The Engagement

Tiana "Are you excited about your birthday next week?" My friend Stacy asked. Before I could even open my mouth, Bianca butt in, "Of course she's excited! She'll finally get the chance to see if Damien's her soulie. She can finally stop saving herself." "Oh please," Tiffany, the skeptic, added. "I'm sure she gave it up to him a long time ago. She's just been keeping it a secret." I blushed furiously while the girls laughed and giggled. "Is that true, Ti? Did he get the booty?" Bianca joked. "What girl? No! Not yet." I defended. The thought of finally doing it though, filled me with nerves and excitement. The thought of finally being with Damien was a dream come true for me. Damien and I met when I was seven and he was ten. It was genuinely love at first sight for me. We were in the park and I'd fallen off the swing. My twin, Tyler, who was usually by my side, was sliding down the slide with some girl that had a head full of beads going down her back. Our older brother, Anthony, abandoned us for the basketball court to play with the older kids. Unlike the flirt, Charlie, Anthony immersed himself in whatever physical activity he could think of. So as I sat there, nursing my bad knee and trying to keep the tears at bay, the most handsome boy I'd ever seen squatted before me. His hair was faded at the sides and curly on the top with big, beautiful brown eyes and full lips pulled into a concerned frown. His eyebrows pinched together as he gently held my hand and said, "Let me see." I immediately pulled away and allowed him to inspect the slightly bruising mark on the side of my right knee. I let out a whimper as he poked it, then I felt cool air blow on it. My newly formed bruise began to tingle and recede back to my normal smooth tanned skin. I gasped and looked up at him. "Are you an angel?" I asked. He chuckled. "If you want me to be." "Okay, well, you can only be my angel. You can't do that to anyone else, you understand me?" I demanded, feeling more than a little possessive of him for some unknown reason. I'd never been this way. He just chuckled again and stood up, reaching out his arms to help me. "Why little bean?" "Because you're supposed to be mine! I can feel it!" I exclaimed with wide, excited eyes. Then suddenly, I felt bashful due to my brazen behavior and put my head down, afraid he'd deny it. "That's if you want to. I mean, you're handsome and, I feel safe with you, and you're nice, and and, my daddy does nice things to my mommy, and they're meant to be together too." I peeked my eyes up to see him staring at me with a small smirk on his face, a small hint of a dimple on his left cheek. "I'm sorry," I began to sniffle. I was suddenly encased in a warm embrace. I looked up to see my angel, wrapping me in his long arms. After he pulled away, he gave me a big smile, his white teeth gleaming and at that time, I knew, I fell completely in love with him. "Hello? Earth to Tiana?" Tiffany snapped her fingers in my face, breaking me out of my daze. "What?" "Ugh, did you even listen?" She rolled her eyes. I just stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "Your fine ass brother!" "What about him?" I immediately knew she was referencing Tyler, the womanizer of our sibling group. "He's here to get you." I looked up to find my twin walking up to our table, the swagger in his step that every girl seems to love. He effortlessly slid into our booth and picked up a fry off of my plate. I didn't mind as he polished off the rest of my fish from my fish and chips meal. I haven't had much of an appetite recently, due to the severity of what will be going on in a week. As he finished my milkshake, he slapped a $50 bill on the table, grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. I smiled and waved at my friends as they gave me a flurry of goodbyes and made goo-goo eyes at Tyler's back.