Chapter Eleven: Misunderstanding
Manny glared at herself in the washroom mirror. It wasn't what had just happened with Paige; that was meaningless. It was her. It was who stared back at her. An empty canvas of a girl.
She had never been known for being Manny Santos. She had always been Emma's friend. She was the sidekick of Emma Nelson, Environmental Crusader. The silly, unsophisticated, innocent little girl. The pseudo-girlfriend of Craig Manning, who, too, saw her as an immature wreck.
She had been the cheerleader, but it didn't pan out. Sure, she could do a flip, but she was no Paige Michalchuck when it came to getting herself out there. She was always the face in the crowd. Just another stupid little girl.
She had tried dressing with the 'less-is-more' ideology in mind. So she became hot, sensual. She became someone people would notice, but for all the wrong reasons. She felt like the class whore, and most people probably thought it of her, anyway.
Childish.
A baby.
Overprotected.
Emma's little pet.
Dreamer.
Impulsive.
Weak.
Pathetic.
A loser. Manny felt she was a loser. Manny felt it all, all the negativity in the world, and she felt red-hot tears slide down her face. Her eyes shone darkly with her fury. Her face twisted in rage, and she wanted to shriek. She slid to the floor and hugged her knees, head down.
The washroom door burst open. Paige stormed in, Hazel and Terri at her heels. Manny felt herself smirk, thinking of Hazel and Terri as Paige's little lackeys and disdaining them for it, when only moments before she had thought the same of herself, but for Emma.
Paige gave a little laugh. "Uh, Manny, what are you doing in here?"
"It's a washroom. What do you think?" Manny scorned.
"Well, you're sitting on the floor, and with that I say 'ew', and you're crying, sooo…I'm guessing you're thinking of repentance."
Manny let out a short laugh. "Shows how much you know."
"Why do you want to make life difficult for yourself?" Paige asked.
"Paige, why are you even talking to her?" Hazel asked.
"It's high school, Paige. It's a meaningless four years filled with meaningless situations and meaningless people. It's all insignificant little moments we'll soon forget about. So what if you don't like me anymore? You never did. So what?"
"Whatever," Paige said, rolling her eyes.
"You're such an idiot," Manny mumbled.
Paige glared down at her. "Pardon?"
"Have you had one bad day in your life? And I'm not including hair here, hon," Manny retorted.
Paige folded her arms. "I don't know what your problem is, Manny, but don't think for one minute I'm going to allow you to take out your little boy troubles on me. It's your problem. So deal with it."
Manny stared up at Paige. Her eyes were cold and hard, her jaw thrust out. "Are we done here?"
Paige started to nod while opening her mouth, but something overcame her. Her face paled and she looked down at Manny in shock. Her voice quivering, Paige turned to Hazel and Terri. "Get out."
"What?" Hazel asked.
"Excuse me?"
"Guys, please. I'll only be a second."
Hazel and Terri looked at one another. Terri shrugged. They left.
Paige made a disgusted expression as she kneeled down, but sat on the floor nonetheless. Manny had to suppress an urge to applaud.
"Manny…is there something you want to tell me?"
Manny was confused. Just a moment ago, they were arguing, and suddenly Paige was being nice? She figured it was either a good manipulation, or her face showed something more than she knew.
"What do you mean?" she finally asked.
"Don't play games. You…you're snapping at people, attacking them for no reason. You're hiding out in the girls' washroom, crying. You're changing your look—again—and you're acting like a head case. I should have known!"
"What are you—"
"You need to tell someone," Paige declared.
"I—"
"No, Manny. You have to tell someone, or he's just going to haunt you! Oh, god, who was it? Do you even know? Oh, my god."
"Know what? Paige, you're not making any sense! Did Emma tell you or something?"
"No, Emma didn't tell me. I can tell. Manny, you need to go to the police."
"The police? I don't think it's a legal matter," Manny said, growing more bewildered by the minute.
"Not a legal matter? God, Manny! Don't you—oh, what does it matter? Tell someone!"
"Paige, what are you talking about? You're just…you're just rambling and I don't understand. What do you think is going on?"
"I know what's going on. You were raped, Manny. I can see it in your eyes. Oh, Manny," Paige said. Her eyes welled up with tears; and Manny just stared at her in shock.