Not much to say except thanks for the reviews :D And one last chap after this sob

"1641 Willbury rd." The mulatto sighed under breath. The address belonged to none other then Paige herself. And Jazmine had paced outside of the place for a good 30 minutes. Psyching herself out so to speak. Eventually she was going to have to face her, sooner or later. I'm already here, I might as well get this over with. Jazmine sucked in a quick breath and let it out gradually before she rang the doorbell.

She heard scurried feet on the other side of the door and wondered if she had caught them at a bad time until Paige's mother opened the door. When she met eyes with her she looked anything but well. Her hair, normally bouncy up do of blond locks were hanging limply and dull looking around her heart shaped face. Her eyes beginning to give way to dark ugly looking bags. But even through all the wear and tear her body showed she still managed to smile.

"Umm hi Mrs.Jacobs, I'm sorry to bother you at this time but may I speak with Paige please," Jazmine asked sheepishly.

The woman's forced smile quickly turned downcast.

"Paige isn't talking to anyone at this time," she replied quietly

"Please? I promise you it won't be long. I just need to tell her something," Jazmine insisted, her tone almost begging.

The woman almost looked like she didn't want to believe her until after a moment moved aside and let her in.

"I don't know what happened," her mother started "She just came home Saturday and locked herself up in her room," she shook her in qualm, "We all tried talking to her but she won't even let us in her room. Jazmine do you have any idea what happened?" she looked her in the eyes. They were so pleading, so desperate. Jazmine couldn't lie to her face like that. It would tear her up inside. A mother like Paige's shouldn't have to suffer through this. She was too nice. Which is why it didn't make sense that Paige acts the way she does.

Even though she didn't want to lie, there was no way she could ever tell her what she said to Paige. That right there would get her thrown out in a heartbeat. So Jazmine decided to give just enough info without revealing anything important.

"Mrs. Jacobs I think once I tell her what I need to, she'll open up," Jazmine answered.

Her mother just sighed. "Ok, but I doubt she'll let you in," she knocked on her bedroom door. "Paige you have a visitor!" she called.

"Tell them to go away," the voice was faint, but she heard the order clearly.

Mrs. Jacobs just shrugged and shook her head. Although she was silent her face held a expression that said, "I told you"

Now Jazmine had to take matters into her own hands. "I'm gonna try," she muttered. She knocked on the door softly and called to her. "Paige? It's me, Jazmine," she paused, exaggerating the silence "we need to talk". This time she got no answer to go away but instead an "it's unlocked," Jazmine turned towards her mother to see the shocked look on her face. Jazmine wasn't surprised, she had a feeling she'd open the door once she figured who it was. But the sight she saw when she entered her vicinity was anything but expected.

There she was. Sitting on her rumpled bed sheets looking frail and beaten. She wore nothing but grey sweats and a white tank top. Her hair wasn't even pin straight like it'd usually be but instead it was nappy and all over the place, covering most of her pale face. It looked like it hadn't been combed in days. Jazmine stepped forward a bit cautiously. It was like she was looking at a ghost. She was there but she wasn't. Paige didn't even acknowledge her presence in the room until she sat down in front of her on her bed. It was then when she lifted her head up. Jazmine was immediately taken back. She looked nothing like the person she roasted just 2 days before. Her hazel colored eyes were dark, and held an unspeakable sadness with them. She was broken. Physically and emotionally.

"You know, my grandmother would always tell me when I was younger what you sow you will reap ten fold," Paige's ragged and hoarse voice cut the thick silence between them. "But damn I never knew it'd be this bad," she shook her head.

"Paige..," Jazmine started.

"Listen Jazmine," Paige cut her off quickly. "Before you say anything I just wanna let you know that I'm not mad at you," she informed her.

"What?!" Jazmine's green widened at her response.

Paige held a hand up signaling her to wait a moment.

"I'm not gonna lie Jazmine, those first 24hrs I was hot. But after I thought about it and it all sunk in I realized what you said. It was true. All of it. And it made me back track…a lot," she spoke softly. Her voice not over a few decibels.

"Jazmine, I haven't been honest with you, as you can already tell. But there's alot more to my past then just my father," she fingered a gold necklace hanging around her slim neck. She switched her position to gaze out the window at the orange and purple rays of sunset.

Jazmine raised her eyebrows up. Her intuition was telling her some very heavy things were about to be exposed. Her intuition never lied, and she regretted that she didn't listen to it in the beginning of this whole thing.

"I guess I should start off at the beginning. I was originally born Olivia Marcella Druitt in the Red-light district of New York, but when I was adopted they changed my name to Paige for reasons unbeknownst to me. But besides my name, my real mother, well she was a dirty whore," her head still turned towards her window. "Even though my mom was a whore I wasn't born from any of her nasty customers, but instead her pimp. That's right, that man that came up to you the other day was my mother's pimp. My father."

Jazmine was speechless. Now she realized why the lady who let her in didn't have the same last name. It wasn't her real mom! She never dwelled on it too much in the past though, she just figured her parents had gotten a divorce and she took her father's last name instead. But now, obviously, that was not the case.

"Oh and it gets worse, my real mother, she was on drugs too. She had started using after she had me, and by the time I was 4 my father kicked both me and her out on our asses to fend for ourselves," her voice sounded hollow, but it still held sharpness to it. "For about 2 weeks or so we were in and out of shelter homes. You wouldn't believe the places my mom took me to just to get another hit. She'd leave me in abandoned houses for hours at a time. Do you have any idea how hungry I was? My clothes were practically falling off of me. But thank God she wasn't to messed up to get in contact with my Grandma. After that she had took care of me. My mom, she would leave at days at a time. I'd see her always asking my grandma for money then going back out there to do what she did, then one day she just never came back," Paige paused and smirked a bit.

Jazmine, almost to afraid to ask heard the words slip out of her mouth as a whisper "Did she die?"

"I dunno. For all I know she's probably still out there getting fucked up if she isn't locked up or dead. Either way she's not looking for me." Paige fidgeted a bit.

"Oh," was all Jazmine could muster.

"By the time my mom had disappeared I had already been in school. And as if I didn't already have enough problems in my personal life I had to go there and deal with mean little girls on top of that," Paige stopped abruptly and turned her attention towards Jazmine, "Jazmine they hated me. And do you know why?" she asked through staggered breaths.

The mulatto just shook her head no.

"Because I was mixed," she leaned in and growled through gritted teeth.

Jazmine felt her heart drop for the girl. She had a feeling she was gonna say that. It wasn't uncanny either. Little kids were just mean like that. Especially little girls. She remembered long before she even came to Woodcrest going through the same thing she did. Maybe not as much as Paige, but it still happened.

"The blacks didn't play with me because I was to light skinned. And the whites didn't play with me because I was too dark. It was a lose-lose situation. I had not one friend Jazmine. Not one," Paige snorted, "and you know what's the messed up part? I wasn't even mean back then either. Nope, wouldn't even hurt a fly. That's how nice I was. Can't say that now can you?" Paige crossed her arms defiantly.

"So what happened Paige? What changed you?" Jazmine creased her eyebrows in sympathy. Her voice resounding in compassion.

Paige stared at her for the longest time before she spoke again. Her facial features caressed in pain. She looked so vulnerable, so weak. So..so shattered into a million pieces, never being able to be put together again. It hurt Jazmine. She wouldn't wish any of that on her worst enemy. Which ironically just happened to be that person at the moment. But that was quickly changing so it seemed.

"My grandmother had died," Paige mumbled. "Other then Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs, she was the only other person who cared about me. Who loved me. Who thought of me as a person and not just some mixed trick baby," she snapped. "I hate them Jazmine," her heel was tapping at light speed, a warning sign she was about to blow. "My dad didn't love me, he threw me out! Who throws their own child out?! Huh?!" her voice rose a bit. Paige didn't even wait for Jazmine to answer before she continued. "And my mom…that bitch," the last words came out in a cold whisper, but they still held the power as if she shouted it. "I mean…who does that Jazmine? Who just does that to their kids?" Her eyes glistened with salty tears that spilled down her cheeks like waterfalls.

And without a second thought Jazmine leaned over to embrace her, Paige returning the favor. Jazmine rocked her sobbing form back and forth just like she would a bawling newborn. She had forgot all about apologizing to her, and not talking to her anymore after that. Right now she needed someone to be there for her, and Jazmine was doing just that. "I hate em, I hate em, I hate em," Paige bawled feverishly into her chest. "Why did they do that to me?" she whimpered. "I never did anything to them! Not a damn thing! They didn't have to do that," her last cry coming out in a barely audible whisper.

Jazmine couldn't say anything. What could she say? It wasn't your fault? She'd probably heard that a million of times in her past. She also knew that Paige really didn't hate her parents. She was just angry at them. Really, really, angry. All she could do was wait patiently for her episode to be done before she grabbed her box of tissues and handed it to her. Paige blew her nose generously.

"Thanks," her voice straggled.

She sat up and examined Jazmine. "Sorry I soaked your shirt," she shakily.

Jazmine looked down at herself in surprise. She didn't even realize it until she had pointed it out.

"It's ok," she waved it off.

Paige just nodded. It was quiet for a few minutes before she started again "I guess I should continue where I left off," she sighed. " After my grandma had passed, I was sent to live in a group home. And to my luck a year later Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs had decided to take me in. I wasn't adopted until a year after that. You know that type of thing takes forever to finalize, with all the paper work and everything." She said quietly.

Jazmine nodded in understanding.

"It was a new beginning for me. Things were actually looking up. And I wasn't about to let anyone get in the way of that." She paused for a minute thoughtfully. "I really didn't lie to you when I said writing poetry was therapeutic for me. The 1st week I was sent to go live with Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs they had sent me to a therapist. I didn't really talk to her about much, seeing as how I problem trusting people, so in response she told me to express myself the best way I could, and that was the way I did it. Through poetry. It was working for a while until she actually read what I was writing and asked me about how I felt about being mixed. I think once I left the group home I didn't see myself as mixed anymore, but just white. I don't know why, but come on, I mean, white people adopted me. Rich white people at that. And by the time we moved to Maryland and I was in junior high, I pretty much had developed a mean streak. I was on top of the world. I ruled the hallways of my school, and for a long time it stayed like that, until we moved to Woodcrest that is. And then I met you," she tilted her head to the side.
"I don't know what it was about you that made me treat you like I did, but I'm guessing it was my conflicting feelings about being mixed, and then being respected. Either way I apologize and it shouldn't have happened." She said contritely.

Jazmine's head shot up. She was not expecting that to come from her mouth. But then again Paige was one to surprise people.

"Huh?" Jazmine sat dumbfounded.

"Huu, always the difficult one Jazzy," Paige pushed her playfully a bit and grinned.

"I said sorry Jazmine. I treated you wrong in so many ways and I know you didn't deserve it. But if it makes you feel any better my anger was not fueled from you but from my past," Paige said sincerely.

For once in her short time of knowing her Jazmine was almost sure she was being truthful.

"I'm sorry to, I shouldn't have said that poem about you," Jazmine shook her head remorsefully.

Paige laughed and wiped a fresh tear away from her eye. "It's ok, I actually thank you for saying that. It taught me a valuable lesson. I need to make a lot of changes in my life. Like stop being such a stuck-up bitch and embrace my black culture," she said airily. "To be honest, I was actually sick of acting like that anyways. I guess I just didn't realize it until it was thrown all up in my face," she got up and headed to the mirror and tugged on a strand of hair.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Jazmine's gaze followed her over to where she stood.

"I guess start over," Paige shrugged. "Now that I can be myself, I have no idea how to," she grimaced a bit. Jazmine got up and put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll come to you soon enough," she smiled. Paige glanced at her and grinned. The air between them was finally cleared.

(8:00 p.m)

Jazmine found herself walking back to her house all alone under the various mosquito infested street lamps, wondering why in the world she didn't take Paige's offer to give her a ride home instead. In honesty she didn't want her to waste her gas taking her around the corner. In the few hours she had hung out with her after her life story finally being told, Paige really turned into a sweet heart believe it or not, but in Jazmine's opinion she still held a crazy streak in her and needed therapy no matter what she said.

All in all she never in a million years thought Paige had gone through all that she did and live to tell about it. It was a miracle she didn't get raped or killed for that matter. Some of the places she told her, where her mother left her were that bad. It just didn't make any sense how a mother could do that to her child. But then again drugs make you do crazy things. In the end Jazmine realized they both learned some very important lessons from their experiences with each other. One of them being love who you are and be yourself.

Jazmine didn't even notice anyone behind her until a gentle hand rested on her shoulder making her jump and let out a loud yelp. Not until she caught her composure and managed to ease her racing heart did she decipher the tall dark figure under the dim street lamp.

"Huey?! God you nearly gave me a heart attack!" she gasped grabbing her chest.

"Sorry," he furrowed his eyebrows questiongly " But you should really learn to stop walking home in the dark by yourself. Now what if I had been a rapist," he started.

"I don't know Huey I guess I would've been raped," she claimed a bit sarcastically.

He narrowed his eyes and gave her a scrutinizing gaze. The same one he sometimes gave before he asked a question Jazmine was hoping he'd save whatever question he had and instead start lecturing her on the importance of street safety or something. She missed his lecturing. She missed listening to him complain about the government or the unhealthy food people shoved down their esophagus'. For any other person all that complaining and lecturing would've drove them up a wall. But not Jazmine. She never got tired of hearing him talk about the evils of the world. Maybe it was just because she loved him. She didn't know. But everything just seemed to make more sense when he said it. And that right there made her feel whole inside.

"Where were you coming from?" his gaze never letting up. He started walking with Jazmine following suit.

"From Paige's house," she answered avoiding eye contact with him "We had some issues to resolve," her voice was quiet.

"I'm guessing it got resolved then?" he asked. His eyes now focused on the sidewalk ahead of them.

"Yeah, but she's got serious problems with her parents. Don't ask," Jazmine smirked a bit finding the whole conversation somewhat amusing.

"Wasn't going to," he replied.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Jazmine was waiting for it. His final judgement on the whole situation. She knew he was thinking about it, although he wasn't making it obvious. She had learned to read him like a book over the years. Which in the end did make it easier for her to figure out his complex mindset at times.

Jazmine was about to open her mouth and ask him where he was coming from himself but he beat her to it with a statement that almost made her skid to a stop.

"I read your letter," he announced casually.

"You did?" she said meekly.

He nodded. "Yea, and I thought about what you said earlier. I figured your apology was as sincere as it was gonna get before you resorted to crying." He concluded.

Jazmine Hmmphed to herself. Typical Huey.

To her surprise he stopped right in his tracks and turned to her, startling Jazmine a bit.

Under the eerie glow of the moonlight his intense eyes looked gorgeous. It took her breath away. If she could, she would watch them day in and day out. His expression of seriousness forever etched across his face but oddly enough it held a sincere quality to it.

His gaze never let up as he leaned into her, making her breath reside in her throat, making her feel slightly light headed- or maybe it was him.

"I'm willing to give it another chance if you want to Jazmine," his voice was smooth and complacent. And it made Jazmine fidget. She was at a loss for words. Her mind was screaming at her YES! YES! I wanna do it again, but her lips wouldn't form the right words. Feeling her chance to tell him how she felt slipping away, she did the only impulse that registered in her mind. She kissed him. She hadn't even realized he returned it until she felt his hands wrap around her waist. She had to get it out of her system. It had been building up in her heart for a good month now, and it felt good to finally release it. Having her lips play with his perfect ones. All felt right with the world for that split second.

She finally pulled back from him, looking just about as flustered as him. Nothing more was needed to be said afterwards as they walked home with her head resting on his shoulder.

Not until they had fully reached her house and bid their goodbyes did he ask her a question that had been poking at him.

"If you could redo any of this, would you?" his tone serious.

It didn't take her long to make up her mind. She grinned a bit and pecked him on the lips. "No Huey I don't think I would," she shook her head "I don't think I would,"

Sorry if there's alot of mistakes. I wanted to submit before my dad came to bed and I didn't have time to check. I wasn't sure how the part at the end would turn out but it came out better then i thought :D And believe it or not i decided to draw the notorious Paige from this scene here's the link if you wanna check it out mizzcookielover./art/What-hurts-the-most-81662605 it ain't the best drawing but it's something. Let me hear ya thoughts about Paige's surprising past and other stuff :D