Chapter 2

Sekina

My head felt like it was stuffed full of wool.

“Wake the fuck up.” A distant voice snapped.

I groaned, grappling with my nerves for the ability to open my eyelids. But they were glued shut. And a splitting headache was blooming behind them. The harsh sound of curtains opening filled the room, and a hot ray of sunshine landed on my bare breasts.

Wait. My what—

My eyelids flew open. A chiseled body loomed over mine. Defined chest, ladders of abs, and strong biceps. My gaze slowly traveled further up, to meet the dark glower on Sean Remington's face. It all came back to me like a broken reel. We had gotten drunk together. Had sex.

I had lost my virginity to him, not in the way of my fantasies because now his eyes glowed like he was utterly disgusted by me.

“Get the fuck up, Sekina.” He growled, then grabbed his hair in his fists. “Fuck! How did this fucking happen?! Her of all people?”

Panic had finally caught up to me, and I sat up, dragging the sheets over my naked body. I didn't even have in me to be embarrassed, because I was frozen with mortification.

This was Simone's boyfriend. I had ultimately betrayed my twin sister, and she was a cruel, sadistic beast. She would have my head for this.

“I— she can't know about this.” I stuttered, eyes wide.

He whirled around to glare at me with so much contempt, that I was taken aback. “Do you think I'm fucking stupid? This is what you've always wanted, isn't it? Are you really going to sit there and act that you're not happy about this—?!”

“—but I'm not.” My cheeks were cold with horror. “This wasn't intentional, we were both drunk. I'm sure we can work this out right?”

“We?” His voice went soft. His stance was menacing. “Bold of a loser like you to assume there's a ‘we’. I did you a favor, getting rid of your virginity at 22. How embarrassing is that? At least I was drunk, I never would have looked at you twice if I were in my right senses.”

I was trembling, heart cracking off piece by piece. Tears welled in my eyes with each venomous word he hurled at me. This couldn't be Sean. He would never say this to anyone. Right?

Right?

He prowled closer and pointed at me, “Now listen fucking carefully, you cannot mention this to anyone. Not Simone, not even that loser best friend of yours. Do you understand?”

I couldn't hold the tears in anymore. They flowed down my cheeks, but that did nothing to soften the expression of utter hate and disgust on Sean's face.

“Do you understand?!” He yelled.

I shrieked, “Y-yes..”

“Good.” He spat and shoved his rumpled shirt back on. I watched him storm out of the room, and slam the door.

Disoriented, I blinked through the tears and got up from the bed. For the first time, I noticed the sorry state of the room. The discarded weed wraps and the empty bottles. This was the sort of place where I had sex for the first time, while drunk no less, with my twin's boyfriend, who was disgusted by me.

With trembling fingers, I pulled my rumpled dress on, grabbed my strap bag, and combed through my hair with my fingers. All I wanted was to go home, cry my eyes out in the shower, and wash the memories off me. It didn't help that I was incredibly sore between my legs.

Outside the mansion, Luca spotted me first. His brown hair was flying in the wind, and his eyes too bright for someone who had partied all through the night.

He clasped my shoulders, “Where did you wander off to? I was blowing up your phone. Thought you ditched me and left the party.”

“Oh?” I fidgeted with my bag. “I didn't check my phone. I found a bottle somewhere quiet and drank till I passed out. I initially thought it wasn't alcoholic because it was sweet.”

He chuckled fondly, “That explains why you look like you've been run over by a bus. Come on, I'll get you something for the hangover.”

He wrapped his arm around me, but I suddenly realized how intimate the gesture was, and how uncomfortable it made me. I couldn't bear such close contact after my night with Sean, and how broken he had left me.

“No, I'll go home.”

Luca paused and looked over me more critically. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, Luca.” I tried to turn away, but his arm didn't budge.

“That’s a relief. So you can spend today with me. After getting something for your hangover, we can change at a boutique and head out to this cute restaurant I found. I even made a reservation.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, feeling my patience dissipating at an alarming rate. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? Let's hang out.”

“That's not hanging out, that's a date—”

“—and what's wrong with it?” Luca's expression was serious now, chocolate eyes filled with something that had always been there, but I had been completely blind to it. “What's wrong with taking you out on a date?”

I was a gaping fish.

A date? With Luca? Was he joking? Some sort of cruel prank on me? In the course of our friendship, he had had a few flings and hook-ups with the pretty girls on campus.

Girls who were more like Simone than me, and I had just remained the awkward, quiet girl who was stuck under his arm.

Luca broke the silence, taking my face in his hands. “I know, I should have said this sooner, but you've always made me so nervous. So I hid under the guise of friendship, pretending that I wasn't hopelessly in love with you, Sekina. But I am. And I—”

I slapped his hands off, overcome by indignation. “Who put you up to this? Sean?!”

I could still hear his words echoing through my head, along with the words I had been told all my life. How no one could ever want me. I was disgusting, and plain, nothing but a carpet for my “better” twin to walk all over. I was nothing compared to her brilliance.

Luca's face darkened at the mention of Sean. “What the fuck does that bastard have to do with this?”

“Are you mocking me, right now, Luca?” I exclaimed, “Do you pity me so much that you have to do this?! Take me out on a date because no one else will?”

“Sekina, what are you talking about —?” He reached for me.

I stumbled back, barely holding back the tears bubbling back up. “Don't touch me! Don't say my name, don't even look at me!”

I felt filthy, and I could feel everyone judging me behind my back. Sneering at what I had done. Slept with my sister's boyfriend. Even Luca would hate me if he knew. And I'd be all alone. The only person in this world that I loved, was disgusted by me. Why should anyone else love me?

I turned around and ran, feeling the weight of Luca's confession with every step.