Bullet Point

Chapter 12: Divide and Conquer

The next morning, Naya takes advantage of everyone swooning over Ninette's return home to slip out with anyone noticing. 

She doesn't yet have a driver's license, let alone a permit, because of her foster situation and moving between homes, so she'll have to walk to the park. 

She was meeting- i guess you could say an old acquaintance- Elena, at a park in the middle of the city in 2 hours, but it would take a while to make the commute on foot. 

The James's lived on the very outskirts of the inner city, and even by car it took 25 minutes to get to the center where Ninette worked and where D.C. Prep was. 

"Hey, Lady Killer." Elena calls from across the gravel jogging path. 

"Hey, Bitch!" Naya crows, and they instantly run toward each other. "Please let me borrow those boots sometime." She jokes as they sit down across from each other at an old picnic table in a shady spot under a tree.

"Alright, no silly catch-up. Why are we here?" Elena turns serious fast, her mouth falling into a straight line. 

Naya sighs. "C'mon. We meet up all the time, what makes you think I want something?"

Elena crosses her arms over her chest, her expensive bracelets clanking together. "I know you Naya. You insisted we meet earlier than we had planned, and you dragged me to a disgusting park in a crappy part of the city."

"You know we can't be seen together. My foster family doesn't know about us." Naya shrugs, standing her ground. 

"Cough it up." Elena says. 

"You look really cute today." Naya raises her eyebrows slightly.

Not buying the ruse, Elena frowns and leans in closer. "I know how you work Naya. I know you, because I am you." Naya looks down, defeated. "You seem to forget that we're exactly the same."

"Alright fine." Naya finally caves. "I have an idea, and I need your help."

"What is it?" Elena asks, unconvinced. 

Naya takes a deep breath before launching into her story. "I'm in love with my foster brother." Elena's eyes widen, but she goes on. "Its illegal, and if we get caught they'll send me away. But I finally have a good foster family, and I don't want to risk losing that."  

Elena sighs. "I don't see the point. Why do you need me, can't someone else help you?"

Naya shakes her head. "Not really." She starts fidgeting with her cuticles to get the nerves out. She knew Elena would probably say no. "It has to be you."

"It has to be me?" Elena's face fills with realization and Naya bites her lip. "I have to pretend to be you, don't I?"

Naya tries to force a smile. "That's what twins are for right?"

Elena shakes her head vigorously. "No, Naya. This is ridiculous." 

"Please?" Naya claps her hands together and falls across the picnic table, not caring if the dirt gets on her white shirt. "You owe me, Elena."

Elena's jaw drops open and her eyebrows furrow together. "How do I possibly owe you?"

Naya sinks back down on the bench and avoids eye contact. "Because you got the perfect life; you get everything. You got adopted, I got put in foster care. You got two amazing parents at birth, I just now got a good mom. You have all these expensive clothes, and I'm walking around like the Goodwill version of you."

Elena looks hurt. "None of that is my fault, Naya." Both of them point their gazes, shamefully, at the ground. "And none of it is enough to make me pretend to be you." 

"But, why not?" Naya pleas. "Elena, I've never loved anyone before. But what I have with Tre is real." 

Elena sits up a little straighter and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "And you love him enough to throw your life away? Just to be with him?"

"I wouldn't be throwing my life away." Naya mutters. "Mrs. James is great, but the only thing I care about is being with Tre. And the only way we can be together is if I switch places with you."

Elena sighs heavily. "Do you have a plan?"

Naya nods, suddenly smiling a bit. "If you and I switched places, Tre could introduce me to the family as Elena. Then we wouldn't have to sneak around anymore. We could date out in the open, and he wouldn't really be my foster brother."

Elena still doesn't seem to be buying it. "What does Tre think of all this madness?"

Naya pulls her bottom lip into her mouth. "I haven't told him yet. I didn't want to get his hopes up unless you said yes." 

Elena puts her head in her hands. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do?" She says desperately. "To leave my home, my school, my parents? Don't you think they'll notice you're not me?"

Naya shrugs. "Come on, we're completely identical. We even part our hair the same way."

"There's no way it would work." Elena scoffs. 

Naya grabs her sister's hands and squeezes them tightly in her own. "We'll teach each other everything we need to know." 

"How much do you love this boy?" Elena grimaces. 

"I haven't seen him since this morning and there's a hole in my heart." Naya knows she's probably being overdramatic, but she'll do whatever it takes for Elena to agree to this. 

Elena stays silent for a good two minutes before crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe."

"Ah!" Naya squeals, standing up and rushing to hug her twin. "You're the best sister in the world! I  love you so much! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Elena pushes Naya off of her and frowns. "I didn't say yes, I said maybe. As in, let me think about it for a day or two."

Naya's happiness doesn't falter. "I know, I know." She says. "Just text me, okay? I'm sure Tre will be excited to meet you!"

"You're crazy." Elena says flatly. "You know that right?"