**Hello friends, I am back from hiatus! I have missed writing so much, I've been on the website quite often reading other pieces and I just missed having my work out there for others to enjoy. So with a bit of inspiration from my grandmother who was a brilliant writer, I've decided to get back into my stories. I'll only be working on one at a time (i think that is where I got so messed up before working on so many things at once), and I choose to give my attention to Deep Blue first. So I hope you enjoy these coming chapters, and I promise to update daily/weekly at the most. Thank you for your patience! Enjoy :) Please R&R.
Chapter Thirteen.
The days had come and gone, and Paige's brain was racked with nagging thoughts. She had too much on her plate, and such a busy schedule, to even realize that Thursday was tomorrow. Wait, so that meant today was Wednesday then; right? Paige flopped on to her bed in a daze after a long day of training. She was mentally and physically exhausted, and couldn't comprehend the idea of entertaining Mark, his friends, and his past co-workers tomorrow.
"What have you gotten yourself into Paige? And what timing..." she mumbled to herself as she flipped through channels on her television. Pipe Master Qualification was less then two weeks away, and she knew the timing for this 'date' was all wrong. A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts, and Megan crept in shortly after. "Hey, you..." Megan said quietly as she sat on Paige's bedside. "What is going through your mind girl? How is Pipe training?" Paige let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders. The truth was, Pipe came in a very close second when it came to her thoughts. She knew how pathetic it was, but Mark had been on her anxious brain day in and day out. She had kept it a secret from Megan because she knew how her best friend resented the idea. Paige had secretly been kicking herself as well, her future was up in the air and this stranger was all she could think about? Pathetic. Immature. Irresponsible. Those were just a few words that came to mind.
"Look Megs, I'm going to come clean with you but I need you to be chill and not freak the fuck out, okay?" Megan looked into Paige's eyes with a touch of concern, "You're not pregnant, are you?" Megan blurred out quickly. Paige shook her head and frowned, "What? No!" Paige exclaimed as a sigh of relief came from her best friend. Megan placed her hand on her heavy chest. "Phew, thought for a minute there..."
Paige rolled her eyes, "I'm far from pregnant, But I do have a confession to make. I'm going on a date tomorrow night with Mark..." Megan yelped and shot up off the bed, "WHAT?" Paige sat up instantly in defense, she knew this wasn't going to go over well. "Megs, it's just a date! It's not like I'm pregnant like YOU assumed!" Megan shook her head, "No, this is worse!" Paige laughed with sarcasm in her shaky voice, "How is this worse?"
"Because you are going to let this guy ruin your chances at Pipe!" Megan said as she angrily paced back and forth. Paige shook her head slowly, "No, I'd never do that," she stated calmly. But Megan was not convinced. "Paige, you are. I know how important Pipe is to you, and surfing in general. You never let a man get in between you and your training, even for the smallest and the most worthless competitions. This isn't a little thing, Paige, this is Pipe Masters! This is the chance for you to be sponsored by the biggest surf store on the west coast. And you are wasting valuable training time to go on a damn date? This isn't you..." Megan was close to tears. Paige had never realized how passionate her friend was for her to achieve her dreams. It was touching, but it wasn't exactly the best way to go about the topic.
"Megan, you know me. I'd never sacrifice my time if I thought it couldn't be made up. I'm in top condition, I feel great and I feel confident. One night, a few hours, that is all it is. You don't need to worry about me." Megan shook her head in disagreement, "No Paige, I do have to worry about you. You know why? Because no one else will! Joshua is gone and lets face it, your dad couldn't give a rats ass about you and your mother is off her rocker ninety percent of the time. Paige I didn't let you live with me because you were my best friend or I felt sorry for you. I'm your family. I support you financially because I want to see you flourish and help make your dreams come true. I can see it in your eyes, Paige, you are going to be big and you will make something of yourself. I'd just be heartbroken if some man came in and ruined that for you. I don't want you to have regrets, you're so young you can find a guy any other time..." Megan paused and looked away, quickly wiping a tear from her eye. "Just please, please Paige, think about what is most important to you before you throw it all away on someone you don't even know. I see the way you look at him and that scares the shit out of me..."
Megan ended it at that, not being able to say a word more she turned around and headed out the door, closing it quietly and tightly behind her. Paige was left to sit alone in silence, too shocked to say or do anything. Tears began to well up in her eyes, Megan was right, she didn't have time to waste. This was her future, and men would come and go but an opportunity like this may never arise again. She picked up her phone with trembling hands and clicked her way to Mark's number. Typing away, she closed her eyes and pressed the send button after her message was typed. 'I can't make it tomorrow, I'm sorry...'