Page 59 of HER SISTER

"Before you say anything, take a closer look at the picture," Mya said.

And I found myself looking even deeper into the picture, mostly because I didn't want to turn around and face her, but also because disobeying her wishes seemed like the last thing I should do right now.

However, upon looking at it deeper, I realized that my tattoo was showing.

"You see the tattoo?" Mya questioned rhetorically, "You know, the ones we got together?" she suddenly said, clearly addressing me.

I suddenly turned around speechlessly, "Mya I—"

"How long?" Mya questioned as Mili turned back around as well.

I pursed my lips into a straight line, hating how this response was about to sound.

Mya hummed sharply to herself, "It's been that long?" she said, and I couldn't miss the brokenness in her tone.

It made me want to cry until I physically couldn't anymore.

"It wasn't set up to be a lie Mya—I swear I didn't know she was your sister when we kissed at that bar," I said, trying my best to explain how it all led to this.

"What bar?" Mya questioned.

And I couldn't help but briefly look over to Mili, knowing that this was about to sound so fucking bad.

"That uh... bar across from Ollie's," I forced out.

Mya's brows raised in disbelief, "You kissed her at that bar? The night that we all met there?" she asked, clearly taken aback by the new information.

I reluctantly nodded, "Yeah, but it was before you introduced us—"

"Let me get this straight," Mya suddenly cut me short before she said, "You kissed my sister and then sat down with me at that bar and pretended to have never met her?"

I blinked a few times, "Yeah... sort of?" I whispered, feeling like I could one hundred percent pass out right now, "But it wasn't like that, I really didn't know her name and I didn't plan to ever kiss her again—"

"But now you're fucking her so how does that even make sense?" Mya suddenly cut me short yet again.

And almost as if on queue, Mili straightened her posture, "Watch it now," she suddenly warned her sister, clearly not happy with her choice of words.

Mya suddenly looked over to Mili, "Watch what? The fact that you both have lied to me for months straight?" she questioned, clearly upset by all of this.

I only took a step toward her, "I'm sorry we—"

"We? Oh, so you guys are a we now?" Mya questioned, suddenly amused by this entire situation.

Mili let out an irritated sigh, "Mya don't even take it there right now."

Mya only shook her head, "Take it where? I mean, this is all just so surprising to me—is she actually more than just someone to fuck, Milan?" she said, and I could tell by the use of her full name that this was getting even more serious by the second.

Mili narrowed her eyes at Mya, "Of course she's more than that," she didn't hesitate to say.

Mya only hummed, clearly not amused by her answer, "And what happened to Cam? You made it seem like you were so interested in her," she sarcastically said, suddenly looking over to me.

I shook my head, "I wanted her to be the right choice for you. I didn't want to complicate any of this, but I just... it's only ever going to be Mili, Mya. I'm so sorry for—"

"You're sorry?" Mya suddenly cut me short with a narrowed look, "Because it didn't seem like you were sorry when you were lying to me about all of this."

And just like that, I was left speechless again.

This is really bad.

"Hey, everyone should be coming—oh, what's going on?" Arielle suddenly questioned, and I couldn't bother to fight my stomach suddenly hollowing with anxiousness.

Mya gave Arielle a forced smile, "Oh you didn't know?" Mya questioned sarcastically as Arielle looked between the three of us, "Ana's been fucking my sister," she didn't hesitate to say.

And just like that, my face was growing even redder.

This is so not how I imagined her finding out.

Mya's brows furrowed when she took in Arielle's face, clearly taken aback by her reaction.

Even to me, it was clear that she wasn't shocked enough.

"Don't tell me you already knew," Mya said, looking between Arielle's eyes.

And just like that, guilt ate at me, realizing that I had dragged Arielle into this mess among other people.

Arielle only blinked a few times, "Mya it wasn't—"

"Please, Arielle Blake, do not tell me that you fucking knew about this and didn't tell me," Mya repeated herself, and almost immediately Arielle's eyes were growing glossy.

And before anyone could say anything else, someone suddenly said, "Woah, what happened?"

As if this couldn't get any worse...

There stood the rest of our friends, clearly confused about what was going on.

Mili drew in a deep breath, "Mya don't—"

"No-no, I'm truly curious," Mya cut her sister short with sarcasm plaguing her tone.

And just like that everyone seemed to look entirely confused.

Well, before Mya managed to say, "By a show of hands, who knew Ana had been fucking my sister since August?"

And that was it.

If I wasn't crying before, I was one hundred percent crying now.

"Mya, what the fuck?" Mili suddenly took a step toward her sister as everyone's faces managed to drop, clearly surprised by this new information.

Mya only ignored Mili, "Arielle seemed to know about it—who else is on that list?" she questioned as more of my warm tears spilled down onto my cheeks.

Cam took a sudden step toward me, "So it wasn't just your feelings? You were fucking Mili this entire time?" she questioned.

And Mili didn't hesitate to take a step in front of me, easily blocking my view of Cam, "Actually, she's dating me," she quickly corrected her.

Mya scoffed, "Oh, so you guys are dating now? That's great to know—thank you so much for finally telling me," she sarcastically said as Cam managed to shake her head.

"You are such a fucking liar," Cam said as she tried to look past Mili at me, which easily made my tears grow even thicker.

Mili suddenly blocked her view, "Don't talk to my girlfriend like that," she said, allowing her tone to grow firm and protective.

Cam laughed slightly, nodding to herself for a brief moment.

And as soon as Cam managed to guide her fist back and punch Mili in the face—I gasped along with everyone else.

And if we hadn't caught the crowd's eyes before, we definitely did now.

Suddenly everyone was looking away from the displays and over to us.

Almost instantly, I grabbed Mili—instinctively pushing Cam away, which made her stumble back a few steps.

"You're forgetting that you fucking cheated with Alyssa right?" I said to Cam, hating that she had even laid a finger on my girlfriend.

And just like that, everyone seemed to be even more shocked—meanwhile, the onlookers seemed to be soaking in what was going on.

"I might've lied but at least I'm not a hypocrite," I gritted out, guiding Mili to face me as I analyzed her face.

"Wow, what the fuck, Cameron?" Damon managed to say, clearly not knowing about any of those circumstances.

But Cam only managed to shake her head before turning on her heel and leaving the gallery, easily forcing both Damon and Frankie to follow after her.

Mya only shook her head, "Well, apparently my own sister doesn't even tell me things anymore," she determined, clearly upset about the Cam situation as well.

But I could only zone everything out as I carefully analyzed Mili's bruised cheekbone.

Mili only shook her head slightly, "I'm fine, Ati, really—"

"Oh god, what happened?" I suddenly heard Akeyla's familiar voice.

And just like that, everyone's attention was on Akeyla and Terrance—who was zoned into Mili and her bruised cheek.

Mya didn't even hesitate to walk over to her mom, "Ana and Mili have been lying about being together since August," she said to her parents, clearly growing even more upset over the situation.

And while Terrance seemed to be surprised, Akeyla's response was entirely different—clearly not wanting to lie even more to Mya.

Mya blinked a few times to herself, "You knew too?" she breathed out in realization as she analyzed her mom's face, "You seriously knew too and didn't tell me?" she said, clearly reading her mom's expression perfectly.

Akeyla sighed, "Mya, honey—"

"No-no, how could you lie to me too?" Mya said, and this time her voice seemed really broken, like she was on the verge of tears.

This is so fucking bad.

Terrance looked at Akeyla, clearly trying to piece together this whole puzzle.

Mya suddenly looked over to me, "I actually can't believe you right now—" she took a few steps closer to me, "—I welcomed you to LA, introduced you to my friends, let you spend time with my family—and in return, you lie to me and involve the closest people to me?"

I shook my head, hating how she was seeing all of this. I just wish I could lay everything out from the start for her.

A broken sigh fell from my lips, "Mya please let me explain," I whispered, hoping we could take a step back and talk about this.

"Explain? Now you want to explain?" Mya said, her tone weak and forced, and I couldn't miss the tears falling from her eyes.

It managed to make my own tears grow even more.

Mya suddenly took a closer step toward me, allowing her glossy dark eyes to look between mine, "You are the world's most awful friend, Ana—I don't need to hear an explanation to know that," she forced out as more tears fell from her glossy eyes.

And before I could begin to try and say anything else, she was turning on her heel and rushing out of the gallery—easily leaving me a crying mess.

All of our friends suddenly backed away, clearly planning to chase after Mya—and I couldn't miss the broken expression on poor Arielle's face before she rushed out of the gallery too.

Not even seconds later, Akeyla was excusing herself, wiping her stray tears away as Terrance followed her out of the gallery as well.

At this point the curious crowd subtly looking over at us had disappeared especially since it's—

"Thirty seconds until the New Year!" someone called out over the mic, but all I could focus on was everything that just happened, and how bad this all was.

All I can see is Mya's face—the look on her face was something I would never forget.

Mili pulled me into a hug as my crying grew more uncontrollable, "Shhh it's okay—it's going to be okay."

"Ten!"

I only shook my head, as my crying grew even worse.

"Nine!"

"She hates me," I cried out.

"Seven!"

Mili gently rubbed my back, "She doesn't hate you—she's just really upset and blindsided," she tried to explain.

"Five!"

I pulled away from Mili slightly, meeting her eyes as more tears gathered in my own, "No, she hates me and I don't blame her," I said, knowing that I lied to her for months on end—and I managed to involve her family and friends.

"Three!"

Mili frowned, "No one could actually hate you, Atiana," she said, gently tucking the stray hairs out of my face.

I sucked in a deep breath, shaking my head to myself as I leaned into Mili, knowing that we had to at least take in the New Year somewhat correctly.

Even if her sister just found out about the lie we had kept for months on end.

"One!"

Mili gently leaned down into me, allowing her nose to brush against my own as her eyes carefully held mine.

"Happy New Year!"

My glossy eyes fluttered shut as soon as Mili pressed her lips to mine—sliding her arms around my waist while my arms settled around her neck.

And just for a second, I forgot about everything.

I forgot that one of my closest friendships just blew up in my face—and that's not even including Arielle who might not speak to me again for dragging her into the aftermath of this.

The kiss was soft and tender—it almost felt like Mili was trying to calm me down with it.

"My part of the show is over," Mili suddenly murmured against my lips, leaning back slightly as she said, "Let's get out of here."

I didn't hesitate to nod as we pulled back, "Please," I whispered, easily causing Mili to take my hand and lead us both out of the gallery.