Stop The World

Chapter 2

Zoey's Pov:

"So, why were you at that lake today? I mean it's freezing, so why would you go out there?" Demi asks me.

"I like the lake. I go there often, it... it calms me down. Just the quiet and the beauty of it, I guess" She looks at me but I keep my eyes on the road.

"So why did you need to calm down?" She asks me. I continue to look at the road while I answer her question.

"Because I had a fight with my mother" She thinks about that for a while as she studies my face.

"Did she hurt you?" Demi asks me, this question takes me by surprise because I was expecting her to ask me what the fight was about.

"No" I answer truthfully.

"But you hurt her?"

"Yes"

"And you feel guilty?"

"Yes" I'm not used to talking about my feelings so I figure one word answers are the easiest.

"What was the fight about?" I grow red as I think about it.

"Can we talk about something else? How do you like the city so far?"

"The city's great. What was the fight about?"

"Nothing"

"Answer me, please"

"I just did"

"You're lying to me"

"That's the worst part Demi. I'm really not, it was literally about nothing."

"That's not true, every fight is about something"

"Fine, it was about TV" I tell her

"What happened?"

"I was watching Disney Channel and my mother told me to get up and 'Do something besides lying on the couch all day'. So I did, I got my ass of the couch and I started throwing stuff. I had a panic attack." I admit I never take my eyes of the road because I'm too afraid to see the judgmental look on Demi's face.

"I get it" She says, I look at her and she just shrugs so I look back at the road.

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

"I mean that I understand. I've been in very similar situations, where it's building up for days or months even. You can see it coming but no one else can. And then you just snap. Just like that. I once threw a knife at my wall because I couldn't finish my Sudoku." She chuckles and I smile.

"So what happened after you flipped?" She asks me and I explained how I went up to my room and organized my bookcase to calm me down. Then when I get to the part about punching my wall she interrupts me.

"Show me" She says.

"Huh"

"Your hand" I don't ask questions instead I just show her my hand that by now is very swollen and a dark purple. She very slowly as not to startle me reaches out and grabs my hand. Then she bends down and kisses my bruised knuckles. She lets go of my hand and smiles at me. After that I just continue to tell the story up to the point where I met her.

"So you just cried for hours in the cold? You could've died!" I roll my eyes at her and say "Wasn't my first time babe. I actually go there when it snows too, the lake is frozen and everything's covered in snow. It's really beautiful." She's quiet for a moment as a smile creeps onto her face.

"What?" I ask her after she stares at me for a couple minutes.

"You called me babe"

"Don't get any idea's in your head Lovato, I'm 17"