—the guy Emma believed was her sister’s boyfriend, or at least had been before she left days ago.

  What happened in these few days? Emma wondered as she stared at her sister. The face that had been glowing with smiles was now contorted with sadness and restrained anger.

  “Amelia, what happened? What did he do?” Emma asked, her voice sharpening. She swore she would break the guy’s neck if he’d truly hurt her sister, even if she was millions of miles away.

  “We broke up,” Amelia said quietly.

  “That’s obvious,” Emma replied. “I want to know how and why it happened. I thought he was a good guy.”

  She remembered Blaine clearly. She’d found him a little too gentle back then, but she’d approved of him—especially after he’d started buying her favorite ice cream every weekend. That had won him major points.

  Now, thinking back, she wondered if it had all been a strategy to earn her approval. Everyone knew she was fiercely protective of her sister, despite being the younger one.

  “He cheated on me. More than once,” Amelia said, her voice tinged with hurt.

  “What?!” Emma screamed. “That son of a bitch!” she shouted, teeth clenched, wishing she could teleport to Florida instantly. The guy deserved a beating he’d never forget.

  “More than once?” she repeated, incredulous. “But how did you find out?”

  Amelia sighed deeply, memories of that awful day resurfacing. “I saw some texts on his phone,” she said, picking at her nails nervously.

  When she glanced up, she found Emma staring at her intently, eyebrows raised. She knew that look—it was a silent Is that all? Go on. And so she did.

  “Actually, I noticed he became distant all of a sudden—stopped picking my calls, left me hanging on dates, excused himself constantly to take calls. I thought it was because of how demanding his work at his father’s supermarket was. Until I went through his phone… and saw the texts.”

  “What texts?” Emma asked sharply, irritation creeping into her voice. Her sister’s gentleness frustrated her; she should have confronted him the moment she noticed the change.

  “I went to his house on Sunday to see him, but he wasn’t around. His mother let me in and told me he’d just left a few minutes earlier—and that she thought he’d gone to see me. I told her maybe he’d gone to see Nick, his best friend. Later, I went into his room to wait for him. When I sat on his bed, I noticed his phone on the drawer. He must’ve forgotten it in a hurry. I didn’t want to… but curiosity got the better of me.”

  A pause. “I unlocked his phone, and immediately a message popped up,” Amelia was fighting hard to keep the tears trapped behind her eyes. She knew Emma wouldn’t like seeing her cry.

  “What did the message say?” Emma asked, already knowing the answer.

  “I miss you baby. Are you coming? Last night was awesome. I love you too,” Amelia said quietly.

  “And then?” Emma pressed, barely holding back her fury.

  “I checked the sender. After that, I saw more messages—similar ones, from both of them. They’d been seeing each other for about a month. I needed to know who she was,” Amelia muttered, bracing herself.

  “So… do you know her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Who?” Emma asked, anger simmering as she mentally prepared for the Christmas holidays.

  “June,” Amelia said softly, sighing when she saw the hurt flash across Emma’s face in an instant.