Chapter Fourteen: Right Where You Left Me

Paige

"Do you live here alone?" Marco asked when we walked in. Luckily for the both of us, it didn't look like Steve was home. He must have been at the bar or out sleeping with some other woman.

"Of course not. I live with my mom and my step dad," I told him. "Steve is a major dick, but luckily I know just how to take care of him."

"Is that what happened to your hand?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" I asked.

"I promise. Unless he was hurting you…"

"No, nothing like that. He just really pissed me off. He likes to get drunk and call me a bitch, along with some other stupid names, and I punched him in the face last week. Broke his nose, and some of my own fingers," I said, not telling the exact story. I'd gotten really good at lying and Marco believed me.

"Lucky he didn't press charges," he said.

"He'd never admit a girl beat him up," I said, echoing what Jay told me that night.

"Anyway, I have a feeling he'll be leaving me alone now."

"So…" Marco trailed off, looking around. "Want to give me a tour?"

"Sure."

I walked through the house, showing him everything, but skipping over my mom and Steve's room in case he was passed out in there. We ended up in my room, which didn't surprise me, though I was feeling a bit nervous because Jay and Steve were the only guys who'd ever set foot in my room.

I didn't expect anything to happen between Marco and me; especially since Manny just broke up with him and he was really in love with her. I also didn't care if anything ever happened between the two of us. It looked like Marco would be a really good friend, and I didn't need to mess up something like that either.

Jay

I really did like my new room at Emma's house. All of my furniture from my old bedroom had been moved in there. It was also a lot bigger and I had my own bathroom. There was a window that would be useful for sneaking Paige in at night; that way she could still stay with me and I wouldn't have to explain why she can't stay at home. But the best part about the room was that I didn't have to worry about paying for it.

I went upstairs to find Emma—we bonded on the drive home from visiting my mom—but I stopped on the other side of the door. I could hear Emma calling her parents in so she could talk to them. I knew it wasn't right to eavesdrop but I heard her mention my mom's name.

"What is it honey?" my aunt asked. I heard my uncle walk into the room and chairs scraped the floor as they all sat down at the table.

"I think Aunt Liz should come live with us," Emma said a moment later.

"I'm sorry, but…"

"Jay really misses her. He doesn't deserve to be separated from her," she said, cutting my uncle off.

"Like your dad was going to say, we can't afford it," Spike said.

"How can you not afford it if you were sending money to Jay every month?"

"We sent what we could, but we both knew it wasn't enough. Jay was probably too proud to tell you, but they were on welfare. We just don't have enough money to support two extra people."

"We love having Jay here with us, but to add another person into the household would cost more for food, clothing, sitters, and probably a lot more," Snake added.

"You're being really unfair," Emma protested. I could imagine her crossing her arms over her chest and refusing to look at them.

"No, we're not. Have you even though about Elizabeth?" Spike asked. "I'm sure she misses Jay too, but he can visit her whenever he wants. Emma, she has friends in her new home. She has things to do everyday. Jay was doing an amazing job taking care of her, but now she has to do more than sit with someone like Susan who obviously doesn't care for her very much," she explained.

Emma sighed and apparently gave up. She stopped arguing with them and I waited a minute before I went into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table alone.

"Jay, I tried to get my parents to let your mom move in here, but they said no," she told me as soon as she saw me.

"They're right," I said. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it was true. "I love my mom but I know she's better off now. I just didn't see it before. But thanks for trying; it really means a lot to me."

"Could you let me know when you're going to see her again? I'd really like to go," she said.

"Definitely."

I leaned down to hug her and realized when she hugged me back that we were actually going to be friends.

Marco

I don't know how it happened, I honestly don't. I never planned on doing anything with Paige, but things just escalated.

After we got up to her room, she closed the door—in case anyone came home. She sat on her bed and I walked around the room, looking at all the photos and posters on her walls. We talked some more about anything and everything that we could think of. After awhile I sat on the bed with her while we talked, and then she kissed me.

"We don't even…know…each other…that well," I said between kisses. One of my hands was on her cheek and the other rested on her leg.

"I've know you…for a long time," she replied. "We just haven't…spoken…in awhile," she breathed out.

"Like ten years."

"Yep, since Kindergarten," she smiled. We continued to kiss and I eventually started to pull her shirt off. I looked down for a split second—to finish pulling it over her head—and I stopped completely. I started at her stomach and gasped.

"Paige," I said, looking up at her face. She'd had her eyes closed but she snapped them open. I reached out to touch one.

"STOP!" she screamed. It was almost as if she was frozen. She didn't move, and I stopped moving. "Get out, Marco. Just pretend you didn't see that!" she cried. Tears were already falling down her cheeks.

"Who did that to you?" I asked. "Did Steve do it?"

"JUST FORGET IT!" she yelled, louder than before. "Get out of my house!"

"Paige!" I protested. "Tell me who…" she cut me off before I could finish my sentence. Her shirt was back on in a flash, and I found myself being pushed out the door. I didn't want to resist and hurt her hand, so I just let her do it until I was left in the hallway with the door slammed in my face.

I didn't know what to do—I'd never been in a situation like that before—so I slowly walked down the stairs and out of the house. I got in my car and drove home as quickly as I could.

I knew that night that I wouldn't be able to sleep. I knew before I tried that every time I closed my eyes, I would see Paige's scars. They were everywhere—some white with age and others pink and fresh; a few of them were even bright red.

Craig

"Rough day?" I heard someone say. I was sitting on the steps outside my house as the sun started to set. I looked up to see Jay standing over me.

"You could say that," I said, sighing and moving over so he had room to sit down.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No offense, but I don't think you'd understand." I was glad that Jay moved in across the street so I could talk to him more, but I wasn't sure I was all that comfortable talking about this specific thing.

"Maybe I won't understand. But that doesn't mean I won't listen."

"I've been tutoring Spinner," I started. The only problem was, I couldn't finish. I couldn't say what I wanted to say.

"Did something happen? I'm guessing it wasn't good. Did he hit on you?" he asked.

"He kissed me."

"And?"

"And what? There's nothing left to that story. I freaked out on him and told him I wasn't tutoring him anymore. I'm not gay and I have a girlfriend. So why would he do something like that?"

"Sometimes when someone has feelings for someone else, they can't control them. Things just happen. But I'm guessing there's more to it. Like, maybe you really like hanging out with Spinner and you don't want to lose a good friend over an uncomfortable situation," he said.

"Yeah, something like that," I sighed.

"Or maybe you think you have feelings for him too, and it's scaring you," he suggested.

"Nope, definitely not. Nice try though Jay," I said. I shrugged and leaned back against the step behind me. "I'm not gay."

"Well, I better get going. You can call me if you want to talk more, or maybe you could ask your sister for advice. She'll be able to understand it a little better," he told me.

"I'm not gay!" I said again.

"Relax, I'm not making any insinuations. Maybe you just need to sleep on it, and you'll know how to handle it in the morning."

"Thanks for the talk," I said, ignoring his suggestion. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good luck," he said before walking back across the street.

"Thanks," I said, even though he couldn't hear me anymore. I definitely needed it.

Alex

"Alex, dinner!" Craig called up the stairs.

"Not hungry!" I yelled back.

"Fine, whatever. More food for me!" He said. I rolled my eyes even though he couldn't see me.

I got up and closed my bedroom door, then plopped back down on my bed. How could Ellie do that to me? I asked myself the same question, over and over. Maybe I never really meant anything to her at all. Maybe it was all just a lie.

But then I thought about all of the kisses and I knew that it wasn't. The only lie she's told is that she never wanted to be with me. She went from almost joining Equality Club with me to completely straight/shoved back into the closet girl. She went from the girl I thought I loved to the girl I couldn't stand in less than a week. But I still didn't hate her.

Every time I saw one of the many pictures I took of her and us, I started to cry. Every time I thought about her, I started to cry. Every time I tried to fall asleep—knowing I wouldn't be able to wake up and talk to her—I started to cry. I've never been like this before. At least when Ashley and I broke up, it was mutual. But now it just felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and cut to pieces.

Maybe I didn't have the worst problems in the world, but it sure felt that way.

Manny

"What's this?" I heard him yell from the hallway.

"What?" I asked, standing up. I tried to close my door, but he pushed his way in, waving a plate in front of my face.

"You can't wash your own dishes?"

"I'm sorry Daddy, I'll do it right now," I said. I tried to take the plate away from him, but he moved it out of my reach.

"You should have done it right after you ate off it!" he snapped. I closed my eyes because I knew something bad was about to happen. I heard the crash a second later, and turned to look at the damage. He'd thrown the plate right into my favorite lamp—the one my mother made for me. "Clean it up."

"Why don't you!" I screamed. So much anger flared through my body because he broke the lamp that I didn't even stop to think before blurting it out. My cheek stung as he slapped me. But it didn't stop there.

He wrapped his fingers around my throat and swung me around, shoving my back against the wall.

"Are you talking back to me Manuela?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"No," I choked out, barely able to speak.

"Good." He instantly loosened his grip and I could breathe again. I knew there were red marks on my throat that would be bruises in a few minutes.

My dad stormed out of the room, leaving me on the floor, crying over the lamp.

A/N: I will try to get out of this depressing stuff as soon as I can, but I can't make any promises. I don't want to rush through this.