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

4

• Amelia •

I'm woken up by Ariana stroking my hair whispering "wake up love, we're home."

"It wasn't a dream? You're still really here?" I ask, slightly confused as I open my eyes.

"Yes love, we're still here." She says, reassuring me and I see Jai coming back over to the car.

"Alright Ms. Amelia your belongings are now in the guest room." He says, smiling.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you Amelia, we'll only be spending the night and then we're going to go back to LA tomorrow. I want you to meet my friends tonight." Ariana says.

"Alright sounds good." I smile, feeling really excited now.

"Shall I carry my princess inside?" He asks me raising his eyebrow.

"Um that's okay I think I might be too heavy." I stutter.

"Nonsense!" Jai says as Ariana gets out of the car.

As soon as she's out, he reaches in the back seat and scoops me bridal style. Ariana's about to start walking to the front door but once Jai has me completely out of the car and in his arms, he freezes. This stops her from moving any farther. She looks at Jai's face and sees he looks completely shocked. She walks back over to us.

"Jai? Is everything okay?" She asks and I can hear the fear in her voice.

It takes him a few moments to get out any words at all.

"Amelia?" He finally manages to whisper.

"Yeah?" I stutter out in a whisper.

I already know what he's gonna ask me.

"How much do you weigh?" He whispers.

He sounds like he's almost in tears. Shit. How do I answer this question? Should I lie? Should I tell the truth? Oh gosh. I might as well just tell them the truth and get it over with or they'll just put me on a scale.

I take a deep breath. "65 pounds" I whisper, biting my tongue to hold back my tears.

I'm 14 years old and weigh 65 pounds. Clearly something's wrong with that. They're going to take me back now because they're not stupid and they know a 14 year old girl shouldn't weigh 65 pounds. They're gonna find out. They're gonna bring me back.

"What?!" Jai whisper yells, snapping me out of my thoughts.

A tear slides down my cheek. I look at Ariana and see a tear fall down her cheek too. See I just make people sad. I didn't mean it.

"Come on Jai, let's get her inside." She says.

Oh god. They're gonna find out. They're gonna ask me. No one else noticed. Why did they? They're going to bring me back because I'm a defect. They're about to find out problem and secret #1. Great. Great. Great. Just fucking great. Why me?

"Coco, Toulouse, Ophelia! Hush!" Ariana says to the three barking dogs and they do as she shuts the front door behind us.

Coco, Toulouse, and Ophelia continue to follow us until we reached what I'm assuming is the family room.

It's a decent size, 2 sofas, a reclining chair, a work desk with a wooden chair, a pink moon chair, beautiful wooden flooring, a fire place, and a flat screen tv on the wall.

Jai puts me down in the reclining chair and grabs the wooden chair to pull up in front of me. Then Ariana grabs her pink moon chair and pulls it up next to Jai. So we're kinda in a triangle and they're both facing me.

I'm already balled up in the chair. I have my knees tucked up to my chest and my face put down on my knee caps. I feel a tear escape from my eye. I'm just waiting for the question. They're gonna send me back. That's all I can think right now because it's the truth.

I hear Ariana take a deep breath and then exhale. I wonder if she has already guessed.

"Amelia?" Jai asks softly and I don't raise my head up.

"Amelia baby? Please can you lift up your head?" Ariana asks after a moment.

Another moment passes by before I slowly raise my head. I see Ariana has tears brimming her eyes. She already knows. I can tell.

"Amelia... are you anorexic?" Ariana asks me carefully, holding back tears.

"No." I shoot back and put my head back down as I bite my tongue to hold back tears.

"Amelia?" Jai asks again in a soft calm voice and I look up again.

"What?" I ask him sharply and he looks shocked at the sound of my voice.

"Jai I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound like that." I apologize.

"It's okay. But Amelia please we need to know." He begs.

I just shake my head no and look back down. A moment passes and I continue biting my tongue. I can feel Ariana and Jai looking at me. They're never gonna believe me if I keep saying no. They can see right through my lies. I let go of my tongue and a few of my brimming tears slip out.

I slowly look back up and their eyes are still on me.

"I'm so sorry." I stutter and began sobbing.

Ariana gets out of her seat and Jai sits there in shock. I don't think he knows how to respond considering he's a teenage boy not a teenage girl.

Ariana scoops me up into her arms and then sits down on the recliner with me on her lap. I continue to sob.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry. Please don't hate me." I keep stuttering those same words out through sobs.

I begin hyperventilating and it's becoming hard to breathe.

"Baby it's okay. It's all gonna be okay. Breathe. Sshhh." Ariana keeps whispering to me while stroking my hair.

But it isn't going to be. They're gonna bring me back. I'm already beginning to ruin their lives. Jai still doesn't know how to react.

"No it's not." I stutter through sobs and I look at Ariana and see that she is crying too.

"Breathe love. It's okay. I love you so much." She whispers.

Jai finally gets out of his shock stage and comes to the side of the recliner.

"Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale." He tells me in a soothing voice.

They finally manage to calm me down and I end up quietly crying myself to sleep in Ariana's arms.