Isabella's POV
So we flew out to California last night. I wish I could say we were here to do something fun, but no we are just here to visit my dad who recently moved out here since he's now rich. I really don't understand him. My parents got divorced when I was 11, I'm 17 now. Ever since they've been divorced my dad has been an ass. We are required to visit him by law every other weekend, but I don't think he wants us and none of us want to see him either. He just won the lottery so he moved out to California which is a 5 hour flight from my town. The court really doesn't expect us to make that trip every other week does it? I don't know, I'm almost 18 anyway so it doesn't matter.
We were heading to my dad's new house, but my sister made us stop at Starbucks. I don't drink coffee so I got a cake pop. Big mistake. We sat down and my mom was on the phone with a lawyer or my dad or something. I don't really know, all I know is that she is pissed at whoever she's talking to. Of course as soon as I started eating my brother started calling me fat and stuff like usual. I knew he was just doing it to make me mad, but it really hurt. My sister joined in. I'm the middle child so they like to team up on me. Their words were really getting to me. I stopped eating and got ready to throw my full cake pop away when my mom got off the phone. When she saw the crumpled up cake pop she started yelling at me. It was so embarrassing and the things she was saying hurt too. She obviously hates me. I mean she's pretty much telling me that right now. I was on the verge of tears so I put my head in my hands so nobody would see me cry. Of course my brother and sister started calling me a cry baby when I did that. I felt someone put their hand on my back and then ask what was going on. Great my dysfunctional family attracted an audience. I told the person that it was none of their business and then went to the bathroom to escape the crowd.
Once in the bathroom I just collapsed into sobs. I couldn't calm myself down so I put in my ear buds and turned on my play list of songs I listen to when I'm feeling like this. Most of them are Demi songs. I may be slightly obsessed with her. My family doesn't know that I like her though because they would make fun of me for liking a 'Disney Star' which is stupid, I know, but my family is messed up so I just go with it. Warrior started playing and I turned to volume up all the way and curled up in a ball crying. During the middle of the song I felt someone sit down next to me. Shit, I forgot to lock the door. I pulled my ear buds out but didn't look at the person.
"Yes you did," the person laughed. Wait I know that laugh. No it can't be. Don't get your hopes up Isabella. Nothing like that would ever happen to you and you know it.
"Shit, I said that out loud?"
"Yup," the person said popping the p. You could clearly hear Warrior playing though my ear buds since the volume was turned up all the way. "Ahhh, so you're a Lovatic?" the person asked.
"It's none of your business is it? Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"Maybe what happened out there with your family was none of my business, but I'm not going to leave one of my Lovatics crying in a bathroom alone," wait did she just say 'my Lovatics'? Is it really her? It can't be! I slowly lifted my head up and turned to face her. Holy Shit! It's Demi fucking Lovato! I'm pretty sure I was frozen for a few minutes with my mouth open in shock then I just completely broke down. I felt her arms wrap around me. I didn't know what to do. I was in shock. I didn't even hug back I was so shocked. I just kept crying to the point I was hyperventilating. She pulled away. "Woah, calm down. Breathe, okay?" she said smiling at me. God she was so perfect. "So I was right, you are a Lovatic," I just nodded my head because I couldn't get any words out.
Demi's POV
I sat there looking at the girl in front of me. She was so gorgeous. She looked like she was mixed. She had a ton of big, curly, dark brown hair. She had dark skin and brown eyes. I felt a weird connection to her. It was kind of like what I felt with Anna the first time I met her, but different in a way. Shit, Anna. They are probably wondering where I'm at. "I really have to get going, but remember you are gorgeous and nothing that they say to you will ever change that," I said and hugged her again. "Stay strong for me," I said and got up to leave.
"Wait, Demi?" she said and I turned around to look at her. "Thank you, and sorry for being a bitch," I let out a small giggle.
"You weren't a bitch and why are you thanking me?"
"For everything. What you just did for me, your music, existing, being an amazing role model, everything," the girl said which made me smile.
"Awh, no, thank you for supporting me. What's your name sweetie?"
"Isabella,"
"That's a pretty name, remember stay strong," I said giving her a stern look and then a smile. I waved and then went to get our drinks and left. I ate my food while I was driving because I knew I would have to feed Anna when I got home.
"What'd you guys do?" I asked curiously when I got home. Nick and Anna were still both laying in my bed.
"We couldn't really do anything since you wont even let me get out of bed," Anna said with an attitude.
"If you don't let those heal then they will keep opening and you'll have to get stitched. And ditch the attitude," I said sternly. She rolled her eyes at me and I looked over to see Nick trying not to laugh. "What's so funny?!" I asked.
"Nothing, you're just a hypocrite,"
"Oh really? How is that?"
"You're telling her to ditch the attitude when you're like the queen of sass," he said. Anna was laughing with him now.
"You are such a bad influence!" I said gesturing to Anna laughing at Nicks comment. "Eat your damn food," I said tossing Nick the bag with his food in it.
"Nick's the bad influence? Have your heard some of the things that come out of your mouth?" Anna sassed.
"Watch it little girl!" I said pointing my finger at Anna. I handed Anna her Starbucks and then got her food out for her.
"What?! You didn't get me anything from Starbucks?" Nick asked.
"No, I didn't know what you would want," I said
"You could've asked me!"
"Whoops,"
"Well I'm sharing your's then,"
"Um no you aren't,"
"Be a good influence and share Demi," He said taking a drink out of my Starbucks. I rolled my eyes at him and playfully slapped him before he wrestled me to the ground and started tickling me.
"Nick! Stop," I screamed about a million times before he finally stopped. I caught my breath and got up to help Anna eat. She was currently struggling to swallow a bite of food. "That's it, good girl," I said when she finally swallowed the microscopic bite of food while running my fingers through her tiny bit of hair on her head and then patting her back.
"She's not a dog Demi," Nick said. I rolled my eyes and watched Anna crack a weak smile. I took the fork from Anna and started feeding her. She does better when I feed her.
"Here comes the choo choo train! Chuga chuga chuga chuga choo choo!" I said as I brought the fork closer to her mouth. She gave me an 'are you serious' look.
"Demi, she's not a baby either," Nick said. I laughed.
"Just eat the damn food!" I said as I put the fork into Anna's mouth. Our joking around stopped when Anna began seriously struggling after a few bites. We were on about her 6th bite when she pushed my arm away from her and leaned her head back.
"I can't eat anymore Demi, It hurts!" she whined.
"I know baby girl, just eat two more bites and you can be finished," she lifted her head back up and let out a whimper. I got a big bite of food on the fork and placed it in her mouth. She chewed on it for what seemed like forever. I held her had and rubbed the back of it with my thumb reassuring her. She finally swallowed it and I gave her another big bite. After she finally finished Nick took her leftovers down and put them in the fridge. As soon as he left the room she completely broke down.
"I can't do it anymore, I'm too fat! It hurts Demi! Make it stop!" she screamed. I picked her up and put her in my lap wrapping my arms tightly around her to keep her from running to the bathroom to purge.
"Listen to me Anna, you are not fat, you are beautiful and you are strong. You can do it, it's just hard. You've gotten through so many other difficult things. You can do this too. I know it hurts, It will go away eventually," I said. She calmed down for a minute and then started freaking out again.
"Let me go Demi! I have to go! Let go!" she started screaming. She was obviously having extremely strong urges now. Right when she started screaming Nick started to come in the room I shooed him away. I tightened my grip on Anna. She was still screaming and telling me to let her go.
"Baby, don't give in to them. You are my little warrior. You're better than this," I spoke over her screams. I couldn't get her to calm down. I tried singing and everything. After about 15 minutes of struggling with her Nick came into the doorway.
"Mandy's here," he said. That snapped Anna out of her trance right away. Instead of trying to get away from me she wrapped herself around me as tight as possible and cried.
"Okay, tell her I'll be down in a second," I said holding Anna with one hand on the back of her head and the other rubbing circles on her back.
"Okay, I'm gonna head out," He said.
"Okay, bye," I said and I walked over to him with Anna still clutching onto me. He hugged me and then pecked my lips quickly then left. I turned my attention to Anna.
"Baby, Mandy is really nice, you don't have to be scared. She's going to help you, okay?" I said. She shook her head in my neck and whined. I took a deep breath and then started walking down the stairs towards Mandy. Anna tightened her grip on me almost to the point she was choking me. I went and shook hands with Mandy and then sat Anna down on the couch and sat next to her. As soon as I sat down she laid her head on my lap and buried her face in my stomach gripping onto my shirt tightly. I gave her my hand to hold and started running my fingers through her short little curls. "Sorry, we just had a little bit of a breakdown," I said to Mandy.
"That's okay, can you explain to me what happened Anna?" Mandy said. Anna sunk down into the couch and shook her head.
"Baby, you gotta talk to Mandy," I said to Anna. She shook her head again and I sighed.
"Demi, it's okay. She'll talk when she's ready. Can you explain to me what happened that cause her to breakdown?"
"She has trouble with food and I was helping her eat. When she finished she just broke down," I explained knowing Mandy would know what I was talking about.
"Okay, Anna, I'm going to ask you some yes or no questions. All you have to do is nod or shake your head. You don't have to talk," Mandy said. Anna didn't do anything to respond so Mandy started asking. "Okay, we will start off easy, Do you like to sing?" Mandy asked. Anna nodded.
"See this isn't so bad," I said to Anna. Anna pulled away from my stomach some.
"Okay next question. Are you a Lovatic?" I saw a smile appear on Anna's face and she nodded. I laughed a little and Anna sat up to face Mandy, but cuddled into my side. "See it's easy. Next question do you like living with Demi?" Anna nodded again. Mandy continued to ask questions like these for a while before she moved onto the more difficult subjects. "Do you miss your old home back before you moved to California?" Mandy asked. Anna zoned out for a minute so I squeezed her hand and then she nodded. Anna began sinking into me as she started asking questions like this. It broke my heart to watch it and I knew the questions were just going to get worse. "Have you talked to your dad since he got arrested?" I saw Anna clinch up her jaw before shaking her head. I started rubbing her arm with the arm I had wrapped around her then I kissed her on the forehead. In response she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist not letting go. "Has anyone ever physically hurt you," Anna zoned out again and I could see tears welling in her eyes. She shook herself out of it and bit her lip to keep from crying and then nodded her head. I noticed her digging her nails into her skin so I took my free hand and made her hold it. Mandy noticed all of this. "Okay, I think we are going to take a break from the questions for a minute. Demi, would you mind leaving Anna and I alone for a couple minutes?" Mandy asked.
"Um I don't really think that's a good idea," I said gesturing to Anna who was shaking her head and gripping onto me for dear life.
"It'll just be a couple minutes. I just need to test something quickly," I knew exactly what she was doing, but I also knew it wasn't going to turn out good.
"Okay. Baby, you gotta let go. it'll be okay. It's just a couple minutes. I'll be right in the kitchen. Mandy won't hurt you," I said as I pried her off of me and walked out of the room quickly. I stood in the kitchen where I could still see them, but I don't think Anna could see me. I watched as Mandy tried to talk to her and she just sat there frozen. I watched as she began to panic. She was getting ready to have a full blown panic attack so I went to go back in the room, but Mandy shooed me while she tried to get Anna to calm down. I watched in pain as Anna started shaking and sobbing hysterically and then she started screaming for me. Finally Mandy gave up and allowed me to come in the room. As soon as I got over to Anna, she threw herself into my arms. She was still panicking, but not as bad. Mandy watched closely while I calmed her down like I usually do. I saw her write some stuff down. When Anna finally calmed down she climbed into my lap and put her arm around my back resting her head on my shoulder. I held onto her free hand and rubbed circles on her back with my other hand.
"Okay. now I just have to ask you this list of required questions. They are all yes or no questions, but I would like you to answer them verbally," Mandy said. Anna looked at me and I gave her a reassuring nod. "Have you ever done drugs?"
"No," Anna said weakly.
"Have you ever been bullied?" Anna thought for a second before answering. I watched her face closely as she answered.
"Y-yes," Anna said. Mandy wrote it down and then strayed from the required questions to try and get more information.
"Why were you bullied?"
"I-I uh, I don't know," Anna said avoiding eye contact with anyone.
"What are some of the things they said to you?" Anna pulled her arm out from behind my back and began twiddling her fingers and staring at them. I watched her blank expression as she blinked away tears.
"I don't remember," Anna said softly. I let out a sigh and then kissed her temple. She seemed totally oblivious to it.
"Okay, back to the yes or no questions. Have you ever cheated on a test?"
"No,"
"Have you ever ran away?"
"No,"
"Have you ever self harmed?" I looked at Anna not sure if she was going to try and lie about it or not. Anna bit her lip and shook her head.
"Can you answer verbally please?" Mandy asked. I raised an eyebrow at Anna and gave her a stern look. She glanced at me for a second before answering.
"Yes," she said shamefully trying to hold back tears. Thankfully Mandy didn't pry about that topic. I saw a tear roll down Anna's face. I wiped it away and then kissed her temple.
"Are confident with your body image?"
"I don't know,"
"It's a yes or no question,"
"No," she said shamefully again.
"What do you like about yourself?" Mandy asked straying from the questions again.
"Nothing,"
"Okay, what don't you like about yourself?"
"Everything," I shook my head and sighed at Anna's answers. How could she not see how amazing, adorable, and gorgeous she was?
"Okay back to the yes or no questions again. Are you sexually active?" Anna looked at me, her face begging for help. She didn't know what to say. Technically she wasn't anymore, but she was sexually abused about 2 weeks ago. Mandy gave me a stern look as to tell me not to answer for her.
"I don't know," Anna said eventually.
"Why don't you know?"
"I don't know," Anna said again. I knew she wasn't going to elaborate on this topic.
"That isn't an acceptable answer right now," Mandy said sternly.
"Not anymore," Anna said answering Mandy's first question. It was the truth, but not the complete truth.
"Okay, would either of you like to elaborate for me?" Mandy said knowing she wasn't going to get anymore out of Anna looked at me and then I explained what I knew.
"She was sexually abused by her father and her foster dad," I said while Anna was tracing my 'Stay' tattoo on my wrist.
"Okay, Anna would you like to add anything?" Mandy asked.
"No," she said. That's the answer I was expecting.
"Okay, well we are going to be finished for today. Demi, if you could come talk to me in the kitchen that would be great," Mandy said. I picked Anna up off of my lap.
"Do not move while I'm gone. It will just be a minute," I said sternly to Anna. She nodded, then I walked into the kitchen with Mandy.
"I cannot diagnose anything, but Anna is showing symptoms of Post-Traumatic stress disorder, depression, and severe anxiety, especially separation anxiety. It is difficult for me to help her if I don't have an actual diagnosis. I would suggest taking her to a pediatric psychologist," Mandy explained. I sighed, thinking about these things.
"She refuses to go to a psychologist because she's had bad experiences with them. Can't you just try to help her and I guess if things don't start getting better I'll take her to one?" I asked hopefully.
"Demi, I'm not trained to work on cases this severe. I don't think I will be much help to her,"
"Well, you helped me!" I argued.
"Yes, AFTER you went to rehab," she has a point there...
"Please Mandy," I begged.
"Fine, but I'm not making any promises," she said.
"Okay, thank you," I said and we walked back out to where Anna was. She was beginning to have another anxiety attack. I went over to her and instructed her to match my breathing and then picked her up to walk Mandy out.
A/N
So kind of a random spot to stop the chapter at, but I don't have to time to write anymore right now. It's not the greatest chapter, but oh well. Hopefully it starts getting better in the next few chapters. I want to know what you guys want to read so comment your suggestions for it and your predictions for what's going to happen and blah blah blah.