STAR, justin bieber

xxxi. real life, instagram

real life!

Adira frantically searches for her phone, heart pounding as she prepares for the thing she dreaded almost more than anything else: confrontation. Once her fingers land on the familiar feel of the cold, black screen, she scurries to dial her sister. It was something she hadn't found the courage to do in weeks, but she no longer had much of a choice.

The phone rings three times before her sister's croaky voice fills her ears.

"Adira?" Adira recognises her tone—Amala always sounded stuffed, like she'd been struck with a sore throat, when she'd been crying.

"Hey, 'Mala. Are you okay?"

"Is that what you called to ask me? After how ever many fucking months?" Undeniably angry, her voice is filled with a menace and viciousness Adira hadn't quite heard since her high school boyfriend broke her heart in front of the entire school.

Caught off guard, Adira nibbles her lip. "I just . . . I saw the bruises. I wanted to check up on you, 'Mala. Make sure you're okay."

Amala laughs in disbelief. "That's rich. Your fans have been attacking me nonstop, but this is the time you choose to reach out and make sure I'm okay?"

Adira spits out her next words. "I mean, what did you really expect? There's not much I felt like saying to my sister who decided to be friends with the man who put me in the hospital."

"You never even gave him a chance. He's . . . different with me. Sweet. He promised he was just angry that day when . . ." Sniffles fill Amala's ear as her words drift off, and she barely flinches. These weeks apart hadn't left much room within her to care for her sister's tears.

"Fuck you. Fuck giving him a chance." Tears rush down her face with more strength than ever. "I lost my baby, Amala. Do you get that? He made me fucking lose my baby."

Amala scoffs. "You didn't even know you were pregnant when that happened. How was he supposed to know before he did that? He regrets it a lot. He talks to me a lot about how he always imagined you guys having your own little family."

Adira exhales a breath and squeezes her eyes shut for a split second. "You're fucking insane. I don't care what he regrets. I care about what he did."

"His feelings don't matter? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes," she says matter-of-factly.

Amala rolls her eyes, knowing Adira wasn't there to see it but almost certain the other girl could feel her annoyance through the phone. "Get over yourself, Adira. Not everything's about you."

Gasping for air through her tears, Adira finally says: "'Mala, please . . . I just called to ask about the bruises."

"I'm fine. They're nothing. Nothing happened."

"Are you sure?"

"Don't worry about me anymore, Adira."

With that, she hangs up the phone.

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