𝗣𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘 ☾ 𝗘𝗨𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗔

In A Glass House

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I know this may sound crazy but the night of the carnival restored a fraction of the broken faith I had in my sister.

Our mom had called us, telling us that she was worried about Gia since she wasn't answering her phone. I had to get her home in like thirty minutes while Safaya was off the hook since she told mom she was staying at Cassie's. I guess my overdose shook Safaya enough to the point that she didn't want to make the same mistake again. I was standing near some game booth after splitting up with Jules when she ran into me out of breath and holding onto her phone for dear life.

"Look," Saf huffed. "I know we have our own shit, but, right now we need to find Gia."

I nodded. "Agreed. Let's go."

We had been calling her name for five minutes until we found her on the opposite end of the Gravitron. There were two cars in the parking lot surrounded by people sitting and smoking.

"What the fuck?" Safaya scrunched her brows. Gia sat there in her pink hoodie, passing back and forth a blunt with McCay's twin brothers.

The boys smiled in her direction. "Hey, Safaya." They smiled.

"Hell no. Why are you here with my sister?" Safaya was angry. She had always been more vocal about her feelings. "And why aren't you answering your phone?" She faced Gia, who just laughed in her face.

I was on the outs with my sister, but I knew that slick shit our little sister just did was wrong. "Gia." I checked her, a frown on my face. She never acted like this.

The youngest Bennett coughed. "Ruuuuuuuue. Saaaaaaaaaf." She said in a goofy voice. Gia opened her mouth like she was about to speak again but she stopped.

Safaya and I looked at each other and then back to Gia. "She's fuckin stoned." Safaya scolded. She was in disbelief and didn't even know what to say or do. She just wanted the younger girl out of this situation. "Gia, come on, Rue is gonna take you home."

"Home?" Troy said. "Why? We're having a funky good time."

"The best time." Gia chimed in, her eyes half way closed.

I wasn't having any of her bullshit. Not only did she have Mom worried sick but she was over here getting fucking stoned with some little ass boys. "Gia, get the fuck up and lets go. We're not playing with you. Let's go."

I had fucked up for a pretty good portion of my life so far. I didn't want that same thing that corrupted Saf and I to take hold of our little sister. Safaya was fuming beside me, she didn't know what to even do next because she was so frustrated and not all of it was pointed at Gia. Safaya was sick of herself because she knew that this was her fault. To some people it was only weed but that's how she started out fucking with drugs and now look where she was.

High off Molly trying to talk some sense into her stoned baby sister.

"Wow. What'd you do? Decide to just clean up and, like, oh, I wanna become a mom? Like..." Troy snickered.

"Right."

Safaya's icy glare was fixated on Gia. "Watch your mouth, little girl. Get up and let's go so Rue can take you home." She was standing her ground, not even beginning to address the twin that was getting under her skin. Not until he decided to snap at her.

"Bruh, Saf, does Nate even know you over here?" Troy cracked. "He finally let you off the leash or somethin'? I know you're busy bein' somebody else's lil bitch but you ain't gotta ruin the fun for everybody."

Safaya shuddered. The words piling on top of her like bricks in a glass house. Even though she was sharp and witty, she was still sensitive when it came to mentions of my overdose or her relationship with Nate. Which is why I'm glad she left after hearing that because the comments only got worse.

She didn't say anything to Gia or I. There was a pressure building in her chest that she needed released and there was only one person she wanted to see. She pushed past people in her way, not giving a fuck about her manners in the moment, she was on a mission. A body bumped into hers and nearly knocked her on her ass.

"Shit, Saf. I'm so sorry." TJ grabbed her by the arm before she could fall onto the ground. "Ring toss can get a little intense around here." He joked, not noticing she was upset until it was too late.

"Oh! Um, hi TJ. It's fine." She muttered. Practically running away from him. "Bye."

Safaya wandered back to the Jacobs booth to find there was a turned over pot, chili spilled all over the ground. Marsha and Cal were talking while Aaron just kind of stood there. When she arrived their heads turned and minds were slightly at ease.

"What happened?" She questioned.

Aaron shook his head. "Nate's girlfriend totally spazzed and knocked over the pot. She called mom a cunt and wanted to say more but Nate dragged her crazy ass outta here." He said nonchalantly, playing a game on his phone. "I warned him about those Mexican girls."

"Saf." Cal approached her, being close in her space. "Could you go check on him? You've always been able to get through to him when I, quite exactly, can't." His large hand settling on her shoulder.

She was overstimulated. Her brain unable to process everything that had been going on especially the fact that she was under the influence. Now that Cal was touching her, something that he's never done before, it had brought her to a breaking point. The curly haired girl had begun to break down silently when her knight in shining armor returned.

"She's good." Nate came up next to her. He was coming back from the trailers where he left Maddy and had seen the whole thing go down. "We're good." Nate clenched his jaw, staring down his father until he went away.

For as long as Nate could remember he made a promise to himself to keep her way from him. He had seen how his father treated young men and women, how perverted he could be when it came to sex. He broke that promise the night of the carnival and knew his father began to sink his teeth into Safaya. He turned to find Saf hugging herself, tears brimming her eyes, and she was squeezing them shut.

"Can we go?" She whispered beside him. "Can we go? I want to go, Nate. Please." She begged. The drugs wearing off and now she began to feel more than she wanted to.

Nate could tell something was wrong. "Anywhere you wanna go." He told her.

"I don't care, I just need to leave." She looked up at the tall boy, big brown eyes full of fear.

He nodded. Without a word he gestured for her to hop on his back, trying to get her to the car quickly before she had a breakdown or crashed in front of everyone at the carnival. He began walking to his car and mumbled little calming words to her since he could feel her shaking. Safaya nuzzled her face into his back, taking in his scent, and trying to focus her breaths. Even though he had some 'sweet' bullshit moments, Nate Jacobs was a fucking monster.

Later that night, Nate snatched Jules by her hair at the lake. He threatened her with the nudes she took on campus. Telling her to stay away from his family and to stay away from Safaya unless she wanted to become a registered sex offender.

And where was my sister, you may ask?

In his truck, the passenger seat, sound asleep.

It amazed me how Safaya had a front row seat to every fucked up thing Nate had ever done and she never saw a fucking thing.