I know I didn't mention anything about Paige working in The Gap to begin with, but she does. Okay? And I know previously I said that it had been a year since the rape, but lets pretend its been a year and a half, okay?
--------------
I walked inside the house around two o'clock in the morning, after I had finished with Craig at the coffee house.
"Where were you?" I heard a voice say from the couch.
My eyes flew to Dylan. "I was out...getting a cup of coffee."
"We have coffee here," he said.
"Dylan...I had another nightmare okay? So I met Craig at the coffee house to talk about it. He understands me, he's been a really good friend."
He nodded. "Well, next time, could you warn me first? I mean here I was thinking that..."
"What?"
"...Nothing," he said quickly. "Its nothing. But you should go to bed, you have school in the morning."
"Tomorrow's Saturday," I told him.
"Oh," he said. "Well, in that case, do you want to order a pizza and watch a movie?"
I smiled. "Sure," I said.
I was glad that Dylan and I were close again. It had been such a long time since we had gotten to do anything together, probably because of his sexual preference. When Mom found out that Dylan was into other guys...and not girls, she kind of freaked out and sent him to live with a relative. Last year she came around, realizing that Dylan was her son and she should love him no matter what. I was glad he was back.
-----------
I was talking to Ashley while I was at work in The Gap. The store was nearly deserted, which was common for a Saturday morning at eleven A.M.
"How's the therapy going?" Ashley asked me.
"Pretty good, I guess. I met this guy there, and I can really relate to him. We're just friends...I can talk to him, ya know? That's an important quality," I said, leaving out the fact that it was her ex-boyfriend I was talking about.
"Listen...Paige," she said. "I sort of wanted to ask you something."
"Shoot," I said, not glancing up from the counter as I heard the bell on the door ring.
"I met this guy...we've sort of been dating for a while," she started.
That caught my interest. "Really? You never told me."
"I know, I decided I didn't want to advertise it yet. But anyway, he's a lot older than me. Well, maybe not a lot older than me...he's in his freshman year of college. But...anyway."
"Spit it out, Ash," I teased.
"Okay, okay..." she sighed. "I don't know what to do. I mean, I really like him...I think I love him, and I just...well, I don't know..."
"If you should have sex with him?" I finished for her.
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah," she said. "I mean, I really care for him. But how do I know when the time is right?"
"Well," I said, leaning my back against the counter. "I think that when the time is right you will know and it won't be a hesitant thing. I mean, of course you two should talk about it first, like talk about birth control and things like that but I think that you should just let things play out the way they are going to play out. Do you think you're ready to have sex?"
"Yeah...I think I am. I mean, with him, anyway. It's just different."
I nodded. "Well, if you're ready then go for it. But you shouldn't do anything that you don't want to do and don't let yourself be talked into anything that you're not ready for."
She opened her mouth to reply, but a deep voice from behind us said: "I'd like to buy this."
I turned around to ring up the purchase and I about fainted. "What are you doing here?"
"Buying a sweater," he said.
"Dean, get out," I demanded.
His eyes peered into mine, as if penetrating my soul. His hands reached out to touch mine and I pulled back. I rang up the sweater and put it in a bag. "That'll be twenty five dollars," I told him.
He took the money out of his wallet and held it out. "Well, go on, take it," he said.
"Just lay it on the counter," I said, not wanting to touch him.
"Come on, Spirit," he tantalized. "Don't you want your money?"
"Put it on the counter and leave," Ashley said.
"This is between Spirit and me," he said.
"And the security guards," Ashley retorted. "If you don't leave."
I jerked the money from his hand and put it in the cash register. "Now go."
"Chill out, girls. I only came to find a shirt. I didn't know I was going to end up girl-scoping in the mean time. Oh, and Spirit, I'd watch your back if I were you. " With that, he walked off.
I collapsed back against the counter. "I can't believe that just happened."
"Neither can I, Paige are you alright?" she said, following him with her eyes to make sure he was gone.
"I'm fine now," I said. "Is he gone?"
"Yes, he's gone."
"Thank God. Did you hear what he said to me?"
"Yeah, I think we should call the police. It was a threat, you can get a restraining order."
"A restraining order isn't anything but a sheet of paper, Ash," I said with a sigh. "It doesn't mean a damn thing."
She knew I was right. "Well, how about this. Why don't you call your mom and ask her if you can spend the night at my house. My parents are going to some sort banquet thing in New York, and Toby is staying with JT. I could use the company."
"Okay," I said.
"We could rent a movie and order some take-out. We'll have fun, and we'll get your mind off of Dean, okay?"
"Sounds great," I said. "You're a great friend, Ash. I'd be lost without you."
She smiled and gave me a hug of comfort. Something told me that Dean wasn't just speaking idle words when he told me to watch my back. Something deep inside of me said that I really did need to watch my back.
