Hi, guys! Thanks for your reviews, favourites and follows! Don't hate me after reading this chapter, please. :D
I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, I don't have much time between university and work.
I write for you, guys, so I appreciate any comment, good or bad. :D
Don't forget I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize in advance for my grammar mistakes.
glorymania: I hope you like Paige's coming out. xD Thank you for your support!
: There should be more Arias around the world, I agree. xD They love each other, but it won't be easy.
Enjoy!
Emily's POV
I find it hard to believe that my friends didn't find anything in Alison's bedroom and locker, so that means she's more intelligent than I thought. I didn't think she was so resentful, but she's making it clear she won't stop until she screws up Paige's life. Tomorrow I'll try to make her understand that Paige doesn't deserve to be treated like that. Anyway, right now I've to meet Paige, so I'll try to get those thoughts out of my head and concentrate on 'my secret crush'. Like Aria said, she needs happiness in her life. She's been a few days on home detention and she'll be willing to have a nice talk, so I'll avoid mentioning my problems and try to make her smile. When I get to the café where we're meeting I don't see her, so I choose a desk and I make myself comfortable. I look at my cell to see if she sent me a text, but she didn't, so I order a coffee and I wait. Suddenly I hear the door is opening, I turn around and I see the perfect girl approaching me. I stand up and I smile at her.
"Hey! How are you?" I ask while I hug her tightly. She didn't expect me to hug her, because she doesn't know how to react to my affectionate gesture.
"I'm sorry for being late, Em," she says staring at the floor.
"What is wrong, Paige? Did you cry? Your eyes are really red, and you have a long face," I say while I raise her chin with my hand.
"It's not the best day of my life, that's for sure," she adds staring at me. We both sit down in front of each other and she keeps staring down, she is acting like she's ashamed of herself.
"Just tell me what is going on. You know you can trust me. Is it your dad?" I ask. I'm concerned, and she knows it.
"Well, he's one of my countless problems. But I wanted to see you because I have to tell you something. I know you told your friends to look for that thing that Alison was using to blackmail me. Am I right?" she asks with a straight face.
"Yeah, I did. Paige, you're worrying me. Are you mad because I told my friends about your little problem with Alison?"
"No, it's not that. It turns out Aria found something in Alison's locker, but she decided to speak with me before telling you the truth."
"You talked to Aria? I ask with a poker face. I don't know what is going on right now, but I have bad feelings about this. I think she's hiding something from me.
"Yeah, I did. Aria came to me, she thought I should know that she found the letter," she says while she takes a sip of her coffee. She's clearly very nervous.
"A letter? She has the letter that proves your dad blackmailed the coach? I don't get it," I say frowning.
"I lied to you, Em. My dad has nothing to do with Alison's plan. She knows something private about me and she is using it to torture me. But now I want to be honest, I'm sick of lying to you," she says shyly.
"What are you so scared of?" I ask staring at her.
"I don't know how to… Okay, I'll just say it. Emily, I'm… you know, gay," she says lowering her voice. She's her gaze set on me, but she has a sad look in her eyes.
Did I hear wrong, or did she say the three-letter word that I can't even pronounce? I am petrified, I didn't imagine this could ever happen. Does this mean I have a chance with her? I'm overwhelmed by the thoughts going through my mind. I mean, this is a dream come true, it doesn't mean she's into me, but she likes girls, so that makes it possible.
"Can you say something, please? Don't be like my dad, Em," she says looking at me with sad puppy dog eyes.
"I'm speechless, Paige," I add briefly.
"Alison threatened to show you this if I didn't stop talking to you," she says. She opens her bag, takes something from it and she hands me a letter. I look at her hands and they're shaking. We've been together in a few important meets, but I had never seen her so agitated.
I start reading the letter with my eyes wide open. It's clearly a love letter, but my eyes can't believe what they're seeing. Is this a dream?
"Does this mean…?" I ask staring at her.
"Yes, it does, Em," she says with her eyes fixed in the ground. "I mean, Alison left a letter in my locker and she wanted me to think that it was you who wrote it. I thought that you were declaring your love for me. I was stupid, I fell into the trap, and she took advantage of it. I don't know why I thought that you felt the same thing for me, you have a boyfriend," she says almost crying.
After an awkward silence I finally open my mouth.
"I… don't like being lied to," I add. I'm angry, and those words come out of my mouth.
"What? Are you mad at me?" she asks frowning.
"Of course I'm mad at you, Paige. I wanted to help you, and you lied to me," I say raising my voice. I'm not angry at her, I'm just pissed off because I'm not brave enough to say that I love her. I have to admit that pretending to be straight is a very easy attitude to take. Coming out terrifies me, and I'm not ready to wave a gay flag around school. I know I'm a coward, but I guess I just need time to think about my future. She's looking at me with those sad teary eyes and I feel an irresistible urge to kiss her. However, I stand up and I grab my bag with the intention of leaving the café.
"Em, please, don't leave," she says while she holds my arm. She has tears running down her beautiful cheeks and she is staring at me. Her fingers hardly come in contact with my arm, but I can feel butterflies in my stomach. That's how strong my feelings have gotten.
"I got to go," I add. I know I'm being really mean, but I can't cope with this anymore. I have a lot of feelings for her and I'm afraid I'm going to do something I'll regret later.
I leave the café and I call Aria, I got to talk to her face-to-face.
"Hi. Where are you? Do you have a moment? I want to have a conversation with you," I say while I look at my watch.
"I'm at home, I'm watching a movie. Do you want to join me?" she asks nicely.
"Okay, I'll be there in five minutes. But the movie will have to wait. You know what I mean," I tell her.
"Did you talk to Paige?"
"Yeah, I did. But I'll go into details when I get there, okay? See you soon."
"Okay, I'll be waiting for you. Bye, Em."
I get into my car and I start the engine. It suddenly comes to me the image of Paige being all alone in the café. She might me crying, and I decided to avoid her like the plague. I'm a fucking monster. I'm glad Aria's house is not very far from the café, I need to know more about her secret gatherings with Paige. I get out of my car and I walk to her house, I knock on the door and her mother opens the door immediately.
"Hi, Emily! How are you?" she says nicely.
"I'm fine. Thank you. Is Aria at home?"
"Yeah, she's in her bedroom. Come in, Emily," she adds. At that exact moment Aria is walking down the stairs.
"Hi!" She says smiling at me. "Let's go to my bedroom, I'm watching a great movie, Em," she adds pointing at the stairs.
We get to her bedroom and she closes the door behind me.
"So…" she says doubtfully. "I guess you know the truth about the whole situation," she adds raising her eyebrows.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask frowning. "I was left looking stupid," I add furiously.
"I'm sorry, but I thought it was personal information, and she deserved to know that I knew. I didn't want to out her, she wasn't ready, and I gave her an option to decide what she wanted to do. What did you tell her?"
"I know, but I'm your friend, Aria. It concerns me, and I didn't know what to say, I was speechless," I add staring at her.
"You didn't answer my question. Did you tell her that everything was going to be okay?"
"No, I didn't," I say shamefully. "I got furious, I told her I don't like liars. After saying that I left," I add looking down. Now that I think about my attitude towards her, I'm regretting the whole conversation.
"Em!" she yells. "Why did you do that? You know she's having a hard time. You're the only friend she's got and now she'll think that you hate her too," she adds furiously.
"I know, I made a mistake, but I was hurt."
"You were hurt?" She's astonished at the fact that I didn't back her. "She lied to you because in that moment she was too scared to tell you how she felt. She feared she'd lose her only friend. Do you know that she called me this morning after she came out to her dad? She couldn't stop crying and she had nobody to turn to."
"Did she come out to her dad?"
I can't believe that she had the courage to admit to her reactionary dad that she's gay. I don't deserve her, she's braver than I thought. I can't even admit to myself that I like girls, although I'm completely sure that I'm gay. The problem is that coming out terrifies me, so I prefer to keep living a lie. It's sad but it's true how homosexuality is sometimes still a taboo, even in developed countries. If I come out of the closet in this little town it could be a huge deal, and I don't like drawing attention to myself.
"Yeah, she did. Both her parents know that she likes girls. I'm actually so proud of her," she says with a wide smile in her face.
I'm proud of her too. Right now I love her even more, her bravery is kind of sexy.
"Yes, you're right. I guess it takes a lot of courage to come out." In fact, I want Paige to be my girlfriend, but that's the only thing that distances me from her.
"Call her. She needs your support, Emily. I suppose it was really hard to have a fight with her dad and to know that the girl she likes is ignoring her. Maybe she thinks you don't want to see her because she's a lesbian. Didn't you think about that?"
"Yeah, I did. That's not acceptable. I'll call her as soon as possible. I got to apologize to her."
"Now I understand why you were all day talking about her, it turns out she's a really nice girl," she says smiling at me.
Was she dropping a hint? Maybe she put two and two together and she knows I love her too. Oh, God! My life before I got to know Paige was clearly easier, now I got to figure out how to deal with this sensitive matter.
"Well… Yeah, she… is… great," I stutter.
"Fuck! Calm down, Emily," I think to myself. If I keep speaking like a child who just learnt his first word she's going to suspect I like her.
"Can you leave now? I want to finish watching this movie," she says laughing.
"Yes, I'll leave. Thank you, Aria. See you tomorrow at school."
"Bye, Em!"
Paige's POV
My mom and Emily have been calling me all afternoon. I don't want more drama, so I turn off my cell phone and I sit down on a park bench. There are a lot of kids playing, they all seem so happy. I remember that I was happy too when I was their age. I mean, I had no worries at all, my only purpose in life was to have a good time. Being an adult sucks.
All of a sudden it starts raining heavily, I guess the universe is trying to tell me to go home. I stand up and I start running towards my house. Running with the rain hitting my face feels really great.
When I get home I open the door and my mom suddenly approaches me. I can see she is worried, I should have texted her, I made her suffer and that saddens me a lot.
"Are you okay, honey? You're soaked, you're going to get pneumonia," she says with a worried look.
"Yeah, it started raining and I didn't have an umbrella. I want to take a shower," I add.
"Okay, go."
"Paige!" she says as I'm about to go up. "Your dad is going to change, he loves you. You just got to be patient, Paigey,"
"Mom, I don't want to talk about it, okay? I want to take a shower and go to sleep. I'm tired and tomorrow I got to go to class." She nods at me. She understands the fight is still fresh in my mind.
When I get to my bedroom I turn on my cell phone and take clean clothes. Suddenly the phone starts beeping non-stop. I grab the cell and I see I got a lot of missed calls and a text from Emily.
I'm really sorry. Pick up, please.
I'm still pissed off at her, she was very mean. Right now I don't want to deal with this. I just want to take a long shower and sleep. Before opening the door I grab my cell and I type a short text.
Go to hell.
To be continued…
