Danger Signs // Demi Lovato // 4

15. I'll Walk Right Up To You And Put One Finger In The Air

Demi and Maia were happy that I was home, and I feared they would somehow know what had happened, but Jay assured me the smell didn't last long. As long as I acted like it was a normal slumber party, everything would be fine. I argued I had no idea what a normal slumber party was, and Jay told me about how girls gossip about anything and everything, do each other's makeup, nails, and hair, and eat all kinds of junk food.

"But, if you're that worried, say we stayed up pretty much all night and you wanna get some sleep," Jay told me before she drove me home.

But that didn't seem possible when Demi said she had something to tell me. I must have looked confused because she explained she had told me in a text that they needed to talk to me.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," I said, quickly trying to cover up my forgetfulness. "We were watching a movie, so when I saw it, I figured you were already in bed." It felt wordy and unnecessary, but Demi just sat me down on the couch so they could tell me what was going on.

"So, I think I told you I had to leave for tour soon, like by the end of September?" Demi began.

"You didn't give the exact month, but yeah," I said.

She continued, a sad smile on her face, "I'm leaving next week and I'll be gone for about three months, and then I'll have some time off, then I'll be gone for another two months, overseas."

I didn't know what face I was making, but she held my hand tightly.

"But you guys are gonna visit on school breaks, plus I'm just a text, call, or FaceTime away." She smiled, and I mirrored her.

Maia sat on the table in front of the couch. "And just a warning, it'll be like she's still here," she said, jokingly. Demi rolled her eyes.

"But, since this is our last weekend together for a while, I have some plans for us."

I forced a smile, loving the idea, but it wasn't even lunchtime yet, and I did want to sleep. "Sounds great. I kinda wanted to get a little more sleep, and maybe a shower first."

They said it was no problem, and they weren't ready to go anyway.

I slept for almost three hours, then took a quick shower, really just to rinse myself off, and got dressed in a plaid flannel with a black leather jacket over top, and black skinny jeans, ripped at the knees. I could dress up and be girly if I wanted to, but most of the time I went with a more casual, 90s punk kind of style.

My door opened as I was finishing up putting on my boots, already having applied some makeup to cover my dark circles under my eyes.

"Ready?" Maia asked, dressed in a white shirt, dark jeans, and a pink leather jacket and beige bag to top off the look.

"Yep," I replied, grabbing my phone off the charger before following her downstairs where Demi was waiting.

She looked stunning, yet casual, in jeans and a sweater with a large black bag.

"So, where are we headed?" I asked, sliding into the backseat of Demi's car.

"We were thinking the mall, so we can do some shopping, maybe get our hair and nails done. Food," Demi said.

"Obviously," Maia said with a snort. Anyone who knew Maia knew the girl could eat.

"Sounds good." I smiled to myself, checking to see if I had any messages, which I didn't. After so long, I was used to it, but now that I had friends again, it kind of stung.

But I shrugged it off, and put my phone on silent, telling myself I would enjoy this day with my moms before one of them left for her huge comeback tour.

~//~//~//~//~//~//~

We walked around, going into nearly every store in the mall. They showed me their favorite stores, and we each ended up with several bags dangling from our arms. We finally stopped at the food court to set everything down and rest our feet. Maia went to get us some food, leaving me and Demi.

"Excited?" I asked her.

"Yes and no. I can't wait to be back on stage, but I'm gonna miss you two like crazy."

"You're never going to get off FaceTime, are you?" I asked, jokingly, but in a serious tone.

Demi laughed. "Nope."

She asked a little bit about school and my new friends while we waited for Maia to come back. Demi was telling me she liked Jay based on what I told her when Maia appeared with her arms and hands full of McDonald's food. She had our drinks in a holder, and set it down before handing me and Demi our bags.

"This was the easiest to get," Maia said, taking a seat next to me, since the chair next to Demi was piled with shopping bags.

"It's fine. Smells delicious," Demi said, smiling down into her bag. She started to pull out a burger and fries, and I saw that Maia had gotten me a cheeseburger, and a small thing of nuggets and fries.

We started eating, too hungry to make conversation, and then once we were all about halfway done, they started asking more questions about school and my friends, since Maia hadn't been around the first time to hear about it.

"They seem pretty nice," Maia said, sipping thoughtfully at her soda. "Jay seems like a control freak, though."

"Yeah?" I asked, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah, she just seems assertive, I guess. Not really letting other people speak their minds." She shrugged, and thankfully the subject was dropped.

Demi asked what we wanted to do next, and Maia said she wanted to sit for a while to digest and then head home.

"It's not even dark yet, old lady," Demi said, making Maia crack a smile.

"Oh, shut up. I have to go back to work Monday so I wanna rest my feet."

Demi nodded in understanding, and we began talking about the tour until Maia decided she was ready to go. Demi threw away our trash, while Maia and I started gathering our bags. Headed back the way we came through the mall, I was suddenly more aware of all the stares. I saw some flashes go off, and heard curses as people realized they forgot to turn the flash off.

"It's alright, Rosie," Demi said. She walked on my right, Maia to my left, and I noticed Maia looking off somewhere. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and I prevented her from colliding with a column.

"Shit," she muttered, stopping, and staring behind her.

"Hey, you okay?" Demi asked, stepping in front of me and blocking whatever Maia was looking at.

"Yeah-Yeah, just thought I saw someone." She turned and we started walking again.

The topic was forgotten as Demi asked me if I was okay. More people were staring at her, and I think she thought I was freaking out. I wasn't, I just wanted to know who Maia thought she saw. An old ex?

I wouldn't find out the answer until much later.