The next day Paige walked into the school by herself. Hazel said that she'd have someone drop her off on the phone this morning. She was turning the corner when she saw Jimmy at his locker. She tried to turn away before he could notice her, but it was too late.
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Jimmy quickly closed his locker and ran towards Paige. He got in front of her, blocking her movement.
"Get out of the way Jimmy." She said trying not to look into his eyes. He grabbed her arms to hold her still.
"I'm not gonna let you go until you hear me out." He said sternly. She finally gave up and leaned up on a locker.
"What do you want? Don't think that you degraded me enough last night?" He looked down in shame.
"About that… I'm sorry Paige. I shouldn't have said what I said last night and…uh… I could just ask Mr. Jefferson to get you another partner if you don't wanna work with me." He waited for a response. Soon a smile came upon her face. He was relieved.
"I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have said that thing about you and Hazel. It was all my fault."
"Now that I think about it, it was really all you're fault!" She playfully pushed him and they both laughed. "Friends?" He asked motioning for a hug.
She walked into it and they embraced for what seemed like days. They gave each other some room and he held her by her waist. They were locked at eyes again.
"We really got to stop doing this." He said not taking his eyes away.
"You mean this eye thing?" She responded doing the same. Finally, he released her.
"So, how about my place tonight? If you're lucky, I might just cook."
"How could I turn down that kind of offer?" Jimmy watched as she walked to class. He was about to do the same when he caught Spinner at the corner of the hall. They stared each other down until Spinner walked away. 'How much did he see?' Jimmy thought to himself.
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It was middle of lunch and Spinner had told Manny he was going to take care of some 'business' so he wouldn't be able to sit with her. He noticed Hazel in the hall, with no Paige around. He walked over to her. Hazel looked at him as if he were crazy.
"How's it going Haz?" He asked smiling. Hazel wasn't stupid. She knew something was up.
"What do you want Spinner?" He smiled even harder.
"Nothing! I was just wondering how Paige was doing."
"She's doing real fine without you Spin, so could you go on about your business so I can get lunch?"
"Yeah, it seems to me that she's doing pretty fine behind your back too."
"What're you talking about?"
"Why don't you ask her?" With that he walked back into the cafeteria. It was obvious that Spinner's words got the best of her. She stood there and thought for a while and then shook it off.
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It was 3:15 and school was out. Paige and Hazel got into the car. Paige had noticed that Hazel hadn't said much to her since fourth period.
"Paige, you wouldn't do anything behind my back would you?" Paige was kind of hurt that Hazel of all people would ask her that question.
"Of course not! Why, what's the problem?"
"Nothing." The drive home was silent for the both of them.
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Jimmy was at Paige's house. He was writing down notes on how the mouse reacted to the piece of cheese they put in his cage, but Paige couldn't keep her eyes off of Jimmy. He noticed and gave her a 'Is there something wrong' look. She snapped out of her trance.
"Sorry." She said blushing. He smiled at her and then returned to his work. That's when she remembered Hazel's question. "Did you talk to Hazel today?"
"No. Why?"
"No reason."
"Come on Paige, I know you asked me that for a reason."
"I said no reason, so back off!" She said standing up. Jimmy did the same.
"I mean…what is it with you? I try to get close to you but it's like you have this barrier around you. Why?"
"What, you want everyone to think that I'm as easy as Dean made it seem? If you were in my position, you'd be the same way too."
"Why the hell did you bring Dean into this? You need to let that go! What's done is done Paige! You go back into the past and fix things up! I wish I could, but I can't, so…" Jimmy was stopped by a slap in the face by Paige.
"I told you to watch your mouth!" She turned away but was grabbed by Jimmy who threw her onto the couch. He was about to do something he would regret, when saw the horror in Paige's eyes. She scared out of her mind. Jimmy put his hand down and she ran into his arms. She cried onto his chest.
"Please…help me." She cried. He pulled her back and kissed her gently. She gleefully returned it. All of the sudden Jimmy broke the kiss and grabbed his stuff and ran out the door. Paige ran outside and watched as he drove off. 'What going on between us Jimmy?"
TBC? Thanks for the Review(s)! So do more of it!