"What do you want," asked any annoyed Paige who wanted nothing more than to be left alone as she walked towards her mom's booming voice.
"Would you like to explain this?" Paige entered the computer room and stared at the screen before her. How could it not have sent? What was she going to say?
"I can," echoed a voice from behind her. Dylan knew their mom needed to know. She could help Paige. Put her in therapy, anything to help her.
"Dylan!" Paige screamed. Everyone is against me, she thought. There's no one left on her side.
"Mom, Paige was raped by Dean Roberts. He goes to Bardell. She's cutting herself because she can't deal and she needs help." Dylan said almost to the point of tears. Their mom dropped everything she was holding and stared in shock.
"Oh my baby girl," Mrs. Michalchuck said as she walked over to hug Paige. Before Paige could reach her she ran past Dylan and out of the room. The tears were streaming down her face and she could barely see where she was going. She ran to her room, grabbed her purse and found a mirror Spinner had given her once and threw it in. She hurried downstairs and out the front door. She kept running. She didn't know where she was going to go or what she was going to do, but she couldn't stay there. She had nothing left to call her own. First, Dean took everything away from her. Then, Spinner and Dylan did the same. She hated them. She had no one to turn to.
Soon, Paige found herself standing in Degrassi's park. She ran over to a tree and sat down, resting her head against the bark. She slowly opened her purse and found the mirror she threw in there. She slammed it against the ground and nothing happened. She then slammed it against the root that was sticking up from the tree. Paige watched as the glass shattered slowly. Most turned into small, unmanageable pieces, but one fairly sized piece stayed intact, with razor sharp edges. Once again, Paige rolled up her sleeves and cut on both arms. She stopped crying and watched the blood flow off her arm and into the green grass. No one could see her here, but they would look for her. She knew she didn't have much time before they found her. She threw the glass in her purse and covered the bloody ground with some loose dirt. Paige was startled by the sound of her ringing cell phone. She looked at the caller ID to find Dylan's name. She debated in her head whether or not to answer it. You hate him, she said to herself as she shut off her phone and shoved it back in her purse. She thought for a moment, and took her cell phone back out. She searched through her phone book and found a listing for Dave. She put on a happy sounding tone in her voice as she called.
"Talk to me."
"Hey Dave?"
"Yeah, that'd be me."
"Hey .. Emmm this is Paige, haha, remember me?" Paige asked as she faked a giggle.
"Oh," retorted Dave in an angry tone.
"Is something wrong?"
"Look. Don't send anyone after me, okay? I don't know who you are or anything about your wild stories. So I'd appreciate it if you don't call here again, okay?" yelled Dave into the phone.
"Listen, Dave I can explain. Please, just let me explain. Please? Can I talk to you in person?"
"Yeah I bet you have an explanation."
"Please, I really need this.""Where are you?"
"Degrassi's park, but I can start walking towards Bardell. Please Dave, I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't think it was important."
"Uhh.. Fine I have nothing better to do than try to hear some little psycho's story of why people say I rape her and try to kick my ass, sure why not. I'll meet you somewhere eventually. Don't get lost." With that Paige heard the slam of a phone. Was Dave really coming for her? She had to chance the risk. She slowly picked herself up and starting walking towards Bardell. What am I going to say to him, she wondered. She couldn't possibly tell him the truth, could she? She thought about how much she hated Spinner and Dylan and Hazel and her mom. She thought of everything they stole from her. Her control. Her existence. Her escape. Thoughts of Dean also raced through her head. What if I meet him in Bardell before Dave sees me? What if he comes back for more? She hated him too. He took her innocence. Her child hood. Her life. One little party turned everything around. She didn't know who she was anymore. She wondered if she ever knew. As she continued to walk, a dark blue Sunfire started slowing down and pulling off the side of the road. Paige walked towards the passenger's side as the door was opened for her on the inside. She climbed in and shut the door. She looked over to Dave, who was silent. She quickly avoided his eyes and looked straight ahead.
"I'm sorry," Paige said after a few seconds passed.
"For?" asked Dave as he pulled the car back on the road going back towards Bardell.
"For what my brother and my boy…. Uhhh my friend did and what they said," stuttered Paige.
"I don't want an apology Paige, I want an explanation."
"I'm afraid that's a very long story. Do you have the time?"
"Do you want to go to my house or drive?"
"Drive."
"Well, where are we going to go that's far enough to get this long story out?"
"I don't know, just drive."
"Fine… I'm waiting."
"Dave…"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you come find me?"
"I'm curious. I want to know what happened to cause that. You're a nice girl, Paige. I wouldn't do it just for any crazed Innocent Bystander fan. But you're… you're something special, but you know that right. You're adorable." Paige shuddered at that phrase, but mentally blocked it out.
"Oh.."
"Are you alright Paige?" wondered Dave.
"No." Paige wanted to badly to keep this a secret, but she knew it was eating her alive. Could she trust Dave? She barely knew him. Maybe that's what she needed. Someone to listen, but not care.
"Paige, this may come out as completely off base, but the stories those boys accused me of.. Were they true?"
"…. yes." With that Dave pulled the car into a deserted parking lot. He put the car in park and looked directly at Paige. Sure, he barely knew the girl, but it was his nature to care for people.
"You can talk to me about it."
"Dave! I'm a slut, okay? I ditched my boy friend to go to a party with a Bardell guy. I asked him to go upstairs and he raped me, okay? It's my fault. And those guys that came after you thought it was you for some God forsaken reason because they found out. They told my best friend and then my mom found out. And my brother found out about me cutting. And so I ran away. I can't stay there anymore. I don't need lectures. I don't need sympathy." Paige said very quickly. Dave wasn't sure if he caught it all, but he got the idea.
"You're not a slut. What happened to you isn't your fault. But cutting is." Dave said as he reached over to grab Paige's hand. She jerked back at first, but then allowed him to stay there. He used this opportunity to roll up her sleeves to reveal the blood stained arms. He gasped at first and then sighed. "What was his name?"
"Dean."
"WHAT?" screamed Dave as he heard the name of his best friend being called a rapist. He threw Paige's arms down as she began crying. "My best friend would never do that to a girl. You're crazy. What do you want from me anyways?" Paige couldn't believe what she heard. The one person she confided in didn't believe her. She opened the car door and began getting out, but Dave pulled her back. "Look, I'm sorry. I just.. I don't know if he would do something like that."
Paige closed the car door and said, "well he did," through sobs. "Ha.. You know that's just like me. To admit to something to someone who wouldn't even believe me anyways. His best friend. Well you sure don't know him that well, do you? Look I'm not crazy. I don't want your attention. I don't cut for the hell o fit. He did this to me. And if you don't believe me, well I don't care. Take me home, please."
"I thought you didn't want to go home?"
"I don't, but it's a hell of a lot better than being here with you."
"I'm sorry. I believe you Paige. I just was in shock. And I'm so sorry you went through this. You don't deserve it."
"You don't even know me!" Paige screamed at Dave. She was so angry at everyone. She wanted to fall off the face of the Earth and never return. And she was stuck in a car with her rapist's best friend. The stared down at her arms and didn't look up until she noticed the car was moving. Not another word was said, until the Sunfire pulled into a driveway. Paige wasn't sure where she was.
Dave got out of the car and walked over to her side, he opened the door for her. "Get out, no one's home. You can stay here for awhile and we can figure things out, together."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Have I given you reason not to?"
"Besides not believing me?"
"Put that aside. Forget what I said back there, it's just you and me. Please trust me."
"No." Paige said sternly.
"Who else have you got to trust?"
"No one and I don't need anyone!"
"Fine. Sit in the driveway until you're ready," Dave said as he walked away from the car, leaving the door open. He walked into the house and sat down in the living room. Paige did as he said and sat in the driveway for awhile. She then figured she had nothing to lose and walked into the house.
"Make yourself at home. Go find some food or a drink in the kitchen. I don't care."
"I don't want anything," Paige said as she sat down next to Dave. She didn't know what she was doing anymore. She was sitting in the house of Dean's best friend, in Bardell. Dean could come at any possible moment, yet she felt closer to Dave than anyone else. She openly told her story to him and at the moment she still didn't know why.
"You shouldn't do that. You're going to have a hard time quitting."
"What are you talking about?"
"Cutting," replied Dave as he, for once, stared straight ahead.
"Yeah, how would you know?" With that Dave pulled the black hoodie he was wearing over his head; revealing a white beater underneath. He showed her his arm and she was surprised at what she saw. Scars ran up and down his arm, some darker than others, but none of them looked recent. Paige was speechless.
"About two years ago, my sister and I were fighting over who got the car for the night. She was 18, I was 16 and had just gotten my license. Dad told me it was her turn to have the car and I mouthed off to him. He told me if I ever wanted a car of my own I would go out and check the tires on that car. I told him, yeah whatever. And never did. When she left the house I told her I hated her and she told me to watch myself. My sister died that night in a car accident."