Danger Signs // Demi Lovato // 4

1. I'm No Cry Baby

August 23, 2021

Less than a week into my senior year of school, and it was already a living hell.

This year, we'd started in the middle of the week, so today was the first Monday of the new school year. But it didn't really make a difference.

None of my three friends were waiting outside for me before class, so after Maia dropped me off, I went straight to my first period class. I didn't bother with my locker anymore. Starting my junior year, people had started breaking in, leaving moldy food or expired milk from lunch. Some days I got lucky and just found some graffiti painted on the outside, which was always painted over by the next day. Locker 327 had probably accumulated thirty to forty coats of blue-gray paint that year.

Ever since news broke that I had been adopted by Demi and Maia, everyone slowly turned against me, even my only three friends, Emma, Brie, and Keely. At first they thought it was awesome, but once they saw how uncool it was making me, they slowly cut ties. My last name wasn't changed in the school system until junior year, which only made everything worse.

Now, don't get me wrong. The entire school didn't hate me; there were a lot of kids who just couldn't be bothered with my existence at all, which was fine by me.

And occasionally, I received sorrowful looks from one of the girls, Emma, but she didn't want to risk being targeted for feeling sorry for me. In response to their looks, especially Brie, I glared at back at them. They were so worried about their own image, they had forgotten about when I told them the truth before I was adopted. They were a little upset that I'd lied for so long, and had forgiven me quickly knowing why I did it, why Demi and Maia wanted to wait, but all of that was gone now.

What I didn't tell Demi and Maia, however, was how bad things got sometimes. They already felt bad enough that my friends had abandoned me, they didn't need to know about the names people shouted at me, or about anything else.

I'd started my freshman year at this school, scared of the world, lying about who I really lived with. Now, as a senior, I knew I had seen the worst of high school, and it no longer fazed me too much. Whenever I saw someone laughing or talking about me, I just shot them a death glare and went back to what I was doing.

"Rosie Lovato," my Biology teacher, Mr. Barnes said as I quietly took my seat. No one else was in the room.

I didn't say anything.

"Good weekend?" he asked, sounding like he really didn't care, because I knew he really didn't, while writing the week's plans on the side of the whiteboard in a bright green color. I couldn't even read it, and I was only in the second row.

I shrugged.

Most of my teachers this year quickly found I'm not very talkative. They try once, but give up right after. The only teachers I talk to are my old English 10 teacher, who I'm now a teacher assistant for and my study hall teacher, who I'd had last year. Anyone new, I decided, wasn't worth my time. 

A few minutes passed before the bell rang and a few of the "cool" kids who didn't talk to me came in, taking their seats. I felt myself tense in anticipation as I waited for everyone else to come in. I could only wonder what remarks they'd have for me today.

Mr. Barnes started placing the new syllabus on our desks, even though he never stuck to it. He was notorious for that.

But that's when Miles Peterson walked in, followed by his new slave—I mean girlfriend—Keely. Yeah, that Keely. He took the paper Mr. Barnes was about to set down and crumpled it into a ball, throwing it in my direction. It would have hit me, maybe in my eye, if I didn't jerk to one side, the paper ball grazing my hair instead.

"Hey, now," Mr. Barnes said, but that was it. Miles would always win. He smirked before kissing Keely and they sat down, Miles to my right, Keely in front of him. I should have picked a better seat that first day.

"So, Lova-hoe," he said with a proud chuckle. "Came up with that one this weekend. You like?"

With an icy glare towards both of them, I said, "What I'd like even more is if you left me the hell alone. I never did a thing to you or anyone else. Demi adopted me. Move on."

"Quiet!" Mr. Barnes shouted. I knew it wasn't directly at me, since everyone was talking louder than me. "Lovato."

My head whipped around to see him glaring at me.

The next two words I spoke would end up changing my life in ways I'd never expect.

"Fuck off."