Courage

Alex Nunez was considered the badass of Degrassi. She was the type of girl that would skip class and hang out in the ravine all day. Her home life was shitty, living with her mom and her drunken boyfriend who beat them up constantly. That is until Paige Michelchuk came into her life.

Alex and Paige didn't get along at first. For the most part they hated each other. Paige was the queen of Degrassi and Alex was the queen of the trailer park.

"WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T LET THAT DAUGHTER OF YOURS RUN AROUND EVERYWHERE!" I heard Chad scream from the kitchen. They were fighting again, as usual and as usual over something really stupid. I had my duffel bag next to me in case something happened.

"This has nothing to do with Alex, Chad and you know it!" My mom screamed. I heard Chad come out of the kitchen and into the living room. Before I knew it he was standing in front of me and there was not a happy look on his face.

"THIS IS YOUR ENTIRE FAULT!" He raised his hand and it made contact with my face. He picked me up by my shirt and threw me across the room causing me to crash into the table. I got up, unable to say anything. My head was spinning and I knew that if I didn't get out of here fast something worse would happen. I grabbed my duffel bag off the sofa and ran out the door.

"YEAH GO HEAD AND RUN, YOU LITTLE BITCH! JUST LIKE ALWAYS!" I heard Chad say when I was half way down the hall.

I ran out of the building. It was raining out, I started running, I didn't know where to and right now I really don't care.

I ended up at the Dot, sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in my hand. I looked at myself in the napkin dispenser. I had a on the side of my eyebrow and my lip was bleeding. I sighed and looked at my coffee cup. I didn't look up until I heard someone slid into the seat across from me.

"Hey hun" Paige said.

I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. She usually had that effect on me.

"Hey Paige" I said casually.

She reached her across the table touch my lip with a puzzled look on her face. The butterflies went nuts.

"What happened?" She said.

"Chad, he and my mom got into a fight a few hours ago and he blamed it on me."

"So he beat you up?"

I nodded.

"Where are you gonna stay?"

"I'm gonna stay at the Woman's Shelter for a few weeks." I said without looking at her.

"What? No. You're not going back there, you gonna stay with me." Paige said getting up from her seat. I looked up with confusion.

"What about your parents?" I asked.

"They won't mind if I explain why I'm letting you stay there." She grabbed my bag and threw it over her shoulder. She held out her hand and waited for me to take it. I hesitated for a second, but grabbed her hand. She smiled triumphantly knowing she had won.