A walk on thorns

Chapter 9| Warning

Sabrina's POV
11:24 Am

After wallowing in frustration and wishful thoughts for a while, I decided to shower and edit some stuff. After that, I decided to switch on my Data and I was more than shocked to see the amount of notifications buzzing on my phone. Most of them were from Instagram, and when I opened it, it was a tag from MJ's recent post.

Oh my God! MJ, I’d almost forgotten that I met him. God bless this hassle! He posted the pictures and sent me a request for a collaboration post, which I quickly accepted. People were amazed to see us together, their two favorites from a parallel world out of nowhere. The pictures were stunning, with the sunset casting the perfect glow over us. When I checked the other post, it was a video of him pampering and teasing me, acting like a fanboy while I laughed at him.

Wow! The toxicity I inhaled in this house for the past 24 hours had made me believe that goodness was rare. But here we are, with people wishing us well, hoping to meet us in person, admiring, and cheering us on for our hard work. I honestly couldn’t be happier.

I was overwhelmed by all the hype and love we were receiving. I got caught up reading comments and replying to some of them. Then, I saw that the pictures had made it to The Northern Hibiscus blog. That’s when I felt a little twinge of worry, but I quickly shook it off. I was happy, and I didn’t care what anyone would say because I know what I’m doing with my life.

Without thinking, I dialed MJ’s number, but I hung up right away and texted him instead. I didn’t know where he was or what he was doing, and besides, we’d never spoken on the phone before.

“Aslm, can I call you?” I sent, and a moment later, he was calling.

“Hey!” I said happily.

“Looks like someone’s in a good mood today,” he laughed.

“Of course I am! Aren’t you?”

“Woah, Sabrina, what’s going on?”

“Haven’t you opened Instagram this morning?”

“Nope, I didn’t.”

“So you just posted the pictures, sent me a collaboration request, and then popped out?” I giggled.

“You’re funny, Sabrina. Yes, that’s exactly what I did,” he chuckled.

“Well, go on, then! You’re missing out,” I urged.

“No, no, don’t hang up! Tell me what’s going on first.”

“We’re trending, MJ! We’re everywhere on Instagram.”

“What?! Are you serious?” he shrieked.

“What? Aren’t you happy?” I asked, my smile beginning to fade.

“No, no, that’s not it! I should be happy, I want to be happy, it’s just that…”

“There’s a high possibility of getting into trouble?” I cut him off.

“You get the point.” He chuckled.

“Well, I think we’re in the same boat, then,” I sighed.

“What’s that supposed to imply?”

“It means… Sabrina will get lectured, Sabrina will get in trouble, but Sabrina doesn’t care because…”

“Sabrina is stubborn…” he finished, and we both laughed.

“You’re right! That’s exactly it. I was shocked when I saw that Northern Hibiscus reposted the pictures, I mean, who doesn’t follow that page? But then I brushed it off. I decided to stay positive, to be happy, and just enjoy it while it lasts, because once the backlash starts, who knows when it’ll stop.”