Echoes in the Darkness | Demi Lovato

Chapter 3- Heart Attack

Demi Lovato was standing in the doorway, chatting casually with my mom. Demetria freaking Lovato.

I felt my eyes go comically wide. "Y-you're Demi L-Lovato!" I stuttered out in one breath, my face flushing bright red.

Demi just smirked kindly while on the other hand, the smile on my mother's face dropped completely. "Maxine! Don't be rude!" Mom reprimanded harshly.

"Sorry," I mumbled, casting my blue eyes downward towards my feet in embarrassment.

I didn't notice that the superstar singer had moved until she crouched down in front of me. "Don't worry about it," the brunette soothed with a kind smile still in place. "It's nice to meet you, Maxine."

"Just Max," I mumbled to my feet. I hated my name, but Max wasn't quite as bad.

"Alrighty, Max, I like that," Demi responded as she stood back up and I looked up at my mom. It was already 2 PM.

"Can you drive me to dance?" Thursday meant two hours of ballet to warm up and then an hour of pointe and thirty minutes of modern.

"I'm tired, Maxine," mom started, still harsh... I knew I shouldn't have said anything. "You dance enough as is." I think she was going to say something else but Demi cut her off.

"I can drive you. Your studio's not too far away, right?"

"You don't have to do that, you just spent hours on a plane, you must be exhausted," Mom rushed out, clearly not wanting me to be an inconvenience like I always was. "She can miss a day, it really doesn't matter."

Demi waved her off. "Nope. Besides, I want to get to know my niece."

The feelings got lost in my lungs.

-----

"So, Max, how old are you?" Demi asked as the trees flew by the car window.

"'Leven," I responded shyly, my Southern accent strong. Demi looked a little surprised but made no comment.

"Middle school then?"

I nodded hesitantly. "6th grade."

Normally, I would be listening to music while my mom scolded me over this or that on the ride to dance, so naturally, this was a welcome change.

"And?" Demi pushed. She was even more amazing in person than on her interviews and honestly, I have no clue how I was holding it together right now. Demi Lovato is my aunt! "What do you think of it?"

"Um, it's okay I guess?" It came out as more of a question than a statement. Oops. I made sure not to bring up how Hellish my middle school actually was. I hated it, but I had no reason to. It wasn't really that bad... right?

As she pulled up to my dance studio, Rhythm Dance Academy, I turned to find a pair of warm, dark brown eyes looking back at me. "Have fun, okay?" My idol stated kindly, giving me a genuine smile before I stepped out of the car and into the cool air of reality outside.

They're burning.

----

"Hey, Max, class starts in about ten minutes if you want to start warming up, my dance teacher, Mrs. Elise greeted as I walked in the door. I nodded, sending her a fake smile. Don't get me wrong, I love my dance teacher, she's so amazing and kind, but I felt weird. Even though I had only just met her, Demi had pushed away my demons for the few short minutes we were in the car, and now they were back. Full force. I needed to get away.

I'd rather be numb.

"I just need to use the bathroom first," I replied, smile still in place as I went through the office to get to the only bathroom in the whole dance studio.

As soon as I was in the room I let the door swing closed behind me, the vibrations of the lock clicking into place jolting me into action. I sank to my knees, ruffling around in my dance bag to pull out a detached scissor blade. Not my favorite, but it was the only thing I could find so it would have to work. Demi had interrupted my cutting earlier but the urges were very much still there.

I yanked the black hoodie covering my cut and scar scattered arms off and letting it drop to the cold ground. Slowly dragging the dullish blade across my wrist, I relished in the pain as it forced away the thick, heavy numbness. I repeated that action a couple more times before standing as my head cleared.

And yeah, there's no one else to blame.

The blade was dropped back into my bag as I walked over to the sink to wash off. The water stung, but I welcomed the familiar feeling before ruffling through my purple 'I'm a Star' dance bag and pulling out a transparent blue shirt to slide on over my leotard and cover the fresh cuts.

I picked up my bag again, ballet shoes squeaking on the floor as I walked over to flush the toilet before leaving the room, my demons quieted for now.

No one else to blame.

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Author's Note: Hey guys! First off, thank you to the people who left votes! It meant so much to me! Second, I would also like to say thank you to everyone who came back to read the second chapter! For chapter one, we only got nine views, but now this story's at 30! Even though that's not compared to most other stories, I am still so grateful! So thank you! I get so very happy every time I see a new view pop up. Next, I know I said it would probably be longer until this chapter, but I've already got a bunch pre-written and I just couldn't wait to post it! So, I hope you enjoy! Also, I added a cast if anyone is curious what I think the characters look like. Well, I'm off to school now, lol. And like always, please vote and comment! It really does make my day and I want to know what you guys are thinking! Bye!