Amira's phone buzzed against her bed.
She wiped her eyes lazily, thinking it must be some useless notification.
But when she unlocked it, there it was — a friend request from an unknown ID.
Confused but too drained to care, she accepted.
Almost instantly, a message popped up:
Unknown ID:"Hey, do I know you?"
Amira frowned and typed back:
Amira:"Do I know you?"
Unknown ID:"No. But we could get to know each other."
Her fingers hovered over the screen.
Her heart was already cooked today. She didn't have the energy for weird people.
Amira:"Are you a boy or a girl?"
Unknown ID:"Girl."
Amira narrowed her eyes.
Amira:"How am I supposed to believe you?"
Almost immediately, a voice note arrived.
A soft, calm voice said, "Now satisfied?"
Amira sighed.
"Whatever," she muttered aloud and dropped back onto her bed.
Unknown ID:"I'm Zara, by the way."
They exchanged basic introductions.
Zara lived far away, was around 24, and just bored, looking for new friends.
Zara:"Btw what do you wanna become when you grow up?"
Amira smiled a little.
Even though she was interested in fashion designing, without thinking, she answered,
Amira:"Army officer."
Zara:"Ooo, any special reason?"
Amira hesitated.
Thinking about Zayn, she typed fast:
Amira:"I've always been inspired by strong women officers."
A lie, but a beautiful one.
They kept talking.
Laughing.
Sharing small memories.
Amira started talking about Zayn without even realizing it.
Telling little, random stories.
Amira:"Once he asked me why don't you do eye contact with him... But my English was bad."
"I thought 'eye contact' was 'I contact' — like a phone thing."
She laughed, remembering.
"Even his sister tried showing me with her hands, but I still didn't get it. I was so embarrassed."
Zara sent laughing emojis.
Then suddenly, Zara asked:
Zara:"Do you like your cousin?"
Amira froze.
For a second, her thumb hovered over the keyboard.
But feeling lonely and thinking, what's the harm?, she replied:
Amira:"Yes."
Zara:"Since when?"
Amira:"Since I was 6."
There was a pause. Then:
Zara:"You should tell him."
Amira's heart sank.
Tell him?
Never.
Amira:"I can't. I'm not confident enough."
Zara:"But what if he likes someone else?"
Amira:"It's okay. I just... I want him to be happy even if it's not with me."
Zara sent a sad emoji and agreed softly.
Just then—
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Zayn's ID started blowing up her phone with messages:
Zayn:"Tell me the truth."
"What do you wanna say?"
"TELL ME."
Amira's stomach twisted.
What was happening?!
She quickly messaged back:
Amira:"Wtf is wrong with you? I don't wanna say anything. Shut up."
Zara's ID buzzed again:
Zara:"Did you ask him??"
Panic rising, Amira lied:
Amira:"No. Actually, I was lying. I don't like him."
She typed faster, making it up as she went:
Amira:"I thought you were my cousin Zayn pranking on me with a fake ID. That's why I told you that. I'm sorry I doubted you."
As soon as she sent it,
Zayn's messages stopped.
The silence hit her like a slap.
Amira bit her lip hard.
Something was wrong.
There was a weird connection between Zara and Zayn.
And why was Zara so interested in digging out her feelings about Zayn?
Amira told herself she was overthinking.
But deep down... she made a mental note to be careful.
After the whole awkward messaging with Zayn and the strange conversation with Zara, Amira was laying in her bed, her phone resting on her chest, the glow of the screen fading in the darkness.
Her mind spun from everything happening lately —
Zayn's sudden distance, her own foolish jealousy, the weird connection she was feeling with Zara...
Trying to distract herself, she opened Zara's Instagram again.
Her eyes caught on Zara's profile picture —
a soft, huge butterfly fluttering on the side.
At first, it seemed innocent.
But then... a strange memory flashed in Amira's mind.
Zayn's WeChat DP.
It had the exact same butterfly.
Same design. Same style. Same everything.
Her stomach twisted slightly.
"That's weird," she mumbled.
Zayn was never into girly things like butterflies.
He barely even changed his profile pictures normally.
Why would he suddenly have that?
Shrugging it off uneasily, Amira scrolled back to the chat with Zara.
Her eyes froze on something she hadn't paid attention to before.
Zara's username: "zaysha".
Frowning, Amira casually typed:
Amira:"By the way, who's 'zaysha'?"
Zara's reply came fast:
Zara:"Oh, that's just my nickname!"
Amira blinked.
"Oh... nice name..." she typed awkwardly.
But as she set her phone aside and stared at the ceiling, a creeping uneasiness spread inside her.
Zaysha.
Zayn + Ayesha.
Zayn... Ayesha...
Suddenly, like a lightning bolt through her chest, it hit her:
Zayn + Ayesha = Zaysha.
A couple name.
Her breath caught painfully.
"What the hell..." she whispered into the dark, her throat tightening.
Everything —
the butterfly, the questions about Zayn, the strange way Zara pushed her to confess —
it all clicked.
Her heart cracked a little more.
And for the first time, Amira realized...
maybe she wasn't just talking to some random online friend.
Maybe she had unknowingly poured her heart out to someone much, much closer to Zayn than she could have ever imagined.
But still try to explain herself " Coincedence? it could be."
🦋✨