A Symphony of Devotion: The Start [Demi Lovato]

[36] Induratize

She's going to be here soon. Dry your fucking tears and get up.

I force myself to my feet, stumbling into the bathroom as I splash water on my face to remove the smudged makeup and the tear streaks on my cheeks before reapplying.

I've been overthinking things way too much on the car ride home, and I've come to the conclusion that what if I don't want to hear Devonne's explanation?

What if it's something really bad? Like she decided she didn't want me because she found someone else, and then that someone ditched her so she went crawling back to me. Maybe she felt my disorders were too much of a baggage and so she didn't want me.

I don't want to hear that coming from her lips. I want the truth, but, fuck, I don't want it to be bad. It probably will be, and there's no way I can stop it but, oh, shit, I can't start crying again.

I pace around my room, blinking rapidly to staunch the flow of tears as I wait for the buzz of the intercom that would tell me Devonne has arrived.

The alert comes in under a minute. I rush to my bathroom to check my makeup again, then stay in there until I hear a knock on the door and Devonne call, "Kenzie? Can I come in?"

I run out, wiping my sweaty palms off on my shirt before reaching for the door handle, careful to pull my sleeves over the scars that line my wrists.

I hold the door open for Devonne, letting her walk in before pushing the door shut behind her and leading her into my music room before firmly closing that door too. That way, if it leads to yelling, no one can hear. Not to mention that I'll be called out to be makeover-ed in an hour or so.

I lean against the door. "Okay, talk."

"Uh, what do you want to know first?" Devonne stands before me, a meter away.

"Why did you stop talking to me?" I answer immediately, my voice cold and emotionless as I cross my arms over my chest.

Devonne bites down on her lower lip. "Well, on the night of the party, a lot of things happened, and-"

"What things?"

"It's complicated."

"I have time."

She's not going to tell me. I can see that already in her eyes. Anger boils inside me again, rising slowly as I wait for her answer.

"I.. I can't really explain."

I fucking knew it.

I step aside, opening the door wide. "Go."

"No, Kenz, please, I swear, you'll get to know the real reason in a couple months, but I can't tell you right now."

She played with my feelings again. It was just a ploy, then, to keep talking, when she said she would tell me why. Fuck this. I don't need her.

"Go."

Devonne's silent for a minute, but when I step forward and grab her arm to push her out, tears suddenly start spilling down her cheeks. "No, no, Kenzie, please, I can't live without talking to you. My dad made me do it. He told me I couldn't be friends with you!"

"Liar." My tone is firm, in control, as I drag her across my room.

She's blubbering now, and looks so desperate that I know she's saying everything that comes to mind. The truth of her words isn't dependable when she's in this state.

"Please don't do this! I swear, it wasn't my idea. We don't have to be anything now, just friends. Just friends, Kenzie, please!"

Just friends. We were just friends before, when she started moving in on me and it almost felt like we were dating. I excused that because I wouldn't mind if we were. But after she called me out and insulted me, she tried to be just friends again, and ended up kissing me. And then she ignored me for a month, only to become just friends and try to kiss me again, which resulted in Julian's and my breakup.

I drop her arm and face her. "That's exactly the problem, Devonne. You always promise me that we're going to be just friends, but you keep crossing the line and flirting with me. If we're just friends, you need to stay in the fucking friendzone, and I'm sick and tired of you pushing the boundaries! You broke me up with my boyfriend." Tears are starting to fill my eyes up now, but I refuse to let them fall. "He was the only sane person I ever dated, and you broke me up with him. You knew I was dating someone else, and you still tried to kiss me."

"I know, I'm sorry!" Devonne runs a hand through her hair, brows furrowed. "Just give me another chance, please. We can start over. Be strangers again. Let me introduce myself. We can laugh and talk, and relearn what we already know, and come up with new inside jokes, and create new memories." Her voice drops to a whisper. "And give each other a second chance."

I can't say no to her, and I think she knows that. The way that oversized sweater she's wearing is slipping over one shoulder, exposing her bra strap, the way tears are still welling up in her eyes as she brushes them away, the way her voice keeps squeaking and breaking as she speaks; it tugs at my heartstrings, and I know she knows that.

I give a frustration groan. "Okay, fine, we can try your starting over thing. Just stay in the fucking friendzone, okay? I don't need to be in a relationship right now."

Devonne throws her arms around me. "Oh my god, thank you! I promise, you won't regret this."

As much as I love how her body is pressed so tightly to mine, I push her off. "I don't think strangers would hug, would they?"

"Oh, right, sorry." Devonne steps back, but her face is alight with excitement. She holds one hand out for me to shake. "Hi, I'm Devonne. And you are?"

I grab her wrist instead, pulling her towards the door as I open it. "You don't need to know my name, and I don't need any friends."

Devonne's face falls. "But- I thought.. You-"

I give a small smirk as Devonne steps out of my room. "What school do you go to?"

"Trinity Academy. I'm a junior." She looks nothing but confused.

"Oh, so am I. Then I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other, won't we?"

As I shut the door, I don't miss the huge smile that spreads across Devonne's face. I rest against the closed door, allowing myself to breathe as a satisfied smile makes its way onto my lips.

Mission fucking accomplished.

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catfish drama catfish drama catfish drama forget about it bc devonnes the biggest catfish there is