"Yeila?"
The black haired girl turned around at the sound of her name. She stared at Andrea as she racked her brain to remember.
"Halo?" Andrea nearly cried. She hasn't heard that name in a long time. Her mother always called her that when she was growing up.
"Yes. It's me" Without another word, the two sisters pulled each other into a tight hug, tears already brimming from their eyes. They held each other in their embrace, not minding the states people gave them.
"Come on. Let's go have some coffee and a talk" They both walked out of the supermarket and headed to a small, but poshed up cafe, down the street.
"Halo, haven't seen you in a long while. What happened? One minute you was in the house, another minute, I see you on TV?" Andrea lowered her head. Everything that had happened three years ago, came rushing back to her.
She didn't only steal money and ran away from home, she took money that was meant for her mother's bills. She saw how her siblings struggled for that money, but she still took it.
"Well…I became a model..but my agency is having issues, so. How's Mom doing?" Andrea couldn't believe she asked that. She knew she had no business knowing, but she still wanted to know. She needed to know, so she'd finally live in peace.
Yeila took in a deep breath, and reached for Andrea's hand over the table, her eyes already began watering, as her hand trembled.
Andrea moved uneasily in her seat, her eyes moving over her sister's face, and the tears from Yeila's face, made her gut twist.
"Mama…Mama's dead, Halo. She died a month after you left. Her health got worse, everyone had spent out their savings. We really was stranded" Andrea pulled her hands away from her sister's, as she shook her head vehemently.
She felt her insides twist and turn in the most unpleasant ways, as tears fell from her eyes. She didn't know what made her heart heavy–her mother's death or the guilt knowing that she might have directly caused it.
Yeila came over to Andrea's side, and pulled her in, which made the truth that rested on Andrea's tongue sting like hell. She feared how her siblings would take the news once they found out.
But her greatest fear…was Kayden.
"I'm so sorry, Yeila" Andrea's heart couldn't take the guilt anymore. She had held it in for years, without the thought of her mother's death, and it ate at her.
Now that she knows what she did caused her mother's death, she was sure she'd be an emotional rollercoaster if she kept it in.
"I'm…I'm the one who stole the money for Mama's medicals" The world stopped. Andrea, Yeila, they both froze. Those words sounded light in Andrea's head, but now that it's out there, she felt the gravity of each letter she spoke.
Andrea forced herself to look at Yeila's eyes, and those once bright eyes, had suddenly turned dark and something in Andrea died. Again.
Yeila just stared at her, making herself believe that she heard wrongly but the look on Andrea's face, the way she couldn't meet her eyes told her all she needed to know.
"Why?" Yeila didn't want to know what Andrea used the money for, all the wanted was the twisted reason that had Andrea belittle their mother's life.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Andrea sobbed on. She was embarrassed with her decision.
A modelling career over her mother's life? A modelling career that failed two years later?
Yeila didn't want any avoidance or lies, she wanted the truth, and somehow Andrea's apology instead of an answer agitated her. She jumped to get feet, her hand in a fist, eyes already a fury fire.
"Eh! Why?!" Andrea flinched as people whispered but she didn't care, all that bothered her was the truth in front of her.
Although she had left her family, it didn't mean she'd want to perpetually cut ties with them, but seeing her sister who hardly got angry, screaming in the public place, she knew she was done for.
And that if her other siblings find out, she'd return to her old life, but this time, with the knowledge of how she was resented amongst her siblings.
"I was selfish. I needed…I stole the money for a modeling audition. I..I didn't think, Yeila. I'm so, so, sorry" Andrea knelt down in front of the crying Yeila, and both sisters just sobbed away.
"No..no. You don't get to say that. You thought, Andrea, you thought. But like always, it was only about your fucking self, so no. No, you're not sorry. The only reason you're sorry is because it wasn't worth it. It's because your modelling career is in shambles and Mom is dead. That's the only reason, Andrea" Yeila choked on her tears, as her hand trembled over her hair.
"You..you are just selfish. And heartless. I wish I never saw you today. Just go and live your life. You've been living your life since, right? Go on. Just know this, I, Yeila Summer Wilcox, you're elder sister, will never forgive you"
This was the last straw. Andrea crawled on her feet as she went after her sister, trying to pull her back, but Yeila didn't spare Andrea a second glance, as she stormed out of the cafe.
She knew it was over. There was no family to return to. Her sister hardly used her full name, but when she did, she meant business and she never goes back on her words.
Andrea sat on the floor, shoulders slumped, as her body shook with the heavy sobbing that was now turning into a mini asthma attack.
Andrea felt her lungs give up on her, and people staring, but she didn't care.
Kayden.
Her family has known the truth and from her sister's reaction, it was better to even forget she had a family.
Kayden was her only warmth she could think of, but the dread of his reaction was heavier.
Andrea, still sitting on the floor, heard footsteps coming towards her, until a shadow loomed above her, but she didn't raise her head.
The shadow finally crouched down, and immediately her nose was filled with a familiar scent.
Kayden's.
Her short but sharp breath intake increased, and in addition to her shaky hands her palms began sweating, as she froze, waiting for the person beside her to speak.
Maybe she was panicking for nothing. Maybe he heard nothing, but Andrea knew that was only a thought that brought comfort.
"Did you really do it?"
One question was all it took for those thoughts of comfort to fly out of Andrea's mind. And for
the first time, it truly felt like she was about to lose everything.
Again