https://vine.co/v/erOOVDBDnKw
I love this edit with a burning passion
LAST CHAPTER BEFORE EPILOGUE );
Enjoy~
__________________________________________________
Dinah~
I couldn't stop the tears and sobs from leaving my body. Normani had tried multiple times to come and comfort me but I always pushed her away. I wanted her to see what she was causing with her own eyes. I didn't need her comforting.
"Dinah please," She begged, "Please let me help you" There was guilt drawn all over her sculpted face. I could tell I was getting to her easily.
"Fuck you and your help. I don't need your pity"
She ran her fingers through her hair in a frustrated manner, "How the hell am I supposed to pity what I don't know Dinah ?!"
I roughly grabbed her by her shirt collar and brought her face closer, "You wanna know what to pity Normani ?! Pity the fact that I can't sleep some nights because of him. Pity the fact that I have to endure a permanent damage to my ankle for the rest of my life because of him. Pity the fact that I can't come out to anyone but Lauren, Mila, and Ally. Pity the fact that I can't ever wake up happy to be in the house I lay my head in," My lip quivered as the tears just kept flowing, "Pity the fact that the one person I feel that could be different turned out to be just like him"
I dropped her shirt and just sat myself down on the bench, head deep in my hands. My body just seemed to never want the tears to stop; they just kept going and going while the sobs left with them. I felt her body press next to mine but nothing changed. The hands rubbing circles on my back didn't change the fact that I felt broken.
"Dinah," Normani's tone softer than before. I looked up from my hands, "Who's Nela ?"
That's when it all came rambling out. Sophomore year, a junior named Nela Otukolo befriended me while I was the only underclassmen in our Honors Biology. He was sweet at first, always doing the most gentlemen-like things for me and making me feel like a princess. I had always had a thing for football players and this linebacker had somehow caught my heart.
Months later, he'd asked me to become his girlfriend and I gladly accepted. Soon we were the it couple everyone aspired to be like. I began hanging out with some of his friends as well as get to know him better. I was living the dream; a good boyfriend, good grades, and no drama. A good high school experience.
But weeks after weeks the real Nela unraveled himself to me. He became friskier with me in ways I didn't appreciate and he tried multiple times for us to do it. One night when I was out with him and refused to have sex with him, he'd hit me. Not once but multiple times. It triggered something inside him because time after time when I didn't do as he said, he'd hit me. He'd slowly pulled me away from my friends and I was miserable. The girls and I had tried multiple times to get back together but he'd always get in the middle of it.
Then one day, he must've had enough of me refusing sex. We were at Tempo 7 when he came onto me. I had fought and fought for my freedom but I wasn't strong enough. He had me held down when Danielle came downstairs and saw the situation. She called Nadine to help as she snatched me away from Nela. But it only made him angrier. He knew I was planning on going to try out for softball with Lauren, so he took my bat and began swinging. I knew he was aiming for Danielle so I pushed her away, just in time for it to come in contact with my ankle. I could feel the hatred and anger he'd put into that swing because it surely showed it.
Soon the cops arrived and caught him before he could escape. They took him away and locked him up. When they asked Nadine, Danielle, and I for what happened, we'd told them Nela was my crazy ex trying to get out all his anger, which wasn't a lie technically.
Even though he was gone, his impact on me surely didn't. I was driven to the hospital for my ankle and given medicine not only for the pain but for the traumatic effect. I couldn't sleep. I refused to eat. I just laid there. Once I got back to school, my grades slipped, I couldn't pay attention and I would even sneak out of Tempo just to get away from it all.
"Why didn't you just tell your mom Dinah ? Wouldn't she have been able to help ?" Normani inquired as she was wiping the tears from my eyes.
I laughed humorlessly, "I don't know where my mother is. My parents left me and went back to the islands"
"Wait, so that little girl wasn't your sister ?"
"Oh no, I would've whooped her ass by now," She laughed lightly, "That's my foster sister. She's a little devil unlike her sister who I truly do appreciate"
"So why do you call that house Tempo 7 ?"
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed, "Because it's short for Temporary 7. It's the seventh house I've lived in."
"Seventh ?" Her eyes widenened.
"Yup. Seventh. Surprisingly it's the nicest. All the Tempos just pass and go for me. I'm only there temporary before I'm moved again. All my foster homes don't like me for some reason and I always end up getting sent back to Mr. Hernandez. Attachment hasn't come easy for me"
"Dinah, I'm sorry for all I've put you through"
I sighed while I put my hands behind my head, "Apologizes are just empty words Normani. You say them but they don't do anything to the situation. Learned that one from Nela"
I could see Normani flinch in guilt at my words. I hope they got right to her.
"I didn't want us to be like this," She began, "I just wanted you to be happy"
"Happy ?" I scuffed, "You've done quite the opposite babe"
She straddled the bench and looked me dead in the face, "When Nadine said that I could be the reason you would have problems, I didn't want to see you hurt. I saw the way you guys all looked when you had family time together. Dinah I want you to look that happy everyday"
Her hand caressed my cheek as she sighed and continued, "It would've been selfish for me to continue seeing you for my own pleasure, knowing it'd affect you back home. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened Dinah."
"You should've came over more often then, get me the hell outta there" We both laughed at my attempt to lighten the situation.
"I wouldn't want you to move to a Tempo far away"
"Oh no, my P.O. wouldn't allow that. I'd be too far from Ally," She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "See Mr. Hernandez is Ally's dad and also my Parole Officer. He's usually the one to speak with the system on which house to place me in. His wife works at the foster home so when we were younger and she brought Ally to 'Take Your Child To Work Day', her and I hit it off. Soon she brought Ally everyday so we could play and she decided we'd each other more often"
Normani smiled a sweet grin, her pearly whites making me soften myself, "That's adorable Dinah"
"Yeah, I love my Short Stack," I chuckled lightly, "Mrs. Hernandez could've found me another home. Maybe one day I could find a stable family to love me"
"I know you will D," She looked deep into my eyes before continuing, "I'm sorry for being so harsh Dinah. I know you don't believe in apologizes but I hope you can see how sincere I am about this"
I patted her back, "I understand Mani. I understand"
We both smiled and looked into each other's eyes. Nothing sexual, nothing seductive, no hatred, but just pure adoration. I could feel her heart reaching out for mine the gaze we shared with each other.
"Here. Let's try this," I straightened myself up and stuck my hand out, "Hi. I'm Dinah. I like your hair"
She giggled and played along, "Well my name is Normani. You can call me Mani if you'd like"
"Well Mani, it's nice to meet you. You're very pretty"
"Thank you. It's nice to meet someone as gorgeous, kind hearted, and lovely as you Dinah" I felt my cheeks blaze up at her compliments.
"Come here you stink" I reached out for her, our lips meeting halfway for a soft passionate kiss. It last a good couple seconds as we transitioned from a kiss to a warm hug.
"This feels nice DJ"
"I know Mani, I know"
We just sat there in each other's embrace, enjoying the silence and peacefulness of us being together. It was nice to clear the tension we had but I wouldn't necessarily say things would be back to normal.
"Oh thank the heavens !" A sudden voice appeared from nowhere. I felt the collision of a tiny body as their arms wrapped around my neck. I felt the trickle of tears go down my neck as my hands went to rub their back.
"I swear to the man above, Dinah I thought Nela or his goons came back for you. I can't bear to see you hurt or in another one of those depressed states again. I can't be iPod Nano without my iPhone 6 Plus Dinah ! My blood pressure went up and-" I laughed heartedly at Ally's rambling as I pulled her off me to see her lip quivering.
"Ally, I'm fine. Thank you for worrying but I'm fine thankfully. God just punished me for using his name in vein, that's all" Ally and I both laughed at my joke. In the corner of my eye, I could see Camila and Lauren standing with Mr. Pham.
"How'd you know we were here ?" Normani asked quietly.
"Well I remember Dinah saying she was going to find her hat for ROTC. I didn't know you were here" Lauren's voice stabbing violently at the mention of Normani. The brown skin goddess just lowered her head, ashamed.
Camila came over and joined the hug, kissing the top of my head and whispering, "So did you guys fuck in here ? It smells like sweat and hot breath in here"
"MILA !" Ally and I both scolded in unison. She just laughed and shrugged us off.
"What ? It smells like it"
"That's the smell of the girl's locker room Camz" Lauren corrected her twin.
"I still don't understand how you two are twins. You don't even think alike nor look alike" Ally stated taking the words out of my mouth.
"I don't know, genetics ?" Both Camila and Lauren said simultaneously. Everyone laughed at their twin ways, including Mani.
Everything is beginning to go in the right path.