Enison counted her dried fingers, careful not to lose track of the six letters that spelled yellow. The bruise on her palm.
chapter 1
Enison’s hands trembled slightly as Jaila extended a brown envelope toward her. The room seemed to shrink, the walls pressing closer with the weight of silence. Enison’s eyes flicked to Jaila, reading the fear and shame etched across her friend’s face. Slowly, she took the envelope, her fingers brushing Jaila’s for a fleeting second.
“What’s in here, Jaila?” Enison asked, her voice calm, but her heart betrayed her with quick, uneven beats.
“I… I think you should see for yourself,” Jaila murmured, averting her gaze.
The paper felt heavier than it was. Enison’s palms sweated as she tore it open, revealing the contents. Her eyes scanned the words, and then froze. A sharp ache pierced her chest.
She blinked. “Pregnant…?” The word caught in her throat.
Jaila’s voice shook. “I… it’s his… Bry’s… I didn’t mean for it to happen…”
Time slowed. Enison sank into a nearby chair, her legs heavy, her mind spinning. Bry. Bry, her first love, the man whose smile had once lit her world, the man she had trusted, loved… the man who now belonged to Jaila, in a way she never could have imagined.
Her mind drifted, unbidden, to memories of Bry. The nights they spent laughing under starlit skies, the warmth of his hand holding hers, the whispered promises that felt eternal. She remembered the first time he had kissed her, soft and lingering, and the ache when he left without explanation. Every moment now stung differently, each memory a reminder that what she had loved was gone.
And then the memory of her mother hit her. The day she lost her — her birthday. How cruel life had been to take the one person who had always anchored her. She remembered crying alone in her room, clutching her mother’s picture, the emptiness overwhelming. Since then, she had stayed with her sister, finding fragments of comfort, yet never fully healed.
Jaila’s sobs pulled her back. “I… I’m so sorry, Enison. For everything… for taking him… for… this.”
Enison’s chest tightened. She forced a bitter smile, trying to mask the betrayal and heartbreak. “We were never meant to be, Jaila. But… it’s okay. Life… life isn’t fair.”
A drizzle of tears fell from her eyes, unbidden. She wanted to scream, to cry, to collapse, but instead, she stood, smoothing her dress, steadying her voice. I need to be somewhere
The room felt colder now, emptier, as Enison walked away, each step echoing the loss of not just a love, but the friendship she had treasured, and the life she thought she might have shared with him.Bad luck is here again,why always me,the universe really .
I always knew life didn’t hold much good for me, yet I still chose to keep living. The universe has people she cherishes… and sometimes I feel like I’m one of the ones she forgot to love.“This isn’t where my story ends,” she whispered. I’ll resurface like a phoenix. I just need to believe in myself… even if it’s for the last time
.
I’m in my twenties. I’ve seen it all, and like I said, I’m a phoenix. What is there to hide when tomorrow isn’t promised?
I’ve lived a life full of ups and downs, just like everyone else, and sometimes I’m forced to believe heaven chooses people it really wants to pamper.
I don’t have many memories of my mum. She’s not here. I think heaven takes what I cherish the most.
Bry is my first love, but definitely not my first man. I’ve had many, but I’ve never loved anyone like I love him.
Living with Aunt Bernie is a bittersweet life anyone could wish for. She’s a lonely woman who doesn’t believe in giving birth—“it destroys the woman’s body,” she always says. She loves money… or maybe she loves men for their money. I can’t tell. Maybe heaven pushed her to be this way too.
Jaila is someone I share everything with. I trusted her enough to tell her I had four oranges when I really had six. I’m not a saint either.
