A/N: SORRY! I would have updated after I got three reviews but I was still typing this chapter. like this chapter is really long. 11 pages on my Microsoft Word. but here it is =) and question, can anyone tell me how I'm naming my chapters this time around? hmm...
Disclaimer: I own four Good Charlotte cds, four New Found Glory cds, three ipods, two ipod players, and one little brother. I however do not own Degrassi or its characters.
There are two reasons why I do not do art. Number one, I'm a musician, not an artist. Number two, art is messy. Once Alex and I got to Marco and Dylan's she said she wanted to make a sign for Paige. I agreed because Alex played me the message that Paige left her and I decided I wanted to help Paige feel better also. However, if I had known that it was going to be this messy cheering Paige up then I don't think I would have agreed to it.
"Alex, you're getting marker everywhere," I tell her.
"No I'm not, you are."
"You two are acting like children," Marco tells us from the kitchen.
"No one asked you," we tell him at the same time.
I put a cap on a marker and put it down on the table. I throw my hands up in surrender. "I give up," I say out loud.
Alex looks at me with wide eyes. "What!?! We're not even done!"
I shove my hands into her face. "Look at this! I have marker and paint all over my effin hands. I hate arts and crafts." I go to the bathroom to wash my hands.
I hear the door knocking. I go back to the table to clean up. Dylan jumps down the stairs and Alex sort of runs to the door. Wow, someone's excited to see her ex.
Alex opens the door and there's Paige with an armful of books.
"I cannot believe mom and dad are renovating this weekend," she says and kisses Dylan on the cheek.
"And hello to you to," Alex says. Paige looks at Alex, acknowledging her.
"Mom and dad are renovating every weekend," Dylan tells Paige. Dylan takes Paige's bag and goes into the dining room.
"Hey!" Marco greets Paige. "I missed you." They hug with Paige only using one arm because she's holding her books with the other.
Alex walks back into the dining room while Marco is trying to feed Paige some nasty cookies he made.
"I don't even get a hello," Alex says.
"Um at least she acknowledged you by looking at you," I tell her. "It's like I'm invisible."
"Well I hope she at least likes the sign I made her."
I slap Alex's arm. "Um WE made her that sign." I put my still messy hands in her face. "I still got colors on my hand. It looks like my hands are ready for a pride parade."
We hear Marco saying something about his parents coming over for Thanksgiving dinner along with Paige and Dylan's parents.
"You guys are having a double date with your folks?" Alex asks them.
I laugh at the comment.
"Date?" Dylan asks. "Gosh no," he says while fixing Marco's shirt. "Marco and I are just roommates, right darling?"
"Exactly darling," Marco says. "Come on let's get you some non-homemade snacks." Marco and Dylan walk to the kitchen to try to find some edible food.
Alex holds up the sign for Paige to see. "You like?" she asks Paige. "I made it myself."
I get no credit whatsoever. Typical, just typical.
"Feeling hostile are we?" Paige asks.
"It's not hostility, its affection," Alex says while putting the sign back on the table. "The message you left sounded like the fabulous Banting girl needed a little bit of a cheer up."
"Yeah because the fabulous Banting girl has twelve tons of work to do," Paige says. She emphasizes the work load by raising the books in the air to show us how much homework she has. She then put the books down and sits in the chair.
"Well now we're here," Alex says and puts her arm around my shoulder. Oh so now we're a "we". Alex goes around the table and sits in the chair besides Paige. "And we have some serious catching up to do." Alex closes Paige's book.
"Great," Paige says unenthusiastically. She looks up and sort of finally notices me. "Hey Jordan!" she greets me cheerfully.
I sit down. "Hi Paige. How are you?"
"I'm…" It seems like she's searching for a correct answer. An answer she thinks everyone else wants to hear. "I'm ok. How are you?"
Stressed, sad, emo, heartbroken. Pretty much any adjective that sounds gloomy. "I'm great."
"It must feel good being back home in Florida."
"Yeah, but it's also weird. I mean, I'm seeing people who I haven't seen since I moved and some remember me while others pretend they never knew me. Besides Canada is more of my home now. It's where my parents and friends are. How's Banting going?"
Paige looks like she's pondering the question, like she's not quite sure how to answer it. "It's good, I love it." She's lying. "I love the teachers, students, and just the whole atmosphere there."
Alex and I are looking at each other sending each other the same mental message. Paige is lying. But neither one of us is going to call her out on it.
Hours Later:
Paige, Alex, Marco, and I are sitting in the living room sharing stories and just hanging out. We have soft music playing in the background and are using candles as our light source.
"So then she says, 'I'm good now that you're here' and then she checked me out," I tell them. I'm telling them what happened last week with Tammy and how I was traumatized.
"Oh my God, she did not?" Paige asks while trying to fight the laughter.
"She did, and it was so traumatizing. I thought after I moved she would get on with her life, but she's trying harder now than she did back in high school."
"Maybe she thinks you got hotter while being away," Alex says while sliding her hand down my arm.
I slap her hand away. "Shut up."
Marco still fighting his laughter is trying to tell us something. "Well it can't be worse than the girl who tried to kiss me."
"Oo do tell Hon," Paige says.
"I was at this frat party a couple of weeks ago and of course there was drinking and some girl from my government class came up to me. She was totally plastered and she drags me to this bedroom. I figured that maybe she wanted to talk or something since she knows I'm gay. Next thing I know she throws herself onto me and tries to kiss me."
We all start laughing really hard. My side hurts because of how hard I'm laughing right now.
"I pushed her off of me and got the hell out of there," Marco finishes the story.
"That's like when the guys from my old high school try to hit on me at frat parties," I tell the group. "They'd be like, 'I know you were gay when you lived here in the states, but did Canada turn you straight?'. It's so ridiculous."
"Guys are just morons," Alex says. "That's why I don't date them."
"Um Hon, didn't you date Jay for a good three years?" Paige asks Alex.
I start laughing again. I look at Alex. "She has a point."
Alex playfully pushed me. "Yeah I did," she says. "But then I found something better." She looks at Paige and Paige looks back at her.
Cue the awkward silence. None of us are saying anything.
"Okay I'm baked," Marco announces. "Goodnight ladies."
"Goodnight," Paige and I say.
Marco gets up and goes upstairs.
"It's time for me to go to," I say while stretching. I look at Paige and Alex and it looks like neither one of them wants to leave. I point to Alex. "Call me if you need a ride home." I then look at Paige and point to her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I walk out of the house and shake my head slightly and smile to myself. Alex has a girlfriend named Carla, but who knows how long that'll last.
The Next Morning:
Ugh, why do I have to be up so early? Damn Marco calling m, saying that he and Dylan needs help cooking dinner. I'm on break and I can't even sleep in. Damn the two gay men that can't cook.
I hear music and I'm not even in the house yet. I enter without knocking because quite frankly I don't care about being polite at the moment. I look around and something catches my eye in the living room.
Do two friends usually sleep on one couch together when they know there's not enough room? I mean when I fall asleep on the couch with my friends we're usually sitting up and not all over each other. But these two, they're just laying there looking so comfy.
The noise finally hits Paige and she's starting to wake up. She rolls to her side which sort of wakes Alex up. Alex grabs a pillow and puts it over her head.
"Special," is all I say.
I walk into the kitchen and Marco and Dylan are eating bacon while looking at cooking books and sort of moving to the music.
"You're gay," I tell them.
They look at each other and back to me.
"And you're a lesbian," Marco says.
"No I mean you're gay. Aren't you suppose to be good at fashion, home decorating, and cooking?"
"Fashion, yes, home décor, maybe, cooking, no." Marco goes to the dining room to get something.
I look at Dylan. "What about you hockey star?" I ask. "Can't you do anything besides hit a puck."
"Nope," Dylan says and takes a bite out of his bacon.
Marco comes back from the dining room with a carton of orange juice in his hands. "I'm pretty sure that you screamed 'I love turkey' or something in the middle of your sleep last night," he tells Dylan and kisses him on the cheek.
"I was having a nightmare, okay? It was a nine foot turkey."
Alex walks into the kitchen and let's just say she looks better after she's taken a shower and has been up for a few hours. "You're such a loud person in the morning," she tells Marco. She goes straight to the fridge.
"Oh good morning," Marco greets Alex.
"Good morning."
"I'm sorry; did you sleep here or just run here?"
"She slept here," I answer the question for her. "She and Paige looked very cozy on the couch." Alex is shooting daggers at me with her eyes.
"You slept here?" Dylan asks Alex. She nods her head yes.
"Where's Paige?" Marco asks. "Alex why'd you sleep over? Did you pass out?"
Alex just shrugs her shoulders and drinks some milk from her glass. "I got really tired and someone left without me."
I throw up my hands in defense. "I told your ass I was leaving. Not my fault."
Paige is walking into the kitchen now with a text book in her arm. "Hey do you think you guys could be a little louder for me?" She turns off the CD player.
"Um how about you chill?" Marco asks and turns the music back on but lowers the volume.
"Paige…" Dylan starts.
Alex and I start to wash dishes as Paige is pacing back and forth with her head in a book and Marco and Dylan are discussing dinner.
"Like don't you use like flour to make gravy?" Marco asks Dylan.
"Well you do, yeah," Dylan responds.
"Okay well then."
"You use flour. You use like chicken broth, which is the juice from the chicken drippings and stuff."
I turn around and see Paige on her laptop now looking something up while Marco and Dylan are starting a list.
"Yeah I know, but make sure you get salt," Marco tells Dylan as he is writing stuff down.
"Yeah okay," Dylan says while nodding his head.
"It's like the star of it."
"Okay it's starred. Now it's on the list."
"You guys, you're ridiculous," Paige says and shows her laptop to the guys. "Please take this."
Dylan points to the laptop. "Now that helps," he says.
The guys copy everything from the laptop and head out. Alex and I are still cleaning the kitchen. The doorbell rings and Paige answers it. We hear the screen door shut which means Paige has gone outside. I turn the music off because it's giving me a headache.
"Is Canadian Thanksgiving like American Thanksgiving?" I ask Alex.
"Isn't this your third Canadian Thanksgiving?"
"Yeah…"
She puts the dish towel on my head, covering my face. "Then you should know the answer to that."
I grab the dish towel and throw it on the counter. The screen door opens and Paige walks in, carrying a box and her mom is behind her.
"This was Gran's so careful," Mrs. Michalchuk is telling Paige. "Don't put it in the micro. Here's the walnut recipe for Dylan." Mrs. Michalchuk is showing Paige a yellow piece of paper. "Remind him just a touch of sage." Mrs. Michalchuk turns to leave.
Paige goes after her. "Oh mom, can you come in for a sec?" Paige asks her mom.
"I'd love to, but the contractors…"
"But your daughter wants to tell you something."
"Can it wait? Sorry. What is it sweetheart?"
I can see Paige slightly shaking her head. "Never mind," she says. "Compared to renovation hell, it's nothing."
"Unlike the contractors, you've never let me down." Mrs. Michalchuk kisses Paige and now she's leaving. We hear the door shut and I focus on Paige.
Something's going on, she doesn't seem ok.
"Does she breathe like the rest of us or does she produce her own air internally like a blowfish?" Alex asks Paige, I'm guessing it's about Paige's mom.
Paige runs off. "Exactly," Alex says.
"Alex, I think something is wrong with Paige," I voice my concern. We both follow Paige to the bathroom.
The door is locked. Alex knocks on the door.
"Paige, you alright?" Alex asks and we get no response. "Don't make me be nice. Okay you made me. Paige Michalchuk you are the prettiest, smartest, bestest-"
"Why are you putting more pressure on me Alex?" we hear Paige yell through the door. "Why?!"
Alex and I look at each other. Neither one of us knows what is going on.
"Pressure?" Alex asks. "What are you talking about?"
"Forget it, okay?" Paige is still talking to us through the door. "Leave me alone. Go." She doesn't sound ok and I'm kind of scared.
Alex is looking concerned and I know she is. "Forget what? What's wrong?"
"You don't get it Alex and you never will, so just, just go back to your stupid, pathetic little straight-A high school life with your pathetic imaginary girlfriend, okay? Go away!"
Ouch. I look at Alex and you can see that she is obviously hurt by the words Paige just said.
"Alex," I start quietly. "She didn't mean that."
Alex says nothing and leaves the house.
I knock on the door lightly. "Paige, it's me," I say into the door. "Please open up and let me in."
I hear no movement coming from the bathroom. I go to the kitchen and grab a knife. I mess with the lock until I hear the door click. I open the door and Paige is standing at the sink breathing hard.
"Paige…"
Paige turns around and looks at me.
"It's going to be ok." I go up to her and give her a hug. "Just breathe, just breathe."
After a few minutes we pull apart. Paige seems calmed down a little bit but I'm still worried.
"College is stressful," I tell her.
"I can handle the coursework," Paige tells me, sounding like she's trying to convince me.
"Just because others tell you that you can doesn't mean you should have to."
"I can handle it Jordan, and I am handling it." Paige leaves the bathroom and I'm following her.
"Ok, fine, you can handle it," I tell her. I grab my coat and prepare to leave. "I'll see you at dinner tonight?"
She nods her head yes and starts putting things away in the kitchen.
Seven Hours Later:
I'm searching through my closet right now searching for clothes to wear to the dinner tonight. I want to look nice because it's Thanksgiving and parents will be there. I'm having dinner tonight and Marco and Dylan's and then dinner with my parents tomorrow. Now I know why my family is having dinner early, because I have to leave on Monday. But why are Marco and Dylan having dinner on Saturday night when Thanksgiving is on Monday? I'll have to ask that question later.
She's the girl all the bad guys want. Yeah, she's the girl all the bad guys want.
That's Alex calling me. She was also invited to the dinner but after what happened earlier I don't know if she'll come.
"Hello," I say into the phone.
"Hey, can you come to the mall?"
"I'm trying to get ready for the dinner tonight. By the way are you coming?"
"Yes, that's why I need you to come to the mall and get me."
"What the hell are you doing at the mall?"
"Just come get me damn it." Click
I should leave her ass at the mall since she just hung up on me. I go downstairs and grab the keys to my car.
At The Mall:
I'm in the food court at the mall now. I'm searching for Alex. The sooner I find her the sooner I can hit her. I think I spot her and she's sitting with a girl I don't recognize. I approach the table and clear my throat so they notice me.
Alex whistles. "You look nice," she tells me.
"Yes, yes I do. Do you know why I look nice?" Alex opens her mouth to answer. "Don't answer that was a rhetorical question." I turn and look at the girl sitting beside Alex. "You must be…"
"This is Carla," Alex says knowing that once again I "forgot" the girl's name.
"Hi," Carla says while holding out her hand for me to shake.
I shake Carla's hand. "Hi, I'm Jordan."
"It's very nice to meet me. I've heard a lot about you."
I raise an eyebrow. "Really?" I ask interested. "Well don't believe everything you hear."
"Don't worry I've heard only good things."
I don't know what to think of this Carla girl. I mean don't get me wrong, she seems very nice but… I don't know. Maybe Alex is right, maybe because I was so pro-Palex I just can't see Alex with anyone but Paige.
I look down at my watch and notice that I'm already late for dinner. "Well, as much as I would love to stay here in the food court and talk I'm already late for Paige's dinner."
"Oh yeah," Alex says. Alex and Carla get up from their seats and I'm noticing Alex is holding a bag. "We should get going. I'd hate for us to be late."
Did she just say 'us'? Do not telling me she's bringing Carla. "Carla, you're coming to dinner?"
"Alex told me I was invited and I would love to meet everyone," Carla says innocently.
I look at Alex and raise my eyebrow. This has bad idea written all over it. "Alright, let's go," I tell them.
Marco and Dylan's Place:
Part of me wants to pull Alex back into the car and ask her what the hell she's doing but another part of me wants to see how all of this will play out. I've always been one to watch drama when I'm not involved in it.
"Alex, you're not even going to knock?" I ask her as I see her about to turn the doorknob.
"No," she says simply. "I don't want anyone to have to get up to answer the door.
Or maybe she just doesn't want Paige to answer the door and then slam it into her face. Alex opens the door and we all enter.
Everyone is already sitting down. Damn, I knew we'd be late. I hate being late for things. Everyone's heads turn and look at us because we're late.
"Are we late?" Alex asks. "We brought buns." She holds up the bag.
"I made buns," Paige says. From the tone of her voice I can already tell there will be tension during this dinner.
"Don't be rude," Mrs. Michalchuk tells Paige. "Hello Alex, hello Jordan." Mrs. Michalchuk turns to look at Dylan. "Dylan?" Indicating to get more chairs.
"Oh yeah I've got some extra chairs in our room, my room!" Dylan says and tried to fix his slip up.
Dylan gets up to get extra chairs as Paige approaches us.
"What are you doing here?" she asks Alex. Obviously she was not expecting Alex but I was totally invited so as soon as Dylan brings down the extra chairs my ass is sitting in one.
"Well you invited me and I wanted to make sure you were okay after your little breakdown." Alex tells Paige. I hang my head down and shake it slightly.
Mrs. Michalchuk turns around and looks at us. "Breakdown?" she asks.
"Alex is a pathological liar," Paige says quickly. Already it's starting to get interesting. Paige walks back to her seat.
"Alex maybe we should just…" Carla is indicating they should leave. I'm not leaving because my ass was invited.
"Hey no arguing over dinner," Mr. Del Rossi says. "Sit. Who's your friend?"
"This is Carla," Alex says and grabs Carla's hand and shows it to everyone to show that they're together. "My imaginary girlfriend."
Mr. Del Rossi spits out his water. Well, it's nice that he just sprayed his spit everywhere. I wonder what Alex will say next.
Carla sort of waves and says, "Hello."
Paige looks a little… I don't know the word, umm upset. This is going to be one awkward dinner.
During Dinner:
Oh boy, the tension in the air is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. I mean everyone is chatting but it's sort of awkward. Of course the adults don't notice anything though. I mean Mr. Del Rossi still doesn't know that Marco and Dylan are together.
"The pomegranate dressing, just exquisite," Mrs. Michalchuk says, once again complimenting Paige. "Paige you could have got a scholarship for chef school too."
"Mom," Paige says. I think she's trying to tell her mom to shut up.
"Oh and Dylan has had offers recently to play pro hockey in Switzerland," Mr. Michalchuk says. As you can tell the Michalchuk parents like to brag about their kids.
"Once the visa comes through," Dylan says.
"Yeah, don't remind me," Marco replies. You can tell Marco hates the thought of Dylan leaving.
"Did you know Carla's an honors grad student and she's captain of the Toronto U distance running team," Alex says suddenly.
Carla and I both look at Alex. Carla's eyes are telling her to shut up and my eyes are saying 'What the fuck?'
"I'll clear the salad plates," Paige says. Paige and Marco get up and begin to collect everyone's plates.
"Banting wanted Paige for their Power Squad," Mrs. Michalchuk tells us. "They called it cheerleading when I was captain, but she chose to focus on academics."
"Mom please," Paige tells her mother. She's clearly telling her mom to shut up.
"Once Paige gets her honors degree, the Banting MBA program…"
"Mom."
"Sweetie tell everyone how Banting has the most prestigious program."
"Why don't we talk about something else?"
"Fine. Oh don't you have some sort of announcement?"
Alex turns around and looks at Paige with a curious smile. Paige looks at everyone and it looks like she's not sure what to say.
"Yes," Paige finally responds. "The turkey's ready."
"She's so modest."
Alex and I are both looking at Paige while she goes to the kitchen. Once again there is an awkward silence.
"I've joined a band," I say suddenly trying to break the silence. Now everyone is looking at me, great. "Yeah, I'm lead guitarist and lead vocals. We call ourselves 'Cool Losers Wear Shades'." I'm just nodding my head trying to seem serious. "I mean right now we just lost our drummer due to a skateboarding accident but we're using a drum machine." I take a sip of my water to shut up.
"How nice," Mrs. Michalchuk says uninterested but trying to seem polite.
I see Paige walking back with the turkey. Thank God, because I think everyone wanted me to continue with my fake band story.
"Here it is!" Paige says excitedly. "Complete with traditional Michalchuk family walnut stuffing." She places the turkey down and everyone is ooing and awing.
"Looks delicious," Mr. Del Rossi says while stuffing his napkin down his shirt. You can already start to see drool coming out of his mouth. Ewe.
"Paige let's hear your news," Mrs. Michalchuk says. She's really pushing to hear this news.
"Really it's more of a dessert and coffee kind of thing," Paige says, obviously not wanting to talk about it.
"Deans list? A bursary? New boyfriend hmm?" I wish this woman would stop guessing.
I'm looking at Alex and she's wearing some kind of a smirk on her face. She's actually enjoying this.
"Who wants white and who wants dark?" Paige asks, referring to the turkey.
"I'll take white," Mr. Del Rossi tells her. He would be the first one to say something.
Paige is cutting into the turkey and… HOLY CRAP! No like seriously, it looks like crap just exploded on Paige. Make that a turkey full of crap.
Everyone is gasping but then you hear Alex's loud laughter. Mrs. Del Rossi is smiling and Carla is trying to hide her smile. Mrs. Michalchuk looks mortified and poor Paige… I can't even describe the words of her face expression right now.
"I told you not to overstuff the bird," Dylan says.
"Way to be a good big bro Dylan," I whisper.
Paige runs up the stairs while Alex is still laughing.
"Traditional Michalchuk walnut stuffing," Dylan says.
I kick Alex is the shin to shut her up and now she's giving me a dirty look.
"We still have Brussels sprouts," Alex says. "Yummy."
"And carrots."
I'm just shaking my head now. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving.
After Dinner:
So dinner ended with turkey and helping clean up the mess. Poor Paige left after dinner. Marco told us that she's going back to school. Alex and I just dropped Carla off and now I'm driving Alex back to her place.
"That wasn't very nice of you back there," I tell Alex.
"What did I do this time?"
"Number one, you just appear at the dinner with a guest without any warning. Number two, you just laughed at Paige after the turkey exploded all over her."
"Hey, I was not the only one laughing.
"But you were laughing the loudest and you're supposed to be her friend Alex."
I stop the car because we've arrived at Alex's apartment.
Alex turns toward me. "I am her friend. You have to admit that turkey explosion was funny and I was trying to prove to Paige that I didn't have an imaginary girlfriend. Besides, what kind of friend was
she being to me earlier when she slammed the door in my face and called my life pathetic."
"Sometimes it's not about you Alex!" I can tell by Alex's face expression that what I just said surprised her. "Alex, we have no idea what the hell is going on in Paige's life right now at school. She's probably stressed, you and I both know Paige doesn't handle stress very well."
"We're all stressed Jordan!"
"You're stressed?!? Alex, you're repeating classes at Degrassi!" Great, now she's hurt. I lower my voice and calm down. "Listen, I'm proud of you that you decided to go back to Degrassi and raise your grades but college is a whole different ball field. Think about it. Everyone is expecting Paige to be some sort of greatness. College is already stressful enough but add a mother like the one Paige has and her expectations and it's almost unbearable."
Alex says and runs her hands through her hair.
"All I'm saying is that you have to cut Paige some slack and be there for her right now."
"Ok fine," Alex says quietly.
"And do not just flaunt your girlfriend around. Because not only is that mean to Paige but that is also mean to me."
Alex is looking at me with apologetic eyes. "I'm really sorry Jordan."
I push her in a playful manner. "It's ok. You're still coming to my place for dinner tomorrow right?"
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Alex gets out of the car and goes into her apartment building.
I'm driving home now just thinking. I'm afraid if Paige doesn't become less stress soon then something bad is going to happen. Hopefully not too bad though.
A/N: So fo real fo real, I need someone to like either send me Free Fallin part 2 or send me a link the shows the whole episode,. cuz right now the link i have only shows the first 13 minutes so.... HELP!