Pale skin glistened with cold sweat as the terror gripped teen Brit sat up in her bed. Her tangled raven hair stuck to her forehead as her dark eyes rapidly scanned the bedroom around her. Luckily, her television shined enough light to show that she was alone in her room.
"Shh, you're ok. You're going to be ok." Paige whispered to herself, sliding her locks off her face and tucking them behind her ears.
The young woman took hold of her tattered teddy stuffed bear that she had in her possession since she was a few months old. The brown bear with one of its eyes missing and a stitch pattern up its left side stood guard over Paige when she was deep in slumber. Of course, she knew better than to actually think her bear could somehow be her protector when things went wrong, but the idea gave her some comfort.
Aside from the low chattering her television gave off, the sounds of Paige's older brother, Zak, snoring down the hall gave a little more comfort to the troubled young woman.
"Zak's ok, everything is ok," Paige told herself in a hushed whisper. "You are alive and it will stay that way for the rest of the day. You are alive and it will stay that way for the rest of the day."
Paige tried to mentally block out the image of a headless man standing in her doorway, because she knew it was nothing more than her jacket draped over a desk chair. Sometimes she cursed herself for being so cautious and afraid of the slightest thing, but she also knew it was better to be safe than sorry.
Clutching her teddy bear to her chest, Paige burrowed herself back under the blankets. She opened a music app on her phone and began playing Blackbird by The Beatles; Her mom used to sing it to her when she was little whenever she got scared.
Even with horrible images plagued her every time she closed her eyes, Paige managed to drift into an uneasy sleep once again.
The following morning, after a warm shower, Paige shuffled into the dining room of the duplex she shared with her older brother. Zak was sitting at the table with his phone in one hand and a piece of toast in the other.
"Mornin' sunshine," Zak greeted his sister without moving his gaze from his cellular device. "How'd you sleep?"
"Shitty," Paige replied flatly.
"Still not used to the new house, eh?" Zak pushed a chair out for Paige to sit. "Have some cereal before you run off to college."
"They call it high school here, Zak," Paige muttered.
Zak finally pulled his focus from his phone. "You ok, sunshine?"
Paige shook her head.
"Bad dreams again?" Zak asked.
Paige nodded her head and dropped her face in her hands.
Zak set a gentle hand on his sister's shoulder. "Sorry, love. I miss mum and dad too. Everything will be alright."
"How could you possibly know that?" Paige asked.
Zak shrugged. "Dunno. But I know have a bright eye for the future is a lot better than moping around all the time."
Paige stood up. "I'm not moping," she collected her backpack and headed for the door. "I got therapy after class. I'll walk home later."
"Ok, sis, I love you," Zak paused for a reply but none came. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders before returning to the video on his phone.
Paige originally hated the idea of living just a few blocks from her new school. Now, with the late fall breeze rolling in and the sun still not fully risen yet, Paige felt very lucky she didn't have very far to go.
Paige read the massive letters hanging above the front entrance way: 'Stamford High School'. At least she found the right place. It felt like everyone who was either walking into the school or hanging out front before class was staring at her as she walked by, even though Paige knew better than that. Sure, she was the new girl, but some brunette was in a heated make out session with her boyfriend, so surely there were other things to worry about than the new girl.
Paige shuffled up to the window with a secretary seated at a desk behind it. Her name plate said 'Vickie Guerrero'; Paige assumed she was a nice woman, based on the gentle way she spoke and the friendly smile on her face.
Vickie hung up the phone and turned to Paige. "Yes, dear? May I help you?"
"Yeah, I'm new to this school," Paige replied. "I'm not really sure what to do."
"Oh, that pretty accent, you must be Paige," Vickie quickly picked up the phone again. "Mr McMahon, I have Paige Knight here... Ok, I'll send her back. Mr McMahon will see you now, hun."
Paige thanked the woman. She waited at the door to the office, then opened it once Vickie pressed a button under her desk to unlock it. Paige made her way across the office to a door labeled 'Shane McMahon'.
As soon as Paige reached the door, it opened. A middle aged man and a boy around Paige's age both stepped out.
"Dean, please stay out of trouble longer than a few days," the older man asked.
Dean smirked. "I guess we'll have to wait and see, Shane."
Shane sighed. "Well, not all of them can be star pupils," he focused on Paige. "Paige Knight, I presume?"
Paige shook hands with the principal. "Yes, sir. Today's my first day."
"Of course. I've been expecting you," Shane led the young Brit into his office and shut the door. "Your file says your from Norwich?"
Paige nodded. "Yes, moved here last month. Lovely place, this city."
"Yeah, I've lived here most of my life," Shane said. "I love this city. You will too, I think."
Shane typed away at his computer. While he was occupied, Paige glanced around at the sports memorabilia hanging around the office. She'd heard of most of these sports, but she had no idea how most of them worked.
"What brings you here to the US?"
Paige heard the question, but she couldn't bring herself to even acknowledge the person who asked her. She could feel her cheeks starting to tint red as well as her eyes begin to fill with tears. She could feel the early stages of a panic attack start to dig its way through her chest, but she clenched tightly at the small furry stuffed leg of her trusty bear through the zipper of her backpack.
"Miss Knight?"
"Family troubles," Paige blurted, finally finding her words. "Move out here with my brother, Zak. He should be listed as my legal guardian."
Shane nodded his head. "Ok, no harm no foul. Says here you are to be released early from eighth period so you can attend mental rehabilitation courses with Dr Henry Shelby?"
"I hate that it's called that, but yes," Paige said. Therapy, she wanted to correct, but the writing was there on the screen for her new principal to see. He was probably already deeming her a basket case just by the term 'mental rehabilitation'.
Shane nodded his head. "Your eighth period class is English Literature. It's taught by my sister, Stephanie, so it's probably a God send you have therapy to attend after school."
Paige cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't really aware if she was meant to laugh at that or stay silent. She faked a chuckle when Shane cracked a grin and looked to her output.
Shane picked up a piece of paper from the printer tray in front of him. "Your class schedule, miss," he handed over the paper. "You have lunch at noon with the other seniors. Periods one through four before lunch, and five through eight after. Any questions?"
Paige had about a million questions she wanted to ask about the simple navigation of the building, but she simply shook her head and smiled politely.
"Thank you, sir, but I think I can figure things out," she lied with a fake smile.
Shane nodded his head. "Love the enthusiasm. If you need anything, go ahead and stop by anytime."
Paige thanked the principal one more time and left the office finally. With a sigh of relief, Paige gave her teddy one more quick squeeze on the leg and let him go.
The bustling crowd of students began piling into the school as the morning start time drew nearer. Paige sat alone at a table in the cafeteria, reading to herself from a book her mother adored: The Detective by Roderick Thorp.
Paige glanced up from her book for half a second. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized a small woman was seated beside her and reading over her shoulder. The dark haired, tan skinned woman tilted her head from one side to the other.
"Whatcha reading?" The girl asked.
"The Detective," Paige pointed to the title on the cover.
"Cool, I like mystery novels," the girl made eye contact with Paige. "I like your accent. English?"
Paige chuckled nervously. "Yeah, just moved her a month ago."
"Oh, you're the new girl Dean was talking about," as the girl said that, the boy Paige saw in the office before sat beside her. "Dean, I found the newbie."
"I see that," Dean smirked at Paige. "I see AJ's found you. She usually doesn't talk to people unless she gets a "good vibe" from them. You must be pretty cool then."
"AJ? That's a pretty name," Paige said.
"It sounds hot as fuck when you say it," AJ said with a grin. "Say, 'top of the mornin' to ya, laddies'."
Paige chuckled. "Um, no."
Dean shook his head. "Babe, you can't always assume everyone from England wants to say that... Or talks like they're Irish."
AJ shrugged and leaned into Dean's frame. The couple exchanged hushed words then shared a kiss. Paige, feeling a sense of awkwardness, tried to appear to be looking anywhere else than the couple lip locked in front of her.
"Anyway," AJ said, bringing back Paige's attention. "I'm April-Jeanette. AJ is what I prefer and Dean is the only one allowed to call me April." She gazed over her shoulder at the boy behind her. "This is Dean Ambrose, the light in my darkness. He's a troublemaker, juvenile delinquent, future felon, but makes a good homemade mac and cheese when he feels like it."
"Nice to meet you both," Paige said with a slightly less nervous smile.
"I figured you were special, Paige. That's her name, right?" AJ whispered to Dean.
Paige nodded her head. "Yes. Paige Knight."
"Shining armor or time of day?" Dean asked.
"Armor," Paige said.
"Cool." Dean took a look at Paige's locker assignment and class schedule. "Ah, sweet, we all have morning classes together. We can show you around if you want, Paige. The lockers are a mother fucker to deal with, but so are the people so..."
Paige folded her book and set it inside her bag. Dean and AJ, locked hand in hand, led the way towards a hall almost parallel with the cafeteria.
Paige was grateful she had easily found a few people to associate herself with. Sure, they didn't know each other that well, but Paige figured that would come in due time. They seemed like good people on the surface and from what little she knew about them already.
Dean stopped in front of a locker. "Cool, you are right next to AJ's. This shit should be easy for you then," instead of putting in the combination, Dean slapped the door with his hand and the locker opened.
"Home sweet home," AJ said with a cheery smile.
"Thanks," Paige said as she started putting her things away.
"Fuck, Blonde Squad comin' in hot," AJ muttered.
Paige turned around in time to see a group of blonde girls walking in her direction. The one at the head of the group, who was taller than the rest of them, had her chin held up and her nose pointed nearly directly at the ceiling. Paige made eye contact with one of the "bustier" ones at the back. That blonde gave Paige a finger wave as she passed.
"At least Mandy likes you," AJ muttered to Paige.
"I can see why they're called the Blonde Squad," Paige noted. "Five blondes all packed together."
"Used to be six," Dean said quietly. "But everyone's heard what happened to Lana."
"Who's Lana?" Paige asked.
"Shit, that's right, you don't know," Dean said. "About three weeks ago, one of the blonde bitches, Lana, was found in her car in the parking lot of Spicolli's. And that's putting it lightly. They say the police found her like Drew Barrymore at the beginning of Scream. Guts and shit all over the dashboard. Fuckin' awful. I feel bad for her boyfriend, Rusev. He's this big Bulgarian exchange student. Never seen him show emotion until he started crying in Algebra."
AJ and Dean turned to find their new friend making a mad dash down the hall. Paige, bumping by several people as she ran, arrived at the nearest restroom and threw herself inside.
Paige's stomach churned and her vision became blurry. She hadn't realized she'd thrown up in the sink until she felt the taste of sick in her mouth and tried rinsing it out with water.
"Paige?"
Paige slid against the wall and sat down against the cool linoleum. She pulled her knees against her chest and hid her face in her hands.
"Paige..."
How did everything manage to go so wrong so quickly within a month? A month! Not even a full year could go before she was reminded of the awful events that took place and forced her to move out of the country to start over in a foreign land. Maybe Zak could find new work in Canada and she could leave this mess behind.
Paige picked her head up. Something fuzzy was tapping her arm. Her brow furrowed when she realized it was the arm of her beloved teddy bear. Holding the bear up was the tiny person Paige came to know was called AJ. The petite woman offered the bear, which Paige took, then offered a hug with outstretched arms. Paige, on the verge of more tears, accepted the embrace.
"I'm sorry I'm so weird," Paige muttered.
AJ shook her head. "Don't be," she paused when Dean sat down beside them on the floor. "See? Dean's in the girl's room."
The trio shared a chuckle. Paige held tightly to the ragged old bear in her hands.
"How'd you know?" Paige asked AJ, referring to her bear.
"Dean's my coping mechanism when I have panic attacks," AJ said. "I figured this old guy was yours when he fell out of your backpack when you dropped it before you took off."
"Must've been some fucked up shit back home," Dean said.
Paige chuckled dryly. "You have absolutely no idea."
The trio's attention was taken by the opening of a stall and the flushing of a toilet. A dark skinned woman with purple hair walked up to the sink and began washing her hands. She turned for the exit, but stopped when she saw the three others sitting on the floor.
"Ugh, Dean, why do you keep coming in here?" The girl demanded with a disgusted look on her face.
"Like you hate seeing my beautiful face, lil' mama," Dean said with a smirk.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Is she ok?" The girl knelt beside Paige and set her hand on her forehead. "She's burning up, guys."
"Panic attack," AJ said. "We're working through it."
"Oh," the girl stood back up. "Ok, glad everything's better then."
Dean nodded his head at the girl. "That's Sasha," he told Paige. "Resident future nurse and has a huge secret crush on me."
"Right, and me dating your ex doesn't contradict that theory at all?" Sasha snapped back.
"You're gay?" Paige asked, making Dean chuckle.
Sasha shrugged. "Since day one. Sorry, but I gotta get to Human Anatomy or I can kiss those college credits goodbye."
"Shit, we gotta get going too," Dean helped AJ stand, then Paige. "Stick with us, kid," he told the Brit. "We're clinically insane, but we make good company."
Paige smirked. "Sounds like a fun time."
AJ nodded her head. "Oh, for sure. We typically meet up every Friday for sushi at Funaki's. Other than that, we mostly bone in the back of Dean's pickup."
Dean nodded. "Tested the fuck out of the suspension a lot of times in that thing."
Paige snickered. "Take it one step at a time and maybe we'll discuss a threesome later on."
AJ and Dean broke out in laughter at Paige's joke. Paige smiled to herself and hugged her bear at the sight of apparently making friends really well. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Alright, we gotta get goin'," Dean led the way out of the bathroom. "Don't worry, Paige. We got your back."
Paige smiled at that thought and followed her new classmates.
Paige's first class of the day was World History Three. AJ and Dean led her to the class room and took their assigned seats. Paige stood awkwardly at the front of the room for a moment; The teacher was speaking to another student.
The teacher broke away and approached Paige.
"You must be Paige," the woman said. "I'm Miss James. It's good to meet you. Go ahead and take a seat wherever you want."
"She gets to sit wherever she wants and we get assigned seats?" A boy said from the front row. "That's a little retarded, don't you think, Mickie?"
"That's Miss James, Mr Ryder, and I'll see you after class," Miss James snapped back to a mass laugh from the rest of the class.
Paige took an empty seat between Dean and a boy with his hood pulled over his head and his face resting in his arms. Paige pulled the chair back and sat; The boy turned his head for a moment before tucking his face back in his arms.
Miss James approached Paige's table. She knelt in front of the boy to Paige's left. She whispered something to the boy. He nodded, sat up, and pulled his hood down. The boy looked at Paige, who wasn't aware she was staring until he cocked an eyebrow.
"I know you're tired, Aleister, but you need to stay awake, ok?" Miss James told the boy. "If it were up to me, I'd let you sleep as long as you need. But I'll get in trouble if I let you sleep."
Aleister nodded his head but didn't speak. Miss James returned to the head of the classroom as the final bell rang.
Paige gave the boy one more look. She could tell, from where she was sitting, that he had a few tattoos on his neck. He glanced in her direction again, but Paige turned away once again.
Lunch time arrived quickly that day. Paige stood in line with Dean and AJ. She ordered a simple slice of pepperoni pizza and a carton of milk before following her two new friends towards the back of the cafeteria.
"The best part about being social outcasts," Dean began as he sat down next to AJ. "Is that we get our own table."
"I got away with giving him a blowie back here once," AJ said, Dean nodding to confirm her statement.
Paige scanned the room. It was obvious that the place was divided by cliques, just by the obvious diversity amongst the tables.
"So what's the status quo here?" Paige asked. "Preps, jocks, sluts, druggies?"
Dean cocked his head. "Well, you saw the Blonde Squad before this morning. Charlotte's their leader; She's the really tall one. Then there's Alexa, Summer, Mandy, and Lacey. Lana too before she died. Then there's the jockstraps. Roman's the big Samoan dude. Used to be my best friend, but he decided trying to pound Alexa was more important than me. Preppy fuckers are next to them. Zack Ryder is this rich kid that throws epic parties. Lost my virginity to AJ at his lake house. He's a pretty cool dude when he isn't with his fag buddies. Uh, Becky with the orange hair is over at that table with the other exchange students. Asuka and Io are pretty cool chicks, but Kairi is a mother fucking chore to understand sometimes. Seth Rollins is the local pot guy. Bray is his best bud and they can usually be found in their van getting high right about now. Bayley's Seth's girl and she's so high all the time she keeps hugging people. Mike and Maria are usually tonsil deep in each other's mouths. Oh, and there goes Sasha with my loving ex-fuck buddy Renee."
"We break up for a week and that's who you decide to hook up with?" AJ asked her boyfriend.
"You did too," Dean shot back.
"Oh yeah," AJ chuckled. "She's good looking naked."
Paige caught sight of the boy she sat beside during first period. He turned away from the lunch line and bumped into Roman. It looked like an accident, but Paige could've sworn Roman deliberately hit the food tray on purpose.
"Who's that?" Paige asked. "The guy I sat next to in World History?"
"Ah, Aleister Black," Dean confirmed. "Dude's weird. He's into the occult and dark magic and shit. Rumor has it he's got a huge demon tattoo on his back, but he never changes for gym so we don't know for sure."
"He's really quiet," AJ added. "Never talks to anyone."
Paige watched Aleister stare down Roman after his food was spilled. Roman looked back at his buddies, shook his head, then walked away. Aleister shook his head and walked off from the scene, ignoring the order from the lunch ladies to clean the mess.
Paige shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her food while trying to pretend not to notice the make out session going on across from her.
After school finally ended, Paige said goodbye to her new friends as they climbed into Dean's pickup. The short walk home was both refreshing and tiring at the same time. Her current goal was to get in a quick nap or snack before having to walk up the street to meet with her therapist.
As Paige walked up to her front door, the front door on the house attached to hers opened. Aleister from school walked out. He lit a cigarette and sat on the retaining wall on the front porch. He turned to lock eyes with Paige again, but she quickly turned away and entered her own house.