Seventeen year old Safaya Bennett must navigate young adulthood under the stresses of her sins, her crumbling relationship with her twin sister, Rue, and a crippling mental disorder that makes her very dependent on her relationship with Nate Jacobs...
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I was starting to see the ugly side of addiction and it wasn't in myself ...
I saw it in my sister.
"I gotta head to History but I'll see you for lunch?" Nate held onto Safaya's hand. Rubbing soft circles with his thumb as she stared into her eyes.
Saf nodded. "Yeah, for sure." She smiled reluctantly, ready to be away from him for at least an hour. An hour of peace that she looked forward to everyday. "Give me a kiss." She leaned into him. Settling into his touch has his hand made its way to her cheek. His lips were soft, gentle, as he kissed her and smiled.
*play "One More Hour" by Tame Impala*
The very thought of Nate repulsed her, especially after knowing he had been with Cassie behind her back. The way that he smelled used to be comforting, now, it set off those little alarms in her brain that identified trauma and red flags. The only thing gentle about him was his touch and no matter how softly he held her, it felt as if his fingers seared into her skin. Leaving not only physical marks but permanent mental damage. Since getting together, the couple had fought about two times, both being in Nate's house in that dreaded room of his. So far, last night was the worst one yet.
"Fuck you!" Safaya fumed, holding Nate's phone in her hands. A picture of a pair of boobs was flashing on the screen and Nate looked completely embarrassed. "Why is Cassie's nudes on your fucking phone?!"
My sister threw the phone at his bare chest. "She sent those to me unsolicited! I swear!" She rubbed her nose, making sure no traces of coke were on her.
"Bullshit." She rolled her eyes. "It's already bad enough you two were sneaking around, now, you want to embarrass me more? We're supposed to be together, Nate. Things are supposed to be different this time around!" Nate stepped closer to my sister. Anger and frustration was plastered on his face and Safaya shook her head. "If you put your fucking hands on me I swear to God, I'm fighting back. I knocked you on your ass once and I'll do it again."
The tall boy took a pause, running through the possible outcomes in his head. He took a small step back while trying to plead his innocence. "I didn't tell Cassie to send me nudes." He said lowly. "Look at my messages, look at my computer too, you'll see I'm telling the truth." Nate grabbed his laptop from his desk, placing it into my sisters hands before giving her his phone as well.
Safaya sat on the bed, Nate pacing the floor in front of her as he bit his thumb anxiously. "You look like you have something to hide ... babe." She taunted. She looked at his text messages listed on his computer, searching Cassie's name all she found was her photos from a text thread. The thread had all of their messages from New Years and every other sneaky link they had for weeks after. The last text's she found between them was Nate telling Cassie it was over and her begging him to change his mind. He told her that he was with Safaya now and the next message after that was the explicit photos.
Normally, my sister would have rolled her eyes at this and deemed it pathetic, but with her being fucking high and forced into a situation that she already hated...she felt disrespected. It wasn't a coincidence that after Nate mentioned Safaya, he was met with a nude photo. Cassie never respected Safaya in the first place because if she did, she never would have hooked up with Nate. Saf narrowed her eyes before slamming the computer shut. "Block her. Now." She ordered without a second thought. She hopped up off the bed and went to Nate's bathroom, grabbing more coke from her pocket and snorting it. That was all she remembered before going to bed.
Safaya took a deep breath walking through the halls of school. She was finally free for an hour while she and Nate had different classes. Before heading to her study hall, she took a trip to the restroom to freshen up. By freshen up, I mean take some pills to get her through the rest of the day. She didn't expect to see me in the bathroom, sitting on the counter as I struggled to get myself through the day sober. If she didn't expect me to be here, I know she didn't expect to see Cassie, who was fixing her hair in the mirror.
My sister stopped in her tracks looking dead set on Cassie before letting out a laugh. "Is something funny?" The blonde narrowed her eyes at my sister.
"Not funny, more so tragic." Saf pouted at the girl before smiling. "You've got a lot of balls you know? First you sneak around with him, now you send him nudes, what's next, huh? When do you know when to quit?" She hissed.
Cassie shook her head. "I don't know what he told you but---"
"But nothing, bitch." Safaya shrugged. She turned to face the mirror, sneaking a glance at me before looking back at herself. She grabbed her lip gloss, applying it while watching Cassie sweat next to her. "I saw the messages, saw the photos, you're just fucking sad. In constant competition with me when I wasn't even checking for you. That's kind of weird don't you think?" Safaya faced the girl, cocking her head to the side at her question.
Cassie frowned, her chest rising in falling in anger. "That's a bold statement to say when you were the one fucking Nate while he was with Maddy. There is no difference between us. It doesn't feel good now that it's happening to you, huh?"
"Firstly, never compare yourself to me, sweetheart." Saf stepped closer to the girl. "Second, Maddy and I have moved on and we've grown. You were just grateful to get our scraps, our sloppy seconds, because you apparently can't get shit on your own. I can blame my erratic behaviors on drugs ... what can you blame being a cunt on? Not enough attention? Daddy issues?" Safaya backed Cassie into the bathroom wall, watching the girl squirm under her gaze. "Before you try to fucking come for me, I highly suggest you make sure your shit is together. Don't start something you can't finish."
Safaya turned on her heels, heart racing as she wanted to smack Cassie but restrained herself. She locked eyes with me again and gave me a small smile. "Bye, Ruey."
Well ... shit
Whatever demon I had, had jumped out of my body and into my sister because she was ruthless.
