"Are you alright, Paige?" My mother asked me that night at dinner, concern in her eyes. "Something tells me that something happened at school today."
"Nothing happened, Mom", I lied, moving some vegetables around my plate , trying to appear calm. My mother wasn't exactly stupid. She knew when something was going on, and I'll admit, I really didn't want to tell her about the note. Why? Because I know she'd want the police to get involved. And I didn't want them to get involved, just yet.
"Honey, if there is something going on, you can talk to me", she told me, forking some potatoes in her mouth. "I may not be a teenager, but I do know that I was your age once and I went through the same things you're going through-"
"I'm fine, okay?" I interrupted, grabbing my glass of water. "Really, Mom, don't you trust me at all?"
"Of course I trust you, Paige, it's just that I the age you're going through is an extremely tough age, not to mention you have to deal with certain things-boys, sex-"
"I'm not having sex, Mother", I snapped. "Why would I even want to? I was raped!"
"Paige, I was just asking-"
"Well, don't ask!" I snapped, shoving my plate forward. And with that, I ran up to my room, collasping on my bed. Nothing was going right in my life. My friends didn't understand me. My boyfriend and I were drifting apart. I had recieved a note from some creep that I most likely didn't even know. Why couldn't things be okay for me for atleast one day?
Tears streamed down my face as I thought about everything: Dean, how my friends didn't understand what was going on in my life, how Spinner and me were drifting apart, and of course, the strange note. Who had wrote it? Why had they written it? I just didn't understand.
I leaned over the side of my bed, remembering that I shoved the note under my bed. I wanted it out of sight. But I wanted to read it over. Maybe if I kept reading it, maybe I could detirm who had written it. Maybe, maybe not. Whoever had written it had signed it, but they had signed their intionals.
As I reread the note, I felt my body begin to shake. Whoever this person was, they were sick in the head. They sounded obsessed. Or at least, really, really sick. Shaking my head, I glanced at the signature. It was signed M.D.M. Nobody that I knew in Degrassi had the initionals of 'M.D.M.'
But suddenly, it hit me like a slap in the face. I was certain that Dean's intionals were Dean Michael Masters. Shaking, I realized that everything written in the note sounding like it as written from Dean. And what really scared me was if Dean was so far away at college, how did he get that note in my locker?
"So, you're saying that you think Dean wrote you a note and somehow snuck into Degrassi and put it into your locker?" Ashley said, her eyes sparkling. She looked nervous. Wouldn't you be nervous if you knew that a rapist had been in your school?
"I'm not saying, Ashley, I know", I told her. "I've read that note so much, it's wrinkled from me gripping the sheet of paper. But anyway, I can just tell. From what he says in the note-it's obvious. And it's signed M.D.M-unscramble it. It's him, Ash, I know it", I said quietly.
"I don't know, Paige", Ashley said truthfully. "Sure, it does make sense-the initonals and all. But anybody in Degrassi could have been sick enough to have written that note."
We were walking in the halls of Degrassi that day, trying to ignore the annoying stares of onlookers. Sure, it wasn't everyday that I hung out with Ashley. I was usually spotted with Hazel, Jimmy, and Spin. But with this whole note issue, I was finding a lot of comfort in Ashley.
"Who would be sick enough to do this, though?" I argued. "I mean, nobody here at Degrassi is that sick, Ashley."
Ashley nodded. "True. But we both know that there are tons of people here that are extremely envious of you, Paige. And a lot of people know that you were raped. So, what if some little bitch wrote it, pretending to be Dean? What if some guy wrote it, that knew he couldn't get a date with you? I mean, there's always the possibility that it could be Dean, but-"
"It's Dean, Ashley. Why don't you want to believe that?" I exclaimed as we walked to my locker.
"It's just a little hard to believe, Paige", she said truthfully. "I mean, how could a rapist, who is in college, get into Degrassi to slip a little note into his victim's locker? I mean, it's just so far-fetched-"
"You're just as bad as Hazel", I snapped, walking away from her.
"Paige, wait", Ashley said quietly, grabbing my arm. "I'm sorry. It's just that, if it is Dean, he isn't stalking you, right? So why are you like, fretting over this?"
I stared at her as if she was nuts. "Ashley, he raped me! If it is him, he's sent me a note! I have all right to be going nuts!" I said, opening my locker.
"I guess I don't understand", Ashley muttered.
Suddenly, a folded piece of paper fell out of my locker. My heart beating fastly, I bent down and picked it up. I glanced at Ashley, extremely nervous. I unfolded it, and my hands trembled as I read what it read:
Roses are red Violets are blue And all I want tonight is you!
M. D. M
"Oh, my God Ashley", I murmured. "It's a poem", I said, shoving it towards her.
As Ashley read over the poem, she muttered, "I'm sorry to say, Paige, but I definatly think it's him. First off, he can't write poetry for crap, and the last line-that's just sick", she said. "If this keeps up, you should call the cops." She handed me the poem, and I shoved it in my backpack.
"What am I going to do?" I asked, feeling tears coming to my eyes. I quickly brushed them away.
"He may have won last time, Paige", Ashley said softly. "But he isn't going to win this time."
And that's when I knew she was right. Dean may have won last time, but he wasn't going to win this time. I wasn't going to let him. I was going to fight back.
Author's Note: I'm not really getting reviews! I WANT REVIEWS! Anyway, I wasn't sure if Dean's last name really was Masters, but I wrote it anyway. I hope you liked this chapter. ) Chapter Four will be up soon.