Chapter 4: Everyone Deserves A Chance…Right?

Paige ended up at Hazel's house, when all was said and done. She wasn't sure why, but she started to think that she might have…feelings for Jay. Jay, the mechanic who was always high on something and treated girls like they were nothing more than a toy. Paige couldn't possibly like someone like that…could she?

She turned off her car and walked into Hazel's house, running upstairs to her room. Hazel was sitting at her desk on the computer when she heard her bedroom door open. She turned and smiled when she realized it was Paige.

"Hey Paige." Hazel said with a confused smile.

"Hey hun." Paige replied warily.

"What's up with you?"

Paige thought about that for a moment. Although Hazel was her best friend, did she really want to tell her that she might have feelings for-she winced at the thought of his name-Jay?

So, instead she began with something much less stressful, but important nonetheless.

"I haven't come up with any new cheers and the competition is in a month."

Hazel watched Paige's expression carefully. She wasn't buying it.

"Okay, now what's really eating you?"

Had Paige not hidden it as well as she thought? Well, if she was going to tell someone, then it might as well be Hazel.

"Well", she began hesitantly," Umm I think I might have feelings for…-she whispered the name- Jay."

"Who?" Hazel asked, confused.

"JAY!" Paige shouted.

Hazel gasped when she heard the name. Paige…. and…Jay? She shivered. 'But', Hazel thought to herself, 'Everyone deserves a chance right?' She looked at Paige and smiled. Paige looked at Hazel with a confused expression. She thought Hazel might encourage her NOT to do this, but instead she…. smiled?

Hazel saw the expression on Paige's face and she prepared to explain her reaction.

"Paige", she began, "I know you were probably expecting me to tell you that this is wrong and that you shouldn't even think about giving Jay a chance." Paige nodded. "Well, I think you should. I mean come on, think about it Paige, everyone deserves a chance. And he is a person, with some feelings…. I think. And you never know, you may be just the person he needs right now. Somebody who can get him straightened out."

She let Paige take all of this in while the both sat in silence for a few moments.

"I guess you're right", Paige began. Hazel waited.

"I guess I could like Jay, but…"

"But?" Hazel prompted.

"But my reputation…the head cheerleader, and…the mechanic?"

"Well, who cares what everyone else thinks?"

"I suppose you're right."

"I am right." Hazel replied with a grin.

"Thanks Haze. I know I can always count on you."

Hazel got up and hugged Paige and walked her downstairs to her car. "I'll call you later hun", Paige said as she closed her door.

"Kay." Hazel smiled and went back inside.

Now that she told Hazel, so she felt better. Should she tell Jay?

She started down the street that would take her to Jay's.

Paige got out of her car and walked hesitantly to his apartment.

She knocked on the door, not expecting an answer. She waited and moment, and to her surprise, Jay answered the door.

"Hey." Paige said with a strained smile.

"Hey." Jay replied with a hurried and confused expression.

"Is this a bad time?" Paige asked noticing his expression.

"Umm…kinda."

Paige heard a female voice coming from behind the door.

"Who's that?" Paige asked.

"Oh that? Uh that's just the T.V."

"Well you won't mind if I come in then."

She pushed past him before he could object.

When she walked in, she immediately saw where the female voice was coming from. Manny was sitting on the couch waiting for Jay.

"Oh um hi…Paige." Manny managed to choke out.

Paige stared at Manny in disbelief.

She didn't realize she was crying until she turned around and Jay wiped something wet from her cheek. She pushed him away and walked…no, ran out the door to her car. Jay followed.

"Wait! Paige, it's not what it looks like!"

Paige didn't want to hear the sound of his voice. Her breath got shorter and the tears started streaming. She hadn't even out the keys in the ignition yet. Jay opened her door and knelt beside the car.

"Paige." Jay said.

"Just go away. I don't wanna hear it."

"Paige, I don't know what you're so upset about. You don't even like me."

Paige looked at him with a 'you're so wrong' expression.

"You're so stupid Jay, I swear."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you really want to know, you will figure it out."

On that note, Jay got up and Paige closed her door and drove home.

When she got home, she ran straight to her room. With her eyes full of tears, she laid on her bed and thought about nothing but Jay. She went into her bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She wasn't sure what the small blue pills were called. But she knew they would knock her out. She had seen her brother take two and he slept the whole day. But a day didn't seem like enough for her. She was thinking more along the lines of days. Maybe when she woke up…everything would be better, like it was supposed to be.

She poured 6 of the small blue pills into her hand and filled up a glass of water from the sink. She took them one at a time and went into her room. She turned her stereo on low and the song Glycerine by Bush started playing. She laid on her bed and before she knew it, she was out of it.

………………………………………………………………………………….

the next day

Jay took the city bus to Paige's neighborhood and walked to her house. He knocked on the door and Paige's brother answered.

"Um is Paige here?" Jay asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'll take you to her room."

He knocked on his sister's door…no answer. So, he tried opening it…locked. He grabbed the spare key to her room and opened her door to find her sleeping. He went to go wake her up but she wouldn't move. He shook her and still, no response. He checked to see if there was a heartbeat…. he felt nothing,

"Oh my God! Paige!" Dylan exclaimed with tears streaming.

Paige was still unresponsive. He went into her bathroom and saw the orange bottle containing the small blue pills open on the counter. He read the warning on the label and it said: Warning: Do not exceed 2 pills within a 4 to 6 hour period. Consequences could be fatal. If you do exceed the given amount, contact a doctor immediately.

Dylan felt his heart drop. He called an ambulance and went into the kitchen to call their mother, not remembering that Jay was still there. Jay went beside Paige and whispered 'I'm so sorry' into her ear and then ran out of the house, and kept running. What had he done? He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and a car struck him.

He couldn't feel his right side, and at that moment, he really didn't want to live. So, he laid there and waited, for and ambulance or….for death.