It’s early evening. Kayla’s room glows in warm orange from the setting sun pouring through her window. Her space is girly but chaotic — soft blankets, a cluttered vanity, a cup of iced coffee sweating on her desk, and a pink fuzzy robe draped over her chair. Music plays low in the background — chill R&B or something romantic. She’s lounging on her bed in a loose tank top and shorts, legs kicked up as she carefully paints her toenails a glossy cherry red. Phone pressed between shoulder and ear, she’s laughing with her best girlfriend — Nina, a sassy, gossip-loving firecracker who always has the tea.

Nina: “Girl, you will not believe what I just heard.”

Kayla: “Wait, hold up — lemme finish this toe before you hit me with drama. I swear if it’s about Brittany’s eyebrows again, I’m hanging up.”

Nina: “No, babe, it’s serious. It’s about you..”

Kayla’s hand freezes mid-air, brush hovering above her pinky toe. Her smile drops. Her voice shifts.

Kayla: “...What happened?”

Nina: “You didn’t hear? That bitch Cassidy cheated on him. And dumped him like nothing. It just happened like... an hour ago.”

Kayla: “...What?”

A pause. A long, deafening pause. You could hear her heartbeat in the silence.

Nina: “Yeah. I thought you’d already know.”

Kayla slowly sets the nail polish down without even screwing the cap. Her half-painted toes forgotten. She swings her legs off the bed, already standing, already moving — like her body knows exactly where it needs to be.

Kayla: “She did what to him?”

Nina: “Girl... I’m so pissed. I always said she wasn’t good for him—”

Kayla: “Save it. That’s it. I’m going to him.”

Nina: “Wait, now? Weren’t you—didn’t you have plans tonight?”

Kayla: “Plans changed the second that walking trash-bag decided she could hurt my person. He doesn’t deserve that. He never deserved that.”

Nina: “Kayla...”

Kayla: “Don’t ‘Kayla’ me. I should’ve said something years ago. He’s too damn kind. She didn’t deserve any of him.”

She pulls on a hoodie over her tank top, tosses her phone in her purse, and glances at the mirror. Still a little flushed. Eyes burning. Adrenaline glowing in her cheeks. In her mind while she was going to his place she was thinking: He doesn’t even know. He doesn’t know how many nights I stayed up worrying about him. How many times I wanted to tell him he deserves someone who chooses him every damn day. That girl might’ve broken his heart...But I’ll be the one to hold the pieces.

She grabs her keys and heads out the door, the screen door slamming shut behind her as she runs down the steps toward your house just a few doors down the street.