A/N: omg, no time for my rambling, I've been waiting to write this chapter since I started this story.
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Spinner and Paige walked down her street silently. Sometimes, they didn't need to talk; just being with each other was enough.
He reached over and laced his fingers through hers. She smiled shyly and looked down at the ground. Spinner made her feel like a little girl again. But in a good way, he made her feel…innocent.
She loved feeling like that
In the middle of their walk Spinner stopped and Paige looked at him, eyebrows raised. He turned so he was facing her and he picked up both of her hands, "Paige, did you know that as of yesterday we've been together for a year?"
Paige's face fell, she had completely forgotten.
"Its ok if you didn't remember, 'cause I know you've had a lot going on, but anyway, I got you something" he let go of her hands and began digging in his pockets. He apparently couldn't find what he was looking for, Paige smiled, this was so like him, to forget which pocket he hid her present in.
He finally retrieved a little gray box and handed it to her. She opened it up and inside was a silver necklace with a heart pendant that had a tiny pink diamond on the side. She looked up at him and smiled widely, "Hon, its beautiful! Thank you!" she got on her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly.
Spinner excitedly clasped it around her neck, then he took her hand again and they continued walking.
They turned the corner and onto the street that led to Jimmy's. Paige looked up at her boyfriend, her messy, goofy boyfriend. Sure, Spinner was kind of a jerk sometimes, and he was gross almost all the time. But at times like this, when it was just the two of them…he couldn't be more perfect.
But when she looked harder she could tell he was thinking very hard. He kept looking at her and then back ahead of him, and his hand was shaking a little. He pursed his lips and kind of nodded and then he blurted, "Paige?"
She smiled, "yeah Spin?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but obviously decided against it, "Never mind, I forgot" then he hung his head, unbelieving that he had chickened out.
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When they got to Jimmy's Paige couldn't believe the number of people crammed into the penthouse apartment. Most of them didn't even go to Degrassi, but like Hazel had said, this party was a big deal. Paige spotted Hazel in the corner talking to some girls from another school, she yelled in Spinner's ear that she was going over and he yelled back to have fun.
A little later, Paige was on the couch, sitting on Spinners lap while she tried her best to listen to the conversation Hazel and some girl from Bardell were having. She gave up on listening and leaned back against Spinner, he rested his head on her shoulder, "you havin' fun?" he asked loudly in her ear.
She nodded, but it was a lie. She lived for parties like this…most of the time. But tonight she wasn't feeling it for some reason. She looked around at all the strangers, drinking their alcohol and dancing to the extremely loud techno music that was blasting out of Jimmy's stereo. There were a lot of people here, a lot. Paige started feeling dizzy, like the room was closing in on her.
"Spin? I'll-I'll be right back ok?"
She pushed her way past all the people and made her way towards Jimmy's back hallway. There weren't many people back there, but she did she a girl who was very drunk drag some guy into a bedroom. She leaned against the wall, and tried her best to just breathe. The space in the hall was nice, there seemed to be more air.
She closed her eyes and put her head back against the wall. She opened them and exhaled deeply, but she gasped when she saw a shadowy figure in the doorway in front of her. They walked towards her, "who is that?" she asked shakily
He stepped forward, into the light of the hallway, "Hey Spirit" he said, just like it sounded in her nightmares.
Paige couldn't breathe; she blinked several times, hoping he would disappear. When she opened them the last time he was standing closer. She looked up at his eyes, they were still as intense and frightening as they were the night he attacked her, the same eyes she saw wheeled out of the ambulance.
"So Spirit, you wanna have some more fun tonight?" he growled right next to her ear
"Dean, go away! You're not real!" she screamed and she tried to push him off of her, but he was stronger. "Go away! You're not real! You're dead! I saw you!" she was in tears now
"That's what you think Spirit" he leaned down and kissed her, hard. And she closed her eyes screamed so loud her head started to pound. When she opened her eyes there was no one there. But she had felt him, he was there.
She started shaking and she suddenly felt really dirty, she needed to get clean as soon as possible. She ran into the bathroom and turned the knobs on the shower as fast as she could. She climbed into the bathtub and sat down on the slippery bottom. She leaned against the wall and let the icy water cleanse her. She rubbed her eyes one last time to make sure all this was real.
No one knows how long she sat there, soaking wet in Jimmy's bathtub, unmoving, while warm tears ran down her cheeks.
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Spinner had gotten lost in his conversation with Jimmy that he almost forgot that Paige had left. When he remembered that she said she'd "be right back" quite awhile before, he decided to look for her. He scanned the room and she was nowhere in sight. He made his way to the hallway in the back of the apartment and he saw the bathroom door was cracked open, the lights weren't on, but it sounded like the shower was running. His first thought was that someone was doing something freaky in Jimmy's bathroom. But then he heard tiny whimpers, although it was especially loud at the party, he recognized the sound.
He opened the door and slowly approached the shower, he slid open the door and saw her. She was curled up in the corner, her clothes completely drenched, her hair was stuck to her face and her makeup was running off her cheeks in rivers.
He kneeled down next to the tub, "Paige? What happened?" he moved her wet hair out of her face, "what's wrong?"
When he touched her face she snapped out of whatever universe she was trapped in, she shrieked loudly, then turned to see Spinner. She immediately lost whatever slight control she had over herself and started bawling, "Spinner I saw Dean! He was here! I saw him and he kissed me!" she continued to ramble
Spinner knew for a fact that Dean was dead; he'd seen the obituary in the newspaper. There was no way that he could be at this party. Something was definitely wrong with Paige.
He was panicking on the inside but he was trying his best to be calm. "Paige, I will be right back ok? Don't go anywhere alright?"
She nodded furiously as he reached over and shut off the freezing water. He ran out of the bathroom and back to the party, he spotted Jimmy dancing with Hazel in the middle of the living room. He pushed through all the people and grabbed Jimmy's shoulder. "Jimmy! Something's really wrong with Paige, you need to send everyone home"
Hazel looked a little worried but Jimmy didn't think twice, "no way, I am not sending anyone anywhere man" he just smiled and continued to dance.
Spinner grabbed him, "I'm serious man, get everyone out of here, Now!!"
Jimmy could see from the look in Spinner's eyes that he wasn't kidding. He sighed heavily and switched off the stereo, he jumped up on the couch and announced, "Party's over! Everyone go home!"
Everyone laughed and continued what they were doing, Spinner knew how to get them out, "the cops are coming!" he yelled and everyone grabbed their stuff and pushed past each other for the door.
When the crowd was gone Jimmy looked at Spinner, "ok so what the hell is wrong with Paige? And this better be serious"
"She's in the bathroom" he called walking towards the hallway, Hazel followed him closely. Jimmy was beyond pissed; Paige had better be dying because his "party of the year" was over by 9:30.
When they got in the bathroom Paige was still in the tub, she had her knees to her chest and she was shivering. "Oh my God Paige!" Hazel shrieked and ran up next to the bathtub, "how long was she in here?" she asked Spinner.
"I have no idea, I found her like this, in the shower with the water on ice cold."
Hazel grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped around Paige who other than her purple lips that were furiously quivering, she wasn't moving at all. Spinner snapped his fingers in front of her face and she didn't respond.
Jimmy was leaning against the doorframe, "what's wrong with her"
"I don't know, maybe she's in shock or something" Hazel said panicky
Paige could see her friends crowded around her, and she heard what they were saying. She wanted to tell them that Dean was here, but she couldn't move. She tried to scream, but she was stuck.
"Spinner, what did she tell you? Why is she like this?" Hazel begged
"She said something about seeing Dean"
Paige was nodding slightly, "Dean? Paige is that it? You saw Dean?" Hazel asked slowly
Paige tried again to scream, and she this time she broke out of her box that was trapping her. She immediately burst into tears, "yes! I saw dean! He was here!" and then she completely lost it.
Hazel stood up, "Jimmy clean this place up, I'm calling her mom" she turned to Spinner "don't leave her ok?"
He nodded and sat on the edge of the tub, Paige grabbed his leg tightly and continued to sob. Her lips were still purple, Spinner grabbed another towel and helped her stand up, her knees were really shaky so he picked her up and sat down on the cold tile floor. He leaned back against the cabinets and held Paige close. She was clinging to him for dear life and sobbing against his neck.
He looked down at her; he had never seen Paige like this. She was a complete mess. Whatever she had seen that night, had really messed her up. This was so unfair, hadn't Dean done enough already?
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Spinner walked out of Jimmy's bedroom and quietly closed the door. He walked out to the living room where Jimmy and Hazel were picking up trash. "She's asleep" he announced, his voice was dull, defeated, "did you get a hold of her mom?"
Hazel shook her head, "Dylan said she was gone to the store, and she didn't bring her cell phone. He said he'd send her over as soon as he could"
"Can I help?" Spinner asked Jimmy quietly, he handed him a broom. "Look dude, I'm sorry about your party"
"No, no, it's fine" Jimmy kept his eyes on the floor, "I just want Paige to be ok"
He almost whispered, "me too" he put down the broom and turned his head away from his friends, "I'm-uh, I'm gonna go check on her" he walked quickly to the bedroom, trying his best to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes.
Once he was inside the dark room, and the door was shut he lost all control. He leaned back against the door and his knees gave way and he slid down onto the floor. Then, he cried; he cried for a long time.
Something was really wrong with Paige, and for once, her "miracle worker" couldn't fix it
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holy frijoles that was so much longer than I thought it would be, but like I said, this chap was the whole reason I started this dern story
ok, ive been told like 4 different ways to spell the guidance counselor's name...now since i dont know who is right, and im waaay to lazy to go back and change anything, its stayin the way it is...but thanks everyone for "correcting" me...i wouldnt wanna be spelling things waay off
all your reviews go straight to Spinner's Kleenex fund