A/N: about Paige and Ellie POV: Paige Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or any of its characters, just this fic, so don't sue me. -------------------------------------- Chapter 37: Friendships Renewed Sundays was my favorite day of the week for what it represented… We just had our family dinner without Dylan, who was out with his friends. After finishing the last of my homework,
… the day of rest…
…and in my case…or any kid in high school…
…it also meant the day to catch up with any due assignments of the week
and of course… finish the homework.
Unlike me, his curfew had an extension of eleven o'clock for Sundays.
I made a pile of the books on my work desk,
sorting the ones I needed for tomorrow and put them in my bag.
Having done with this, my thoughts drifted to Ellie,
I picked up the phone and dialed Marco's number.
As I listened to the phone ringing, I stretched on my bed.
Marco: Hi Paige Lying in my bed I thought about what Ellie had gone through this past week… I had just casually walked into the washroom and had seen Ellie standing in front of the mirror… And that's when I'd seen the blood in the sink… 'Why would you do that to yourself? And she had told me to 'leave her alone like I normally do.' 'Was I that bad to her? Despite her denial, I went to talk to Ms. Sauvé about her… I don't know why she thought that I was doing it to get her co-op job… Yes I did prepare for the co-op interview for that job. Now I knew what Ellie thought of me, That remark… I regretted every bad comment I had thrown at her and That day I had a long talk with her after school… I envied that Ashley and Marco,
Paige: Hi Hon.
Marco: so what's up?
Paige: just finished my homework and thought should check on you…
Marco: thank you for this kind gesture Paige, now tell me what's really up?
Paige: thanks for doubting my sincere intentions oh so dear friend… (acting hurt)
Marco: are you pouting? (giggles)
Paige: may be… (still hurt)
Marco: okay… I'm very sorry Paige for doubting you…
Paige: It's okay.
Marco: okay then…
Hey listen…thanks for what you did for Ellie.
Paige: What? How'd you know about that?
Marco: Ellie told me.
Paige: well, it was nothing… that's what friends are for… right?
Marco: yeah.
Paige: How's she doing now?
Marco: much better.
Paige: good, she deserves it.
Marco: yeah, she does.
Paige: Now tell me how you and Dylan doing?
Marco: I'm assuming you want the censored version…
Paige: There are two versions? (acting shocked)
Marco: Paige if you're gonna ask me questions like these,
at least make sure you have the heart for it…
Paige: okay my mistake. Alright give me the censored version.
Marco: you ready for it?
Paige: yeah and try to make the censored version even more cryptic…
Marco: Well… we've been spending a lot of time together lately and you know…
Paige: I don't …(confused)
but question is…do I want to?
Marco: well…you know we're just starting to know each other and I think he really
likes me… and I think I'm falling for him too.
Paige: That's great Hon. I'm so happy for both of you.
Hey I just heard Dylan's car come in the driveway.
Do you wanna talk to him?
Marco: Yeah… I'll call him on his cell.
Paige: okay, see you tomorrow then, in Simpson's class?
Marco: yeah. Goodnight Paige.
Paige: Goodnight Hon.
In my usual manner, I had thrown one of my snobbish lines at her…
'Let me guess, your latest expose, the hygiene of Degrassi's bathrooms. '
Ellie's hand was bleeding.
She had cut herself…
and was now lying to me by saying that she'd hit her arm…
I'd followed her outside the school and confronted her …
Does it feel good or what?
Look, I totally get that you don't want to talk to me.
You need to talk to someone, like Ms. Sauvé, or...'
Was she taking all my comments personally all this time?
Did I have a hand in pushing her into doing what she was doing to herself?'
An immense feeling of guilt had taken over me.
Ellie was pushing me away when I wanted to help her because of how I treated her…
I didn't care that she was going to be mad at me for this…
Did she really think I cared about that stupid job? More than I cared about her?
Did she really think I was that shallow and so below mortal human standards?
And I dressed up for it too…
I wasn't even nervous even though I said I was…
And why would I be, I didn't care about it that much anyway…
The only reason I wanted that job was so I could prove that I could get it if I wanted to…
I was so not interested in becoming a social issue reporter...
I wasn't even aware that it was Ellie's dream job until Ashley told me that it was so…
…after Ellie had gone to clean her shirt on which I'd accidentally spilled punch on.
and as evil it may look, it was an accident.
She thought I was pure evil…
And I had never tried to change her thinking either…
…about Caitlin feeling sorry for Ellie and that's why she got the job…
that was so mean of me…but…
I was angry at the time for not getting the job…
and so said the first thing that came to my head as part of my defense mechanism…
I didn't think Ellie would take it seriously,
All my friends know this much about me and my short temper…
… and my brutal honesty …
… and as much as it hurts sometimes,
… its usually the harsh truth…
… that no one would tell them …
I don't know why I think it's my job to state the fact…
I guess I will have to cut down on the brutal honesty from now on…
every bad deed I had done to her whether intentional or accidental…
I was going to make amends with her.
And I told her what I really thought of her…
two of my closest friends were friends with her and I wasn't.
I envied the friendship she had with Marco and that's why
I teased Ellie by my cruel remarks about her ex-boyfriend
falling madly in love with my brother.
"Ellie, Hon, I thought vampires couldn't go out in the Sun" Marco hadn't come out but Thinking about it now… I had introduced Dylan and Marco to each other… I told her all this…
… I was rude to Ellie as usual on the beach party we had in the summer…
… the trip that became a high point in Marco's life…
Dylan had a feeling that Marco was gay…
Ellie had revealed that she and Marco had broken up…
… and they were still friends…
I can't even imagine how hard that must've been for her to break up with a guy because he's gay and then remain friends with him…
I envied the level of friendship they'd had that they could still be friends after going through a break up…
And thought that I deserved credit for it…
When in fact, it was Ellie who deserved the credit…
She was the first person Marco had come out to…
Ellie was a true friend…
… she was so supportive of Marco…
and that I knew how hard it must've been …
I knew because I'd dealt with it myself with Dylan.
I told her how much I admired her for all this…
I told her that Hazel thought that Marco and Ellie were 'soul mates'
…and that I agreed with her.
------------------------------------------------------- TBC
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Next chapter … a little bit more about friends in both Paige and Alex's povs.