Page 24 of HER SISTER

I furrowed my brows as I stirred from my deep sleep, stretching out slightly, but when I felt a warm body beside me—I jolted awake, recalling the events of last night.

I relaxed slightly, noticing Cam was sleeping on the other end of the couch rather than cuddled up to me.

At least, I managed to keep everything somewhat respectful last night—although she wasn't supposed to stay the night.

Not when Mili had just slept over the night before.

It feels wrong when this is all so back-to-back instead of spaced out.

I don't think it's wrong to play the field, but with Cam not knowing that I am—and me practically rotating between them without time gaps, it felt really wrong.

Cam suddenly stirred in her sleep, as I slowly laid up from the couch—I was hoping to not wake her but clearly, I was unsuccessful.

Cam slowly laid up from the couch, glancing at the Netflix screen that said Are you still watching? before looking over to me.

"My bad, I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said, rubbing her tired eyes,

I shook my head as I stood from the couch, "It's all good, I didn't mean to fall asleep either," I said, glancing at my phone that read 7:05 am.

I already want to go back to sleep.

I checked all my notifications, noticing I only had a message from Mya.

I quickly typed back, but before I could respond, a few knocks sounded at the door, and almost immediately I knew it was Mya who would probably gush about the fact that Cam stayed over when in reality it wasn't in that way.

However, almost as soon as I opened the door, my face fell slightly—noticing Mili holding my clutch from last night.

Well, this is impeccable timing.

Even if the timing was bad, I couldn't help but notice how attractive she looked—even this early in the morning.

She was in a pair of loose sweatpants and a graphic tee with her surprisingly curly hair pulled up into a bun with a few loose curls falling out.

I hadn't actually seen her curly hair until now, and it was really pretty.

Mili cocked her head to the side at my obvious reaction, "Well, good morning to you too."

I blinked a few times, smoothing my frizzy hair down, "Good morning—sorry I wasn't expecting you," I breathed out while I prayed she didn't say anything compromising.

But I was proven wrong when she went to say, "Yeah, I just wanted to bring you your clutch back before—"

"Is there a certain spot that these blankets go?" Cam suddenly questioned as she cleaned up the living room.

And almost immediately Mili tilted her head at me, taking it upon herself to walk past me and into the apartment.

Just like that, my stomach was tied in anxious knots, watching as Mili looked from Cam—who was folding the blankets—to the Netflix screen asking if we were still watching—and lastly, to me, and I know my face was practically bright red.

As if on cue, Cam looked over, "Oh hey Mili," she greeted her.

But Mili only ignored her presence entirely, and suddenly I realized that I've never actually witnessed the two interact except for when Mili took Mya's side in place of Cam's at the party that she got messed up at.

Mili looked at me, and I swear I could feel the ground practically swallow me whole—or maybe I wished it did.

"From last night," Mili finally said as she motioned to the clutch in her hand, and even if her tone was oddly calm and her expression was completely neutral, I could practically feel the anger oozing off of her.

It was so weird how well I could read her.

"Oh, you guys hung out last night?" Cam asked, and instead of sounding like an accusation as I had expected, it sounded more like genuine curiosity instead.

And maybe that made it worse.

That she wouldn't even assume that Mili and I would be together in that manner.

Mili hummed sharply as she continued to look at me, "Ana, you can cue her in right?" she calmly questioned, still not acknowledging Cam's presence.

And the name she used for me alone sent my thoughts into a frenzy.

She never calls me Ana.

She's one hundred percent mad right now.

I inhaled a deep breath as I continued to hold her intense stare, "We—"

But I was quickly cut short when Mya suddenly walked through the slightly open doorway.

Well, if this wasn't bad before, it definitely is now.

Mya raised a brow, "Did I miss a hangout invite?" she said, clearly joking as a smile grew on her face.

She definitely wasn't reading the room.

I forced a smile, "No, I—"

"I'm just dropping this off for Ana," Mili said, sitting the clutch on the kitchen counter before turning to walk out, "See you later Mya," she called over her shoulder to her now confused sister.

And as I watched Mili verge closer and closer to the door, I felt everything in me scream to follow her—to say something, anything.

"Mili," I suddenly said before I could think it through.

And just like that, Mili's attention was on me—along with everyone else's.

I knew I couldn't say anything without it being painfully obvious, if it wasn't already.

So instead of saying what I desperately wanted to say, I said, "Thank you for returning it back to me."

Mili lazily raised her brows before turning back around and exiting the apartment completely.

And almost as soon as she was gone, Mya said, "I'm so confused, why did she have your purse—and what is Cam doing here?" she questioned suddenly looking over to Cam.

I shook my head, quickly trying to think of something, but the first thing I could come up with was—

"I ran into her while I was downtown last night," I quickly lied, feeling my entire body practically grow warm and flushed, "I'm so lucky that she managed to get my clutch—all my cards and ID are in there," I joked, forcing my tone to sound light when in reality, I wanted to crawl under my covers and never come out.

I definitely just fucked up everything between me and Mili.

Mya nodded, "Could you imagine if you had to deactivate all your cards and get new ones along with a new ID? Whew she saved you a lot of trouble," she said, easily sending a wave of relief through my body as she headed toward the fridge to grab a water.

Cam grabbed her phone and walked over to me, "Well, I should go—but thank you for last night," she said, pulling me into a gentle side hug and placing a kiss to my forehead.

And I couldn't miss how Mya turned around with wide eyes, clearly hearing what Cam said.

I knew she'd assume something happened—and maybe Mili did too.

I forced a smile, "Of course," I forced out as she pulled away from me and exited the apartment.

And as soon as the door was completely shut, Mya squealed, "Did you guys—"

"No," I quickly shut her down, feeling completely upset with how this all had just went down.

Mya's brows furrowed, and I knew it was because my eyes were rapidly growing with tears by the passing second.

"Aw Ana—" she suddenly set her water bottle down and walked over to me, "—What's happened? Is everything okay?"

But I seemingly couldn't latch onto any words.

All I could do was cry—and I mean full-on cry.

Mostly because Mili's face kept flashing in my head along with the expression she held.

She looked so disappointed.

"Oh Ana," Mya said, frowning as she held me in a hug.

And I couldn't help but cry harder, finally feeling like I had hit my limit.

I've felt completely overwhelmed for the past few weeks—and on top of that, I can't even tell Mya what I'm crying about, and that seemingly makes it worse.

"Ana, what is it? Can I do anything to help?"

I sniffled as we sat down on the couch together, "I just feel so confused," I said, beating around the bush, but at least being somewhat honest with her.

Mya only frowned, "I'm sure Cam would understand if you're not ready for a relationship, I mean it would be your first one and on top of that, a lot of first everything's—it's okay to take a step back," she reassured me.

I shook my head, "I just don't know," I forced out, knowing that it wasn't just about Cam.

Mya only shook her head, "And that's okay. How about you take some time to yourself? Maybe you could figure out what you want and get back to Cam?" she questioned, clearly trying to soothe me.

And it managed to calm me down somewhat, especially since she had a good point.

Maybe taking a step back from Cam would be the best decision.

The universe seemingly forced me to take one back from Mili.

Maybe I just need time alone to process all of this.

I let out a deep sigh, "Yeah-yeah, I think a step back might be the best idea," I forced out, knowing this was all too much and too fast.