You Can't Choose Your Family ➸ Demi Lovato

{Chapter 48}

Rehearsing for and perfecting the tour seemed like a never ending mountain needing to be climbed. Demi managed to do the majority of it from home; holding all meetings with her management in the dining room we never used. However she still had to go to performance rehearsals across the city on most days. Usually she organised them for the mornings and she'd be back by midday, even before I would wake up. It was an arrangement which worked but I couldn't help feeling as if our bond had weakened slightly because of it. She was physically here, in the house, but we hadn't had any heart to hearts or even a movie night for over two weeks now. She was just constantly busy doing Skype calls with God-knows-who, tying up loose ends or what not. It's only five days until we start tour now and I can't help but think she'll have even less time for me when we get on the road. I mean it's forty four shows, all in different cities and states, crammed into the space of three months. It doesn't sound as if there will even be any time for my sister to sleep. She certainly won't have the energy nor headspace to be burdened with my problems, of which I had a few to deal with at the moment...

Firstly, Eva had asked to go on another date a few days after the first. I'd agreed, sticking to the deal of returning the offer and taking her out this time. Unbeknownst to the brunette, I was planning on this being the last of the dates we went on. I didn't want to take this any further. I only went along with the movie theatre date for selfish reasons. I thought if I kissed her I'd find out if I have the capacity to like girls like that. The plan hadn't worked at all, leaving me more confused than ever about my feelings towards Camila and feeling horrible for using Eva.

Talking about that particular girl group member... We'd continued to talk sporadically over text but I hadn't seen her since Sky High Sports, over two weeks ago. Our conversations were usually about the upcoming tour and how she can't wait to share the experience with me and Demi or how she's excited to show me around some of the cities we were visiting on days off (as she's visited the majority on previous tours). Camila very often dropped in a text to see if I was okay, always followed up by the promise she was always there if I wanted someone to talk to. I haven't categorically told her what happened at the end of last month but she's smart and I think she has an understanding that everything isn't exactly all rainbows and smiles for me all the time. She's an incredibly sweet girl and I can't help but be overjoyed I'll be spending the best part of three months in close quarters with her. I'm slightly apprehensive about my current feelings getting stronger and ultimately out of control but what's the worse that can happen?

Apart from the Eva situation (which should be all cleared up by tomorrow afternoon after my 'date' with her) my only other actual problem goes by the name of Madison De La Garza. Dianna had finally consented to letting Madison come on tour with Demi and I. She'd be enrolled in virtual school, like I will be, for the rest of the grade. Dianna had laid out the rules pretty strictly. We had to do four hours of schooling a day and she said she'd be getting our results through every time we got an assignment marked. If we started to fail or somehow managed to get away with doing the bare minimum of work and use our 'class hours' to muck around then we would both be on the next plane back to Los Angeles. Madison would return to her old school and I'd have to live with the De La Garza's with daily tutoring. Dianna wasn't going to be taking me away from Demi easily. I was going to do my schooling properly. No doubt about that.

Dianna's education regime wasn't what was worrying me. The problem was that I would have to spend the majority of each day with my step sister. She downright hated me. I would have to be with her not only during our 'school hours' but we'd sleep on the same bus and do pretty much everything together as everyone else we knew on the tour would be performing and busy. I really hope she'll get over her jealousy and realise we can both 'have' Demi, that she's shareable. If not, the next three months would be excruciating.