Hold a Smile (Demi Lovato) COMPLETE

Four: After School Trouble

Avery's POV

"Did you have dinner last night?" Mom asks as I make my sandwich. I nod, not knowing how she'd react. "You didn't throw the can away."

"I'm sorry," I say, hoping she's not too mad. She doesn't respond. "C-can I eat breakfast this morning?" I ask nervously.

"You'll be fine until lunch."

I nod, knowing that begging will only get me in trouble.

I continue getting ready, then grab my bag and meet my mom at the door.

"I'll be picking you up a little later from now on. I got a day job."

"How much later?"

"It doesn't matter, just wait for me, I'll pick you up eventually."

When we get to school, I hop out and close the car door. I make my way into the school and find my classroom. I sit in my seat. Ms. Lovato smiles, and give a small smile back.

She seems really nice, but I'm still scared. I can't do anything wrong. Once class starts, she asks for the papers we were supposed to get our parents to sign. I bring mine out and turn them in. I hope she doesn't question the signature.

The lessons we've been doing are pretty easy. It's stuff we learned last year. Ms. Lovato says that she's making sure everyone remembers them from last year.

Demi's POV

After school, I was planning to leave as early as possible. Sometimes I'll have work to do after school lets out, but I decided that I wanted to wait. I just wanted to go home. After about fifteen minutes, I decided to pack up. I went outside and saw a small child waiting on the steps. "Avery?" She jumped at the unexpected voice. I sat next to her on the steps and she tensed up. "Where are your parents?"

She shrugged. "My mom said she'd be here soon."

"Did you call her?"

She shook her head. "She told me this morning that she'd be a little late."

"I think this is more than just a little late. Did you want to call her?" I asked bringing out my phone.

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why? Do you not know her number?"

"I do. I..." she trailed off for a minute. "I think she's busy."

"Well, you shouldn't be waiting here by yourself. Come on, I'll wait in the classroom with you until she gets here."

She didn't protest as we both stood up. I led her back into the school and into the classroom. "When a parent is that late, they have to go through the office, anyway."

She sat in her seat nervously. I don't know why she gets so tense. "I had a question." She looked up, waiting for me to continue. I found the paper she had turned in earlier. "Are you sure this is your mom's signature? It looks a lot like your handwriting." She looked down at the floor. "You aren't in trouble, but-" I cut off when I heard sniffles. "Avery." I sat on my knees in front of her and touched her arm, and she flenched away, taking a few steps back. She looked up at me terrified with tears streaming down her face.

"I-I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"Sweetheart, I'm not upset."

"Don't t-tell my m-mom," she said. "Please."

"Avery, why didn't you get your mom to sign it in the first place?"

"She was busy."

"All night?" I questioned, and she nodded. "Okay, well please stop crying. You aren't in trouble."

Avery's POV

"You aren't in trouble," Ms. Lovato said.

I know I'm in trouble, though. My mom is going to be so mad.

I managed to stop crying, and Ms. Lovato handed me a tissue. I was really scared that she was going to be angry with me.

The whole time I stayed, she tried to get me to talk, but I didn't say much. If I didn't talk a lot, I wouldn't say anything that would get me in trouble.

Eventually, someone knocked on the door. It made me jump. My mom walked in, and I knew that she was going to find out that I forged her signature.

"Sorry, I was late," she said. "Work gets so busy sometimes."

"I understand. I'm Ms. Lovato, Avery's teacher. I just didn't want Avery sitting out there by  herself."

"Well that's very thoughtful of you, isn't it?" My mom snapped. "My daughter is just fine. She knows how to take care of herself."

"Right, um, I have something here I'd like you to sign," Ms. Lovato said, holding out the paper.

"What's crossed off here?"

"Well, Avery had signed it, but I actually needed your real one."

Great. Now I'm in big trouble.

"Oh, really? She lied to you?" Mom looked down at me, and I swallowed hard. I'm really going to get it tonight. "We'll have to have a little talk tonight about that."

"I already talked to her," Ms. Lovato said, seeing how I was getting nervous.

"You are not her mother," Mom snapped. She signed the paper, then took my hand.

"Bye, Avery, I'll see you tomorrow," Ms. Lovato said. I shyly waved. "Nice meeting you," she said to my mom.

"You, too."

My mom was careful not to drag me out. That would look bad. I got in the car, and she slammed the door as she got into the driver's seat. "What the hell, Avery?" Mom snapped, causing me to flinch. "The second day, and you're already getting in trouble at school?"

"But Mom, you wouldn't sign them," I explained, which was a mistake.

"You're really going to pick right now to talk back to me? I don't have the patience for this right now." No more words were spoken in the car, but I knew I was really going to get it when we got back to the house. We pulled up, and went into the house. I tried to escape to my room, but it didn't work. "Young lady, where do you think you're going?" I froze. I didn't know what to do. "Get back here, we have to have our lesson." I slowly walked to my mom, not daring to look up. She grabbed my hair and forced me to look at her. "First, go into the kitchen and get me one of my bottles." She pushed more towards the kitchen and I got her bottle as quickly as I could without dropping it. Last time I dropped it, I didn't go back to school for a week. I gave the bottle to her, and she chugged almost all of it with one drink.

SLAP! "I don't ever want to hear about you getting in trouble at school again, do you understand me?" SLAP!

"Yes, m-ma'am," I managed to get out. I tried to back as far away from her as possible, but the wall got in the way. She kneed me in my stomach, which caused me to fall to the floor.

"You little brat!" She spat at me and finished her bottle. "Go get me another one!" I tried to get up, but my stomach still hurt. Then I felt the glass smash onto my head, and I was back down. "I said, go get another one!" I forced myself up and made my way to the kitchen. "Don't you dare get blood on my floor, Avery!" I held my hand on my forehead where the deep cut was made, and got another bottle. I returned to my mom, who snatched it from me. "Go clean yourself up. You can't go to school tomorrow looking like that." I scurried off to the bathroom. "And make sure to do all of your homework! You aren't getting in trouble with the teacher again!"

How's the new book? If no one likes it, I'll start over with something different.