First, I just want to thank my two friends how help proof this chapter! You guys did a wonderful job! The story is also now beginning to shift to focus on Palex.

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Chapter 33

It was the first sleepless night I had had in awhile. That night I had found myself too excited to even think of sleeping. Instead, I laid in my bed, eyes wide open. I could still feel Paige's lips pressed against mine. I could still smell her scent and her entire presences still felt as if she surrounded me. I replayed the events of the night over and over again in my mind. The kiss Paige and I shared in the sprinklers under the stars was in the moment. The kiss we shared in the kitchen was passion. The last kiss, however, I was unsure of and it was driving me insane. I had no idea what it meant. Did she want to get back together? Suddenly I thought...Did I? I had feelings for her and I had wanted her so bad, but did I want an actual relationship with her? I started thinking about how this was going to work. If Paige and I actually got back together. Sure, summer would be fantastic...but afterwards? She would go back to Banting and I would stay here. It would go back to the same problem we had the last time. Sure Paige would be in Kingston, but there would be nothing else there for me. Just the thought of all the happiness and excitement of being with Paige again just to end in heartbreak over the same thing was almost to much to bear.

After a few hours of restless sleep I decided I needed to be up and moving. I glanced over at my clock. 7:02 a.m. I sat up. I was completely awake. I decided to head downstairs to the kitchen. I wasn't sure if anyone was up yet but I figured at least Mrs. Michalchuk would there. When I finally reached the kitchen I wasn't surprised to find Mrs. Michalchuk sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee and skimming over the news paper. It didn't take long for Mrs. Michalchuk to notice my presence.

"Well good morning, dear." Mrs. Michalchuk said looking up form the paper.

"Morning." I replied.

"You're up early." Mrs. Michalchuk noted.

"Yea," I replied, "I couldn't sleep." I said explaining myself.

"Well," Mrs. Michalchuk began, holding her cup of coffee with both hands, "You and Paige were out late last night."

"Oh yea." I said suddenly forced to reface the events of last night, "There was a traffic jam. It held us up." I suddenly felt a little nervous that Mrs. Michalchuk was going to question me further. Did she know? And if she did. Did she support it? During my stay here, her nor myself have ever brought up me being Paige's ex-girlfriend. In fact, it had been completely forgotten for the most part.

"Well, I hope you two had a good time." Mrs. Michalchuk said getting up from the table, "Wherever you went." She finished rolling her eyes playfully.

I walked over the counter and sat down on one of the stools.

"So, what would you like for breakfast?" Mrs. Michalchuk asked rinsing out her coffee cup.

"Ummm...maybe just some toast?" I asked shyly. I always felt weird asking Mrs. Michalchuk for something, even if it was just toast.

"Just toast?" She replied.

"Yea, I'm not that hungry." I replied.

"Then toast it is." Mrs. Michalchuk said wearily. She seemed a little sad at the simplicity of my food choice.

I ate my toast in silence while Mrs. Michalchuck went back to occupying herself with reading a clothing catalog.

"Morning." Paige said strolling into the room. She looked exhausted. I was hoping Paige had suffered the same sleepless night as I had.

"Morning, dear!" Mrs. Michalchuk explained, "You're not my early bird today."

"I can see that." Paige replied looking my way.

I could feel myself blush at the sight of her. I tried to smile calmly but found it difficult to contain myself. I somehow managed to stay quiet. I knew Paige was going to avoid the events of last night for as long as possible. I didn't blame her. I wasn't quite ready to face them either.

"I made some toast if you would like some." Mrs. Michalchuk said pointing over the stack of toast she had made.

"Thanks." Paige replied grabbing a piece of toast from the plate.

"That's not very much." Mrs. Michalchuk noted as Paige took a small bite of the toast, "Would you like anything else?"

"No thanks. I'm not very hungry." Paige replied.

We all three spent a little while silence. Mrs. Michalchuk continued to look through the catalog while Paige and I ate our toast. Finally Mrs. Michalchuk closed the catalog looking up at us both.

"So, since both you girls are so bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, perhaps you could do me a favor and save me some aggravation."

Paige shrugged acknowledging her willingness to cooperate and I did the same.

"Perhaps you girls could run a few errands for me today. Get them out of the way for me. That would be a big relief."

"Sure. No problem." Paige replied glancing at me to see my reaction and I quickly responded.

"Yea. I'd love too." I replied smiling.

"Great." Mrs. Michalchuk face lit up, "Well, you know. If you two hurry up and get ready. You can have everything done by noon and still have the rest of the day."

"Sounds like a plan." Paige replied taking a deep sigh.

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It took me 30 minutes to get ready to go. I showered, put on some jeans and a t-shirt and was ready to walk out the door. Paige showered, blow dried her hair, applied about twenty different layers of make-up and then went through about six different outfights before deciding on a pair of jeans and a very vibrant top.

"Paige..." I complained leaning in her door way, "Can we please go now? You look fine."

"I'll have you know, Lexi, that I'm feeling very perky today," Paige said now appearing from her closet, "And I want my outfit to match my mood."

"It matches." I replied examining her. She looked breath-taking. Just having her in view suddenly made me forget about my eagerness to hurry and do the errands. I could stand here all day and look at Paige. In fact, if Paige hadn't broken the silence, I probably would have.

"Ready?" She said happily.

"Oh shoot." I said smacking my forehead playfully, "You know what? I just realized, my bra doesn't match my underwear. Lemme go change real quick." I teased turning to leave the room.

"Ha...ha..." Paige replied rolling her eyes, "Very funny."

I rolled my eyes playfully in return. I couldn't help but chuckle at Paige's blushing face. Paige grabbed me by the hands and instantly I could feel the butterflies in my stomach come alive. She pulled me out of her room. I was surprised to find that she only let go of one hand. Her other hand was still tightly clasped on to mine. Our fingers naturally interlocked. We held hands all the way downstairs. Paige let go of my hand as we reached the front door. She looked at me awkwardly. I could tell she was searching for something appropriate to say. I gazed into her and she returned it. Suddenly Paige broke the gaze opening the front door.

"After you." She said.

"Thanks." I replied walking through the door.

We walked to the van which was parked in the drive way. I waited by the passenger side door while Paige unlocked the van. I got in and fastened my seat belt. Paige did the same. The quietness was deafening. I had no idea what to say to Paige and I new she was having the same problem.

"So, what's on the list?" I finally said looking straight ahead at the road.

"Umm," Paige said also not taking her eyes from in front of her as she thought, "Pick up dry cleaning."

"Naturally..." I said playfully. I had no idea how to act or respond to Paige suddenly. Was she my friend? Was she now something more? I had no clue and the only thing I knew how to do when I felt confused and uncomfortable was to be sarcastic.

Paige chuckled under her breath but continued driving without saying a word. It wasn't long before I could smell her perfume strongly. It was nice. I had no clue what kind it was, but I closed my eyes and inhaled.

"Alex? Alex? Alex!" I suddenly jolted up.

"What?" I said anxiously looking around.

"You fell asleep." Paige said rolling her eyes as she fully got into the car and fastened her seat belt.

"I did? For how long?" I questioned looking around and noticing cloths in the backseat.

"For awhile." Paige said pulling out.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't sleep much last night." I replied without thinking feeling the need to explain myself.

"Oh." Paige replied quietly.

"And where next?" I questioned quickly. Despite the events of the previous night were still fresh and eagerly in my mind. I had no desire to face any kind of reality to where they might lead, whether it be good or bad.

"Umm...the store." Paige replied.

"Okay." I said shifting my glance to the window. We spent the rest of the way in silence. The grocery store seemed all to familiar to me, perhaps it was because I worked here. Paige grabbed a cart and we browsed through the aisle picking up what Mrs. Michalchuk had put on the list. That night of no sleep was beginning to effect me and I was trying my hardest to stay awake. I could see Paige hadn't slept much either. I wondered what Paige had been thinking about last night. There were so many thoughts shooting through my head. I wondered, Did Paige feel the same way I did? I wanted to ask her but I was so afraid of the answer.

I glanced at Paige who was looking at the list and making note of all the things we had and all the things we still needed. I couldn't help but admire her rosy complexion and the cute serious face she made when she was really focused on something.

"Alright." Paige said looking up confidently from the list, "We need potatoes."

"Potatoes, right." I confirmed taking the cart and turning it around in the opposite direction. Paige followed beside me. We walked down the aisle in silence. I started to zone out. I starting thinking about her lips pressed against mine. The butterflies in my stomach were fluttering uncontrollably.

"Paige?" I was suddenly jolted back to reality. That was not a voice I was familiar with and I instantly felt my heart sink.

"Stanley?" Paige asked, a small smile on her face, "Stanley!" She exclaimed opening her arms and running over to him embracing him in a big tight hug.

I exhaled glancing over to a can of beans that had suddenly captivated me.

"How are you?" I heard Stanley say releasing Paige from his death grip.

"I'm good." Paige replied gazing into his eyes.

"How's your summer going so far?" He asked returning her gaze.

"It's good. Going very well, in fact." Paige replied looking extremely upbeat. Too upbeat for my liking.

"That's great!" Stanley replied, "You know. I forgot you lived in Toronto too."

"Yea." Paige said nodding her head.

"This city isn't as big as it looks." Stanley joked.

Paige glanced around a little bit finally noticing me, "Oh, Stanley. This is my friend Alex." She said grabbing me by the arm and pulling me next to her.

"Hi." Stanley said smiling and extending his hand to shake mine.

I reluctantly took a hold of his hand, "Hi." I replied sounding a little less than enthused to meet him. I noted that Stanley was tall and skinny. His sandy blond hair was gelled so it stood straight up. He was a pretty boy. I could tell instantly he had money and by the way he dressed, he had probably spent his life at private school...possibly boarding school.

"Well, we had better get going." Paige broke in.

"Right." Stanley said letting go of my hand, "So uh, we should do something sometime. You know, maybe...hang out or something."

"Oh, yea." Paige replied, "That sounds great."

"Good." Stanley said looking a little relieved, "Well, you have my cell number. So umm...give me a call."

"Right." Paige said taking hold of the cart, "I will then. It was nice talking to you." Paige began walking.

"Nice talking to you." Stanley said, "Oh, and nice meeting you, Alex."

I didn't respond. I raised my eyebrows a bit in acknowledgement and then turned around to walk with Paige.

Paige and I walked a few aisle in silence before I finally spoke.

"So this Stanley guy." I said looking at some marshmallows.

"What about him?" Paige asked scanning the list for the hundredth time, "He's just a friend."

"Oh." I said glancing up ahead of me to the end of the aisle.

Paige suddenly stopped and focused her eyes on me, "Are you jealous?" She chuckled?

"Jealous?" I scoffed, "Noooo." I said shaking my head.

"I think you are." Paige said confidently.

"Why would I be jealous?" I asked trying to avoid this conversation but at the same time, I was curious as to where it might lead.

"Oh, I dunno." Paige started, "Maybe you should tell me."

I could see Paige was going to drag this out till the very end. I let out a deep breathe and gave Paige a stern look.

"Alex," Paige started, trying to lighten the mood, "There is nothing to be jealous about. He is just a friend from school. We had a few classes together and that was it."

I rolled my eyes trying to seem as if I was no longer bothered by this Stanley guy.

"Hun, I mean it. Nothing..." Paige said leaning in and giving me a small kiss on the cheek. I couldn't help but blush and even Paige turned a few shades of red. I smiled at her and nodded.

"So, let's finish this shopping thing." I said.

"Yes. Sounds good." Paige said interlocking her arm through mine and then grabbing back hold of the cart.

"So, what's left on the list?" I asked feeling so tense but at the same time relaxed to be so close to Paige.

"Potatoes." She said looking at the list.

"Yummy."

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I'm going to be starting school, so I dont know when I will be able to update next. But do no worry. I will still be updating and my stories are all still at the top of my to do list. I will try to update as soon as I can.