Sweet and Innocent (Demi Lovato)

Chapter 45

Lilly's POV

Demi seems upset that Wilmer isn't home in time to read us our story. I wish that he was here, but I'm not mad at him; I understand that he has to work.

It takes me a long time to fall asleep. I really want to know what happens next in the book. Even though I could read it on my own, it wouldn't feel the same.

When I wake up the next morning, Wilmer is back and everything seems to be back to normal, except that Demi isn't talking to Wilmer. I wish that they would just apologize to each other; they shouldn't stay mad at each other for so long.

---

Demi and Wilmer take Nevvy and me out for supper because today the official documents came to finalize Nevvy's adoption. We go out to iHop; Nevvy loves pancakes, and she also gets to pick where we eat.

The rest of the day, Demi and Wilmer act more normal towards each other. It looks fake, though, and I wonder if they're just putting on an act for us.

---

Demi and Natalie's mom plan for Natalie to come over. She comes just after lunch and is supposed to stay until suppertime. Nevvy is super excited, but I still don't know her well enough to really trust her. She could always be planning to hurt us, just like Nevvy's past adoptive parents.

As soon as she comes over, she asks to see our piano. She just started taking lessons, plus she wants to see where Demi teaches us to play.

Nevvy is enthusiastic as she leads Natalie to the music room. Natalie's mouth drops open when the room comes into view.

"It's huge!" she exclaims.

"That's because Demi is famous, and she can play all these instruments and sing very good." Nevvy enters into her excited, rambling mood. It's usually fine, but I don't think Natalie should know everything about our life just yet.

"I want to play all these instruments someday too," Natalie says. "But I also want to be a professional dancer."

"Do you think I could be a dancer like you?" Nevvy asks.

"I think you could, but you'd have to be in a lower class. You could be a dancer too, Lilly."

I do kind of want to learn how to dance. I love watching other people dancing, and it looks fun. The problem is, I would have to learn in a class with other people; what if it would end up like how real school ended up?

Once Natalie is done touring the music room (but not touching in case she breaks something), we go to the basement.

"We have a lot of toys," Nevvy says, "but we also have room for dancing. Could you teach us something?"

Natalie is willing to teach us some basic dance moves and stretches.

"I've been taking dance lessons for seven years already," she says, "so if you take dance you couldn't be in my class."

"I still want to take lessons," Nevvy replies, obviously very into everything Natalie is teaching us.

"Do you want to too, Lilly?" Natalie asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "It could be fun." My voice barely makes a sound, even though I'm asking it to.

After Natalie leaves, Nevvy can't stop talking about how badly she wants to take dance lessons.

"I could sign you up, Nevvy," Demi says, "but the lessons have already started for the year."

"Can I just join now?" she begs.

"I'll call a studio to ask. Do you want me to ask for you, Lilly?"

"Sure," I say, deciding that it's better to start now than later in life. I'm sure that I already am very far behind most girls my age.

---

My first day of dance class is the day after Nevvy's. Even though we have the same amount of experience, she is in a different group than I am that has lessons on Tuesday, and my lessons are on Wednesdays.

I am wearing a dance leotard and everything else that someone in my class is supposed to wear, but I'm not quite sure what everything is called. Everything I'm wearing is pink, though, and my hair is up in a tight bun. In some ways, I wish I could wear a skirt like Nevvy, but apparently I'm too old to wear one to classes.

My dance class has six other girls in it. They all know more than me and are better than me, but the teacher spends all her time with me, helping me catch up.

"This is Amelia," the teacher says once I've worked with her for a while. "She can help you with the next exercise."

Amelia has very dark skin and her hair poofs out of her bun a bit. Once she starts helping me, I can tell she's a nice girl. Still, how do I know if I can trust her?

Surprisingly, I enjoy my first dance class. Even though I don't know as much as the other girls, they are all very nice and accept me no matter how badly I mess up.

Demi seems happy that I enjoyed dance. Apparently she also took dance lessons when she was younger, and she's happy that I'm making some more friends. I really want to make her happy, so seeing her proud of me makes me smile.

---

After dance lessons, I go to my bedroom to change back into my regular clothes. Most of the girls change at the studio in a changing room, but I'm not comfortable enough to undress in front of other people yet. Nevvy is at a friend's house from school where she went right after school ended today, so she isn't home. I decide to stay in my room and practice some of the things I learned in dance class today.

I stop and turn down the music I'm playing when I hear Demi's voice calling out from downstairs. I think she could be calling me downstairs, but then I hear that she's talking to Wilmer.

"Why are you auditioning again when you're pretty much guaranteed the last part you auditioned for?" I hear her practically yell in the basement.

Even though I hate hearing people argue, I guess I'm curious, so I turn off my music to listen. I want to know what's going on between Demi and Wilmer, especially since they've been acting so different lately.

"Because I need stability in my job!" I hear Wilmer reply. "Plus, I know you're planning on touring, and you don't need the extra work."

"But my fans are counting on a tour!"

I listen to them argue for a while longer, but as their voices get louder, I start to get scared. What if they start hurting each other or one of them leaves. I don't want anything bad to happen to them; not when we're finally starting to feel like a real family.

I turn my music back on to drown the sound of them yelling. Why couldn't everything have stayed perfect forever?

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For those of you on a break from work/school, I hope you're staying entertained. Stay safe. Thanks for reading!