"Wherever your soul was before, mine was there too." - Hira
He's Jackson. But he's also:
Daniel.
Theodore.
Nathan.
Nicholas.
Zachary.
She's Aaliyah. But she's also:
Grace.
Kathryn.
Jessica.
Amaya.
Eve.
It's the same story every time. They meet, they...
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"Thanks for coming Nina," Aaliyah said as they sat down on her bed together.
"Sure. I️ mean, it's not everyday your cousin from the bougie side of the family hits you up to "hang out"," Janina crossed her arms and glares at her.
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"You're upset-"
"Yeah, I'm upset," she snapped. "We haven't hung out since we were fifteen. Now all of a sudden you want something?" She hissed. "Is it cause of that video that's going around?" She brings up.
Aaliyah's mouth dropped. "Oh my god, how did you know about that?" She asks in horror.
"It's on Twitter," Janina simply said. "You're lucky nobody in the family knows how to use it."
Aaliyah sighs and covers her eyes, making her cousins curiously look down at her. "What's wrong?" She asks now in a softer tone. "Come on girl, I️ was just playing about being mad."
"No. No, that's not what I'm upset about," Aaliyah finally breaks down, crying in front of her.
"Then what is it?" Nina asks, soothingly rubbing her back.
"Me and Elijah were never happy. Carolina's giving off weird vibes. I️ don't know what to make of it. I️ lost all my friends last year. The whole school thinks I'm some kind of slut. And the guy I'm really in love with...it's just so complicated," she finishes before hiding her face into a pillow. It felt good to finally let out everything she's been holding in to someone who hasn't been tainted or biased to the mess that was her life.
"Damn...that's, heavy," Janina sighed. "I️ can only relate to one of those," she said.
"Which one?" Aaliyah asked, her voice muffled.
"The last one," Nina answered. "But I'm fighting to make it work. You should too," she points out. "Liyah, there's obviously so much bad energy in your life. You gotta cut some people off, and keep some people in your life. As for the video, it's already done and out there. We can't do much about it without telling Aunt Elisa," she frowned.
Aaliyah shakes her head "no". She definitely doesn't want her mom know about the mistake she's made. "No, she'll kill me," she tells her cousin. She then looks up at her and sighs. "I'm so happy you're here. I️ didn't really have anyone else to turn to," she tells her.
