IT WON'T STOP

23.

[ Amara's ]

A year passed.

"The beautiful Arceta, look at here!" The cameraman in a public space suddenly called my name. I posed and smiled for them. As what I always do, even when I'm tired.

"Thank you, Miss Maraiah!" They exclaimed before I got in the car with four bodyguards by my side. I smiled warmly at them and got in the car immediately.

I'm currently in the States, thriving and chasing fame everywhere. I've been endorsing and modelling for a lot of bigger companies and products. I also plan to start my own business, if ever. I know I will not stay here longer when I get older.

My phone suddenly rang, and I immediately answered it. It's Sadie's number.

"Girl, how are you?! Nasaan ka?!" Tuloy-tuloy niyang pag tanong.

"I'm okay, in the states, pa rin," I calmly answered. "I don't know if I can visit the Philippines; I've been really busy here."

"Aw, no need to worry! Nandito kami!" I heard Skylar's voice. My eyes widened when she said that.

"What? Are you being serious?!" I couldn't help but react dramatically. They all laughed when I said that.

"Oo! Nandito rin si Galilea, nag-check in sa hotel room namin. Hangout tayo!" Skylar loudly said.

"Hell, yeah!" I smiled widely. And we ended up meeting each other in a fancy dining restaurant in the evening.

Even if I was still covering my face by using eyeglasses and a face mask, some people would still take pictures with me, especially paparazzis.

"Ang famous mo na, ha!" Skylar said to me when we all sat down. I had to just rent the whole restaurant for the evening.

"It's exhausting," I sighed.

"Totoo, parang wala ka ngang space sa personal times mo," Sadie agreed.

"Hindi ka ba napapahamak?" Galilea worryingly asked me.

"Hindi naman, it's just very exhausting and heavy whenever I need my own time. I still get anxiety attacks, you know." I smiled a little. They all nodded when I said that.

"Uhm, Amara," Skylar softly called my name. "Ready, ka na ba na pag-usapan natin si Machiko?"

Machiko.

My heart ached effortlessly.

"Yeah, I've moved on." I smiled sweetly.

"Sure, ka?" Sadie touched my shoulder a little. I nodded while still having a smile plastered on my face.

"Sabihan niyo na," Galilea said.

"She... disappeared," Sadie told me with a sad tone.

Disappeared? How? Why? When?

"Well, after the incident in the Philippines a year ago, yung she got shot. I heard it was some sort of political problems from her parents, nadamay siya. And after that, we knew she left JMC, her social media were gone, and she flee away from the country, I guess," Skylar explained.

I couldn't process my mind further; all I had were flashbacks of when the incident happened.

FLASHBACKS.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I screamed to myself while trembling and crying, packing my stuff in the luggage to go back to the Philippines.

"Please, I will go back," I said to Sadie in the call, already tearing up.

"Amara, kumalma ka, ginagawa naman ng lahat na maka-recover siya." Sadie was also panicking.

I ended up going back to the Philippines; everything came too fast. I wanted it to be fast. I want to see her; I want to know what exactly happened; I want to know how she was doing; and I was overall just worried.