The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Thirty-One

❝promise (pronounced ˈprɒmɪs or prom-is), noun
an assurance of something; a declaration that something will/will not be done.❞

It took them a week to do so (due to shows and such-like), but finally, Elle was at the library again. She had managed to track down Demi's friends, and had befriended them herself, before getting Demi's phone number and organising a meeting with her, under the guise that she was doing a project on environmental science- the very thing she had been in the news for.

She took a deep breath, but knew that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. From the picture she had seen, Demi looked nothing like Hunter or like Lilly. Well, at least not from the photo she had found.

Then again, maybe there was a chance that she could be wrong. The photo was in black and white, and was extremely grainy- it was hard to tell what she looked like at all.

Someone set a cup of takeaway coffee down on the table, and Elle looked up. "Oh!"

Demi Jackson was fairly tall. She had grey eyes, which alerted Elle immediately- Lilly had had grey eyes, hadn't she? Her skin was tan, and she had dark hair, which she had styled in a quiff, and glasses that suited her thin, small face. "Are you Elle?"

"Yes. And you're Demi?"

She nodded, a small smile on her face. Her makeup wasn't drastic at all. It was simple, natural, and it suited her flawless skin. She was wearing a grey woollen turtleneck dress, and it showed off her figure. "It's nice to meet you. You're Hunter Hayes' daughter, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Pleasure to meet you."

Demi sat down and looked at Elle. "So, uh, you wanted to talk about the health of the environment due to global warming?"

"Mmm, yeah."

She waited patiently, and Elle said, "O-Oh, right, you're waiting for me to ask you something."

"Yeah..."

There was silence, and Elle said, "So... what is it?"

"You look a little pale."

"Can I get to know you a little first? I have social anxiety, I don't like talking to people I don't know very well," lied Elle.

"Oh, sure! I'm Demi. I'm sixteen- actually only turned sixteen last week."

"Oh, really? Me too! When's your birthday?"

"Eight of October."

"Same!"

"Wow, that's such a coincidence!"

"Insane coincidence."

"What's your dad like? Your family?"

"They're cool. He's on tour, and I asked to come along for my studies."

"Yeah? Environmental studies?"

"I'm looking at a lot of different things. Psychology and all."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Families and stuff."

"Oh, can I help with that?" She smiled. "I could tell you about my family."

That was surprisingly easy. "Oh, sure. What're they like?"

"Well, I've got my parents, and I have a baby sister. Her name is Luna."

"Luna, huh?"

"Yeah. Hold on, I've probably got a picture of them." She pulled out her phone. "What about your family?"