A Symphony of Devotion: The Start [Demi Lovato]

[46] Selcouth

Selcouth. An adjective describing something unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous.

That's how I feel when I enter school grounds on Monday. People stare, gawk, and just freeze as I walk down the hallway, trying to hide beneath my hood.

They've all obviously seen Simon's interview about me. After all, who doesn't watch Jimmy Fallon?

But, Devonne, obviously, is not impressed. When I open my locker, I discover another note with her handwriting spelling her name out in neat letters on top, as usual.

'You're not going to make it anywhere in the music business. Everyone's just going to realize what a fucking flop you are. Rot in hell.'

I turn around to find her and maybe throw the note in her face, but she's no where in sight. I give a sigh as I pocket the note and pick out my books for History.

My phone begins ringing then, an unknown number. I answer it and put it to my ear, expecting it to be one of Devonne's nasty ass friends. "What?"

"Hi, it's Demi Lovato. Is this Kenzie Stone?"

My eyes widen at the voice, my books falling out of my arms and back into the locker. "Y-Yeah."

She gives a small laugh. "My manager told me that I'd be singing with you for the JingleBell fest, and I just wanted to say that I'm really excited for it."

Holy fucking shit. Oh my Jesus.

"Yeah, so am I."

"Aww, your accent is so cute," she laughs, before saying, "Well, I gotta go. I'll see you on Thursday?"

"Thursday," I repeat. "Thanks for calling."

"It was my pleasure." The line clicks dead.

Jesus Christ. What just happened?

I save the number to my contacts, staring down at it for a few seconds. I have Demi Lovato's number. Jesus fucking Christ.

I grab my books when the first bell rings, and rush to History class.

The rest of the school day passes quite uneventfully, apart from an extremely humiliating incident concerning Chelsea and Devonne. I push that out of my mind as I climb into my limo after school, in which Zack is already waiting.

My remaining hours are spent in the studio, rehearsing for the concert on Thursday. It's fun, to say the least. I fall asleep happy that night, for once contented with my life.

I wish I could say that about the next day.

I know that morning is not going to be good from the minute I walk into class. I'm having a major makeup malfunction, with my eyeliner and lipstick put on haphazardly because I was late for school, and yet having no time to fix it before classes start. I tell myself that I'll just fix it before second period, but, obviously, luck will not have it my way.

I try to keep my head down as students begin filling into the classroom, but the fact that I'm seated in the first row isn't really helping either.

I attempt to lose myself in the book in my lap, but when I note the phone pointed right in front of me, I look up. Horror starts to color my expression when the snap goes off and I realize that my picture's being taken.

My eyes flitter to the person taking the picture, who, obviously, is Chelsea. Then she laughs and walks back.

I flush with embarrassment, shielding my face with one of my hands as the teacher walks in.

I know Devonne's friends don't really like me right now. I don't even like myself. They've been aiming at me for the last week, ever since Devonne and I stopped talking, but it's so fucking difficult to ignore them when they call me out in front of everyone.