Demitra sat cross-legged on the floor, her phone resting against her knee. Her sisters’ laughter echoed through the house as they replayed the last take for the YouTube video, but her smile had faded long before. She glanced at the paused frame of herself on the screen—her smile slightly off, her body looking weird to her, her hair looking frizzier than she thought it had been.

She sighed, locking her phone and staring blankly at the wall. The insecurity coiled around her chest like a vice, tightening with every second she sat there.

“Hey, Demitra!” one of her sisters called from the kitchen. “You coming to help with the thumbnail?”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, but her legs didn’t move. Instead, she picked up her phone and unlocked it again, her thumb hovering over your contact name.

She hesitated for a moment before pressing call. The line rang twice before your familiar voice filled the silence.

“Hey, Mia,” you said warmly, the nickname pulling a small smile from her lips. “What’s up?”

demitras voice wavered, quieter than she intended. “Can you... come over? Please?”