secrets ↠ demi lovato / 5h

[69]

yes, it is chapter 69, but nothing of the sort goes on here. sorry if you were disappointed ;)

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avoidance gets easier as it progresses. this I found out a couple of days after the weekend break in Malibu.

Demi released Cool For The Summer, and soon got to organizing pool parties to promote and celebrate it. she offered to bring me along, but I chose to stay in LA with Naya so that we could start preparing for the puppy. so, I talked to the girls less and less, distancing myself from Lauren especially, eager to cut off as much contact as I could. at first, she'd text me out of the group conversation, asking me if I was okay. I said I was fine the first couple of times, but soon started saying "don't really wanna talk about it" or something along those lines so she'd leave me alone. although I wanted her to stop asking, when she did, all I felt was hollow emptiness and a strange sense of longing. I shouldn't feel that. she was practically lying to me, not telling me anything about Camila and her. why should I tell her everything if she didn't do the same for me?

I busied myself with other things, working to the point where I didn't have time to feel. I started filming videos again, helping Naya prepare for the puppy, writing lyrics to songs, and getting ready for my hectic lineup of performances. I couldn't wait to start, so that I could be even busier and have less excuses to not be replying to my texts.

one afternoon, a few days before Demi was supposed to be back, I got a call. pausing my editing of a video and picking up my phone, I looked at the caller ID, tilting my head slightly in confusion when I saw that Matt was calling.

"hello?"

"hi, Lea, it's Matt."

"hi, Matt. what's up?"

"um, well, I'm in LA at the moment so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out? uh, like, I could take you out? like, maybe grab dinner or something?" he spoke in a rush, words jumbled up together, almost as if he was nervous. for some reason, this made me smile.

I looked at the video I was editing. I was meant to have it up for tomorrow, on schedule, but it wasn't like I was making progress with it - because my mind was swimming with thoughts about Lauren.

"sure," I said carelessly to Matt. "what time, and where?"

usually, I would've asked first. I'd never jumped into plans like this, ever. but right now, I didn't care. everything was hurting because of Lauren, and I needed to do something before I went insane. I needed to clear my head.

"awesome," Matt said, and I could almost hear relief in his voice. we decided on a place and a time, then Matt had to go, so we hung up. I pushed my laptop off my lap, got off my bed and started to pick out an outfit to wear. deciding on the classic black skirt, dark blue top and flannel with a necklace that Demi had given me, I left my room to go downstairs so that I could tell Naya that I was going out.

"Ny?" I called as I jogged down the stairs.

"yeah?" she called from the dining table, where she had papers spread out everywhere and was studying them intensely.

"woah," I said, coming to stand next to her. "what's this?"

"possible new role," Naya said, smiling up at me. "what's up, baby?"

"I'm going out tonight," I said, different to the usual 'can I?'. this time, it was 'I am'.

Naya raised her eyebrows. "alone?"

"no," I said. "Matt's in LA."

Naya smiled a bit, nodding slowly. "Matt, huh? just him?"

"yeaaah," I said slowly. "for dinner."