Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
Author's Note: This chapter contains spoilers for S01E16, 'Je Suis Une Amis'. My original plan was to post one chapter per episode... we all know about what happens to the best laid plans so let's just see how we go. There are a couple of curse words kicking around in this chapter, fair warning.
Thank you for the reviews, faves and follows. I replied to all those the system would allow me to. If I couldn't reply, please know I still loved hearing from you. :)
As always, comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
888
Paige spent the bottom half of her day nearly crawling out of her skin. Every time the PA system clicked on she thought it was the principal calling her to his office. She had damn near had a full blown panic attack when their local police officer had walked past her class.
A small part of Paige hoped Emily had told someone, that she would be forced her to reveal her reason behind the attack. And it had been an attack. Her stunt in the natatorium had been nothing short of a full on assault. That she had gone through with it made Paige question herself. She was competitive and she didn't suffer weakness lightly but she had always tried not to be malicious. Now...
Paige shook her head, reluctantly heading toward the pool. She kept her head down and eyes low, keeping herself as far from Emily's locker as possible. It wasn't easy, considering they had lockers beside each other but she fussed around in the equipment area until she was sure she was in the clear. Emily didn't acknowledge her all practice, seeming to look right through if her gaze ever passed over Paige. If Emily had told the coach or any of the teammates about the encounter, they were all playing it close to the vest. Practice went on as usual as they prepared for their Friday meet against their closest rivals in the standings.
When Coach called an end to practice, Paige lit out of the natatorium like she was on fire, barely taking the time to throw on her warm up suit as she left. She was on her bike and down the street before any of her teammates had filtered out of the school, glad to have such a horrible day behind her.
She was home earlier than normal, her mother still in the midst of cooking supper. The smell of freshly baked rolls wafted through the lower level and Paige's empty stomach made itself known. She dropped her bag at the basement stairs and headed for the kitchen. Her mother smiled at her as she came in, pausing in mid chop of a carrot.
"Hey, Mom."
"Hey, Sweetie. You're early, did the coach go easy on you guys today?"
"A little bit, I guess. We have a big meet coming up, she probably doesn't want to tire us out." Paige opened the fridge, pulling out the fresh fruit smoothie her mother kept stocked for her. Pouring herself a generous glass, she downed it in a few zealous gulps. "I skipped lunch to do some extra work in the gym," she explained at her mother's wide eyed look. The elder McCullers woman pushed over the basket of fresh buns and smiled conspiringly.
"Don't tell your father." With that, her mother turned away, giving Paige the opportunity to pilfer two of the carb loaded treats.
"Thanks, Mom."
She juggled the scalding buns in her hands as she headed for her room. She inhaled the first one, barely pausing to chew the buttery treat. She made a point to slow down and enjoy the second. Bread, white bread no less, was a rare luxury during the season.
Paige sat to do her homework, trudging through half an hour of algebra when she heard her dad come home. Ten minutes after that, her mom called her to supper. She sat in her usual place, listening to her father talk about his day.
"I heard something interesting from Dean today," Nick said when his talk about office politics had run its course. He turned to Paige and alarm bells began to sound in her head. Dean was Dean McNabb, the father of one of her teammates. "Apparently there's a new anchor for Friday's meet?"
His tone, a cross between statement and question left Paige no room to maneuver around the subject.
"Coach updates the relay order after practice. I had an off day, Emily took my slot. I'll get it back," she assured. With all the drama with 'A', Paige had almost allowed herself to forget making anchor wasn't just her desire, it was her father's will.
"You can't afford any slip-ups Paige," Nick began. "This is the year the scouts will really start to cherry pick. You need to stand out and you can't do that in the middle of the pack."
Paige wanted to argue that second place wasn't exactly middle of the pack but she knew it would fall on deaf ears. To Nick McCullers, second was only the first loser.
"I'll get it back, Dad."
He nodded, no other words needed between them as her mother looked on in silence.
888
Thursday morning found Paige sliding out of bed, bleary eyed from a night spent trying to come up with a plan of attack. She had two goals for the day and she was damned it she wouldn't accomplish them both. She had to get her slot back and she had to warn Emily about 'A'.
Emotionally harassing Emily hadn't worked. Physically harassing her hadn't worked. Paige had gone as far as she was willing to go in both respects and the girl still hadn't caved. There was only one thing left to do and that let Emily know that Paige hadn't been acting on her own. It was wrong to keep the girl in the dark, especially if 'A' had her in her sights. Paige just had to figure out a way to do it without 'A' knowing.
It was going to be a challenge -the bitch was everywhere- but she had no choice but to try.
Paige opened her drawer to pull out her swimming gear, grimacing when the drawer stuck. She pulled out a swimsuit and clean set of warm-ups and let out a low curse when she couldn't push the drawer closed. Stupid thing had been sticking for weeks. Putting her weight into it, she shut drawer with a slam. Her small collection of stuffed animals shook with the force of it, her plush Rosewood Shark tumbling to the floor. Paige scooped him off the ground, hugging the small animal to her chest as she took a deep breath, forcing her mind to slow down. She needed to stay calm. Stay on script.
Nodding to herself, Paige put her shark back in place, a frown shaping her lips when she noticed something was off. Her 'Oski' bear was in place, along with her lion from Penn State. Most of her stuffed animals were present and accounted for. It seemed her Danby mascot had gotten lost in the fray. Paige rolled her eyes. Her stuffies had been popping up in random places for days after 'A' had rearranged her room. She had found Oski, a golden bear, sitting next to the honey in the cupboard upstairs. In the mayhem of 'A's continual stunts, Paige hadn't realized her Danby one was AWOL.
Sloughing it off as something she would deal with later, Paige slung her bag and made her way up to the ground level. The scent of bacon and eggs permeated the dining room and Paige found herself resenting as she walked in. It was hard enough to deny herself food she loved, it certainly didn't make it any easier when her parents paraded it in front of her.
She sat, staring at her bowls of fruit, yogurt and oatmeal before her eyes zoned in on her father's more appealing plate. If he noticed her ten yard stare, he didn't say.
"I'll drive you to school today. I want you in the pool early, warming up."
It would be fruitless to argue so Paige merely nodded and ate her breakfast in silence. She cleared her plate quickly, knowing they were going off her father's timing. Sure enough, as soon as his fork touched his plate, he was pushing himself out of his seat.
"Here, Sweetheart. No more skipping lunch." Her mother handed her a brown bag, stuffed to the breaking point with fruit and vegetables, tuna and crackers added for protein. "Good luck today."
She accepted the hug and kiss to her temple, relaxing into her mother's embrace. The simplicity of it, having that small moment of connection, was enough to ground her. It was the first time in weeks that she hadn't felt completely overwhelmed.
A distinct cough from her father brought the short moment to an end and Paige was on the move, following him out to the car. The sat in tense silence as he pulled out of the driveway and set them on course for Rosewood High.
"Emily Fields, she's the young lady who quit the team earlier this year?"
"She took a break," Paige hedged. "She was dealing with some personal stuff."
"She quit." Nick McCullers restated. Paige shrugged, defending Emily any further would make him call her own commitment into question.
"Why is Coach Fulton allowing her back?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask." Paige had wanted to but Emily had pulled more than her own weight since being back and the team had needed the boost.
"What did she do on her time off? Work with a private coach?"
"I really don't know, Dad. We haven't spoken much since she got back." Accused her of doping, took potshots at her sexuality, assaulted her, but not a lot of speaking.
"She's your biggest threat on this team, Paige. Don't you think you should make it your business to find out what she's been doing?"
"I'm just trying to concentrate on myself, Dad. My times are down, I've anchored in the last four meets..."
"And yet this girl steps out of nowhere and takes your position."
"I'll get it back, it was just a bad day," Paige promised as they pulled up to the curb.
"I'm not going to wish you luck because luck is for the ill prepared. You know what you need to do, get it done."
Paige nodded and slid out of her seat, closing the door behind her. School was quiet, few other teams engaging in early morning practice. She nodded at a few teachers as she passed on her way to the pool. She quickly peeled off her warm ups, tossing her bag into her locker and tugged on her swimcap as she walked on deck.
The pool was empty, not even Coach was in the water. Paige had found Fulton swimming laps more than once in the early mornings. She left the woman to her own training, her calm presence welcome, neither of them needing to speak as they went through their routines. Today, the pool was quiet, lights on in Coach's office but the woman nowhere to be seen. Paige dove in, her body making little splash as it sliced through. She worked through her warm up laps, alternating strokes to loosen all her muscles as she allowed her mind to wander.
She needed a concrete plan to warn Emily. Maybe a note in her locker?
No. Too much chance of 'A' seeing her. Maybe a private conversation. Something like the mob movies her dad was always watching where they would meet at a noisy construction site so no one could hear what they were saying. Paige threw that idea out. She doubted Emily would get within ten feet of her alone. Arranging a clandestine meet was probably a recipe for getting hockey sticked across the back of the cranium by Hastings.
Paige's team began to filter in as she finished her last set of warm-ups, each girl diving lithely into the cool pool. Emily made a point of steering clear of Paige but otherwise showed no other indication that things from yesterday were getting to her.
Coach arrived shortly after the last girl jumped in, putting them through their paces before setting up the practice relays to determine the swimming order for Friday. They only had one practice the day before a meet. The practice tomorrow morning would be strictly fine tuning. This was it, her last chance to reclaim her position as anchor.
Four of them were in contention for the slot. Of them, only Emily would be any trouble. Paige stepped onto her block -Emily two blocks down- and tugged her goggles into place. Paige drew on years of training, closing her mind to all things, her Dad, Emily, 'A', to focus solely on the water.
The assistant coach blew the whistle and Paige launched herself off the platform, knowing as her body hit that it had been a good entry. Midway through the first half of the lap she had already over taken one teammate, Chloe. The edge came up and Paige executed a tight flip turn, pushing off the side wall with muscular legs. The girl immediately to her right, Vicky, flubbed the turn, not getting a full shot of power when she pushed.
It was just Paige and Emily. Paige dug for every inch, dogging the other girl all the way down the pool.
So concentrated on her technique, on keeping everything as tight as possible, it was a surprise when her hand slapped the cement edge of the pool. She surfaced with Emily, the girl staring straight at her before they turned to watch the other two come in, at least two seconds behind them.
Their teammates all clapped as Coach Fulton and her assistant compared notes on their clipboards. They nodded at each other and motioned everyone out of the pool. Paige hauled herself out, grabbing a towel as she followed the coach into the locker room, Emily just ahead of her. She heard the word 'tied' and blinked. No way.
"Was there a second watch? Was anyone else keeping time?" She asked, wrapping her towel around her dripping body.
"It was a tie, Paige. You and Emily tied." Coach Fulton couldn't have looked more pleased if she tried. To have two swimmers with such competitive times meant their team was in good shape. That they kept nipping at each others heels -forcing them to train harder to cut their times to keep the choice position- that was even better.
"So, what's going to happen? Who gets to anchor tomorrow?" Emily asked, looking from Paige to Coach Fulton.
"Can't decide that yet." Coach dismissed them from their semi-private conversation, taking a step back to address the rest of the team. "Alright, listen up Sharks. We'll meet tomorrow morning, same place, same time and we'll have ourselves a little swim off."
With that, the coach turned to discuss practice with some of the others.
"I guess we'll just figure this out tomorrow." Emily didn't seem particularly upset. Paige envied her, she didn't have the luxury to be nonchalant.
"You figure it out, I need to win," she said, breezing past the other girl. She hadn't meant to snap at Emily but if she didn't get this sorted, Paige would have even less to defend herself with. If 'A' was going to expose her, Paige needed every bit of ammo to keep her father from going nuclear.
Paige stormed from the locker room, still clad in her warm ups. Her dad was going to kill her. Everything she had said to calm him down and now... Damn it. Emily had been on her game today. Paige had felt solid but it hadn't been one of those 'one with the water' moments. She could do better. She had to do better.
She had walked out on Emily without giving thought to warning her. Paige shook it off, Emily would be in class, surrounded by people all day. She doubted that even 'A' was ballsy enough to strike in the open. Paige would worry about the other girl later.
"Hey," Pru greeted as she sidled up to Paige in the hallway. "It is safe to communicate or are you still operating in hyperspeed?"
"Huh, what?" Paige turned her focus to her friend who appeared less than impressed. "Sorry, I missed that."
"Surprise, surprise. You've been a total space cadet all week. What's up?"
"Nothing, just got a lot on my mind. We have our meet tomorrow and coach is playing with the line up."
"Playing with it how?" Pru asked, her voice cautious. After nearly a decade of friendship, she knew how possessive Paige was of her position.
"She dropped me for Fields."
"Ooh, no wonder you look like someone pissed in your cornflakes." Pru held up at Paige's locker, waiting for her to retrieve her textbooks for chemistry. "Can you get it back?"
"Swim off tomorrow," Paige said tightly, knowing tonight was going to be a full on shitstorm of criticism from her father.
"No problem. Smoke her in the pool and let her know who's boss."
Paige pursed her lips, accepting that no matter how she tried… "I may not be able to beat her."
"What? Since when does Paige McCullers ever say 'die'? Your dad would beat us both if he heard that, you for saying it and me for being a witness. You can take her," Pru assured. "Look at her," she pointed to Emily who was collecting her books, Hastings at her side. "She's nothing... You're the one who puts in two a days, you're the one who spent the summer working with a private coach. You held that whole team together when Emily bailed. You deserve this, not her. Now, suck it up, eat this," Pru handed her half of her bacon and egg sandwich. "And meet me at the pool at lunch."
"What for?"
"Practice. You know your dad is going to toss you in the pool as soon as you get home, better to work out the kinks now."
"You don't swim."
"Nooo," Pru looked at her as though she were dense. "I'm going to be holding the stopwatch. You're going to be swimming. C'mon, before Mrs. Ellison freaks on us for being late."
Paige followed behind her friend, passing the seated foursome as they entered the classroom. The Hastings hate stare was in full force and Paige returned it, knowing she deserved at least a portion of the girl's ire but unwilling to back down regardless. Her eyes passed over to Emily who met hers momentarily before finding anywhere else to look.
Paige continued on, making the required notes in her book as Mrs. Ellison explained the latest topic. Algebra passed in much the same way and Paige was grateful when the bell rung, releasing her to head to the pool.
Pru was as good as her word, already on deck by the time Paige had changed. Her friend had rolled her jeans up to the knee, sneakers atop the bleachers to keep them dry.
"Alright, Superstar," Pru waived a clipboard at her. "I've got your last meet times and Field's most recent."
"...How?"
"Coach Fulton gave them to me," Pru pointed to the office where Paige could see her coach working on some papers as she ate her lunch.
"Thanks, Pru."
"Whatever knocks you out of Perma PMS," Pru said before pulling a neon whistle from her pocket. Paige recognized it as some of the swag they had handed out at the last meet. Pru gave a sharp blow. "In the pool, McCullers! Go, go go! You think we have all day?"
Paige smirked at her friend's forced enthusiasm, diving obligingly into the pool. She completed a few laps in each style to warm up her body before pulling herself on to the starting block.
"Ready?" Pru asked, stop watch prepped, whistle dangling from her lips. Paige settled her shoulders, clearing her mind as she nodded. A sharp whistle and she was off, keeping her form tight as she moved. A quick flip turn and she made her way back, slapping the edge. She looked up, Pru's frown letting her know it hadn't been a good go.
"Two seconds away from your personal best."
Paige hauled herself up and reset on the block, going through the routine four more times before she called for a break. Pru showed her the times, they had gradually gotten better until she met her personal best. Still a second behind the new record Emily had set.
"Is she that much faster in the pool?" Pru asked, holding up a towel for Paige.
"No." Paige shook her head, she consistently outpaced Emily on the first leg. It was the turn that held her back. "She's got a really great turn, that's where she makes her lead."
"Then let's work on that."
Paige nodded, hopping back into the water. She performed her usual turn in slow motion, mentally checking for any issues in her form. She tucked her legs a little tighter to her chest to get more spring from her kick, irritated that it threw her off in mid turn. Small and explosive was the key and Emily had somehow managed to nail it down perfectly.
It was after dozens of turns -she had lost count around twenty- that Paige began to question what the hell she was doing. She certainly wasn't having fun. She had started swimming early in life, her love for water keeping her in the pool from sun up to sun down in the summers. The water had always brought her peace and calm. Then her father had gotten hold of it.
He didn't press her into sports she didn't like but if she liked it than by God, she had to be the best. He flogged her training until the simple joy she experienced from participating disappeared. It was replaced by a ferocious need to compete, a need to win. Failure was unacceptable. The realization dawned on her as she surfaced. As much as she had once loved to swim, the pleasure she got from it had all but disappeared. She no longer swam because she wanted to, it was yet another responsibility that hung around her neck. Competing to test herself was one thing, doing it to stay on the right side of her father's regard brought with it a stress that was intolerable.
She didn't want to do it anymore.
"Hey, Earth to Paige. Where'd you go?"
Paige looked up at her friend, uncomfortable with offering up her sudden epiphany. "Nowhere, I'm good. I think I've got an idea about the turn. I'll work on it some more at home."
"You sure? We still have a few minutes before class." Pru was being polite but Paige could tell she was itching to get some proper lunch before class
"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, Pru. I really appreciate it."
"No problem." The girl gave a wave and moved on, her sneakers and backpack tucked under arm. Paige moved slower, her free period after lunch giving her the opportunity to take her time.
She had just collected her towel when Coach Fulton walked out of her office, headed toward her. Paige fought not to panic, hoping she wasn't about to get another dressing down.
"Hey, Coach." She kept her tone friendly but subdued, knowing she was a long way from getting off Fulton's shit list.
"Hey, Paige." She looked out at the water, nodding as if something had agreed with her. "Looking good out there."
"I still can't get it quite right but I think I know what the problem is."
"Do you?" Coach Fulton's turned to Paige, serene gaze seeming to search for something. Her tone made Paige wonder if there was a deeper meaning to the question. Paige met the gaze of her coach, a woman Paige had respected since the day she stepped on deck. Coach Fulton rewarded hard work and took the time to foster everyone' s talent. No matter how hopeless they all seemed in the beginning. Paige trusted her and looked up to her as a mentor.
Paige sat on the bleachers, Coach sitting beside her, both of them staring out at the pool.
"I know how hard you work, Paige. That's never been in question. But you can't always hammer at a problem until it breaks. Sometimes you have to take a step back, think it through. Figure out if the problem is actually a problem, or just a situation that you're looking at from the wrong perspective."
Paige looked over, seeing nothing but kind understanding reflected in Fulton's eyes. The woman was definitely probing at a deeper than surface level. It was odd, Paige had lied to her parents -to herself- for so long but one look from her mentor and she knew she couldn't speak false.
"It's a problem for me not to be the best," Paige admitted. "It's a problem if I'm not... what my father expects me to be."
"That's his problem, Paige. Not yours. Your responsibility is to be the best version of you that you can be. Whoever that is." They locked eyes, Fulton waiting for Paige's nod of understanding before she patted her knee and stood. "Keep those turn tight, McCullers. You'll nail it."
Paige watched her leave, thankful to have such a calm presence in her life. Coach Fulton was right, she had to live with whatever choices she made. Lately, none of those choices had been good ones. She couldn't fix it all, not all at once, but she could start.
The thought gave her more peace that she'd had in months as she walked away from the pool.
888
Paige dropped her bag under the side table and took her seat for supper. The look from her father showed he was aware of the swim off. Damn McNab for being such a daddy's girl.
"I spent lunch fixing it," Paige led with as she took a portion of vegetables, leaving the carb loaded potatoes alone. Better to placate him now, she could start her quiet rebellion once she had her feet under her.
"You'll spend tonight perfecting it." He said, his tone leaving no room to disagree. Paige nodded, finishing her dinner quickly before slipping out of the tense room. She thought she heard the beginnings of dissent from her mother but chose to ignore it as she went to the basement to change into her swimsuit.
A quick change and she was back in the water, foregoing full laps for practicing the turn. She had been at it for nearly an hour when her father showed up poolside, eyes like lasers as he watched her form. She had gotten the flip turn under control, hitting the sweet spot three of every four tries.
"When we talked about this yesterday, you said you could handle it." He stood on the pool deck, hands on his hips as he looked down at her.
"I am handling it. She's not faster, her turn was throwing me off. I've got it sorted out."
"You told me that this morning."
Paige pursed her lips, she was doing her best. Short of dropping school to train eight hours a day, there wasn't much more for her to give. He knew how hard she worked, would it kill him to acknowledge the dedication that he seemed to take for granted?
"How long have you been in the water today?"
Paige added the hours in her head. "Three and a half, maybe four."
"You're done." He took a towel from the chaise and held it out. "If it's not fixed by now, it won't get fixed by tomorrow. You'll only tire yourself out. I'll call Keith and arrange a time this weekend for him to look at your form."
"Dad..." Paige pulled herself out of the pool, accepting the towel.
"No arguments." He walked away, effectively closing the conversation. Paige stalked to the hot tub and slid in to the water, hoping the steam would cover her reddening cheeks as she fought not to cry. She couldn't do this. Couldn't keep wandering around on her own while trying to fight battles on all fronts. She needed allies. Maybe Coach was right, Paige was looking at the problem wrong. Maybe the key to this wasn't trying to push Emily out but to ally herself to the girl. She would need her support more than ever once 'A' did their dirty work. And Emily deserved to know someone other that Paige was gunning for her. She had put it off this afternoon but the clock was ticking. If she wanted her apology to come off as genuine, it had to be now, before it looked like a desperate attempt for support.
Paige hauled herself out of the tub and went to her room to dry off, planning what to say in her mind. She would definitely lead with the apology, assuming she could even get her foot in the door. She wouldn't blame Emily if she sicced Hasting on her.
She would tell Emily she was sorry. Then explain herself, that she had reacted poorly out of fear, not out of hatred. She wasn't afraid of Emily, she was afraid for her, for herself. For whatever fallout would happen when it inevitably got out that she, straight laced McCullers, was queer as a three dollar bill.
The real question was should she tell the girl about 'A'? Should she get into specifics or that there were simply rumours through back channels that someone had set their sights on both of them? Paige was on the fence, knowing that if she told Emily and Emily told her friends, it would spell trouble. Especially if Hastings got hold of it.
The girl was a dog with a bone and if she thought Emily was under threat, she would probably burn the damn school down to get answers. Paige had a feeling 'A' wouldn't be happy about the spotlight and while she wanted to keep Emily safe, she didn't want to go out of her way to paint a target on her own back.
Paige threw on jeans and a t-shirt, lacing up her favourite pair of sneakers. She grabbed the team roster list from her binder, adding Emily's number to her phone. The address wasn't far, she could walk it if she chose but the weather was calling for rain. She would grab her bike, it couldn't be more than a five minute ride.
The sun had long since set as she made her way upstairs, the days progressively shorter as they headed into the depths of fall. Her parents were on the couch, speaking in low, heated tones as Paige came into the living room. Her mother caught her eyes, immediately falling silent. So they had been talking about her. Just great.
"Where you headed off to, Sweetheart?"
"Just going for a bike ride."
"Oh, Paige, it's dark out," her mother protested.
"I'll be fine," she assured.
"Home by eleven."
Paige glanced at her watch, it was nearly ten thirty already. "Dad..." Her usual curfew was twelve on school nights.
"You need to rest for tomorrow. Home by eleven, Paige."
She said nothing, merely nodded and walked out. She collected her bike from the garage, pedaling through the park across from her house as a shortcut to Emily's. It began to spit on her just as she made it out of the park, the dark clouds promising more to come. She pedaled furiously, the sky opening above her just as she turned on to Emily's street, thunder booming in the sky.
By the time she made it to Emily's house, being dry seemed but a distant dream. Approaching her hot, lesbian teammate while looking like a drowned rat, awesome. Thank you, Mother Nature.
Paige had decided against calling Emily beforehand, not wanting to give her the opportunity to refuse to see her. Dropping her bike on the grass, she made short work of the steps, shivering as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She sent off a quick text, hoping Emily wasn't under a mandated bedtime like she was. Ridiculous.
Paige waited, figuring Emily wouldn't just leave her standing on the porch. At the very least, the girl would come down to tell her to 'fuck off' in person. Paige wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head at what had brought her here. Where she had let herself be led. 'A' had done their level best to throw Paige off track and she had let them.
Paige flinched as her phone beeped, maybe Emily wouldn't actually come down to meet her. This wasn't going quite to plan. If she had to go off book, the whole conversation was going to get all kinds of messy. She flipped open her phone, pursing her lips at the message.
Missing something? -A
Paige turned as a light flipped on inside Emily's house, tucking her phone away and wrapped her arms around her body to hold in some of the heat. The door opened, a waft of warm air making her shiver more. Emily stood in the doorway -unfairly sexy even in her pjs- her confusion evident. Paige opened her mouth to speak, looking just past Emily, hoping it would help her concentrate. Her eyes landed on a flash of red and white, slightly out of place in the muted tones of the house. And there, in all his glory was her missing Danby mascot, sitting upright in a chair next to the sideboard table, staring Paige down.
Damn.
'A' had been in Emily's house. Paige felt her lips twitch, her eyes blurring at the sudden realization, that whoever 'A' was, Paige was completely out of her depth. She had never stood a chance. 'A' had known she would try to go to Emily and had struck first. It was a not so subtle show that 'A' could be anywhere, be anyone. And Paige had no fucking clue.
"Paige?" Emily prompted. "Are you okay?"
"No."
"What happened?"
In a moment of sickening near hysteria, Paige almost laughed at the question. What hadn't happened?
"You have every reason to hate me. I don't even know why I'm here." The words were out of her mouth before she realized she had spoken, her planned script lying broken at her feet. There was no way she could tell Emily now, the implied threat was clear. 'A' could access her teammate as easily as they had gotten to Paige. The best she could do was apologize, for all the failures Emily had seen, and those she could never know of.
"I don't hate you."
"I would. I do." For everything. For lying. For hurting Emily in a lame and fruitless attempt to protect herself. For being so scared of her own damn shadow that she had let things get to this point, cornered by a goddamn cellphone.
"Don't say that."
Paige couldn't stand the concern she felt coming from Emily. She didn't deserve it. She had gone out of her way to hurt the girl and here Emily was, trying to defend Paige to herself. It was no wonder 'A' had chosen Paige as their patsy. Emily was too strong, too freaking perfect to have blinked first. Paige would have chosen herself as the weak link too.
"I'm sorry, Emily. I just wanted you to know." Knowing that she had said all she could and probably more than she should have, Paige turned away. She fairly hurtled herself down Emily's driveway to her bike, sliding along the slick asphalt. Lighting cracked overhead as she hauled her bike up with one hand. A quick hop and she was off, not looking back for fear that Emily's concerned gaze might make her falter in her resolve to keep her secrets.
Paige pedaled through the rain, the downpour cutting her visibility to nothing. The rumble of the thunder drowned out even her sobs as she headed for home. She had no options. There was no safety. Whatever move she planned, 'A' seemed to be miles ahead of her. She couldn't protect herself, couldn't protect Emily. No choice but to take whatever 'A' decided to dish out and hope to do damage control.
The rumble of an engine behind her broke her from the thoughts that kept running circles in her mind. She looked over her shoulder, whipping back when the highbeams caught her straight in the eyes. A round of rapid blinking brought her vision back into focus though she found herself tempted to throw up a very specific finger at the driver. The car stayed behind her for nearly a block and while Paige was irritated with him, she had no interest in becoming a hood ornament. Rather than block him from passing for spite's sake, she pulled closer to the curb, giving him room enough to maneuver past the cars parked on the other side of the road.
The driver still refused to pass, his bumper no more than four feet behind Paige as she pedaled on. She waved him past, just about to pull onto the sidewalk when he revved his engine, peeling past Paige. As he drove by, he cut in closer, his rear view mirror nearly clipping her arm. Paige veered to the side, the water and her sudden imbalance working in tandem to throw her off her bike.
Paige let out a grunt as she hit the asphalt at pace, sliding along the watery road, her shoulder and hip taking the brunt of the impact. Her right leg was trapped beneath her bike and she felt the pedal scrape against skin as the road pulled her jeans up. She managed to cushion most of her head with her outstretched arm, cursing herself for tearing out of the house without her bike helmet. Her bike caught onto something in the road, coming to a sudden dead stop that threw Paige's upper body of out of alignment, forehead smacking against the too close curb.
When she was certain no further movement was coming, Paige lay on the cement, eyes looking up at the lighting storm overhead as her heart trip hammered in double time. She wedged her free leg under the frame of her bike, kicking it clear of her body. Paige rolled on to her stomach, dragging herself on to the sidewalk. Considering the rain and her luck, she would get run over if she stayed on the road. She cradled her right arm to her chest, her shoulder voicing its discontent at the abuse. It wasn't dislocated -she had done that before- but it was definitely not happy.
Her phone trilled in her pocket and she reached for it, hoping it was her Dad calling to check up on her. He could come pick her up, save her the trouble of wheeling the bent frame of her bike back to the house. She flipped open her phone, jaw tightening at the blocked number.
Careful when you play near my pool. You might slip.-A
