Acquainted

E S T R E L A

"I don't understand you"

"I wasn't made to be understood" The young girl snapped back at her boyfriend. Star was sitting on the edge of Jackson Bedoya's king size bed which was decorated with expensive sheets from Egypt. The bed was comfortable, more comfortable than anything in Star's own house.

Jackson tried to make eye contact with the beautiful girl he had called his girlfriend for only four days, Star knew he was hurt; But Star didn't care.

"Star please, we can make this work. What did i do wrong?" begged Jackson, placing his hand on Star's bare thigh. Star looked at his hand on top of her leg and pushed him off.

"Its not going to work out" She rolled her eyes as she tried to explain her reasoning.

"Star, please don't act like this, Star, I love you i be..." His words faded away as Star focused on her nails, she needed a fill in. Which meant she had to do what she was best at to get the money.

She sighed as the heartbroken Jackson carried on talking about how he would change just for her. Maybe she didn't want anyone to change for her.

Looking around at his luxurious high end room, she remembered she hadn't been high in a while, and by a while she meant two days.

Another reason for her to go selling her body was the cocaine and weed. Her obsession with drugs had started out with the weed when she was thirteen and was dating a drug dealer four years older than her.

As she got older, the substances she took became more extreme. It was a hypocritical act for Star to do, as she barely had a relationship with her mother because the woman was always intoxicated somehow.

"Like mother, like daughter" the rich white kids would sneer if they saw her, knowing very well that almost all of their fathers had 'for hire' sessions with her mother.

It was something she denied, and also something she wasn't proud of. But Star Letitia knew that she was exactly like the woman who gave birth to her.

A shaking on her shoulder took Star out of her trance,

"Star" Jackson called out to the girl who had stopped listening to his talking a long time ago.

She looked at him cluelessly and the remembered the situation she was currently in,

"Jackson, i don't want to fucking date you!" Star yelled and got up. She walked out of his house, feeling angry that she would never live in one as big as this. She wasn't smart, and she missed so many lessons that she never learnt anything. She was a girl with a past, not a future.

As she walked down the road, filled with extravagant houses each containing bigger rooms than the size of her actual house, she knew she didn't fit in. But still she let these rich boys chase after her for little bit of fun in their lives.

Star had many boyfriends in the past, but she had never met someone she actually had feelings for. She has never believed in true love, even from a young age when most girls would fawn over the thought of falling in love. But Star had never seen a successful marriage or relationship that would change her views.

Everyone's lives are so different, she realised as she passed the houses. Inside some families were laughing enjoying each others company, others wouldn't make eye contact. Some families were split, some people were alone. and everyone was going through something different.

Star had never been taught to be judgemental, she treated others fairly but her kinda acts were disregarded because of her reputation. She never believed someone was happier than her just because they had a bigger house, all the clothes in the world, a happy family. Money does not mean happiness.

She knew that for sure, from the glimpses of the Elite's world she had experienced. But still say after day she still thrived for their lives. Riches, Mansions, Holidays, she wanted all of that.

As she carried on walking, the houses got smaller, the people got poorer.
And this was Star's reality, she was always going to be the girl everyone had a piece of who lived in the bad side of town.

She stopped in front of the house she was currently staying in, only to find out that all her clothes were thrown on the ground in front of her. Fuming, she angrily knocked on the front door of the run down house.

This street was really depressing: all the houses had peeling paint, broken windows secured with tape, everything was so dull and plain.

After a minute of constant knocking, Star's foster career opened the door with an angry look on her face. Star got even more pissed,

"Why the fuck did you throw everything out" she yelled. People came out of their houses, trying to see what the commotion was.

"Why the fuck did you fuck my boyfriend, you slut" the older woman yelled back. Star rolled her eyes,

"I don't want your dirty boyfriend and I don't want to live with you either" Star replied as she went and started gathering her clothes up, she shoved everything in her duffel bag that she used when she ran away, and stormed out of the house.

Star hadn't done anything with Hassan, if she did she would have admitted it. But he was almost fifty and even she knew her limits. Although he did pay her for a little something from time to time.

The girl knew she had nowhere to go, she had no home, she had no family. And the only family she had she wasn't legally allowed to see.

But still, she walked to the house her step sister, Syrena, was staying at. She was luckier than Star, she had a nice big house and a kind family. Well that's what it looked like from outside.

Star looked like and insane stalker, but she stood outside of the window and watched as her younger sister did her homework. Star didn't know much about Syrena, but she hoped she was nothing like her and her mother.

Syrena was a beautiful girl, she is a Letitia girl it was expected. But to Star, who was considered one of the prettiest girls in the town despite everything, you could never find anyone to compare to Syrena.

The younger Letitia hadn't gotten her mum's looks, but her dads. She had a dark caramel skin tone, unlike either parent, big honey coloured eyes, a thick head of dark curls, beautiful full lips, and just by looking at her you could tell she was a sweet girl.

She was the only thing in Star's life worth living for, and she couldn't even remember the last time they shared a conversation. Star sighed deeply and left the neighbourhood Syrena was in.

As the cold air blew around her, a thousand things but also nothing went through her head. She didn't know what she was doing, she had no idea why her life was like this. But she knew for sure, one day she would take Syrena out of this hatred filled town, and give them both a life they deserve.

and Star slept peacefully on a cold bench in a park, with the memory of Syrena's concentrated face in her dreams.

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It's been too long🙁