This is the last chapter. Thanks to everyone who read it and reviewed it. I hope you like this chapter.
Paige groaned the next morning when she heard the phone ring. She rolled over and picked it up, glancing at the clock as she did so. "It's 9 in the morning. This better be good."
"It's your best friend."
Paige rolled her eyes. "Oh, hi. What's up? Isn't it a little bit early for you to be up?"
"Hey, I just wanted to find out how the date went last night."
"Oh. It was great."
"Really? So, you didn't jinx it?'
"No, I didn't"
"Good. Now, tell me who it is."
"I don't think it's any of your business."
"Come on, Paige. You said you'd tell me."
"Fine. It's- it's JT."
"JT- JT Yorke?"
"Yeah. JT Yorke."
"I don't believe it. Isn't he a little young?"
"He's only a year younger than us."
"But he's so-"
"He's a nice guy."
"I can't believe it."
"What's the big deal? We used to hang out with him some last year."
"That was just hanging out. I can't believe you like him like that."
"He's a good guy."
"Is it because Spinner's with Manny? Is that what this is some sort of reaction to that?"
"I can't believe you'd even say that. That's such a low blow. This has nothing to do with Spinner."
"Paige-"
"Forget it, Hazel. I had a great time last night and I don't want you to ruin it. I'll talk to you later." Paige hung up the phone and sighed. "God, that sucked."
There was a knock at the door and Paige sighed again. "Yeah, come in."
Paige's mom stuck her head in the door. "Good, you're up, sweetie. I just wanted to tell you that your dad and I are going to the Aunt Jenny's house for brunch today."
"Oh, okay."
"I'll see you later, honey."
"Bye, Mom." Paige smiled after her mom as she shut the door. "House to myself all day? What can I possibly do?"
> > > > >
JT woke up with a smile on his face. Paige had spent the whole evening with him and still like him. And she had kissed him. Life was good. He sat up when he heard the knock on his door and saw his mom stick her head in. "JT, phone for you."
"Okay, thanks." JT stood up and went into the hallway, picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's Paige."
"Oh, hi! What's up?"
"Nothing much. Just thought I'd call and see what you were up to today?"
JT groaned. "God, I've got loads of homework."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, Kwan's a total tyrant, you know?"
"I know."
"Do you have to work today?"
"Nope, I've got today off. And my parents are going to be gone. I thought we could hang out or something."
"Oh, well, you know. I could skip on my homework. I'm sure I can get it done tomorrow."
"No, no. I wouldn't want your grades to suffer because of me. How about you come over here and work on it?"
"Really?"
"Yeah. We could hang out."
"Okay, cool. When?"
"Give me an hour or so."
"Sounds good. See you soon."
"See you soon."
> > > > >
Paige opened the door as soon as JT rang the bell. "Hi!"
"Hey, Paige," he said as he waved good-bye to his mom.
The two of them walked into her house and sat down next to each other on the couch. "Nice place."
"Yeah, we like it. We've got soda and snacks, plenty of fuel to give us energy," Paige said, gesturing at the table.
"Cool. I'm gonna need it. Kwan's nuts. This is insane."
"Aw, poor baby."
"You took grade 10 English last year. You could help me out, you know."
"I'm not going to do your work for you."
"I'm shocked that you would even suggest that."
"I'm sure. Just think, the sooner you finish, the sooner we can have some fun."
"Yeah, what kind of fun?"
"You'll have to finish your work first."
"Fine, fine," JT sighed loudly.
"You're such baby."
JT sighed again and open his notebook. Paige opened her own English book and began reading the assigned story. She was just getting into it when she felt JT twirling a piece of her hair in his hands. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. He scooted closer to her on the couch and put his arm around her. "You're not studying."
"Come on. Don't you think this is more fun?"
"Study, JT."
"Oh, God." JT went back to his homework.
Paige glanced over at him and groaned. "Fine, but only for a few minutes." She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to her.
"Oh, I don't know. I thought we were supposed to be doing homework."
"Shut up and kiss me, JT."
"Yes, ma'am." He pushed his books off the couch and kissed her.
JT and Paige were tangled up on the couch, their homework pretty much forgotten. The front door opened, but they were too wrapped up in each other to even notice. Dylan walked in the room and smiled broadly. "Whoa!"
They jumped apart quickly. "Oh, my God."
"Hi, baby sister."
"Uh, hi Dylan."
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend here?"
"Oh, right. Uh, Dylan, this is JT. JT, this is my brother, Dylan."
"Hi, JT."
JT stood silently staring at Dylan. Paige elbowed him in the ribs. "Oh! Hi!"
"What are you doing here, Dylan?"
"I dropped some laundry off. I came to pick it up. What are you doing, Paige?"
"Oh, uh. JT came over to study."
"Study, huh? Didn't look like you were studying much to me."
Paige rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get your laundry and split."
"All right." Dylan laughed and walked out of the room. Paige and JT sat down on the couch.
"Oh, my God. I can't believe your brother walked in on us." JT leaned back and covered his face with his hands.
"Hey, it could've been worse."
"Yeah, how?"
"That could have been my dad."
"That's true." JT sighed. "Man, this is horrible!"
"JT, it's not a big deal."
"I don't want your family to hate me."
"Please, hon. Dylan probably thinks it's funny. Did you not see his grin?"
"But still-"
"No, stop worrying. It's embarrassing, but it's not the end of the world. Calm down." She kissed him on the nose. "Everything's okay."
"I guess you're right."
"Yeah, I am." Paige grinned at him and he smiled back.
Dylan came back into the room carrying a big bag of laundry. "Well, I'm off."
"Don't the other guys make fun of you for having your mommy do you laundry?"
"Shut up, Paige. JT, it was nice meeting you."
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you, too."
Dylan walked toward the front door. "I'll see you around. Have fun kids."
Paige sighed in relief when she heard the door slam. "Okay, excellent. He's gone. Now, where were we?" She asked as she tried to pull JT close to her. He pushed away from her. "Hey, what are you doing? Feelings getting hurt here."
"Maybe we should just get our homework done."
"You'd rather do homework than make out? You're not serious."
"No, I don't want to, but- What if your parents come home? This could end up being hideous."
"My parents won't be home for hours. But, if you really want to do homework, we can. Just push me away. Tell me you don't want to kiss me," she said as she wrapped an arm around JT's neck and pulled his head closer to her own. "Go ahead. I'm waiting."
Her lips were inches from his. "I'm only human, you know."
"I know."
"You're spectacular."
"You're good with the compliments. I like that in a guy."
"And I like this in a girl," he said, kissing her deeply.
> > > >
JT walked into school with a spring in his step. He slapped Toby on the back as he went to his locker. "Life is good. Life is great!"
Toby glanced at his friend. "So, the date with Paige went well?"
"It went great. She likes me, man. She really likes me."
"Cool. So, she liked the carnival and picnic thing?"
"Liked it? She loved it. Thanks for the idea."
"No problem. You're sure she likes you?"
"Yeah, I am. Why are you so down on this?"
"I'm not. Just look at her over with Hazel. She doesn't look happy."
"What are you talking about?" JT turned and saw Paige arguing with Hazel. "Give me a break. They're probably arguing about something else. It has nothing to do with me."
"Okay. Whatever you say."
> > > > >
Paige stood in front over her locker, listening to Hazel list the reasons why she shouldn't go out with JT. "God, Hazel. Give it a rest already. You did this the whole way to school. I get it. I just don't agree."
"Paige, if I thought you were listening, I might stop. But you're ignoring everything I'm saying."
"No, I'm not. I just don't agree with you. He's a good guy. I like him, Hazel."
Hazel scoffed. "Give me a break. This is just because of Spinner and Manny. You cannot like him."
"Why not? Why can't I like him?"
"Because-" Hazel stopped when she noticed JT walking up to them. "And here comes your Prince Charming now."
"Shut up and be nice."
JT grinned at Paige. "Hey, Paige, Hazel."
"Hi, JT."
Hazel rolled her eyes. "Yeah, hi. Listen, we're in the middle of something. Can you talk to us later?"
"Hazel, don't be so rude."
"No, it's fine. I'll see you at lunch, Paige?"
"Um, actually, Paige and I will be eating lunch together. Alone."
"Hazel!"
"I'll see you after school. Maybe we can do something then."
"Nope, sorry. She'll be busy then, too."
"Oh. Oh, I get it. I'll see you around." He turned to walk away.
"No, wait a minute, JT."
"It's okay. I understand." JT walked away.
"Damn it, Hazel. Why the hell did you do that?"
"It's for the best. You don't want to go out with JT Yorke. You can find someone better."
"You know what? You can go to hell. I can't believe you did that." Paige stormed off and looked for JT, but he had disappeared. The bell rang and she rushed to class, upset that she hadn't been able to explain things to JT.
> > > > > >
Paige sat next to Ashley in the MI lab. She rested her ahead against the desk. Ashley glanced worriedly at her. "You okay, Paige?"
She lifted her head. "Just great."
"So, JT, huh?"
"You talked to Hazel."
"Yeah, I did. I thought you liked him. Why do you look so miserable?"
"God, this morning, Hazel's talking about how JT not good enough for me."
"And you believed her? Why-"
"I didn't believe her. But, JT comes up and Hazel made him feel bad. He just walked away and didn't let me explain."
"Oh, God!"
"Yeah, he probably thinks I was just playing with him this weekend."
"So, talk to him. Make it right."
"Yeah, it's that simple."
"It is. Find him a lunch. Tell him. It's JT. I'm sure he'll listen."
"I could do that."
"Yeah, you could. Don't look so depressed."
"I can't believe you're telling me that I look depressed."
"Ha Ha. You're going to talk to him?"
"I guess. I don't know. Maybe I should just let it go."
"Why? You like him."
"Yeah, but if it's going to cause all this drama, maybe it's not worth it."
"Paige, nobody cares who you go out with."
"Hey. Harsh."
"True."
"What about Hazel? She-"
"She's just surprised. She'll get over it. I've never known Hazel to have an original thought that last for more than five minutes."
"Ashley!"
"Sorry. That was mean. But, seriously. Since when do you let Hazel make your decisions for you?"
"I guess you're right."
"So?"
"Yeah, I'll talk to him."
"Great!" Ashley smiled at her and Paige managed a tiny smile in return.
> > > > >
JT sighed as he sat down next to Toby at lunch. "Don't say it."
"Say what?"
"That you were right and I was horribly, horribly wrong."
Toby looked at him, confused. "Paige?"
"Yeah, Paige. She totally dissed me this morning. Her and Hazel."
"I'm sorry, man. That sucks."
"Yeah, well. Guess you were right."
"Maybe not."
"What? Why would you say that?"
Toby smiled. "'Cause your dream girl's coming this way and I think she wants to talk to you."
"What?" JT looked behind him and turned pale when he saw Paige walking toward him.
> > > > >
Paige hesitated for a moment when she saw the look on JT's face when he saw her, but she made herself keep going. She got to the table and looked at Toby. "Hi, guys. Uh, listen, Toby, I need to talk to JT alone for a few minutes."
"I don't think that's a good idea," JT said.
Toby shook his head. "No, it's okay. I've gotta go anyway. See you later, man. Bye, Paige."
"Bye, Toby." She watched him walk off and turned toward JT. "Hi."
"Don't, just don't," JT said, standing up.
"I want to talk."
"No. I get it. You- you don't to be with me. It's fine. I understand. It was fun this weekend, but you don't want to talk to me in front of your friends."
"JT-"
"Forget it. I've got to go." He walked away and she stared after him in shock before chasing him down in the hallway. She grabbed his arm.
"No. You're not going to do this. You're at least going to listen to me."
"What? That you're sorry about Hazel, but that we can't be together? Save it."
"Shut up, JT, and listen to me." He glared at her, but said nothing. "Okay, good. You're going to let me talk. JT, that was all Hazel this morning. It's true that she doesn't like the idea of us going out. But I don't agree at all."
"Right. Sure. Then why didn't you try to say anything?"
"I tried. You took off before I had a chance."
"Come on."
"I'm serious. I don't care what Hazel thinks. I want to be with you."
"I don't know, Paige. Maybe-"
"You don't want to be with me?"
"No. I do. But maybe it's too hard. Hazel doesn't like the idea; Toby wasn't real happy about it. Maybe we should just forget about everything."
"You're going to drop this because of our friends. Give me a break. They'll get over it. And if they don't, who cares?"
"You don't mean that."
"Yeah, I do." Paige grabbed him by the waist and pulled him close to her. "I want you to be my guy, JT. And if anyone has a problem with that, it's just too bad."
JT bent down to kiss her, but pulled back. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am."
He wrapped his arms around her. "God, I'm glad." He sighed in relief. "It's kind of strange, though."
"You're not having doubts, are you?"
"No, no. This is just going pretty fast. I mean, we've only gone out one time, but it's all so intense."
"Maybe so. But I like you, JT."
"I like you, too."
He grinned at her and she grinned back. "So, you gonna kiss me, or what?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna kiss you." Their lips met in a quick kiss. "We better go. Don't want you to be late for class."
"Let's go. You can walk me to class."
"Oh, I can? Lucky me." JT kept an arm around her as he walked her to class. "Okay, here you are."
She kissed him again. "Okay, I'll see you later. Want to come over after school?"
"Yeah, I do. I'll meet you at your locker?"
"Good. Bye."
"Bye." JT walked away and waved to a surprised Hazel.
> > > > > >
Paige and JT were lying on her couch, watching movies again. "This movie sucks," JT said.
Paige rolled her eyes. "I told you, I'm not watching another zombie movie. Those things freak me out."
"Hey, anything's better than this."
"I like it."
"I can think of something I like better." JT kissed her. "What do you think?"
"I think we're not going to spend every afternoon making out."
"Can we spend this afternoon making out?"
"Yeah, okay." She pulled him close to her. "You're really good at this."
"You're not so bad yourself."