Emma had arrived at Degrassi to find Sean waiting for her by the stairs as he usually did. As they walked down the hall Manny very excitedly greeted all of them.

"Heeeey bestie! How's my niece and nibbling?" She said placing a hand on her stomach.

"Not so loud! We don't want it getting out yet."

"Oh right, sorry. I'm just so excited."

Manny continued talking to Emma's stomach. At the far end of the hall someone caught Emma's attention. At her own locker was Paige.

"Manny I'll be right back." She said walking down the hall. She wasn't sure what she was going to say to her after everything, maybe the best thing would be not to bring it up and act like everything was normal she thought to herself. Maybe she should stop and just give her her space. Before she could turn and run Paige had shut her locker door and turned to see her.

"Emma, hey how's my little cause girl?" Emma was surprised, she sounded more upbeat yet at the same time spaced out.

"I'm good...how are you?" She regretted asking as soon as the words left her mouth expecting them to set Paige off.

"I'm doing great, like I feel weirdly free.

"That's good I guess."

"Yeah good." She said as she took one hand to brush the tiny bit of hair obstructing the side of Emma's face back. "You look so pretty."

"Thanks." As weird as she thought this was she did appreciate the compliment. The bell for first period rang as everyone started heading to class.

"Ugh gotta get to class but see you at lunch right?"

As Emma walked back over to Sean and Manny to head to first period all she could think about was everything weird with Paige. Her demeanor was off especially for someone who just had a miscarriage. Her hair was messy not the perfectly styled hair she was known for. She couldn't place it but she smelled something on her, something she remembered from her days at the ravine. So much just seemed not right.

For Paige first period was Mrs Kwan's English class. Her and Ashley sat at the back of the class. As she continues on with her lecture Ashley looked over at Paige who was taking notes, however she noticed that her "notes" were really squiggly lines.

"Paige are you feeling okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that? I'm fine."

As she leaned in she recognized the scent on Paige. "Paige are you high right now?"

She didn't answer just smiled and lifted a finger to her lips as if to say "shhhh".

By lunch time her high had not only faded but she felt worse than she did before. She felt so drained and exhausted, she tried making her way to the nearest bathroom knowing if she was going to get through the rest of the day she'd need another hit. She finally made her way through the crowd into an occupied restroom. She quickly scanned the stalls making sure there was no one else. She reached into her purse taking out the joint and her lighter, she was so impatient she didn't even hear the door open.

"I knew I'd find you hear." She turned to see Ashley.

"You going to narc on me?"

"No I'm just worried about you, we all are after-"

"Don't say it, DO NOT SAY IT!" Now hollering tears forming in her eyes.

"Paige..." She slowly walked up to Paige. She grabbed the joint out of Paige's hand who didn't try and stop her and threw it across the bathroom. "You need help."

"Who does this belong to?" someone called out. The girls both turned their heads to see Principal Hatzilakos holding Paige's joint.

"It's mine."

"Come with me."

Paige followed the principal to her office where she was told to sit outside. As the door closed she could hear the her tell her secretary to get her mothers contact information. Her phone buzzed as she looked down, it was a message from Emma.

Emma: hey didn't see you

Paige wanted to reply but didn't know what to say. The idea of telling Emma what had happened would not only worry her but cause her to treat her as fragile like everyone else. She just wanted to be normal again but knew that wasn't happening but the pot was the next best thing. She didn't realize how long she had sat there until her mother showed up. Before she had a chance to talk to her Hatzilakos had motion them both into her office. She had informed Paige's mother of the joint.

"Ever since you came home from the hospital you been depressed and now on drugs? Paige talk to me, what is wrong?" Her mother asked. Paige whispered something that neither woman heard. "Paige I can't hear what you are saying."

"I LOST A BABY!" Both women were stunned at this.

"I HAD SEX, I TOOK TGE TEST AND IT SHOWED A PLUS SIGN! I DON'T KNOW IF THE MISCARRIAGE MADE ME DIZZY AND MADE ME FALL OF IF I MISSCARIED BECAUSE IF THE FALL ALL I KNOW IS I'M NOT PREGNANT ANYMORE AND EVER SINCE I FELT EMPTY LIKE I CAN LITERALLY FEEL THE SPOT WHERE IT USED TO BE!" Neither women knew how to respond to her outburst continuing to stare stunned.

"I lost a baby..." she whispered again before breaking down in tears. Her mother moved next to her wrapping her arms around her. "...I just want to be normal again."

Authors note: thank you to everyone still reading, your feedback is one if the most rewarding parts of this. So excited for these next few chapters here. As always feedback is very much appreciated