Chapter Eight

"Stop it! Put me down!"

Page had been trying to escape the guards, but it was no use as their strong forms could overpower her fairly weak one any day. Her pink ponytails whipped about as she thrashed and wiggled trying to free herself from their grip. The two guards opened a big, heavy metal door and threw Page onto the dirt road outside it.

The moment she was released from their tough hands, Page quickly regained her footing and angrily punched the door which they had slammed shut behind her.

"No! No, let me back in! Khashoggi, if I ever get my hands on you, I swear you'll wish you'd never been born at all!" She shouted anything at the door to help her case. Punching and kicking didn't seem to help get it open either.

Page kicked the dirt furiously and then began to cry. She'd given up and allowed herself to sink to the ground, burying her face in her knees. Tears washed away her green and black make up, smudging her face terribly.

Upon realizing that no one was coming out for her, she decided that her only option was to go looking for the Bohemians. Surely they would have migrated to a new home, now that the Heartbreak Hotel had been infiltrated. They couldn't have gone very far.

Page walked for what felt like hours in the blistering heat before taking a break. She hadn't eaten since Oz's birthday party and her body craved energy – even the slightest sip of water would have helped. Sitting on the roadside, Page thought of every possible place the other Bohemians could be.

As she stared at the ground, Page noticed three pairs of white running shoes carrying naked legs approaching her seat.

"Oh my God." a voice said as they stopped in front of her pouting image. Page raised her head slowly to see three Ga Ga Girls. Their faces were all too familiar. Her old friends squinted at her disgustedly and stood identically, hands on their hips. Tight shirts, short skirts, and they were all sporting blonde hair with colourful highlights. Page used to be one of them, too. She was immediately embarrassed.

"What a freak." The shortest of the three laughed. Page used to be the smallest; now she definitely felt smallest.

"Never thought I'd see you again." Page snarled, rolling her eyes.

The tallest widened her eyes. "Jenny?"

"It's Page, actually. I'm assuming you three are still Heather, Janet and Stephanie."

"Ugh." The shortest, Heather, groaned.

The tallest, Janet, concluded that they should be civil. Later, Page realized that she was being mocked. "How's the new life working out?"

"Great." Page said, a phony grin painted on her face.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Let's go, girls. I can feel my hair curling just being around this freak."

"Yeah!" They all said in unison, holding their hands up, as if creating a wall between Page and themselves, then with one swift movement they continued on their way down the road.

Had it not been for Page's need to give them a rude finger gesture behind their backs, she would not have noticed a silver chain wrapped around her wrist. Had Khashoggi given that to her when she wasn't aware of it? However it had gotten there, Page thought it looked nice and chose to keep it on.

"Page!" a girl from behind her growled. "Are you alright?" Oz ran to her side and flopped lazily down next to her. "I can't believe I found you, what happened..." her voice trailed off as she hesitated before asking the next question. "Why are you alone? Where is Khashoggi?"

Tears of frustration surfaced. "He's gone back with her... the only way he told me she would let me go is if he took her back and returned to Globalsoft."

Oz snaked her arms around Page's middle and squeezed her tight. "Oh, Page. I know how you feel. My baby left me, too."

"Where'd he go?"

"He... he took the stairway to heaven."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, babe." Oz didn't cry. She didn't even look sad as the memories came flooding back. She was smiling half-heartedly but it was a smile nonetheless. "I know that he died for a reason. He had a purpose."

"What happened?"

"He sacrificed himself for the dreamer."

"Figgy... but who..." Suddenly it all clicked. Khashoggi was the one who'd killed Oz's boyfriend. "Oh, wow."

"I still feel as though he's here with me every day... I could never find someone as amazing as him."

"How could you not hate me for being with Khashoggi after what he did to you?" Page's anger toward Khashoggi faded as her sadness grew.

"Because it was so obvious you two cared about each other. I'd only seen a guy look at a girl like that the day I met Scaramouche and Figgy. I couldn't take him away from you after I lost Duff..."

Page smiled sympathetically at Oz. Her arms were still locked around Page, hugging her as if she were the Duff that had long gone. "You're a good person, Oz."

Oz beamed at Page and then seemed to be struck by the real reason she had been looking for her. "We should probably get going. I have to show you where we've moved."

"A new Heartbreak?"

"A new Heartbreak."

Oz helped age up from the road and led her in the direction of their new home.