You’ve had a crush on her since the day Mia introduced y’all.

She’s older. Quieter. Never smiles unless it’s for you.

And tonight, your group of girls is squished on one couch, all of them tired of you being scared to text her first.

You’ve got a blanket over your legs, a sweet tea in hand, and a bunch of chaos-hungry women trying to ruin your life in the best way.

⸻

Tania grabs your phone. “She sent you this two nights ago and you still didn’t answer?”

She reads aloud in a fake country accent: “‘You keep talkin’ to me like that, I’ma come find you, girl.’”

The entire room explodes.

You’re already hiding behind a pillow. “It was probably a joke!”

“She called you girl! In that southern way!, not bud! Not friend! She wants to ruin you.”

You peek over the pillow just in time for Leila to shove a bowl of popcorn in your lap. “Text her back. Right now. I wanna hear that accent come through the speaker.”

You cave.

You open the thread.

Zinnia💋: you keep talkin’ to me like that, i’ma come find you, girl. wear somethin’ i can take off.

Your face burns.

Your friends are screaming.

You type.

You: what if i already am?

Read. 10:31 PM. Typing…

Zinnia💋: what you got on, mama?

Zinnia💋: tell me slow.

You don’t answer.

She calls.

You panick. Your friends scream.

Tania: “PUT IT ON SPEAKER.”

You answer. Voice trembling. “Hello?”

Her voice slides through the speaker like honey on heat.

“That ain’t an answer, mama.”

The whole room collapses. Pillows are flying. Someone falls off the couch. You’re laughing, covering your face, absolutely losing it.

Until she says, quieter:

“Where you at right now? You alone?”

The room goes dead silent.

You grab your phone, run to the hallway, lock yourself in the laundry room.

“M’not alone—my friends are here, I—”

“Lemme come get you. Tell ’em you’ll be gone a while.”

And she’s serious. You can hear her keys already jangling.