A New Beginning (Adopted by Ariana Grande and Jai Brooks)

28

• Amelia •

I continue to follow Julia down the hall. We reach the second to last room and she knocks on the door.

A lady who looks about 30 opens the door. She's a little taller than me. She has long, wavy light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Come on in." She says.

Julia walks in and I follow behind her wanting to run off in the other direction.

There's a conference table in the middle of the room.

"Come take a seat guys. Oh I'm Riley by the way." Riley tells me.

"Hi... I'm Amelia..." I say stuttering a bit.

She takes a seat and I sit across from her.

"I'll see you later." Julia says and walks out.

Wow thanks for leaving Riley and I awkwardly alone. I think to myself sarcastically.

"So where are the rest of the girls?" I ask.

"They'll be down shortly. I've already met and talked to each of them separately so I wanted to talk to you and meet you separately too." She tells me.

"Oh..."

"how are you?" She asks.

"I mean if you want the truth, I'm terrible. I was sent here and Ariana, the girl who adopted me, got in a car accident and now she's in a coma and I can't even be there with her for when she wakes up, if she even wakes up! So now, Jai, who is Ariana's boyfriend, is at the hospital waiting for Ariana to wake up and he's alone and sad and alone and depressed and alone and do you even understand what it's like to be and feel so alone?!" I ask, tears of anger beginning to fill my eyes.

Riley's about to respond but I cut her off before she can even say anything.

"I should be there with him and I can't be! What if she doesn't even wake up?! I didn't even get to say goodbye! Jai promised she'd be awake by the time I come back but I don't expect what normal people expect out of life!" I yell, trying not to let my tears escape.

"What do normal people expect out of life Amelia?" She asks me.

"They expect people to keep promises. They expect the best out of life." I say, my voice going calm.

"And you don't?" She asks.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not normal."

"Name one person who you think is normal."

I think for a minute. I almost say Ariana and Jai but they're famous so they're not exactly "normal"

"I-I don't know..." I say feeling stupid and embarrassed.

"That's because no ones normal and no ones perfect either." She tells me.

"You look pretty perfect. You're pretty, you're nice, you help people succeed through their recovery..." I say trailing off.

She laughs a little.

"Thank you, but I'm far from perfect, Amelia." She assures me.

"Yeah right." I mumble.

"Can I tell you a story?" She asks me.

"Sure."

"A while back, there was a girl who was your age. She was bullied at school and at home she was abused verbally too. She wasn't the skinniest of the girls and that was one of the main things she was bullied for. But, she did have one friend, her best friend. His name is Max. Max got bullied too, mostly for being friends with the girl and standing up to the bullies. He continued to stand up to the bullies telling them to leave him and the girl alone but it never worked. But Max didn't tell any adults. He was too determined that he could stop them without any help. As his attempts to make the bullies stop continued to fail, the bullies words slowly began to get to the girls head. Fat, ugly, stupid. When she got home, her parents called her the same thing. Fat, ugly, stupid. She began to believe them. As the words continued to sink into her head, she began to starve herself. As she got skinnier, she started to wear baggy clothes. Max began to notice she was changing. She was always cold, her clothes were baggy and she seemed to always look sick. One day he asked her why she was changing and why she looked different. She told him that she was fine but he knew her better than that. He kept asking her what was wrong until finally she gave in. She trusted him and she told him everything. The next day she was called to the guidance counselors office. Max was there and the girl could tell he had been crying. The counselor sent Max back to his class and the girl went in. The counselor told her that Max told them everything. Her eyes immediately filled with tears of anger and she hated Max for telling the counselor. She trusted him. Then the counselor told her that she had to go to an eating disorder to recover. The girl was even more angry because she didn't want to get better. But they made her go anyways. She went and a month later, she was released. The counselor at the eating disorder helped her so much and gave her confidence. All of that made her want to get better. She learned to love herself and feel good about herself. Her first day back to school, she immediately went to find Max. He was at his locker when she spotted him. She called his name and he shut his locker and looked at her. She ran towards him and he looked scared. Once she reached him, she gave him a big hug and he hugged her back. When he let her go, she thanked him for what he did and how she learned to love herself. He was happy that he got her help and that she was recovered. Up to this very day, Max and the girl are still best friends. I know this because Max is my husband and I'm that girl. This is why I became a counselor. Because I want to help girls learn to love themselves just like I learned to love myself." She finishes.

I take a moment to take in the whole story.

"So... you do understand?" I ask her.

"Yes, I do understand. And I know what it's like to experience the terrible feelings you're feeling. I know the struggle of not being able to love yourself. But it's possible Amelia. And I know you can do it. You just have to be willing to try with me. I know it's hard, but I believe in you. You can do this." She tells me.

I smile. I feel a boosts of confidence. It feels good to know that another person believes in me. I can do this. I just have to try. Riley did it. I can too.

"Thank you... I think I believe in me too. Your story changed my perspective on things." I tell her.

"I'm very glad it did." She says.

Maybe she's right, maybe I can do this just like she did.

A/N okay I know you guys hate me for not updating for so long and then promising you 2 times that I'd update and then I didn't. I'm so sorry I know it probably sounds like I'm making up excuses but I'm not. I got sick (and still am sick) but hopefully you guys don't hate me. I hope you liked this. I'll try and update again. Once again I'm so sorry.