Season 3: Junior Year
Episode 18: With Tired eyes...
Paige
15 minutes before the shooting
"Paige!"
Great, Paige thought to herself, rolling her eyes when Charlotte started walking towards her.
"Don't talk to me, Charlotte." Paige snapped, walking briskly down the hallway.
Charlotte, however, quickly walked in front of Paige making Paige come to a quick stop.
"Paige," Charlotte said softly, "Can we talk?"
Paige laughed bitterly; raising her eyebrow at Charlotte, "Talk? Talk about how you stole my boyfriend?"
Charlotte blinked as she gulped nervously, "I-I-"
She knew that it was going to be difficult to talk to Paige, but she just didn't know how difficult it would be until this moment.
"Exactly. There's nothing to talk about. So, if you'll excuse me..." Paige pushed Charlotte out of the way before she walked away.
Paige fought back tears as she walked away from Charlotte. Although it had been nearly a week, she still couldn't believe Charlotte and Jason had betrayed her like that. It wasn't even just about the cheating. The lies that Jason and Charlotte had filled her head with was what nearly sent her over the edge. Sure, she was angry about the cheating but lying was something Paige found to be unforgivable. Her sight started to become blurred so she quickly tried to make her way to the bathroom.
Unfortunately, someone bumped into Paige knocking all her books out of her arms. Paige groaned and wiped at her eyes in annoyance.
"Ah, I'm such a klutz. I'm so sorry." A voice was laughing.
Paige managed to not snap at the person, despite how annoyed she felt. Why didn't mom let me stay home again? Paige thought to herself.
Maybe cause dear ol' mom was too busy trying to get better at the local hospital. Paige felt a wave of guilt hit her and she couldn't help but wish her father had stuck around long enough to help her and her mom out. She felt anger at the fact that it had been nearly a decade since her father had abandoned them. She shook her head to stop the thoughts about her father out of her head. She was sick and tired of being angry.
Paige bent down to pick up her books, and huffed, "Don't worry about it."
A hand reached out with Paige's English book, "You sure? You sound annoyed."
"You would be to if you've had the kind of week I've had!" Paige snapped, snatching the book out of the person's hand and standing up, having received all her books off the ground.
"Chill, alright? I said I was sorry. Also, I think this spilled out of your purse,"
There it was again. That stupid, annoying voice. Paige huffed and finally looked up to see who it was.
"What?" Paige snapped, not liking the amused grin on the boy's face. She did notice, however, how pretty his brown, sparkling eyes were. After noticing his eyes, she couldn't help but give him a subtle look over. He had dark brown hair shaped into a Mohawk and a gorgeous smile. He nearly towered over her, but that day she was wearing heels so she wasn't as short as she usually was. On any other normal day, Paige realized he wasn't exactly the kind of guy she would normally flirt with. Or attempt to flirt with. Charlotte always made fun of her for her lack of flirting skills. She really needed to just forget about Charlotte all together.
He dangled the bag of drugs in front of Paige's face, "You don't exactly look like a pothead, and then again it's always the cute ones who have everyone fooled."
Paige's eyes widened, muttering weakly, "That's not mine."
It sounded lame, even to Paige. She knew he didn't believe it one bit.
"It fell out of your purse," He pointed out once again; handing to her. He grinned at her and winked, "Don't worry. I'm not a snitch."
Paige's jaw dropped as the boy grinned at her and walked away.
"Who the hell was that?" Paige asked herself, and then shook her head. It didn't matter anyway. She was still heartbroken over Jason.
She quickly stuffed the drugs back into her purse just as the first bell rang for first period. Paige let out a cuss word and ran towards her class.
"Today we're going to be—oh. There you are, Paige." Mrs. Lowman grinned.
For some reason, the old lady loved Paige. Paige smiled weakly at the teacher before she walked towards her seat.
"We were just discussing what this week's essay will be—"
Paige usually was all up for some English, but today she just wasn't in the mood. She was still wondering who that mysterious boy was in the hallway. In fact, she couldn't get him out of her head and it was killing her. She felt a little guilty about thinking about another boy after she just broke up with Jason, but then her mind quickly pictured Charlotte and Jason in the library and the guilt quickly went away.
Paige felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head to see Jason looking at her worriedly. Paige felt her heart break a little bit more, knowing that Jason wasn't hers to think about anymore. So, in attempt to force herself to get over him, she decided that she would just act as if she hated him. But as she looked at him, she realized that she could never really, truly hate Jason. She loved him.
"What?" Paige whispered, feeling annoyed by having conversation with Charlotte and now Jason. Could this day get any worse?
"You okay? You look... I don't know. Different." Jason whispered, looking like he actually cared.
Little over a week ago, Paige would gladly tell Jason what was bothering her. Paige knew better, however. She had come to the conclusion that he acted as if he cared about her and then just... threw everything they had together away.
Paige swallowed her sadness and grinned at him sarcastically, "Just peachy."
With that said, she turned around and folded her arms over her chest.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Lowman let out a gasp, "Children, there seems to be a shoot-"
Before Mrs. Lowman could let out another word, a gunshot rang out hitting the teacher in the chest two times. Paige, along with everyone else, let out a scream as they watched their teacher fall to the ground.
"Mrs. Lowman!" Paige exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and rushing towards the teacher.
"Paige!" Jason yelled after her, almost running after her but stopped himself before he could.
Paige reached the teacher and turned her over to see the old woman's eyes open.
"Oh my gosh! She's dead!" Paige exclaimed frantically, turning around to face the class, "She's dead!"
She was never good with the CSI shows nevertheless with actual dead people. She felt like she was going to faint or puke. Paige took another look at her beloved teacher. Maybe it would be a mixture of both. She blinked back tears just in time to hear someone shout.
"GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT!"
Paige jumped up with wide eyes as she was staring at the barrel of a gun. She swallowed nervously, "o-okay."
"NO TALKING!"
Paige winced at the boy's loud voice. She realized that the boy in the corner holding the gun couldn't be older than 17 years old. She even recognized him as the boy who usually sat alone at lunch. Tim? Slim? Jim, that's what his name was. Paige felt a pang of guilt for have never gone to sit with Jim. Maybe it would've stopped what was going on.
Paige said nothing else as she stumbled nervously to her seat. She almost fell into Jason's lap, but quickly managed to gain her balance and plop down into her rightful seat. She was shaking so hard she thought she was going to have a heart attack. She remembered hearing about school shootings, but never really gave much thought of them. Until now.
"Here's how this is going to go down," the other gunman smirked, Paige didn't know his name, "I'm going to keep you all hostage until the police give me what I want. Sound good? Yeah, I thought so."
One boy raised his hand and the gunman shot him point-blank in the chest. Paige, along with everyone else, screamed causing the gunman to become irritated.
"SHUT UP!" He shouted angrily, waving the gun around, "It looks like you're all too annoying for me to keep hostage so, I'm just going to take one."
He looked around the room, noticing all the frightened stares and nervous glances at anything but him. One girl caught his eye.
"You!" He pointed to the young blonde he had sent back to her seat a few moments ago.
Paige squeaked as she responded, "Me?"
The gun-man rolled his eyes, "Of course you, you idiot. Come with me."
Paige slowly stood up and walked towards the gunman.
"Take me!"
Paige turned around and saw Jason standing up.
"Jason, sit down!" Paige hissed, she was pissed at him, sure, but she didn't want him to die.
What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion. Paige saw the gun lift and acted instinctively. The gunshots rang out just as Paige stepped in front of Jason.
Nathan
His parents wouldn't let him leave the hospital, but Nathan was nearly ready to jump out the window. It didn't seem like that bad of an idea, really. He could land in the bushes and then make his way to Tree Hill High.
Fortunately, just when he was about to get out of bed to check out the window, Haley strolled into his room.
"Haley! You're alright!" Nathan exclaimed, almost hopping out of bed but Haley came and sat on his bed.
"Nathan!" Haley whispered, looking at him with tears filling her eyes, "oh, Nathan, it was awful!"
Nathan pulled him into his chest and hugged her tightly, "I'm so glad you're okay, Hales. I don't know what I would have done if you..."
Haley just hugged onto him tighter at his words. She squeezed her eyes closed, hoping to rid the memories of what happened today out of her mind for at least a little while.
Peyton and Lucas
"You should be fine in a few weeks, Mrs. Scott."
Peyton nodded, smiling at the doctor. Lucas thanked the doctor before the doctor left the room.
"Sexy, hmm?" Peyton laughed, gesturing towards her white cast attached to her leg.
Lucas rolled his eyes, "You know... I've missed you. So much, Peyt."
His eyes bore into hers and she couldn't help but smile softly at him.
"I missed you, too, Luke."
The couple shared a quick kiss before Lucas helped Peyton get adjusted to her new crutches. They quietly made their way out of the room and into the lobby of the hospital.
"This is all my fault, what about that don't you understand, Charlotte?"
It was a young boy, not much older than 16, in the waiting room yelling at a girl who looked about the same age. She put her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.
"Jason, you couldn't have known—" The girl was whispering, but Peyton could hear her perfectly.
The doctors were wheeling a young girl through the lobby. Peyton glanced at the girl and realized that she knew her.
"Oh my god!" Peyton exclaimed, causing Lucas to look at her worriedly.
"What? What's wrong?" Lucas panicked, thinking something happened to her leg.
"That girl!" Peyton nodded with her head towards the girl being wheeled into an OR.
"What about her?" Lucas asked, looking from the young teens that were clinging onto each other and to the girl being wheeled away.
"She's a JV, Luke. She's only fifteen, maybe sixteen. She must have gotten shot." Peyton said sadly, frowning at the two teens.
It took Peyton a few seconds, but she realized that she knew the brunette talking to the boy.
Before Lucas knew what Peyton was doing, she was walking over to the couple.
"Charlotte!"
Charlotte looked away from the boy and looked at the direction her name was being called. She looked confused for a second, but then obviously recognized who it was.
"Peyton!" Charlotte was relieved. Another familiar face. Then she saw Peyton's crutches, "Did you... uh, get shot, too?"
It was a blunt question and Jason elbowed her for it. Charlotte blushed and muttered a sorry before looking back at Peyton.
"Yeah," Peyton replied, smiling to let her know that it was okay, "but I'm okay. How's... your friend?"
"Paige Harp, my best friend," Charlotte started to get emotional, her lips trembling as she spoke, "Not so good. She was shot in the stomach."
"Harp?" Peyton nearly passed out at the name, "Is her mother... Ellie Harp by any chance?"
Charlotte looked at Peyton with wide eyes, "I... I can't tell you anything, Peyton. I'm not supposed to, anyway."
Jason made his way over to the nearby couch and put his head in his hands. It was his fault Paige was in the hospital. If only he had done something... protected her.
Lucas saw Jason and went over to him, "Jason? What are you doing here, man?"
Jason looked up and saw his basketball captain, Lucas Scott looking right back at him.
Jason shook hands politely with him as he replied, "My, um, friend was shot."
"I'm so sorry," Lucas frowned, "Who is your friend?"
"Paige Harp," Charlotte interrupted, making her way over to the boys, "she's a JV cheerleader with me."
"You never answered my question." Peyton slowly made her way to the group, "Is Ellie Harp her mother?"
Charlotte looked between Jason and Peyton and said, "I can't tell you anything! I'm sorry!"
"Just tell me!" Peyton exclaimed, obviously getting restless.
Lucas put a hand on Peyton's shoulder, "Peyt? What's wrong?"
Peyton let out a nervous breath and looked up at him, "A week or so ago, this woman showed up at my house, claiming to be my mother."
Lucas tilted his head in confusion, "your mother? But—"
"I know," Peyton interrupted, all her words coming out in a rush, "she said her name was Ellie Harp and that we needed to talk... about my adoption. Luke, I was adopted and Ellie Harp is my mother. And now, I'm fairly certain I have a sister."
She looked at Lucas to see him shaking his head with disbelief. She knew the feeling. She still couldn't believe that she was adopted. Just as Lucas opened his mouth to respond, someone interrupted him.
"Charlotte? Where's Paige? Where's my daughter?"
Peyton let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She, along with everyone else, locked eyes with the woman who claimed to be her birth mother.
Peyton was catching up on homework when the doorbell rang. She put the cap on her pen and carefully got out of the chair. She slowly made her way to the door, wishing the day would just end already. She was nervous about how things were going to go down that night. She was hoping to move back home with Lucas and finally have her husband back. She was just taking her time while waiting for him to get out of basketball practice before she would surprise him at their apartment.
She opened the door and was startled to see a woman, not that much older than her.
"Can I help you?" Peyton said politely, putting a hand on her obvious baby-belly.
The woman sighed, "Hi, my name is Ellie Harp. I'm... your mother, Peyton."
Peyton took a step back, obviously startled, "I'm sorry, you have the wrong house."
She started to close the door, but Ellie put her foot out to stop the door.
"Please, Peyton, let's talk this out. We need to talk." Ellie was practically begging, but she was running on borrowed time. Paige was out getting dinner and would be home soon with it. Not only that, Ellie was growing weaker as the days went on. Her doctors kept trying to reassure her that it would get better, but she could see through their lies. She wasn't sure how many days she had left.
"I just met you, how do you expect me to believe you?" Peyton snapped, "Do you have any proof?"
Ellie held up the folder that contained everything about Peyton, "let me come in and I'll explain it all, Peyton... please."
Peyton looked into her eyes and bit her lip. The last time she trusted a stranger...
"No." Peyton said bluntly, causing Ellie to sigh and just nod, "let's sit outside."
Ellie looked up, a slight smile on her face, "okay."
Peyton and Ellie sat on the steps and talked for hours. Ellie helped Peyton looked over all the information but that didn't make it any less unreal for Peyton. She couldn't really grasp the fact that she was adopted. She felt betrayed by her father, why hadn't he told her sooner? All these years, she assumed she was theirs. Her entire life was a lie.
"All I want to know is... why did you give me up?" Peyton asked the one question that she wasn't really sure she wanted the answer to.
Ellie sighed, not immediately answering, causing Peyton to get angry.
"What? So I wasn't good enough for you or something? Is that it?" Peyton was nearly yelling, but she couldn't help it. Ellie couldn't just drop in, unannounced and drop this huge bomb on her without expecting her to ask questions.
"No!" Ellie exclaimed, "No, that's not it at all, Peyton. I was just... very young and I couldn't handle raising a baby on my own."
"On your own? What about... my father? Who is my father, Ellie?" The more Ellie talked, the more questions Peyton had.
"Ellie, why are you in the hospital?"
It was the only thing Peyton could think of to say to her birth mother. Before Ellie could say anything, Peyton had already asked another question.
"Why didn't you tell me I had a sister?" Peyton looked down at Ellie, obviously hurt and confused, " and why did you keep her and not me?"
"Paige Harp?"
Obviously, the doctor had the worst timing in the world. Ellie immediately began to twist her wheelchair to face him.
"I'm her mother and," she looked at Peyton, "this is her sister. What exactly happened to her?"
The tall, dark-haired doctor just nodded, "The shooter was apparently aiming for a young man, but..."
"But what?" Ellie exclaimed, "What happened to my daughter?"
"Your daughter stepped in front of the shooter and was shot twice in the stomach and..."
The doctor trailed off, leaving the three in suspense. It wasn't long before Lucas asked, "What? What else?"
"...and once in the head. She has only a 5% chance of survival. I'm so sorry."
Ellie put her hand over her mouth and let out a strangled sob. Peyton grabbed onto her other hand, because, well... they were family. And that's what family did.