{Published} Pink Lemonade: & Other Extraordinary Things

Chapter Five

"Do I look good in this? Tell me I look good in this." Lina folded her fingers into the pleather fabric of her dress and yanked it halfway up her thighs.

"You look good, but you know that vespers is outside tonight, right?"

She twirled away from her reflection and blinked at me, "Like outside outside?" I nodded, and she proceeded to pull the dress over her head and started digging through her drawers again.

There was a time in my life where I wondered what it'd be like to be Celine. To have everything you wanted and do what you pleased without a single repercussion. She treated Valley Girls like they were dolls and played the Valley Boys' games better than they did. Somehow, she had them all confused and chasing their tails, or hers.

Karma itself feared Celine. She could do anything to anyone and get away with it. Her beauty and mastery in manipulation left her untouchable.

She knew this, and she abused that power to the best of her ability, bulldozing through people's lives and leaving them writhing beneath the ruins, and somehow still begging for her to stay.

Lina called on me and cast me off as she pleased. She always seemed to have something that I wanted. Recently, it had been people.

As long as I stood next to Lina, I had a name -- one that people remembered. She always went out of her way to make sure that the love she received was gifted to me as well. I only had to be introduced once, and suddenly, people wouldn't leave the room without saying goodbye to me, and I got addicted to the attention.

The kitchen door slammed, and I heard a voice chattering back and forth with Lina's Aunt B. She stiffened, and I could tell that her heart was plummeting just by the look on her face.

Vanessa Thompson was Lina's darkest secret. She never wanted anyone to know she had a twin sister. And since Nessa had spent the past six years studying abroad, only returning home for breaks, her existence wasn't hard to hide.

Vanessa was just as beautiful as Lina; some would say more. Her hair was a dark, chocolate brown -- edges streaked in shades of caramel gold. Her eyes were just as big as Lina's, but they were green like bayou lilies, Lina's were a liquid Tiffany blue. Vanessa was two and a half minutes younger, but she acted years older.

Vanessa and I had always been close, but she exceeded my value by the billions. I've always wondered why she wanted me. Out of every star in The Valley's sky, she chose the one that didn't shine at all.

Nessa's beauty and intellect had only grown over the years. She was back in town for good now, and as much as I loved having her, I feared for her. Lina was fond of envy, and she directed most of it toward her younger half.

"Salem! I saw your car outside. I know you're here!" Vanessa sang. I bolted from Lina's room and ran to the kitchen toward her voice. Vanessa lunged toward me, and we ended up on the floor in a fit of giggles.

I heard Lina come from her room, her tense energy sending a cloud over the moment. Vanessa sat up and pulled her hair out of her face, "Celine!" She stretched her hands out toward Lina, and she helped her up. For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other. Vanessa made the first move, reaching around Lina's neck and holding her close.

A moment later, she wrapped a hand around my wrist and dragged me up the stairs toward her room, "Bring my stuff up for me?", she called to Lina. It was more of an order rather than a question. This was how it worked when Vanessa was home. Everything she wants, she gets. Everything she says goes.

Vanessa sat me down in front of her mirror and began running her fingers through my braids, "What have I missed?"

"Nothing," I said, giving her the same answer I always did when she returned home. The Valley revolved around Vanessa, nothing that mattered ever happened during her absence.