Danger Signs // Demi Lovato // 4

9. Nothing Could Go Wrong

Jay and Jordan's car was nice. I had expected it to be full of clothes and trash for some reason. Maybe because all the cars in the student lot were clearly unkempt. Jay was driving and I was sitting up front with her, since I had to give directions. Jordan was practically laying in the back on his phone.

The radio was on for extra noise, but it wasn't playing anything I knew.

"Paige is hungry," Jordan said as we passed several fast food places.

"We're getting food later," Jay said. "Tell her to calm down."

"She said she can't," Jordan replied half a minute later.

I stifled a laugh at the reference and continued to direct Jay through the traffic.

We were through the gate when Jay suddenly asked, "What should we expect?"

"From Demi? Or Maia?"

"Everything," she said, glancing in the rear view to make sure the others were still there.

"Honestly, I don't even know."

"Helpful," Jordan said, sitting up as Jay pulled into the driveway.

"Shut up, you're meeting Demi Lovato," Jay remarked with a smirk. We got out and waited for Paige, Isaiah, and Tess to stop looking lost and follow us to the door. I used my key and told whoever was last to close it.

"Guys, we're here," I called out, seeing Maia just coming into the kitchen. I heard a small gasp from behind me, and then three more when Demi appeared at the top of the steps.

She grinned and rushed down.

Introductions were made, everyone at least a little bit star struck by Demi. She laughed it off, taking a few pictures with Tess, Paige, and Jordan. Who would have guessed he was a fan boy?

"So what's the plan?" Demi asked.

"Going to get food, and then hang at Paige's," Jay said.

"That new Ryan Reynolds movie is out," Tess said.

"Will we have enough after?" Jay looked like she was about to reach into her pocket, but Demi stopped her.

"Don't worry about it. Rosie can take care of it." She gave me a little smile, knowing how much I loved Ryan.

Paige let out a little "Yes!" and Jay said we should go so we had time to get food and then head to the theater.

Demi and Maia gave me a hug before I left.

As we were driving away from the house, and back into the city, Jay asked if Demi and Maia would be okay with me spending the night.

"You should have asked!" I exclaimed.

"Well, I didn't mean tonight, but next weekend," she clarified. Jordan snickered in the backseat.

"Okay, I'll ask later, then."

"She doesn't want you to see her cave of a room," Jordan said.

"Oh, like yours is any better," Jay fired back.

He took a moment, then said, "Shut up."

She just laughed, and after about twenty minutes of driving, she pulled into a parking lot behind some stores and restaurants. Everyone met at the front of Jay's car to talk about what kind of food we wanted.

Isaiah and Paige were good with anything, Tess wanted ice cream, Jordan wasn't too hungry but would probably get something small, and Jay wanted pizza. Then they all looked at me.

"I was promised pizza and ice cream," I said.

Jay was the only one who laughed even a little, and she threw her arm over my shoulders. "We'll stop at that pizza place right over there and then grab some ice cream. Cool?" she asked everyone.

"Then movie," Tess added as we made our way down the sidewalk. This wasn't a part of LA I knew well, but I had heard of a few of the stores in the area.

At the pizza place, a family owned restaurant called Valentino's Pizzeria, we had to put two tables together so we could all sit together. The place was busy, so we had to wait a bit for our orders, and the smell of pizza in the air made my mouth water.

Finally, when we were served, Tess and Paige started bombarding me with questions about Demi and what it was like to live with her. Those were easy, if not fun to answer, and luckily they didn't ask about her overdose from 2018. I barely knew anything about it anyway. But the hard questions came when her new music was brought up and the thought of a tour popped into Jay's head.

"Is she really getting dumped if she doesn't do it?" Tess asked, sipping her soda through a straw.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So is she gonna do it?" Paige asked, prodding for more.

"I don't know if she wants me to tell anyone, but... yeah."

"When?" Jordan asked.

"I don't know yet."

"Okay, okay," Jay said, cutting off whatever Paige was about to say. "Leave the girl alone now. She's getting us movie tickets."

"Yeah, we should go get Tess some ice cream and head over," Isaiah said, looking at his phone.

After we finished up, we left and walked down the street to the closest ice cream shop. Tess just wanted a small cup of green tea ice cream, so she could eat it on the way to the movie theater and not make a mess in Isaiah's car.

As we arrived at the theater, Paige and Tess hugged me from either side. I shot a scared look to Jay, who chuckled slightly. "The children are happy," she said, as if that explained everything.

We got our tickets, me paying with my credit card, and went inside to get some snacks and drinks.

"Dude, my mom would kill me if I ever spent this much on stuff like this," Tess said, referring to the tickets, popcorn, candy, and drinks.

"To be honest, I'm not really supposed to spend a lot unless it's a real emergency, but I guess Demi wanted us to have fun. I feel like I haven't really been out in a year or more," I admitted, and then instantly regretted it because of how lame I sounded.

"It's cool," Jordan told me. "We never really get out like this much either."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, we like to lay low," Jay told me, her shoulder bumping mine as we entered the theater and found some seats in the middle. "Chill," she added quietly, digging into her popcorn as the first trailer began to play.