|Self-Conclusion|Justin Bieber|Dear Aiden Sequel|

|Self-Conclusion|Justin Bieber|10|

Here we are again. So physically close to each other, yet so emotionally far away. I’d reluctantly packed my suit case and tossed it into the back of the rental SUV, even after many attempts to change my mother’s mind. There was no getting out of this. So I took my expected place in Justin’ passenger side seat, slamming the door purposefully. He’d stepped into the driver’s seat and we pulled away. Every mile that passed seemed like I was getting farther and farther away from everything that kept me together. Like the doctors had repaired me with scotch tape and it had just begun to rain. I was slowly losing my grip.

I propped my feet up on the dashboard and sighed, crossing my arms across my chest as I stared at the passing mile markers staked on the side of the interstate. I was so tired that the sound of the wind rushing past put me to sleep where I dreamt.

I dreamt of last fall, vivid images of Justin and myself flashing through my mind. The sound of the chirping birds of the woods surrounded me as I remembered those specific minutes. The way Justin had looked at me, and the way I had felt. How I had still felt so guarded, but not nearly as enclosed as I am now. His voice echoed softly, reminding me of all the words he said to me. The things he had to say about the self-inflicted scars on my arm and how he’d shown so much concern, yet I refused to let him over my wall. I continued to build it higher and higher although he still insisted on trying to get over it.

These ethereal moments began to fade slowly. Justin’s mellifluous voice quieted to a soft muffle and the birds began to chirp louder and louder until it reached a deafening tone and I’d covered my ear in an attempted to drown out the noise. I felt hot, like standing on a beach in winter clothes in the dead heat of summer. The chirping of birds had been replaced by the sound of crackling and popping of a fire.

Suddenly I had returned to that dreadful night. I looked down at myself and saw all the wounds open and bloody once again. Afraid, I began searching for an exit, but there was none. I was surrounded by flames and Robert’s nefarious laughter. I ran from left to right, choking on smoke. Though, in my right mind I knew that this was not how this happened I somehow felt that this might be how it was supposed to happen. The roof began to collapse and my head snapped up to watch as it came rushing down to land on top of me.

Instantly I woke up to the blinding sun in my eyes as I jolted upright, gasping for air. I looked around and found myself in a spacious bedroom. Confused, I threw the blankets off me quickly and jumped out of the bed I was laying in. Confusion and anxiety had begun to take over when flashbacks of yesterday evening replayed themselves in my mind. I sat back down on the bed, holding my head in my shaking hands as I gathered my thoughts, the intense fear from the nightmare I had just awoken from slowly fading into its usual feeling of being heavily jaded.

The sheets, quilt, and pillow case were soaked with sweat. It was then that I noticed that I wasn’t wearing what I had been when I left Kingman. My jeans and T shirt had been replaced with sweat pants and a shirt that didn’t belong to me. A sudden unexpected rush of anger and slight embarrassment ran through me and I stood up, walking quickly to open the two French doors that separated this room from the magnificent living area of the hotel suite. Unaware of anything, I yelled, “What the hell?!” Justin’s head whipped around quickly to look at me and I gave him an angry glare.

“Really, Justin?” I asked.

“What?” He replied, seeming legitimately confused.

“Oh don’t play stupid,” I spat, gesturing to the clothes I was wearing.

“Aiden, I-“ He started, but I cut him off.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” I said.

“I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable so-,” he started again but I put my hand up in an “I-don’t-want-to-hear-it” fashion.

“Just shut up,” I said in a quiet voice, a migraine already coming on.

It was dead silent for a moment before someone spoke up.

“You must be Aiden,” a female voice said.

I took one look at the dark haired girl on the couch before I sneered and retorted in a mocking tone, “You must be Selena.”

“Justin was only trying to explain that you fell asleep on the drive here and, instead of waking you up, he carried you and wasn’t able to get your bags so he had Pattie change you into some more comfortable clothes,” she said with a sickeningly sweet voice.

“Yeah, in case you haven’t noticed yet, I could care less. It would have been more appropriate for him to just wake me up and let me change myself,” I said in an angry tone.

“Well you’re just a ball of sunshine, aren’t you?” Selena replied, her sweet voice now exchanged for an irritated growl.

“Don’t even get me started. I don’t want to be here any more than you want me to be here.”

Justin gave out a sigh and turned toward Selena, “maybe you should go for a bit and let Aiden get herself together. Maybe once she’s woken up and has some time to settle down she’ll be more sociable,” he spoke as if I wasn’t standing right there.

“What am I, Justin? A child?” I asked rhetorically, “it’s not that I just woke up, it’s that I just woke up in a place I wish I wasn’t. Maybe after you wake up from your alternate reality where I’m a bundle of joy, things my get a little better.”

“Justin is right, maybe I should go and let you two talk for a minute. You obviously have a lot of sorting out to do. The sooner you sort it out, the sooner you can go back to wherever he found you and we can all move on with our lives,” Selena spoke up as she stood from her place next to Justin.

I let her pathetic hints at Justin being “out of my league” roll right off my shoulders as she leaned down to give Justin a peck on the cheek, “I’ll see you later, babe.”

Justin nodded and watched her leave the room before he turned his attention to me.

“What a bitch,”  I scoffed and turned away to walk to the bathroom to take a shower.