Chapter 1 Hayes
The sound of my mother’s voice was the first thing I heard that morning.
Not the alarm on my phone.
Not the rain tapping against my window.
My mother.
“Maxine, I am not doing this with you again.”
I stared at my ceiling for a second.
Then I sighed.
Of course.
I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and checked the time. 7:18 a.m.
I had exactly twenty-two minutes to get ready.
And apparently, my family had already managed to start a war.
I pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, quickly ran a brush through my hair, and headed downstairs.
The second I reached the bottom step, I saw Max standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed.
She looked completely unbothered.
My mother looked like she was about to lose her mind.
“What happened?” I asked.
Max looked at me.
“Good morning to you too, Mari.”
I gave her a look.
“Max.”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Mom repeated. “You missed another assignment.”
Max rolled her eyes.
“I said I’d do it.”
“You’ve been saying that all week.”
I glanced toward the kitchen table.
Tori was sitting there quietly, eating cereal while scrolling through her phone. She didn’t look up.
She was good at disappearing when things got loud.
Max wasn’t.
Max always seemed to end up right in the middle of everything.
“I’ll talk to her,” I said.
Mom looked at me.
“Amara, you don’t need to fix everything.”
I almost laughed.
That was funny coming from her.
Because somehow, whenever something happened in this house, everyone looked at me.
I looked at Max.
“Come on.”
She followed me into the hallway.
The second we were out of earshot, she leaned against the wall.
“You’re going to give me the responsible-sister speech now?”
“No.”
“Because I’ve heard it before.”
“I know.”
She looked at me for a moment.
Then her expression changed.
Only slightly.
“You ever feel like they only notice us when they need something?”
I didn’t answer right away.
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged again, like she’d never said anything.
“Nothing.”
“Max—”
“I’m fine, Mari.”
There it was.
That word.
Fine.
Everyone in our family used it when they didn’t want anyone to ask another question.
Max pushed herself off the wall.
“I have to finish getting ready.”
She walked away before I could say anything else.
I stood there for a moment.
I didn’t know what was going on with my sister.
Maybe I should have.
But lately, I felt like everyone in this house was keeping pieces of themselves hidden.
My phone buzzed.
Kyreen ❤️: Outside.
A smile immediately pulled at my lips.
I grabbed my bag.
“I’m leaving!” I called.
“Bye, Mari!” Tori called from the kitchen.
Max yelled something I couldn’t hear.
I opened the front door and stepped outside.
Kyreen was leaning against his car, hands in his pockets.
He smiled when he saw me.
“There she is.”
I walked toward him.
“You’ve been waiting long?”
“Five minutes.”
“That’s basically forever.”
He laughed.
I climbed into the passenger seat, and he walked around to the driver’s side.
Before starting the car, he glanced toward the house.
“Your sister in trouble again?”
I sighed.
“Apparently.”
“Max?”
“Who else?”
He laughed.
“She’ll be fine.”
“You always say that.”
“Because she always is.”
I smiled.
Kyreen knew my sisters almost as well as I did.
Especially Max.
They’d always had this weird friendship where they could annoy each other for hours and somehow still end up laughing five minutes later.
I didn’t think anything of it.
Why would I?
Kyreen was my boyfriend.
Max was my sister.
There was nothing complicated about that.
At least, not yet.
We pulled away from the house.
I rested my head against the window and watched the neighborhood disappear behind us.
I had no idea that by the end of the day, something I’d thought was completely harmless would start to feel different.
Because Liam Hayes was coming back.
And I wasn’t prepared for what that would mean.
