Hold a Smile (Demi Lovato) COMPLETE

Sixteen: "Call Me Demi"

Avery's POV

"Let me go!" I yelled at Mom. I went with her after she gave me the threatening look, but then I decided that I couldn't go back with her. "No!" I screamed as she kept tugging on my arm. "Ms. Lovato, help!" I called out, but Ms. Lovato was already there. I stopped struggling when she picked me up, surprising my mother.

"Hey!" My mom yelled out.

I wrapped my arms around Ms. Lovato's neck and hid my face into her hair as she continued to hold me on her hip.

"You just keep asking for trouble. Avery, get back down here, now!"

I didn't respond. "She doesn't want to go with you," Ms. Lovato said.

Soon, we had people from the front office around us. "What's going on?" I heard a voice say. I still hadn't looked up. I tuned everybody out. All it sounded like were a bunch of mumbles. There was a lot of yelling, but my mind wouldn't focus on anything anyone was saying.

I didn't realize that the yelling had stopped. I felt myself being pulled away from Ms. Lovato. "No!" I yelled, reaching for her.

"Shhh, it's okay," she said softly. "I'm just putting you down." I looked around, and my mom wasn't there anymore. Ms. Lovato was signing a paper that an officer was holding out. I had no idea what was going on. She thanked the officer, and he left. She looked back down at me. "Alright, let's go get my stuff, then we can go home."

"Where did my mom go?" I asked timidly.

"She already had a number of warrants out for her arrest. They took her away. You don't have to be with her anymore."

"Oh," I said, not knowing how to act. I was happy that I didn't have to be with her anymore, but she is my mom. Should I still be worried for her?

"So I was hoping that you could stay with me. Would that be okay with you?"

I nodded. "For how long?"

She bent down to my level. "Honey, I'm going to adopt you," she said.

"Really?" I asked with a small smile.

She gave me a smile. "Would that be okay?" My smile grew as I nodded.

"Great," she said, taking my hand. We grabbed everything we were supposed to take with us, and went out to her car. It was silent on the way home, but the mood was light.

"Ms. Lovato-"

"Please, sweetie, call me Demi when we aren't at school."

"Um, Demi, do you think my mom is going to come back? I don't want her to."

She parked the car in her driveway and looked back at me. "I don't think she will. And if she ever does, it's going to be a long time from now. I will make sure you won't ever have to go back, okay?" I nodded. "Don't be scared. She can't hurt you anymore."