Part Nine: 16 May 1995: All Alone
Characters: Mr Cowan, Mrs Belland, Glen (18), Paige (17)
Paige was slumped on a blue plastic chair in a small room, which in her opinion looked like an old school classroom. She looked blankly at the white wall ignoring her boyfriend who was sat next to her with a worried look written across his face.
She just could not believe what had happened!
One minute she had been sitting in the back seat of the car, moaning. Moaning about nothing that was important. Complaining about spending time with her parents. Well she'd never have to complain about spending time with them again.
She screwed up her eyes trying to block Glen's concerning look at her out and forget what had just happened. But every time she closed her eyes she saw her dad's face. A face full of disappointment as he turned to look at her and then a bright flash of lights as the car sank into another car crossing a road and she was flung to the pavement.
She felt her body shake as realisation hit her. It was all my fault, I killed them.
Paige felt a strong comforting hand massage her back as the tears started to stream down her face. She pulled the cuff of her army jacket to her eyes attempting to wipe away some of her tears before looking back at Glen.
"I'm okay," she lied. "I mean it's not like there is even a single scratch on me."
"Yeah, not on your body," Glen told her as he offered a weak smile. "But I can always tell when you're lying, Matthews. You're not okay at all."
Paige looked back with disbelief and anger in her eyes. Who was he to tell her how she was feeling? "So how am I feeling then?"
"Upset, unsure, mixed up, hurt," Glen suggested. "And it's okay to be feeling all those things, it's normal."
Paige sent Glen back a piercing look that seem to penetrate through her oldest friend as she kept her voice in an almost dull exhausted emotion- less tone. "Nothing's normal, none of my life has ever been normal. You see, people just leave me on my own. First my biological parents and now my real ones. So you see I'm just not normal."
Paige got up and walked over to a window. She stared out of it for a couple of minutes, before opening the window and stretching her arm out as she looked down at the ground.
Glen looked at her from his chair. He could hardly believe the Paige he was seeing before him.
He'd expected to see her in a mess, but this was different. She was so emotion-less and he was unsure of what she'd do next. Even when Paige was angry and trying to hide her feelings, she had always shown her emotion, her gut feelings were there. With everything in life she had always shown some form of how she was feeling. Even if she did not show anything in her face, there were her eyes. Her eyes always had a certain twinkle, the twinkle he loved about her. Now she was just offering him an empty shell.
"Paige," he started again.
"Yeah," a dull almost bored tone in her voice answered.
"You know I'll always be there for you, whatever you need."
Paige kept her eyes fixed out of the open window at the passers-by on the street below, "Really? What makes you so different, so different to everyone else that has left me?"
"Because I'm not only your boyfriend, but you're mate. And we were told by Miss Fallon when we were learning to spell that true friends stay with you till the end," Glen told her, watching his girlfriend turn around as her offered her another small grin. "Yeah, I know it's corny, but I promise you if I even look like disappearing you're free to shot me and I fancy sticking around for a while."
Paige narrowed her eyes as she fought off a smile. Glen always knew what to tell her, but it just did not feel right to smile yet. "I'll hold you to that."
Glen stood up and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, kissing on her on the top of her forehead. "You better do."
The teenagers' embrace was broken only seconds later as they heard the door open.
Glen glanced over his shoulder to see his mom enter with a social worker; he had a funny feeling they had been waiting outside the room for a while. He watched as the two of them took seats and then glanced back at Paige, who had moved back towards the window.
"Paige," started the soft voice of Bob Cowan, "we've come to a decision. For the moment we think its best to keep you as settled as possible. So Mrs Belland and your aunt and uncle have agreed that it would be best that you stay with the Belland's until you finish school and reach 18."
The words washed over Paige's head as she looked at the two adults, she couldn't make any decision now and why were they talking about school.
"Is that okay with you, Paige?" The delicate voice of Glen's mother asked. "Because you're all but an adult now, so if you want to change anything it's up to you."
"No, it's okay."
Mr Cowan looked at the teenager, after reading her file and talking to Mrs Belland he had felt an instant pull toward the child. For someone so young she had already suffered so much. "We're here to help and advise you, so anytime you want anything, you just need to pick up that phone. But I've got a funny feeling that you will get through all this just fine."
Characters: Mr Cowan, Mrs Belland, Glen (18), Paige (17)
Paige was slumped on a blue plastic chair in a small room, which in her opinion looked like an old school classroom. She looked blankly at the white wall ignoring her boyfriend who was sat next to her with a worried look written across his face.
She just could not believe what had happened!
One minute she had been sitting in the back seat of the car, moaning. Moaning about nothing that was important. Complaining about spending time with her parents. Well she'd never have to complain about spending time with them again.
She screwed up her eyes trying to block Glen's concerning look at her out and forget what had just happened. But every time she closed her eyes she saw her dad's face. A face full of disappointment as he turned to look at her and then a bright flash of lights as the car sank into another car crossing a road and she was flung to the pavement.
She felt her body shake as realisation hit her. It was all my fault, I killed them.
Paige felt a strong comforting hand massage her back as the tears started to stream down her face. She pulled the cuff of her army jacket to her eyes attempting to wipe away some of her tears before looking back at Glen.
"I'm okay," she lied. "I mean it's not like there is even a single scratch on me."
"Yeah, not on your body," Glen told her as he offered a weak smile. "But I can always tell when you're lying, Matthews. You're not okay at all."
Paige looked back with disbelief and anger in her eyes. Who was he to tell her how she was feeling? "So how am I feeling then?"
"Upset, unsure, mixed up, hurt," Glen suggested. "And it's okay to be feeling all those things, it's normal."
Paige sent Glen back a piercing look that seem to penetrate through her oldest friend as she kept her voice in an almost dull exhausted emotion- less tone. "Nothing's normal, none of my life has ever been normal. You see, people just leave me on my own. First my biological parents and now my real ones. So you see I'm just not normal."
Paige got up and walked over to a window. She stared out of it for a couple of minutes, before opening the window and stretching her arm out as she looked down at the ground.
Glen looked at her from his chair. He could hardly believe the Paige he was seeing before him.
He'd expected to see her in a mess, but this was different. She was so emotion-less and he was unsure of what she'd do next. Even when Paige was angry and trying to hide her feelings, she had always shown her emotion, her gut feelings were there. With everything in life she had always shown some form of how she was feeling. Even if she did not show anything in her face, there were her eyes. Her eyes always had a certain twinkle, the twinkle he loved about her. Now she was just offering him an empty shell.
"Paige," he started again.
"Yeah," a dull almost bored tone in her voice answered.
"You know I'll always be there for you, whatever you need."
Paige kept her eyes fixed out of the open window at the passers-by on the street below, "Really? What makes you so different, so different to everyone else that has left me?"
"Because I'm not only your boyfriend, but you're mate. And we were told by Miss Fallon when we were learning to spell that true friends stay with you till the end," Glen told her, watching his girlfriend turn around as her offered her another small grin. "Yeah, I know it's corny, but I promise you if I even look like disappearing you're free to shot me and I fancy sticking around for a while."
Paige narrowed her eyes as she fought off a smile. Glen always knew what to tell her, but it just did not feel right to smile yet. "I'll hold you to that."
Glen stood up and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, kissing on her on the top of her forehead. "You better do."
The teenagers' embrace was broken only seconds later as they heard the door open.
Glen glanced over his shoulder to see his mom enter with a social worker; he had a funny feeling they had been waiting outside the room for a while. He watched as the two of them took seats and then glanced back at Paige, who had moved back towards the window.
"Paige," started the soft voice of Bob Cowan, "we've come to a decision. For the moment we think its best to keep you as settled as possible. So Mrs Belland and your aunt and uncle have agreed that it would be best that you stay with the Belland's until you finish school and reach 18."
The words washed over Paige's head as she looked at the two adults, she couldn't make any decision now and why were they talking about school.
"Is that okay with you, Paige?" The delicate voice of Glen's mother asked. "Because you're all but an adult now, so if you want to change anything it's up to you."
"No, it's okay."
Mr Cowan looked at the teenager, after reading her file and talking to Mrs Belland he had felt an instant pull toward the child. For someone so young she had already suffered so much. "We're here to help and advise you, so anytime you want anything, you just need to pick up that phone. But I've got a funny feeling that you will get through all this just fine."