Chapter <b>543 </b>


    Sierra.


    The ringing of my phone interrupts my sleep. I groan and try to ignore it, burrowing deeper into the warmth of my nkets. I am tired and thest thing I want is someone calling me at odd hours, interrupting my precious sleep.


    Whoever it is, they can wait.


    The ringing stops and I sigh in relief. I bring my cat closer and curl tighter around her, pressing my face


    into her soft fur. I was just about to fall back to sleep when the damn ringing started again.


    I grope blindly for it on the nightstand, knocking over a water bottle in the process. I should’ve switched the damn thing off like I usually do.


    I’m a biologist, so you can imagine the crazy hours I put into research. When I do get time <i>to </i>rest, I’ve learned to guard it like it’s gold.


    Eyes still shut and assuming it’s a colleague, I swipe to answer and grumble into the phone, “This better


    be important.”


    “Si? Are you awake?” her sweet familiar voice breaks through the haze.


    My body goes rigid. That voice… I know it like a luby. The fogginess immediately clears and I snap


    awake.


    “Hi, Aunt Ava,” I reply sheepishly, sitting up in my bed, guilt warming my cheek for being rude to her.


    My cat, ckie, meows,municating her annoyance at the disturbance. To calm her down, I pull her onto myp and pet her back, watching as she curls up and goes back to sleep.


    “Did I wake you?” she asks, her toneced with genuine concern


    I’ve known this woman since I was eight. She’s like my second mom. I love her so much, I would do


    anything for her, including telling a little white lie.


    “No, you didn’t.” I lie, clearing my throat to sound more alert than I feel.


    “You do realize I can tell when you are lying, right, Si?” she asks with a chuckle.


    My heart warms at her nickname for me. She says it with so much love and affection. I’ve never


    understood why she would treat me like her own daughter when her son hated me so much.


    I close my eyes for a brief second, smiling into the empty 100m.


    “Sorry,” I murmur sheepishly.


    There are only a handful of people who truly know me–my mom, my grandma, Aunt Ava, Aunt Harper, and Lilly, my best friend.


    “It’ste at night. I know I woke you up.” Aunt Ava says, but there is something off in her voice. She’s


    nervous and It’s so strange because nervousness isn’t an emotion I would associate with her.


    Aunt Ava is strength personified. She is a powerhouse. Alwaysposed. Always assured. Never


    nervous.


    “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” I assure her before continuing, “Is everything alright?”


    There is a beat of silence. I can feel her nervousness through the phone and that makes my heart thump


    a little faster.


    I give her time even though I am starting to get anxious. I wait for her to collect her thoughts and let me


    know why she called. I know her well enough to trust that if she called me thiste, it’s not something


    trivial.


    “Aunt Ava?”


    Now I know that something is seriously wrong if she’s yet to tell me why she called.


    My mind jumps to different scenarios. It couldn’t be that someone is hurt, right? If that was the case, then Lilly would have been the first to inform me. Maybe it’s Lilly? But then if it were her, Aunt Harper would


    have informed me instead of Aunt Ava.


    “You are killing me with the suspense, Aunt Ava,” I chuckle nervously as my heart begins pound in my


    chest and Panic sets in.


    I am an overthinker, so this suspense is wreaking havoc inside me. I literally feel like my heart and lungs


    are being squeezed right now.


    She exhales slowly, like she’s trying to steady herself.


    “I need a huge favor,” she finally says, the words hesitant. “And I just… don’t know whether I should be


    asking you<i>.</i><i>” </i>


    My stomach knots.


    “Come on, Aunt Ava, you know I’d do anything for you,” I reply without hesitation. And I mean it.


    Another shaky breath, as if she’s preparing herself for a battle.


    “IneedyoutofindNoahforme” she says it all in one breath, her voice conveying uncertainty.


    “Slow down,” I plead, “I barely understood a thing you <b>said</b>.”


    She takes another deep breath before repeating the words that freeze me to my core. “I need you to find


    Noah for me.”


    My world stills and my mind goes nk.