Hold On (Jemi)

Chapter 10

Demi's POV:

"What kind of pizza do you like? Pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms?" Joe asked.

"You can get what you want, I can just take off what I don't like." I smiled at him, it was fake. I already knew that I would be throwing this up later. He smiled back and ordered the pizza.

We picked it up and started driving towards a park. When we were there, he grabbed the pizza and we began walking to a picnic table. He opened the box, and there was a cheesy, greasy pizza inside. I wanted to gag, but I didn't.

I only had one slice. He had four, "All of that grease doesn't make you feel sick?" I asked him.

"Nope." He answered with a smile, "Are you sure you're full? You only had one slice."

"Yeah, I had a big breakfast." I lied, I only had an apple and granola bar.

"Well, we have sometime to kill. What do  you want to do?" He asked, looking at his watch.

"You wanna go on the swings?" I asked.

He looked up at me and smiled, "Sure."

We made our way over towards the swings and sat down on them. We were barely swinging back and forth, "Truth or Dare?" He asks me.

"Um...dare." I answered.

"I dare you..." He paused, thinking of something, "To ring that bell and yell I love the the Jonas Brothers." He pointed to a bell that was by the playground.

"Is that all you got, Jonas?" I smiled at him.

"I figured I'd start off with an easy one."

I walked over to the bell and did what he dared me to do. I came back laughing, I could still feel some stares, but for some reason, I didn't mind them looking.

"My turn. Truth or dare?" I asked him.

He thought about it for a moment and then answered, "Truth."

I thought about it, and quickly smiled when I had a question, "What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done in public?"

"On stage or just in general?" He asked.

"In general."

"Well, I've fallen a lot, on stage, off stage. I can be really clumsy sometimes." He answered.

"I can be pretty clumsy too, but who isn't? Everyone has those days." I sighed, "Your turn."

We continued playing, sometimes he would say truth, sometimes he would say dare, but I would only say dare. I didn't want him to know about my struggles.

"Truth or dare?" He asked.

"Dare."

"Again? Jeez." He thought about it for a minute, then a smile grew on his face, "I dare you to pick truth next time."

Uh-oh

I nodded.

"Truth or dare?" I asked him.

"Dare."

"I dare you to pick truth next time." He nodded.

"Truth or dare?" He smiled.

"Truth." I sighed.

"Tell me something that you don't usually tell, or have never told anyone."  I can't believe I'm about to do this.

"Fine, but you have to promise that you won't think anything less of me." I answered, his face became serious.

"I promise."

I took a deep breath and let it out, "My mom is remarried to this guy named Eddie. I love Eddie, he's a father I never had...because my dad is abusive, supposedly because of substance abuse. He used to always come home drunk. Sometimes he would hit my mom, or my sister, Dallas. Sometimes he would hit me. I used to grow up watching shows with skinny girls, so did everyone else. Girls in my school used to bully me, and call me fat and ugly. That's why I don't eat a lot. Because I feel like if I eat too much, then I'll be too fat...and no guy likes fat girls." A tear slid down my cheek. I didn't look at Joe. I looked at the ground in front of him instead.

He reached up and dried my face with his thumb, "Demi, I'm so sorry about your father. You are not fat, and you are not ugly. In fact, you're one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen. Don't let people get you down. The only reason why they say those things, is because they're jealous."

I looked back at him with a weak smile, "Really?"

"Really." He quickly wrapped me in a hug. I didn't want him to ever let me go, but he did.

"Truth." He quickly answered before I could even ask him.

"Well, since I told you something I don't usually tell people, you have to too."

He thought about it before answering, "I don't know, I'm practically an open book." He gave a small chuckle, "Well, there is one thing. I've recently been through a break up. This girl cheated on me. Sometimes I still think we're together, but we're not. We had been dating for two years. She was my first love, a tiny part of me will always love her, but I honestly feel like I could never trust a girl ever again. Well, until I met you. I don't know, I just feel like if I don't show people the real me, then I won't get hurt."

"Not all girls are the same. You have to show people the real you, because people have to love you for who you are, not what you pretend to be. That's more clear to me now." I gave him a soft smile.

"I feel like people only care about how much money I make. I feel like they only care about the fame." He lets out a small breath.

"I'm not one of those people, you can trust me on that. You don't have to pretend with me. I would still be your friend, even if you weren't famous." I assured him.

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"Anytime, Joseph." I punch him playfully.

"You know you can call me Joe, right?" He says, looking up at me.

"Yeah, but it's more fun to call you Joseph." I smile.

We continued talking for about another hour. I check the time and sigh, "We should probably go."

He sighs too, "Yeah. C'mon." We walk back to the car and he drives us back to the studio.