In the past, I was content with my writing. Recently, I've noticed the many flaws I have. The main thing is I don't go into detail and describe. That is what I tried to work on in this chapter. Let me know if my hard work shows (:
PS, hope everybody is enjoying the story!
The stop light switched to blazing red in front of me, too soon for my busy brain to acknowledge it in time to stop. I zoomed on through, leaving three cars blaring their horns.
"Shit."
My mind was busy having an argument all it's own. It all came down to the same thing; Paige. Leo was right. There was no way we could afford another person living with us, but what could I do? Tell Paige, "Oh, never mind. You can't live with us. We can't afford you after all!". No. I had to figure this out, and the only possible way was to get a second job. I had planned a few interviews, ready to give it my all, until...
"You asked to see me, Mr. Reilly?"
I walked into my boss's office nervously.
"Yes, Piper! Sit down, please," he said in his warm, cheery voice. Mr. Reilly tried hard to be business-like, but his sweet gentle face and kind personality always made him feel like your grandpa. He gestured to the seat across from them.
I sat down and returned his smile.
"Piper, I've been evaluating your performance lately. You've been working hard and diligently. You've been picking up the slack around here as we prepare for Chris's leave," he said. Chris was the assistant manager. He'd announced he would be leaving about a week ago, and tomorrow was his last day. "Anyway, about your recent performance. I am impressed, to say the least."
"Well, thank you for noticing, Mr. Reilly," I said graciously, happy he had noticed that I had been working my ass off.
"I would like to know what you would think about filling the position of Assistant Manager," he proposed. "I've thought about it, and I believe you would be the best candidate to take over. So, would you be interested in this promotion?"
I didn't need even a second to think about it.
"Very, very much so," I smiled.
*****************
I could barely calm down enough to drive home. I raced home, pushing 60 the whole way. When I finally arrived at home, I practically skipped up the walkway, up the stairs and burst through the door.
"I got it! I got the promotion!" I yelled excitedly. Leo immediately stood up and hugged me.
"Congratulations, baby," he whispered in my ear.
As we broke apart, I started to tell him about it, "I'm to make almost double the pay, I'll have way better hours, and I'm off on Sundays and Mondays, and on call Tuesdays."
"Wow," he laughed. "What's the best part?"
"I get to wear a really cool name tag that says 'Piper Halliwell, Assistant Manager'," I giggled.
"I'm so proud of you," he said, putting his hand to my face. I kissed it and smiled.
"Where's Paige?" I asked, as our happy-couple-moment ended.
"Haven't you heard? The balcony is her new room," he laughed.
"What?! It's freezing out there!"
He put his hands of defensively.
I walked out the back door, where Paige was settled with a blanket and my laptop.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi," she responded, not looking up.
"What do you want for dinner?" I asked, trying to get a glance.
"Whatever," she said, eyes not leaving the screen.
"Paige?"
"What?" Still nothing.
"Paige?" I snapped.
"What?!" she said loudly, sounding irritated, but finally looking at me.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she muttered, returning her eyes to the screen.
"No, you aren't," I whispered, sitting next to her. "You've been distant and moody lately."
No answer.
"Paige...you can talk to me," I coaxed.
After a moment, she sighed and looked at me.
"I just miss mom, a lot," she said with a tear in her eye.
"I wish so badly that I could help with that," I said, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"It's not just that. I'm really nervous about starting school tomorrow, too," she said. "I'm just really stressed about the big change."
"Now that, I can help with. Maybe one or two more days to relax before starting school would help," I suggested.
"I can do that?"
I shrugged. "Why not?"
"Okay," she said with a smile. "Can you get off work and stay home maybe?"
"Well, lucky enough, I got a promotion today, and I have Sundays and Mondays off, and Tuesdays on call. So, you can start school on Wednesday, and I'll start my new job," I said.
She smiled even bigger. "Okay."
I stood up and begin to walk inside.
"Piper?" she said. I turned around. "Congratulations on the promotion."
"Thanks," I smiled, and walked inside.
***************
It was Monday morning. Leo was at work, and Paige was in the shower. We were getting ready to go shopping. I was picking out clothes when Prue called.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hey, Piper," said Prue. "What's up?"
"Getting ready to go shopping with Paige," I said, grabbing a purple sweater from my closet.
"It's Monday, why is Paige still with you? She has school."
I felt like slapping myself in the head. How would Prue know about everything that had happened? Mom wouldn't have told her, and none of us did.
"Wow. You have no idea about what's happened, do you?" I said.
"What happened? Is something wrong?"
"This is a long story, and I don't think the phone is the best way to have this conversation," I said. "How about we drive out, and we can talk? After we go shopping, we can meet in Lenwood."
Lenwood was a little town exactly halfway between us.
"I'm so confused," Prue said hopelessly. "Okay, I'll be there at four. Should I bring Phoebe?"
"Yes. She needs to hear this, too."
"Uhh," she muttered another sound of confusion.
I hung up the phone just as Paige came out of the shower.
"Who was that?" she asked, drying her hair with a towel.
"Uh, Prue," I said. "I completely forgot that her and Phoebe have no idea about what has happened. So we're going to meet them in Lenwood at four, which means we'll have about three hours to shop."
"Wow. Okay," she said.
"Wait, forget that. I doubt you want to be there when I have to tell Prue what mom did," I said. "I could drop you off here, then..."
"No," she said quickly. "I want to be there."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. I have the bruises to prove it, I want them to see what mom did."
I nodded.
"I'm very proud of you for overcoming this so well, Paige," I said with a smile.
She returned the smile and hugged me.
"Okay, I need to finish getting dressed, then we can go," I said.
***************
"This would be cute on you," I said, holding up a teal tshirt that said "rock on".
"I like it," she said with a smile.
I noticed her attitude returning more everyday. She wasn't the trapped, angry young girl she was the last time we were in this very same section of clothes. I was just glad she had told me about the abuse before any very, very serious psychological trauma had begun. She was shaken up, but it could have been much worse.
With fifteen minutes to spare, we left Belk's with three new outfits each, including shoes and accessories. We drove two hours to get to Lenwood, arriving ten minutes til four.
"Prue, where are you?" I asked through the static-ridden cell phone.
"Be there in five minutes," came through just barely.
I threw my cell phone back in my bag and leaned against the car.
"They should be here in a few minutes," I said to Paige.
She nodded and continued drawing the picture she was working on.
When Prue pulled up, Paige sat down her notebook to go greet her.
"Hey, Prue!" she said with a hug.
"Hey, girl. How are ya?"
"Hey, Prue. Hey Phoebe," I said as they shut their car doors and walked over.
"So, Piper. What was so serious that Paige is missing school to be with you, and we just had to meet to talk in person?" Prue asked in a joking way, but wanting answers.
I looked at Phoebe for a second.
"Do you want me to leave?" she asked.
"No," I whispered. I put my arm around her. "I wish I could just tell you to cover your ears for this, but you need to know."
"What is it?" asked Prue, catching on that it was serious.
"Mom has a problem. She is an alcoholic," I said, trying to stay calm.
Prue looked at me weirdly.
"Mom has always liked to drink, but I wouldn't call her an alcoholic," she said.
"I would," I murmured seriously. "She hit Paige. Several times, leaving bruises."
Phoebe began to shake her head.
"No," she laughed. I could she was trying to convince herself that it wasn't true. "You're crazy. Mom is the sweetest woman in the world. She couldn't hurt a fly."
"I agree," rasped Prue.
I nodded, then motioned for Paige to come closer, then I pulled her sleeve up, showing the least serious of the bruises.
Prue's eyes got big, but I didn't stop as I revealed the neck bruises next. Finally, after they'd seen the streaks of bruises on her back, I waited for a response as I held Paige close to me with one arm.
"Mom did that?" Prue whispered to Paige.
"Yes," said Paige sadly. Then a bit of hope came to her voice. "But Piper saved me," she said, pulling closer to me, "I've been staying with her."
Then she looked up at me and repeated, "She saved me."
I gave her a quick hug.
Prue stood with a hand over her mouth, while Phoebe faced the other way, looking horrified and shocked.
"Guys, I know this is shocking, and you need time to process this. But the other big reason we needed to talk, is Paige is moving in with me," I said.
"Phoebe?" said Prue, turning away from me.
Phoebe had sat down on the ground, still in shock.
After a few moments, Phoebe was the first to talk.
"When?" she whispered.
"When I took her home after shopping the other day, she told me and showed me. I took her home, and showed Leo..."
"Leo!" Prue roared, which scared me half to death. "You took her from mom for hitting her, and you take her in to live with you and Leo?!"
I knew the reference she was making.
"What is she talking about?" asked Paige.
"Prue, that was a long time ago," I said coldly.
"I can't believe this," she said.
"Prue, don't," Phoebe spoke up. "Piper is right. We aren't here to talk about Leo's mistakes."
"What mistakes?" Paige pressed.
"Shhh," I said to Paige. "We're here because mom has a problem. And I talked to her."
"Did you confront her?" asked Phoebe.
"Yeah," I said. "She tried to tell me how she loved Paige, and a bunch of bull."
"Ha," Phoebe said in a spiteful tone. "I really can't believe this."
"And Grams is on mom's side," I said, referring to a phone call yesterday from Grams yelling at me.
It took awhile before everything had calmed down.
"So, Dad left, Mom's gone crazy, Grams is right there with her..." said Prue. "Which means..."
"Which means...we are all each other has got," Paige whispered.
"Yes," I whispered back.
"Mhm," Phoebe murmured.
"Wow," Prue said. "Life is really changing, huh?"
