Chapter 3

Nevaeh Rivera never planned on staying in California.

When she was four years old, she moved from Colombia to the United States with her family. She barely remembered the apartment they had left behind, the busy streets, or the way her grandmother would sing while cooking dinner. Most of those memories existed only in faded photographs and stories told by her parents.

What she did remember was Kai.

Out of all her siblings, Kai had always been the one she was closest to.

They had three brothers and two sisters, but somehow Kai had become her person. The one who sat next to her during long flights. The one who held her hand when she was scared on the first day of school. The one who translated things she didn’t understand when she was younger.

When their family eventually spread out across California, Kai remained her constant.

By the time they were young adults, they lived only a few houses apart.

Most afternoons looked exactly the same.

Nevaeh would finish work, walk home, and eventually end up at Kai’s place. Sometimes she wanted food. Sometimes she just wanted to sit on his couch and complain about life.

Kai never minded.

Their friendship was effortless.

At least, it had been.

Until Daniela.

Kai met Daniela at a concert.

Nevaeh still remembered hearing the story.

Apparently Kai had gotten separated from his friends in the crowd. Daniela had been standing nearby and noticed him looking completely lost. She’d made a joke about him having the survival instincts of a goldfish.

Kai laughed.

Daniela laughed.

Three hours later they were exchanging numbers.

A month later they were inseparable.

Nevaeh thought nothing of it at first.

Kai made friends everywhere.

But then Daniela started showing up constantly.

Movie nights.

Game nights.

Random afternoons.

Family barbecues.

It felt like every time Nevaeh walked into Kai’s house, Daniela was already there.

Laughing.

Talking.

Taking up space.

And somehow always sitting in Nevaeh’s spot on the couch.

The first time they met should have been normal.

Instead, it became the beginning of everything.

It happened on a Saturday.

Nevaeh needed a charger.

Her phone was dying, and Kai had borrowed hers three days ago and forgotten to return it.

Typical.

She walked next door without knocking.

The Rivera family didn’t really knock.

She opened the front door and stepped inside.

“Kai!”

No answer.

“Kai, if you lost my charger, I’m stealing your—”

She stopped.

A girl she’d never seen before was sitting on the couch.

Dark hair.

Confident smile.

Leg stretched across the coffee table like she owned the place.

The stranger looked up.

“Oh.”

Nevaeh looked at her.

The girl looked at Nevaeh.

Silence.

Then the girl smiled.

Not a friendly smile.

A smug one.

“You must be the sister.”

Nevaeh immediately hated her.

Not because of what she said.

Because of how she said it.

The tone carried assumptions.

Like she’d already heard stories.

Like she’d already formed opinions.

Nevaeh crossed her arms.

“And you must be the random girl.”

The stranger laughed.

Actually laughed.

Like Nevaeh had said something adorable.

Strike two.

“I’m Daniela.”

“Cool.”

Daniela raised an eyebrow.

Nevaeh stared back.

Neither moved.

The tension was instant.

Unexplainable.

Like two magnets pushed together the wrong way.

Then Kai finally appeared.

“Nevaeh!”

His face lit up.

Daniela noticed.

For a second, something shifted in her expression.

Something small.

Almost invisible.

But Nevaeh saw it.

Daniela looked surprised by how happy Kai was to see her.

Kai grabbed Nevaeh’s shoulders.

“You remember that girl I told you about from the concert?”

Nevaeh looked at Daniela.

Daniela looked at Nevaeh.

Unfortunately.

“Yeah,” Nevaeh said flatly.

“This is Daniela.”

“Great.”

Kai looked between them.

“Why does it sound like you both want to commit crimes?”

Neither answered.

The following weeks only made things worse.

Every interaction turned into an argument.

Daniela thought Nevaeh was cold.

Nevaeh thought Daniela was obnoxious.

Daniela was loud.

Nevaeh was quiet.

Daniela spoke before thinking.

Nevaeh thought before speaking.

Daniela made friends with everyone instantly.

Nevaeh took months to trust people.

They were opposites.

And opposites didn’t always attract.

Sometimes they just annoyed each other.

One afternoon Daniela accidentally spilled soda on Nevaeh’s notebook.

Nevaeh had spent weeks working on it.

Daniela apologized.

Nevaeh accepted.

But then Daniela laughed nervously and said, “At least your handwriting was ugly anyway.”

She meant it as a joke.

Nevaeh didn’t take it that way.

Another strike.

A week later Daniela overheard Nevaeh correcting Kai on something.

Daniela immediately jumped in.

“You’re always correcting him.”

“I’m helping him.”

“Looks more like judging him.”

Nevaeh stared at her.

“Nobody asked.”

Daniela smiled.

“Yet here I am.”

Strike four.

The worst moment came three months later.

Kai had organized a beach trip.

Everyone went.

Daniela.

Nevaeh.

A bunch of friends.

For most of the day they avoided each other.

Then someone started talking about family.

Daniela mentioned how lucky Kai was to have people around him all the time.

Nevaeh laughed.

Not because it was funny.

Because it was ridiculous.

Daniela noticed.

“What?”

“You’ve known him for three months.”

“So?”

“So you don’t know everything.”

Daniela’s smile faded.

“And you do?”

“Better than you.”

The conversation should have ended there.

Instead Daniela rolled her eyes.

And that tiny gesture changed everything.

Because Nevaeh suddenly felt replaceable.

Like this stranger had appeared from nowhere and decided she understood Kai.

Like she was taking up space that belonged to people who had actually been there.

People who had known him for years.

Daniela wasn’t trying to replace her.

But Nevaeh believed she was.

And Daniela started believing something too.

She believed Nevaeh hated her because she was jealous.

Neither one understood the truth.

Nevaeh wasn’t jealous of Daniela.

She was scared.

Scared of losing one of the only people she’d always had.

And Daniela wasn’t trying to steal Kai.

She just cared about him.

But neither girl ever said those things out loud.

So misunderstandings became resentment.

Resentment became arguments.

Arguments became hatred.

Years passed.

Friends started placing bets on how long they could stay in the same room before fighting.

James once timed them.

The record was seven minutes.

Ammani constantly told Nevaeh she was being stubborn.

Mateo insisted Daniela wasn’t as bad as she claimed.

Nolan thought the tension was hilarious.

Mia openly encouraged arguments because she found them entertaining.

Kai suffered through all of it.

Every birthday.

Every party.

Every holiday.

The same thing happened.

Daniela and Nevaeh would clash.

Then leave.

Then complain about each other afterward.

And somewhere beneath all that frustration, something else quietly began to grow.

Respect.

Then curiosity.

Then something much more dangerous.

Neither of them noticed it at first.

Because it’s hard to recognize feelings when they’re buried underneath years of hate.

But eventually they would.

And when they did, everything would change.