A Symphony of Devotion: The Start [Demi Lovato]

[12] Drapetomania

The party drags on for hours, but Devonne never leaves my mind. What did she mean by code red? Is she in danger? Why won't she tell me? Why did her dad seem so mad? I've texted her so many times, but she never replied.

My mind exhausts possibility after possibility until I'm both physically and mentally fatigued by the time I'm saying goodbye to the last guest. Zack actually has to carry me up the stairs because I almost face palm the ground.

I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow, but the thought of Devonne is still implanted firmly in my head. In my dreams, she appears again and again, each time screaming and begging for my help as a danger I can't see tortures her. I try to help; I try to run to her, but it's like running in sand. I can't reach her, and I can't help feeling dreadfully slow as my attempts at rescuing her are marred by my inability to move.

In one of my dreams, I force myself to wake, and sit up, dripping with sweat as I try to collect myself.

I end up staying awake for the rest of the night, terrified of slipping back into another nightmare. By the time morning rolls around, I'm tired, cranky, but, most of all, desperate to see Devonne to calm myself and eradicate the pointless worries from my head.

I rush through dressing myself, hopping over the mound of presents in front of my bed. The sooner I get to school, the better.

Zack grabs ahold of me when I reach the bottom of the stairs. "Kenz, what's wrong? You look a mess."

"Gotta get to school, Zack," I say, as I try to push past him.

Zack smirks. "What? To see Devonne?"

He's right, but for all the wrong reasons.

I say nothing before I shove past him and run out the house, into the car. The ride to school is filled with a lot of anxious finger tapping on the glass and my earbuds blasting music so loudly in my ear that I can barely hear anything else.

When the limo pulls up in front of the school, I see Devonne parking her car. She nears the steps before I do, and as I step out of the car, I'm watching her; waiting for her to stop by the front and wait for me as she usually does, so I'll feel like everything is normal.

But all Devonne does is glance my way, frown, and walk down the hallway. Confused by her actions, it takes a few words from my chauffeur before I start running down the hall and calling her name.

Devonne turns around to face me right as we reach her Biology classroom. She studies me with no apparent interest, her face dead and her usual happy smile nonexistant. "Are you done?"

"Done? Dude, I've been waiting for you! You never answered my texts. What's wrong?"

Devonne pushes my hand off her arm, shrugs, and enters her classroom. I stare after her for a minute before turning and starting for my own class.

The next three periods are pure torture. Devonne isn't in any of my classes, and my mind continues to pop different reasons for her behavior earlier on into my head. None of them are good.

When Lunch comes around, I sit at my usual table, and two of Devonne's friends sit with me as per normal. Devonne walks in a couple minutes later, but she doesn't even look my way as she takes a seat at the table of friends she sat with the day I met her.

A strange, choking sensation comes over my throat, and I force my gaze down, trying to swallow against tears.

I glance up a few seconds later, just to see Devonne laughing and talking normally.

So it isn't something big affecting her. It's me.

It's the first time I've watched Devonne interact with her friends. Usually, when I'm in the same room as her, she bounds over to me, and I never see the way she acts around other people.