Chapter Nine: Open Your Eyes

It's hard to walk this path alone, hard to know which way to go

Craig

"Hey Craig, wake up," Joey said, nudging me.

"Yeah?" I asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"You mind telling me why when I went into the garage to empty the trash this morning there was a girl asleep on the couch?" he asked, glaring a little.

"That's Alex," I said, swinging my legs over the side of my bed.

"Okay. Let's try this again. Why is she here? Did you go back out or something? Because she wasn't here when you brought Angela home."

"Actually, she was. Ask Angie…she was in the car with us when we got here. But she waited out there while we came in, and then I got her when you put Angie to bed." I saw Joey's face starting to redden. He looked like he was about to explode. "Before you get any madder than you already are, I wasn't trying to deceive you or anything. She just needed a place to stay, and I knew you'd say no."

"And she doesn't have a home of her own?" he asked, looking down at me.

"She does, but she had a fight with her mom's boyfriend. So I told her she could stay. Please don't be mad Joey." I stood up and pulled a shirt on.

"Fine Craig. I don't feel like starting a fight this morning. Next time you want this house to be a free hotel for your friends, try asking first."

"Sure thing," I said, saluting him and walking by to use the bathroom. I did my business then decided to wake Alex up so she'd be presentable for breakfast.

I walked into the garage and saw her lying on the couch on her stomach, with her head smushed into the pillow I gave her last night. Her blanket was hanging over the edge of the couch, about to fall.

"So, why do you need to stay here tonight?" I asked. I'd just brought Alex into the garage while Joey was upstairs with Angie.

"I had a fight with my mom's boyfriend. I don't really want to get into that though," she answered, looking at the ground.

We both sat down on the couch and started talking. She told me about how her mom has a new boyfriend almost every month, and I told her how Joey hasn't had a girlfriend in months.

"You don't have it so bad though," she said, looking around. "You're lucky Joey lets you live here. I wish I had someone like that."

"What about your dad?" I asked. I knew I shouldn't have, because her face instantly fell.

"He died when I was ten," she said.

"I'm sorry I asked. But I know how you feel. Both of my parents died. And I'd give anything to get them back. Both of them."

I looked up at her and caught her staring at me, but she quickly looked away.

"I'm really tired," she said suddenly. "Do you have a pillow and a blanket?"

I leaned over the back of the couch, looked down at her, and smiled. Reaching out, I was about to poke her when she jumped up.

"What the hell!" she yelled.

"Sorry Alex. I didn't think you'd be awake. I was just coming to get you for breakfast."

"So you stood there and watched me sleep? Don't scare me like that!" she nearly screamed.

"Look, I said I was sorry," I told her, walking around the couch to pick up the blanket she dragged down.

"It's okay," she said, putting her arms around herself.

"Cold?" I asked.

"No, I'm fine," she replied, somewhat coldly.

"You want breakfast?"

"Look, I think I'm just gonna go. I have to get some new clothes on before school," she said.

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll just see you at school then," I said, leading her to the door.

"Sure." And then she left, leaving me staring after her.

Spinner

I woke up and looked around. I was in the van, alone. All I could remember from my drunken stupor the night before was that I fell asleep with Emma. I'm not really sure what we did last night, but maybe she'll know. Of course, she can't tell me because she isn't here.

I left the van and went to pee behind a tree. Scratching myself, I squinted my eyes against the sunlight. My head was pounding, so I returned to the van to take a nap. Right as I was settling down to go back to sleep, the sliding door opened and Emma crawled in.

"Hey," I said, sitting up. I was definitely surprised to see her back.

"I brought coffee," she said, holding it up. "And aspirin."

"You are a goddess," I said, taking the aspirin from her. She laughed a little and sat down next to me, leaving the van door open for some light.

I sipped the coffee and nearly spat it out. It was black. She happily drank hers and I wanted to puke. Who in their right mind likes black coffee?

"There's cream and sugar in my pocket," she said. Well, I wasn't about to go fishing around in her pocket so she could call me a pervert, so I just sat there and watched her drink hers. She finally put it down and tossed three creams and three sugars at me. How did she know?

"Perfect." I put the crap in my coffee and mixed it up with a little stirrer before taking another sip. "So, uh…did we…?"

"No!" she answered quickly. "We didn't do anything last night. Except I kissed you…" her cheeks turned red and she looked away from me.

"I wish I could remember it," I said, grinning. She looked back to me and smiled.

"Maybe I could remind you…"

Ellie

I sat in English, thinking about the previous night. Jay kissed me. For a split second, I felt like maybe things could work out between us and all of that stupid love crap. But then I remembered the possible baby growing inside of me, and pulled away from him. The car ride was silent the whole way home, and I ran into my house before he could even get a word out.

I was still worried about Emma, so at the end of class, I found Mr. Simpson.

"What can I do for you Ellie?" he asked, sitting down at his desk and fiddling with his computer.

"It's about Emma…" his face flew up to mine and I saw this intense look of worry all over it.

"Do you know where she is?" he asked, hopeful. I didn't know what to do, so I lied. It was stupid of me, but I couldn't help it.

"Yeah, actually I do. She's at my house. We're so sorry that she didn't call. But she came over pretty upset and my mom said she could stay. Then she felt sick this morning so she didn't come to school with me.

"Why didn't your mother at least call the school then?" he asked, trying to see past the lie. But I was quicker than he was.

"She doesn't know that Emma didn't go to school. She had to work early this morning and was gone before we even woke up. I'm really sorry Mr. Simpson. I know you and Emma's mom must have been worried sick. She was just crying and said she didn't want to talk to anyone…"

"We had a fight last night," he admitted, turning back to the computer. That's when I knew the lie had worked. "Thanks for telling me. But I'd like to talk to your mom when she gets out of work," he said.

"I'll have her call you," I said before turning to leave.

"Ellie? Could you please have Emma come home when you leave school today?" he asked.

"Of course."

Now all I had to do was find her.

Alex

After I had left Craig's that morning, I had no intention of going to school. It would be weird and he'd just want to talk to me about my stupid little freak out that I had. I couldn't explain things to him, not now.

"What the hell are you doing?" my mom's boyfriend asked. While my mom was at work, he was home all day, doing nothing.

"It's none of your business!" I yelled at him.

"Don't talk to me like that!" he yelled back, slapping me across the face. My cheek stung and tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I hated him.

"Get the fuck out of my room!" I spat.

Instead of leaving, he pushed me back onto my bed. I knew what was coming because it wasn't the first time that it had happened. I'm so stupid. I know what happens when I piss him off, but I still do it anyway.

He pulled my pants and underwear off effortlessly, while his other hand held my wrists together above my head. I tried to kick him, but failed. Tears poured from my eyes as he thrust into me.

Paige

I thought about my conversation with JT the night before. It was just so strange.

"So…what is it that you want?" I asked him

"I want…I want a date. With you."

I wasn't quite sure what to say. At first, I thought he might be joking, but by the look on his face, he clearly wasn't.

"What about Liberty?" I asked. "Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"Not anymore. We broke up a few weeks ago. Surprisingly enough, I wasn't giving her what she wanted," he said, laughing a little.

"Oh. Well, um…"

"I get it Paige. You probably like someone else. I'm sorry I wasted your time," he said, about to stand up.

I felt so bad. And I'm not usually one to accept pity dates, but it must have taken a lot of courage to ask me.

"Sure. I'll go on a date with you," I blurted out. He sat back down, and started at me.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really."

"Wait…is someone gonna pay you to do this?" he asked, referring to our last date.

"No," I said, laughing.

"Okay, so how's Saturday night?" he asked.

"Perfect." I couldn't even believe the sound of my own voice. I actually sounded happy, like I couldn't wait.

"Great. I'll pick you up at seven," he said before walking away.

"Paige?" someone asked, pulling me out of my little memory.

"Um, yeah Haze?" I asked my best friend.

"I really have to talk to you."

"Okay, go ahead, I'm listening," I told her.

"I'm moving."

Jimmy

I went to school hoping to see Manny. But she wasn't there. At least, as far as I could tell she wasn't. I couldn't find her anywhere. While I was eating lunch, Hazel approached me.

"What is it?" I asked, sighing. I didn't really want to talk to her.

"I'm just letting you know that I'm moving. My whole family is, anyway," she said, looking like she was about to cry. "You looked a little upset, so I thought I'd brighten your day with that information."

"Hazel." I felt like such a jerk. "Come sit next to me." She did, but she still looked so upset. "I don't want you to hate me Hazel. And no, it doesn't make me happy that you're moving. I just didn't want to ruin your plans about college. Just know that I never stopped loving you. That's why I did it," I explained.

I saw a small smile form on her face.

"I love you Jimmy," she said, hugging me. "I understand. I just…I don't want to move," she said, sighing.

"It'll be okay. You can call me whenever you want okay?" I suggested. "It's better that we're not together anyway. Because now you can move on with someone else. Where are you moving to?"

"New York," she said, looking upset again.

"Maybe I can visit you sometime," I told her.

"Thanks," she replied.

"And I'll help you move in anyway I can," I said, motioning towards the wheelchair.

"Jimmy?" she asked, looking into my eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Can I just have one last kiss? Things didn't exactly end on a positive note between us," she said.

I leaned in and kissed her instead of answering. It was a kiss goodbye, but it probably didn't look like that to some people. Because when we broke apart, I looked up, and Manny was standing there with tears in her eyes.

Before I could even yell out her name, she was gone.

Emma

I had kissed Spinner again, the way we did last night, but now we were just talking about pointless little things. I told him how I was upset about always having to take care of Jack, and he just listened. We talked for a long time. My cell phone rang, interrupting our current conversation about failed relationships. It was Ellie.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Emma, where are you?" she sounded upset.

"I'm at the ravine," I told her. "Is something wrong?"

"Are you with Spinner?" she asked like she was finally realizing something.

"Yeah…"

"So you were in the van last night! Jay and I were looking for you. We looked in there and only saw Spinner. Geez Emma, what did you do?"

Before I could answer her, she cut me off.

"It doesn't matter right now. You need to go home. I covered for you with Simpson today. I told him that you were upset and you spent the night at my house, and then felt sick, so you didn't come to school. I'm about to call him now and pretend to be my mom so he believes the story. But I promised him that you'd go home when I got back from school. So will you please go?" she asked me.

"Fine. I'll call you later."

"What was that all about?" Spinner asked.

"It was Ellie. I have to go home now," I said. His face fell.

"Maybe we can hang out again sometime," he suggested.

"Sure." I kissed him on the cheek before leaving.

A/N: The title of the chapter and the lyrics at the beginning are from "Open Your Eyes" by Alter Bridge and they own it.