Paige

            by Eva Jepsen

 

            “He said it,” Paige whispered into the phone. She lay across her bed, drowning out the sound of her voice by speaking into a pillow.

            “What?” Lucy asked.

            “He said he loved me.” Paige looked around her room then leaned in even closer to the phone waiting for a response.

            “Are you serious? Owwwwh Paige I’m so happy for you. Did you guys?”

            “He said he loved me and it’s only been three months.”

            “Did you?” Lucy’s voice became quiet and concerned.

            “Yes-” Paige said quickly and glanced at her door once more.

            “But you were a…”

            “Was.” Paige interrupted Lucy so that she wouldn’t have to hear her say that word.

“Thomas Coleman isn’t exactly a keeper. All the girls like him. Have you even told your parents yet?”

            “No my dad would not approve, but I got to go eat dinner. I’ll tell you all about it later.” Paige put the phone down and pulled her long golden curls into a ponytail that draped over the side of her bed. Thomas Coleman loves me, she thought to herself then kicked her long slim legs in the air. Paige was a beautiful girl, many guys thought of her as an ‘untouchable jewel.’ She came from a very religious, very strict upbringing and her dad was the town sheriff. She and Thomas had been dating for a few months.

            “And then he got sick from Mexican food we ate...” The two began to laugh as they crossed the street towards their school to make the bell. Lucy stopped laughing and turned toward Paige.

            “Didn’t you already tell me this story?”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Lucy looked up to see Thomas coming towards them. He was tall, slim but athletic and very attractive. “Well, speak of the devil.” Lucy nudged Paige. Paige froze then tugged on her shirt and flipped her hair. She and Thomas caught eye contact. He looked away quickly not acknowledging her presence. He passed both of them and continued in the direction he was headed. Lucy looked at Paige’s white face; she looked stunned; mesmerized by thin air.

            “What was that about?” Lucy was confused. Paige took a while to respond.

            “Everyone has been in our business lately. So we decided to keep it secret. It’s hard… we don’t even talk in public.” Paige smiled and kept walking. The two girls walked to their different classes.

            The next week at school, Lucy stared at Thomas down the hall from her. He finished shoving loose papers into his locker, then shook his hair out of his eyes and leaned back into the wall. Lucy began to walk over towards him but in mid step, Michelle Rynerson blocked her view of Thomas. Michelle was gorgeous; she had dark hair and features with beautiful olive skin. She was the exact opposite of Paige. Lucy remaining unseen, watched Michelle jokingly slap Thomas’ shoulder, and then he pushed her gently back. They both started laughing. Michelle gave Thomas a long sensual hug then strutted off down the hallway. He shot a smile back at Michelle then turned and walked into the classroom next to him.

            At lunch Lucy and Paige met outside on the grass in front of the school’s entrance. Lucy couldn’t wait to tell Paige what she had seen.

            “I saw Thomas with Michelle Rynerson. They looked pretty close.” Lucy waited for Paige to react. Paige looked at her papers folded in her English Folder.

            “I know. He’s been trying to get me jealous all week. See we got in this argument the other night. It’s complicated.”

            “Oh.” Lucy examined the confused look on Paige’s face.

            “I have to work on this paper so I’m going to go to the library.” Paige left so quickly, Lucy couldn’t even think of something to say before she was gone. Lucy patted the grass down creating a space to sit. She let her self sink into the grass and looked at all the students sitting around her. Through the groups of various teenagers Lucy spotted Thomas and Michelle standing next to each other. They were talking alone. Lucy watched as Michelle left Thomas to go in the school. Lucy picked up her purse and binder and began her journey over towards him. Thomas glanced in her direction then turned.

            “Thomas!” Lucy yelled out. He paused after hearing his name. He slowly rotated around.

            “Sup Luce?” Thomas said nonchalantly. He looked at her and instinctually checked her out. Lucy noticed his smarmy behavior and chose to ignore it.

            “So what is going on with you and Paige?” She stared at him,  her eyes demanding an answer.

            “What do you mean?” Thomas looked around the hallway, making a mental note of the people who were watching.

            “I mean… What are you doing to her? She really likes you and I just saw you with Michelle, if you’re not careful you’re really going to hurt her.”

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t talked to Paige in weeks.” Thomas threw his backpack over his shoulder. “I got to get to class.” As Thomas walked away, Lucy just stood still for a while.

            That night, Lucy sat down on her bed searching for the words she would use when she called Paige. She picked up the phone, her fingers worked quicker than her mind. The phone was already ringing.

            “Hello?”

            “Hey Paige, what are you doing?” Lucy paced around her room still thinking.

            “I’m making a card for Thomas.” Lucy’s heart dropped but Paige continued, “Four months ago we had our first date, today’s the anniversary.”

            “Paige. I have something I need to say.” Lucy stopped moving around and sat down once again, “I know you think you really like Thomas, but I talked to him today.”

            “What? Why? I told you he hated when people asked about us.”

            “No Paige. I know what’s going on. I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me you haven’t talked to Thomas in like 6 weeks?” Paige was silent. “Do you want to talk about it?” Lucy waited. Paige still didn’t respond. “Paige, I’m here for you,” Paige began to cry.

             “Why is he doing this?” Paige finally managed to get out between whimpers. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, “You know something Lucy, I know it. Tell me I just want to know!” Her desperate voice was getting louder.

            “Okay, well I’ve seen Thomas and Michelle together a lot. People are saying they’re dating now.” Paige began to cry again. She told Lucy she had to go and they both hung up.

            Paige turned down the music in her car then took out her clip and let her hair down while watching her rear view mirror. She saw them on the other side of the parking lot. Michelle and Thomas. They were holding hands. Thomas opened the door for Michelle and put his hand on her back as she glided into the restaurant.

Paige opened her car door and staggered across the street to the entrance of the restaurant. Just when they were seated Paige burst threw the doors and ran up to Thomas and Michelle’s table. “How could you do this to me?”

            Michelle screamed and Thomas jumped back in his seat. The two were so stunned that neither answered. Thomas looked at Paige. Her hair was frizzy and the curls had wilted into limp lifeless strings. She looked as if she hadn’t slept or eaten in days and her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

            “Paige what the hell are you doing here?” Thomas finally asked.

            “No Thomas, what are you doing here? You told me you loved me. How could you treat me like this.”

            “Paige we can talk about this later but you need to leave now.”

            “What is she doing here?” Michelle’s dark features accented her anger when she scowled at Thomas.

            “You shut up,” Paige pointed her flailing finger at Michelle, “no one was talking to you.” Michelle looked at her as is she was a parasite.

            “I knew I shouldn’t have gone on this stupid date.” Michelle gathered her things and headed for the door.

            “Michelle wait.” Thomas called out but she didn’t turn around.

            “Excuse me sir, you haven’t paid.” The confused waiter stared at him blankly. Thomas let Michelle leave and took care of the check. Paige watched him nervously search through his wallet for his credit card. She felt sick and light headed. She left before he turned around. On her drive home she replayed the series of events that had taken place in the last week. Asshole, she thought to her self. Once she got to her house she went upstairs and flopped on her bed. A second later the phone rang, it was Thomas.

            “Hello?” her stomach flipped.

            “Paige, I want to talk to you. I’m coming over.” He hung up before she could say another word. So many things were running through her mind. She ran to the mirror and fixed her hair, applied some make up, and put on her jacket. She looked out the window and saw the headlights of his car driving up her road. When she got outside a chill ran up her spine, she hugged the jacket around her body to secure the warmth she already had.

            “Hey.”

            “So what did you want to talk to me about?”

            “Well Paige, I want you to know I really like Michelle. And it looks like you just ruined our relationship. So I wanted to know why you came there tonight.” Paige stepped back and let his words sink in.

            “We were in a relationship and you just stopped talking to me.” Paige took a deep breath and fought off her tears.

            “No Paige. We were not in a relationship.” Thomas’ voice was getting louder. “ I never even liked you. You were so clingy and annoying.”

            “Why are you yelling at me?”

             “I’m yelling at you because you just don’t get it Paige. I hate you. Leave me alone. What is it going to take?” He started pacing in front of her.

            “You’re scaring me.” Paige started crying and tried to calm Thomas, she put her hand on his back. He whipped around and grabbed her by her shoulders.

            “Don’t fucking touch me!” He grabbed her shoulders; she began to struggle to get out of his grip. “Stop crying Paige.” Paige tripped over a rock and fell on her back with Thomas still holding on to her.

            “Let go of me.”

            “Stop.” Thomas put his forearm over her mouth to quiet her. “Are you going to leave me alone? Are you-“

            A loud crack echoed through the air. Thomas’ anger in his eyes faded to a blank stare, his grip loosened and his body went limp and collapsed over her. Warm blood trickled down his chest seeping onto her jacket. Paige scooted back to get away from his wilting body. Finally she looked up and saw her dad standing on the porch. The dim light reflected off the smoke oozing from the barrel of her dad’s gun.