She really had saved them. Keisha stopped her sister in her tracks and convinced her to head back down the stairs so they could talk. That always placated Aaliyah, talking about herself. Besides, Keisha told her that Jennifer was upstairs changing, which was the truth, and that was the furthest thing from interesting to Aaliyah.
They wound up on the couch in the living room, sprawled out under Keisha's towel. The girls huddled together and the pouting began. Keisha tuned most of it out. She played with her sister's hair and watched with fascination as Aaliyah scrolled through image after image on her phone without skipping a beat.
After a particularly long tirade not aimed at anyone in particular, Keisha pinched her sister's tiny cotton shorts. There just wasn't enough of the dark blue material to adequately cover her. "I just don't get why you're dressed like this. You seriously wear this in front of your friends?" she asked.
"Hello? Were you even listening? Oh my God, Keesh!" She paused and narrowed her eyes. "Wait, why are you dressed like this?"
"Solidarity?" the nerdier twin suggested.
Aaliyah jabbed a finger into her sister's tummy, then began to re-tell the entire story of her harrowing evening. Keisha listened politely. She groaned at all the right places and nodded convincingly every time her distraught sister made eye contact. Though eventually, she discovered she could skip all of that if she just cuddled up close and wrapped her arms around her.
It was an effective tactic, perhaps too effective because Keisha caught herself just as she was about to nod off. Something caught her ear though. The words being so effortlessly dispensed in her direction subtly switched to a new, much more exciting topic. Keisha scrambled to catch up.
"Wait—wait a minute, this happened where?" she asked.
"I swear, Keesh, how do you get such good grades? You seriously don't hear very well."
Keisha faked a yawn. "Sorry, it's just getting late. What time is it anyway?"
"I don't know, midnight maybe? Oh, don't you need to check on your friend?"
"Jennifer? Oh, nah... She'll be fine, you know her..." Keisha chuckled. She squeezed Aaliyah's shoulder. "I am tired though, maybe I'll go lie down."
"Yeah, me too—we can go to my room," Aaliyah suggested, and still with way too much energy in her voice.
Keisha coughed. "Um, your room?"
"Yeah, you want to hear the rest, right?"
"Oh, of course, I can't wait," Keisha mumbled.
Aaliyah smiled. She kicked off the towel, rose to her feet in her absurd shorts, and extended a hand. "I haven't even gotten to the best part either. Come on, it'll be fun, you'll love this." Then, she brought a hand to her mouth and whispered, "It's about Penny—the trans girl!"
"Ugh! Fine! But can you please skip the breakfast and lunch, and get straight to dinner?"
Aaliyah pulled her to her feet. "How about straight to dessert?"
"Ally, no offense, but you are terrible at telling stories."
"How about a thank you? If it weren't for me you wouldn't have any excitement in your life, so you're welcome. Now come on, let's go!"
It was a strange feeling being whisked through her own house. She felt like an intruder. And it was even stranger to fixate on Aaliyah's bottom as it spilled out below her shorts. Keisha knew she probably looked even sillier, but the self-conscious teen couldn't help but wonder if all those pretty boys and girls at school felt the same way about her body. She felt like they'd never even noticed her.
Aaliyah leaped up onto her bed and got comfortable on her stomach. She patted the spot beside her. Keisha reluctantly joined her. She propped herself up on her elbow and waited.
"No, sure, go ahead and finish texting your friends. I'll wait," Keisha said sarcastically.
"Oh, thanks. Almost done."
Aaliyah's thumbs seemed to work at light speed. It was impressive, Keisha thought, to be able to type that many emojis per second. There were smiley faces, faces with a tear, and a banana wearing sunglasses. The impatient girl jabbed a finger into her sister's side.
Aaliyah hardly noticed. "Almost done, I promise!"
"Do you even know any words?"
"What? Oh, of course, I know words! But a picture is worth—ow!"
Another quick jab cut her off. Aaliyah set her phone down.
"OK, so get this," she began. But then there was a long, dramatic pause while she grinned.
"Oh my God! I will seriously kill you! What!" Keisha groaned.
"I saw her naked in the shower."
Another pause. Keisha rubbed her lips together. "OK... Where?"
"At school, after gym class."
"You were spying on her you mean?"
"What? No. You know how the showers are? Wait—you have taken gym class, right?"
The nervous girl's gaze drooped to the small sliver of bedding between them.
"Oh my God! Keesh! You have to take it to graduate, you're going to be in there with—" she cringed "—freshman..."
"I know, I know. It's just that me and Jennifer were hoping to, I dunno, maybe get an exemption—it's pointless. And those showers are awful!"
For the briefest of moments, Aaliyah reached over and rubbed her sister's face. It was quick but was surprisingly comforting. Her soft fingers had a natural soothing quality to them. But a second later, her phone chimed and she was right back to mashing her keyboard.
Keisha rolled her eyes. "Oh my God! What is it? Let me see."
Aaliyah pulled the phone in closer, trying to shield the screen with her body. "Just one sec, hold on."
"Who are you talking to? Ally!"
"It's no one. It's just my friends. Hold on!"
There was a struggle. Keisha swooped in and tried to wrestle the phone from her sister's hands. But the stubborn girl held on, her thumbs still sending fruits and smiley faces as fast as the world's most advanced technology would allow. Keisha reached over with her leg and pressed her knee into Aaliyah's back.
"Give me that! What are you saying, let me see!" she demanded.
Aaliyah began to giggle. It was infectious. "Oh my God! Stop! That tickles! Keesh, what are you doing?"
"What is that? Is that a link?"
"I told you it's nothing—it's not important!"
Then, Keisha slipped. Her body rolled over and she found herself on top of her sister.
"Keesh!" Aaliyah grunted.
But the curious girl could see now. She brought her head down and peered over Aaliyah's shoulder. "Is this her? What does that mean? And what's that link?"
"Get off of me!"
"Are you going to click it? Who is her?" Keisha demanded. But even as she spoke she felt a sudden heat between her legs. Aaliyah's cheeks were squished between her thighs. "Ally!"
"Oh my God! Fine! Here!"
Aaliyah clicked the link and set the phone down on her pillow in front of her. The girls watched patiently as the browser loaded. Just as the first bits of content began to take shape, Keisha gasped. She knew what kind of site that was. But still, she forced herself to take a breath. Her tone softened.
"Why are you looking at porn?" she asked quietly.
"I'm not. It's just... Doesn't it, you know, look like her?"
"I just see a bunch of pictures of a blonde girl—wait, is that supposed to be Penny?"
Aaliyah scrolled down. Images of a pretty, white girl wearing jeans and a bra came one after the other. The jeans though eventually disappeared, leaving a cute pair of panties that matched the bra. There was something else though. Something dangerous lay on the other side of that thin wall of cotton between her legs. Keisha swallowed loudly, right into her sister's ear.
"Ally, oh my God! This is what you guys do for fun? You do know that's not her, right?"
"I know it's not!" Aaliyah admitted.
"Then why are you guys doing this? Does she know?"
"Of course not! And... And... The next part—that kind of does look like her!" she insisted.
"What next part?"
Aaliyah's thumbs tore into the screen and the images flew by. Now the girl was facing away from the camera as she removed her underwear. The cloth slipped down her legs. Then, she turned.
Aaliyah squirmed. She tried to buck her sister off, but the petite girl glued to her back wouldn't budge. Aaliyah's pelvis came up from the mattress and she pushed her flimsy shorts with all her might into her sister's crotch. But she just came tumbling back down to the bed.
"See?" she huffed. "That looks just like her! I saw her in the shower after gym. Her... Her dick is that big, I swear!"
"Come on, Ally, you're obsessed. You know that? What's gotten into you?"
She tried one more time to force her twin off but didn't get nearly as far. Aaliyah fell back down and her shorts only wedged further between her cheeks. "I don't know! I just can't stop thinking about it. She was just standing there, drying herself off. She, I dunno, didn't even cover herself when she saw me either. It was just us. We were alone."
"So you like her? Is that what you're saying?"
"I don't know!" she yelled.
"Shh!" Keisha reminded her.
"I haven't been able to think straight. She said she liked guys, but then—" she swallowed "—it started getting hard right there in front of me! And Keesh?"
"Yeah?"
Aaliyah whispered, "She's bigger than my boyfriend."
Keisha thrust down with her waist to keep her sister from trying to escape again.
Aaliyah grunted. Her eyelids fluttered. There was something different about her voice too. It's as if it suddenly sounded normal like every other insecure and uncertain High School junior. "What is wrong with me?" she asked.
"Aw, someone has a crush," Keisha said.
"Oh shut up! It's more like... Ugh! Maybe you're right, maybe I am obsessed."
Keisha slid her face in beside her sister's. Their cheeks rubbed together. "So, why don't you talk to her."
"Because she likes you!"
"What!"
"At least I think she does. She kept talking about you—and about that weird friend of yours. Who knows, maybe she likes Jennifer."
Keisha looked up through the ceiling as if she could see the two naked girls as they were when she left them. She shook her head. "That's impossible, there's no way she likes either one of us," she lied.
"No, it's true. I even texted her today and told her to come straight out back to where we were hanging out by the pool but she never came. She's probably at home thinking about you."
Keisha abruptly sat up. She swatted her sister on the back of her shirt and changed the subject. "Oh, stop it. Now you're just whining. You know everyone likes you."
"Not her!"
"Oh God..." Keisha mumbled. Then, she started rubbing her sister's shoulders. "Just relax. I'm sure when you wake up on Monday, your perfect world will be all back to normal."
Aaliyah sighed. She reached back and swept her hair to the side. It was one of her usual, presumptuous behaviors that routinely got her exactly what she wanted without uttering a single word. Keisha's hands dutifully slid over and began massaging her sister's neck.
"I should strangle you, you know," she said.