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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Now, there's a couple versions of what happened that night. It all depends on who you ask and to be honest, I'm not always the most reliable narrator. But Nate was fucking on one. And in turn, Maddy was fucking on one.
Safaya walked through the house wearing an outfit that Nate had helped her picked out. Since he and Maddy were on the outs he was giving his best friend a little more attention than usual. Saf knew the routine and had become accustomed to it at this point. Her black chunky platform heels click clacked on the hardwood floors, guys and girls ogling her body in the black swimsuit and satin blood red robe she had bought two weeks ago. The only thing stopping the football team from launching themselves at her was their captain following closely behind. He noticed how his teammates would glance at her like a piece of meat when they thought he wasn't watching. Everyone knew better than to fuck with Nate's girl. If he was sober he would have regretted choosing such a revealing outfit for her, but, he was cross-faded and angry and she was his favorite thing to look at.
The curly haired girl waved at everyone, hopping in selfies as she began to keep up her 'good-girl' persona for the students of East Highland. None of these people lived with her or knew exactly what was going through her brain and she wanted to keep it that way. Being so close with Nate, Safaya easily climbed the social ladder. She wasn't a cheerleader or stayed sober enough to play any sports. She was just Saf. The girl who would bake cookies and rice krispie treats for the same football team that would sexually assault her if ever given the chance. Like I said, she was nice.
Safaya, with a drink in hand, made her way outdoors to the pool in the backyard. She had planned on dipping her feet in but when she saw two people fucking in the pool she stopped in her tracks. In the gleam of the pool lights she could see it was Maddy and some random. Just like she had suspected earlier in the day, Maddy had some shit up her sleeve and she wouldn't let her get away with it.
"Wow." The girl said in disbelief.
The brunette broke away from the kiss. Rolling her eyes at who had spotted her. "Yeah. Whatever bitch." She spat with venom on her tongue.
Saf had a stare down with Maddy, her taunting smirk growing as she knew she would have to tell Nate. She said nothing and walked back into McCay's home. It was like time had sped up and she didn't even have control of what she was saying. "Oh, Nate!" Safaya called out to her best friend over the loud music. He had been staring out the glass window but softened upon her arrival. "You will never guess what I just saw."
He didn't reply, he had seen every move Maddy made since she arrived at the party. Without warning he grabbed her hand and led her back outside to see his ex and some blonde guy hooking up at a closer view. "Yeah, that's real classy you fuckin whore." He yelled. Letting go of his best friends hand.
"Suck. My. Dick." Maddy laughed in his face before kissing on the guy once more.
Nate clenched his jaw. "Come on, Saf." He called, knowing she would follow.
The night was becoming too much for her and she knew the anxiousness would consume her at any given moment. As they walked through the house it seemed as if the walls were closing in on her. There were so many people around and in her personal space that she needed to be alone for a few minutes.
Literally she could only last like five minutes by herself.
"I have to go to the bathroom." She poked him on his exposed lower back. "Will you watch my drink?" She asked, handing it to him.
He nodded solemnly. Nate was growing infuriated as his life spiraled out of control, starting with Maddy's disrespect and now his best friend left him to his own devices. He watched Safaya run upstairs with careful eyes.
Saf passed McCay and Cassie sitting near the stairs, giving them a wave before stumbling into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and took a seat on the edge of the tub. She felt inside her bikini top for the small packet she purchased from Fezco earlier in the day. Carefully she opened the smashed bag of pills, taking her acrylic pinky nail and dipping it inside. She brought her nail to her nose and snorted deeply. The rush of tranquility falling over her at an instant. A minute later and she would have had a panic attack without her medicine.
Wiping her nose and readjusting herself, she left the restroom and went back downstairs as fast as she could. That feeling sucker punched her out of nowhere when she finally touched solid ground. The dazzling smile on her face was bright as she searched for Nate, but instead she heard nothing but yelling. She ran as fast as her legs allowed her to the kitchen where Nate and a blonde were having a screaming match. When Safaya's eyes finally focused she recognized the girl was the one on the bike.
The girl pulled a knife from the cutting board on the kitchen counter and pointed it at Nate, the latter immediately backing up in fear. Safaya came into the kitchen slowly trying to diffuse the situation. "Whatever he did, he was just kidding." She walked up closer to the scared girl, Nate snatched her back and placed Saf behind him. Fearing she would get hurt because of the freak with a weapon.
"Back the fuck up!" The girl waved the knife at Nate, ignoring his friend behind him. She noticed it was the girl in the back of the pick up begging for her friend to stop. "What the fuck is your problem?" She had no issues with Safaya but the tall boy in front of her was a different story.
Nate held his hands out trying to plead with her. "Put the fucking knife down, okay?" He pleaded. Safaya looked between her friend and the mystery girl, wondering what the fuck had happened while she was gone for not even five minutes. "It was a joke." He huffed out.
"You wanna fucking hurt me?" The girl fumed.
Safaya's eyes got wide. "No! No, he was just being stu--"
"You have no idea!"
She yelled. The girl drug the knife across her forearm causing gasps and yells coming from on lookers. I was in the crowd, watching as my sister tried to be Superman for a monster. No matter what happened she would always be there to save him, even if it killed her. She had a good heart, just didn't know how to use it. The mystery girl tapped Nate with her bloody arm and he spazzed, calling her a freak and a psycho. Safaya grabbed a towel began wiping it away from his body as he panted shaky breaths.
The blonde placed her arm back at her side and saw all of the people staring at her. "By the way, I'm Jules." She said with a smirk. "I just moved here."
