"Girl Power! Yeah!" Paige shouts, raising her arm in preparation for a high five in her new roommate's direction. "Up top!"
The brunette stranger and Paul Briggs look at her, then each other, before bursting out in small snorts.
Paige's eyes widen in horror as she slowly lowers her arm.
"What the hell was that!?" the brunette stranger guffaws. Briggs stops his snorting to give Paige look of pity. The stranger catches her breath before continuing with a small smile on her face. "Sorry sweetie, I don't do that crap."
"But I only wanted to-"
"This is Catherine Demarco. I wish I could say she's usually more polite," Briggs comments, giving a wan smile in Demarco's direction.
What kind of place was this?
Paige wasn't sure at this point. She'd been though a lot during her training-which was a far cry from how she grew up.
Briggs picked her up from the airport only an hour ago.
He seemed nice enough. But, Paige immediately felt left out when she heard there were three other male roommates.
Now, Paige finds out her and only one another woman were living here at Graceland. Paige decided that Catherine had probably been lonely and needed another womanly presence to get through the day.
But what was up with her reaction?
Maybe Paige should try something else.
"Um, Catherine, what did you get on your first day of training? I managed to-"
"Good for you princess," Charlie sighs, walking away to another part of the house.
"Who's that?" Paige asks nervously, staring at another stranger who just rounded the corner. He wore braids-or was it dreds? With taller guys flanking at his right and left.
"Hey, what's up?"
"She the new roommate?"
"Excuse me," Paige pardons, following Charlie out of the room. She doesn't catch the confused glances of her male roommates in the process. "Hi, I didn't really introduce myself that well. I thought that maybe we could hang out, or go shopping-"
"You thought that because we're the only women here, we're supposed to be 'best friends'?" Charlie questions mockingly. Paige can't help but stare back as if she were a deer in the headlights. Paige was glad everyone else wasn't round. "That we're supposed to trade make-up tips or some shit?"
"I didn't mean to insult you Catherine. I just-we got off on the wrong foot and-"
"You needed a 'friend'?" Charlie sighs, crossing her arms. "Look, that's not how I roll. You don't just force yourself to be someone's friend because the things between our legs match. This ain't some sorority bullshit."
~~~G-r-a-c-e-l-a-n-d~~
And that's how Paige found herself running out of the house, to the nearest isolated location.
She settled at an empty spot beneath the pier. There, she held her knees close to her chest and cried softly.
Paige hears footsteps, followed by;
"Hey-um-Arkin? Are you okay?"
"Does it look like I'm okay? Screw off!"
How does this person know her name anyway?
"Whoa, hey. We live in the same house, and I was the new guy a few months ago…so I figured you-"
Paige looks up to find one of her roommates carrying a surf board and wearing a wetsuit. She never got the chance to learn his name. She only saw him at the house briefly trailing along with Dale and Donny. She almost didn't recognize him without a baseball cap on backwards.
"What do you want?" Paige sniffs. Her mother always taught her not to cry in front of guys or they could use it against her. So far, her advice hasn't done her any good.
He stops to stare at her sadly before sitting down next to her. He extends a hand.
"I'm Jose', but everyone around here calls me Johnny," Johnny says. He lowers his hand when Paige doesn't respond, or returns his handshake. Paige doesn't care that he looks sad for a second or wants to be her friend. She doesn't need his pity.
"Wow, Chuck wasn't kidding when she said you were-"
"What?"
"She said you were a 'privileged-'…forget it," Johnny sighs, playing with the ankle chain on his surfboard. "Just forget I said anything. We were worried about what happened to you-"
"You wouldn't understand-I don't need your help," Paige argues. She finally looks at Johnny, angry and tired. She finds his face bathing in seriousness, yet unreadable at the same time. As if he wanted to say something…A slow smile spread on his face the longer she looked at him.
"Well, if isn't it our runaway roomie," their roommate with dreds greets, sauntering over to where Johnny and Paige sat. "How you two doing?"
"Yo, Jakes!" Johnny greets. Johnny then raises his eyebrows in Paige's direction. "You wanna be known for being a runaway? Huh, huh?" He gently rubs his shoulder into Paige's, while he smiled.
Paige's face betrays her as a smirk spreads on her face.
"Look, I know what you're going through. I grew up with a silver spoon too," Jakes says, settling down on Paige's "But, I got over it."
"You grew up in Beverly Hills bro?" Johnny inquires, half-smiling at Jakes.
"I didn't grow up in damn Beverly Hills," Paige bemoans, knowing that Johnny's comment was probably a small dig at her.
"I think he's just trying to make you feel better," Jakes answers, watching a few women in bikini's pass by. "And, I didn't grow up in Beverly Hills-"
"Nah, I'm not. I must've forgot," Johnny muses, looking away.
"Pigs," Paige huffs.
"Oh, yeah, we're the pigs, yet you tried forcing someone to be your friend because you're both girls? That sounds sexist to me," Johnny retorts. Jakes gives him a hard look. "Sorry."
"It's not my fault I didn't grow up with girls around," Paige expounds.
"Charlie didn't either," Dale shrugs. "She grew up with only brothers at home."
"That's horrible!" Paige exclaims. But it also explains why Charlie was so comfortable, and in her element, around the rest of their roommates.
Johnny snickers a bit before Jakes suddenly coughs. "My bad. But, you really don't get out much, huh?"
"Johnny," Jakes warns.
"No, he's right," Paige sniffs again. She wipes her nose with the tissue Jakes hands her. "I thought…well, I thought wrong."
"If you really wanna get along with Charlie, you can't keep coming at her with that-" Jakes stops, as if he's trying to find the right words.
"'Sorority girl bullshit'-"Paige offers, bitterly. Jakes and Johnny exchange solemn glances.
"Yeah… I mean, we're all from different places. Except me," Johnny says, leaning back.
"Yeah, his mom's just down the street," Dale drones, taking a sip of his beer.
"Really? You're lucky then," Paige comments softly. She misses her own family quite a bit. The last time she saw her parents was at her graduation. And that was almost a year ago.
"Mhm, not really," Johnny mumbles. He quickly looks uncomfortable, and Paige isn't sure why. "I'm just trying to say-"
"Just talk to Charlie like a regular person," Dale finishes. "She hates being treated like she needs special treatment because she's a woman. Trust us on that one."
"Yeah," Johnny agrees. "She's cool, once you get to know her. A little tough, but cool."
Paige considered their advice as they walked backed to Graceland. She laughed at Johnny's jokes, and his small bickering with Dale. She briefly wondered where Donnie was until the trio saw him at some bar, called 'The Drop', chatting up some girl.
She definitely was almost ready to try for a found three of operation; "Be friends with Charlie", when;
"She's just so needy," she overhears Charlie stress from the kitchen. "Like, this rich girl couldn't even-"
Someone shushes Charlie and she stops talking. But, just as she rounds the corner towards the stairs, Paige disappears upstairs.
~~~G-r-a-c-e-l-a-n-d~~
"What's wrong with you?" Charlie calls out, from Paige's doorway. "Packing your bags already?"
"Nothing, I just want to be by myself, that's all," Paige sighs, keeping her back to Charlie.
This was a horrible day that needed to end. Like right now.
All Paige wanted was to have a productive first day and not make an enemy out of the only other woman in the house. They were supposed to stick together…right?
"Look, are you gonna throw a temper tantrum again or-?"
"I just wanted to be friends with you, okay?!" Paige grits out, as she spins around to face Charlie. "Is that too much to ask?!"
Charlie furrows her eyebrows as she leans away from Paige. "You gay or something?"
"No! God no. Not there's anything wrong with that-"
Charlie narrows he eyes at Paige, as if she doesn't believe her, but continues on listening to her ramblings anyway.
"I just-I'm not used to being-I thought. I wasn't around a lot of women to be friends' with at training. And the ones I was around…And then the guys-"
"Got annoyed by you?"
"I'm not very popular with anyone," Paige surmises. She feels herself starting to cry again when she feels Charlie's weight dip down on the bed.
She then feels Charlie rubs her back soothingly.
"Look, just cool it a little on the 'rah rah' sisterhood stuff, alright? I'm not really into that," Charlie appeals, still rubbing Paige's back. "I didn't mean to bite your head off earlier. You're sensitive…I get it. We don't know each other and perky white girls make me nervous. No offense."
"But you're-forget it."
"C'mon, stop it already," Charlie groans, holding a tissue to Paige's face. "The guys haven't been giving you a hard time, have they?"
"No," Paige murmurs, wiping her face.
"So, it's just me you have a problem with?"
"I don't have a problem with you Catherine! I just want to work with you!"
"Then let's work together. Cut whatever this is, that you're doing, out. You sound like a brat. You were sent here for a reason Arkin. You're the best in your field. Someone wanted you here because you're good at what you do, obviously."
Paige can only sniffle for the time being, but also can't help but still feel…ashamed. She remembers her own mom letting her have it one day in front of her father's business buddies after Paige kept demanding ice cream before dinner. The phrase, "Paige Elizabeth Arkin, you are a spoiled brat! Shut your mouth this minute!" rang in Paige's head out of nowhere. The next day, her mom apologized by buying Paige a week's stay at Disneyworld. She almost forgot the incident, only remembering the great time she had having an entire section of Disneyworld to herself, along with her brother…
Charlie spat in her hand shortly before extending it in Paige's direction.
Paige looks at it in disgust as Charlie continues with, "Let's shake on it. We work together, we eat together and we kick ass together. All of us. We're all on the same team. You, me, Paul, Dale, Donnie and Johnny. It's not them against us. You want in on that, or not?"
Paige ogles the hand for a moment more before spitting in her own hand, and promptly shaking Charlie's.
"You just made me twenty bucks, baby girl," Charlie smirks. Paige stares at her in confusion as she wipes her hand on her pant leg. "Paulie didn't think you'd go through with a handshake. You can stay."
"Gee, I didn't know you were in charge of that-"
"I'm not, but we could vote you out, smartass. If we had to," Charlie adds, staring down at Paige. Paige gapes at Charlie, until Charlie snorts at her reaction. "I'm kidding Paige."
"Right," Paige huffs good-naturedly. She isn't sure, but Charlie and Briggs give off 'king and queen of the house' vibes.
"I'm making some brownies later, you want some? Or will that ruin your figure?" Charlie challenges, with a smirk.
"That depends. Will they be homemade, or from a box?"
"Depends on how I feel," Charlie shrugs. "Don't tell that to the guys… I wanted you the first to know. Since you're having a bad day you can have some first."
"Oh, thanks," Paige answers, grinning at Charlie. Paige had to admit, that she began to feel much better now.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at Graceland after all. Paige had to be surrounded by guys during her training, then working briefly in an office, but here the guys didn't seem so bad. And to she also could admit that it was wrong of her to treat Charlie as if she was owed her friendship. At least the guys tried helping Charlie and herself get along. It was somewhat bad on her part to be on the defense with them, so much… Especially Johnny. It was hard not to when he reminded Paige of her brother right before he-
"Don't get used to it though," Charlie amends, rising off the bed. "I'm not here to be your mother-or your sister, or something."
"I promise," Paige counters, sitting Indian style in her bed. "Thanks again."
"Dinner will be ready in five. You're in luck. It's Sauce Night."
And they end up getting along, yep. Hope this was enjoyed. Just something different. Thanks for reading!