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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There are moments of relief in Safaya and in I. Moments that feel so normal and calm, and rewarding, that we find ourselves praying they last forever. And we should know to not get our hopes up because they never do.
Jules and I had only been at the dance for five minutes before Saf, Cassie, Lexi, and Maddy arrived. It was the normal girls adoring other girl's type of ordeal, gushing over each other, and how they dressed up. Everyone was beautiful but the only person I paid attention to at the moment was my sister. She appeared happy and carefree and I knew she wasn't high. It was genuine and her smile was the best thing on her. I saw her and Jules look at each other, the tension there and louder than ever. Saf tried to pretend she never saw Jules having sex with Nate's dad, but it was hard. Saf gave a little wave to Jules, which she reciprocated, but that was it between them.
I came up in front of my sister and tapped her on her shoulder. "You look really pretty, Saf." I smiled.
"I'd never thought I'd see the day you wore tight clothes." My sister began to laugh. "And makeup? Who are you and what have you done with my Ruey?" She moved my curls out of my face and began looking at my eyes.
Playfully, I swatted her hands away. "This is the first and last time I will ever wear anything like this." I warned her and she gave me a knowing look. If anybody could see it, it was my sister, I was completely fucking whipped for Jules and would do whatever she asked me.
"Oh my gosh! You both look so gorgeous!" Cassie surged. "We have to get pictures, like now!" She clapped her hands together, grabbing her phone off of the nearby table where everyone sat.
The last time my sister and I had our pictures taken together was when we were kids. Everything was simpler then, Dad was still around, we didn't hate each other, and there was no overwhelming amount of stress or anxiety making us turn to drugs. We were just Rue and Safaya Bennett, two twin sisters from East Highland, and now we were back to that. Sure, Dad's gone now and we both have crippling anxiety, but, we have each other. Now that the hatred is gone and leaves nothing but room to rebuild and start over.
It may just be a regular picture for these other girls but for us, for us, it was a symbol of love and family and new beginnings. Safaya and I posed for the camera surrounded by lights and a bunch of other students. We laughed with each other while our friends encouraged us. One time I ended up grabbing her leg and she had her arms wrapped around my neck. We were being goofy and silly and it, for once in our lives, felt like we were on top of the world.
As the camera flash kept going off, I noticed a tall and slender figure glide across the dance floor and past our table. His hand was gripping some random blonde's ass cheek and the other was situated in the pocket of his dress pants. I knew who it was, and when I turned beside me to see Safaya completely frozen, I knew that she could see it was him.
Nate Jacobs just entered the winter formal and my sister wanted to die.
"Saf--"
"I'm fine." She flashed a fake grin. Trying her best to make me not worry. "I think we got enough photos, Cass. We can sit down." She turned to the girl, making her way back to the table where Jules and Maddy sat.
My sister and her new friend locked eyes before she sat next to her. She looked completely disgusted and appalled. Maddy and Safaya watched Nate and his date make their way to the middle of the dance floor. Nate introduced the girl to TJ, the latter being confused but deciding it was better to not ask about Saf or Maddy at the moment. The girl's pale ass was exposed and put on display for all of our high school to see and she seemed to have no problem with that. Whatever floats her boat I guess ....
Being at the table was awkward. Lexi and Cassie were watching in awe at what was happening, while Kat was staring worriedly at Maddy since she knew her temper could be something fierce. I was trying my hardest to focus on my sister and see if she was okay, even though I knew she wasn't, but Jules was distracting.
She had her phone under the table but I could see her texts clearly, they were from Anna, and it was photos and heart-eye emojis all up and down the screen. To put it simply, I felt like shit. I felt like shit because I knew I was stuck in love with someone who probably didn't love me the same way. But no matter how many times that was shown to me, I was still all for Jules, and I knew that I always would be.
"First of all, ew." My sister grimaced. Staring daggers at the back of Nate's head.
"Second of all, ew." Maddy continued, shaking her head at her ex-boyfriend. She was heated, cheeks beginning to flare a bright red that no one could see under the lights. I didn't know what was happening or what would happen next, but Cassie was well aware.
Cassie's eyes went wide. "Maddy. No."
*play Mi Gente (feat. Beyonce) by J Balvin and Willy William*
The brunette was still staring at her ex, mouth open as she ran her tongue against her lips. At this point, Nate made eye contact and was purposefully trying to piss her and Safaya off. His large hands were literally squeezing the random girl's ass cheeks as he tried, keyword being *tried*, dancing with her. He had no rhythm and at this point, it didn't matter because the little game he was playing had worked.
"Maddy. Don't do it." Cassie warned again, but, it was practically useless.
Nate smirked from the dance floor and she completely lost it. She grabbed my sister's manicured hand and wrapped it in hers. "Fuck this." She hopped up from her seat and Safaya followed. "I know you can dance. The only reason I didn't allow you on the cheer team is that you can dance better than me." She muttered over the sound of loud music.
I knew my sister was angry, and frustrated, and trying to mask it because she had no healthy way of getting her anger out. But, whatever Maddy had planned involved her and she agreed with no hesitation. She knew what Maddy wanted and she wanted it too. Two out of the three women that Nate Jacobs had hurt the most were getting well-deserved revenge.
My sister and Maddy were on the dance floor in the direct sight view of Nate. Saf was in front of her friend, waving her arms to the music as Maddy danced around her. The shorter girl was swaying her hips in her rhinestone outfit, eyes trained on Nate who stared at them dumbfounded. All of his efforts to prevent them from being friends had failed and now they were rubbing it in his face. Maddy stopped in front of Safaya and bent over, rubbing her ass on my sister. Saf grabbed Maddy by her hips and moved with her, her glare wearing Nate down as he looked away from them and into the shoulder of his date.
The girls at the table and I watched this all go down and it was every little bit of completely amusing.
"I guarantee you Maddy and Nate are gonna get married. And probably, like, divorced three times before Nate marries Safaya. And in some strange way, they'll all live a pretty happy life." Kat tore her eyes away from the floor and looked at us all.
The other girls nodded in agreement and then when they looked at me, I shook my head.
"I think the fuck not."
And as my sister and Maddy danced on each other, having an unspoken battle with Nate and his date, I knew that wasn't going to happen. She was becoming her own person before my eyes and if it took her twerking on Maddy to discover that, then so be it. Admittedly, I never thought I would see my sister so relaxed and carefree, but, Safaya was finally living for herself and I loved every second of it.
