Thursday, 8:24 P.M...
Tonight was the final night before the much anticipated meeting between our favorite trio of teenagers and Carmella plus her cronies. Paige and Alexa had asked Shane if they could have some one on one girl time to talk about what was going to take place, and the boy happily obliged. He decided to call up a friend to talk to about the same thing, and settled on it being the most mature of the gang, Seth Rollins.
"Yeah, man. Tomorrow's the day I finally repay her for all she's done for me." Shane said excitedly.
"I'm happy for you, Cash. Just don't get yourself hurt. I'm serious." Seth responded from the other end of the phone.
Price rolled his eyes.
"I know, I know. Don't get hurt cause you need me healthy enough to train with you when I get back."
The Captain chuckled.
"Of course, but that's beside the point. In general I mean, be careful. Not only are you my teammate, but you're my brother above all else and I care about your well-being." He sincerely told him.
"Damn man, you got me right in the feelings with that one. It's almost like you care about me more than football." Price said dramatically.
"Smartass." Seth responded.
The blonde haired boy laughed a little.
"No, but seriously. Thanks for the concern and the kind words, I really appreciate it. However, Cap? You gotta trust me on this one. This has been a long time coming, and I need to do this. Not only for Paige, but for myself as well."
"Whaddya mean? I thought this was cause some girls messed with your friend at a party."
"Nah man. This goes waaaay deeper than that. That was kinda like the straw that broke the camel's back... They tortured me too, but in a different way. It wasn't physical, but it was emotional and mental hell they put me through, for months on end." Shane explained.
Rollins was caught off guard by that admission.
"Oh God, man. That sounds seriously fucked. Why? What could have possibly possessed those chicks to do that to you?"
Price went on to tell the same infamous story he told Alexa all those months ago. Everything from the goofball gimmick phase he went through, to the wake up call from Paige, to the harsh betrayal he endured from most of the people he considered close friends. His voice cracked over the course of his tale due to the emotional distress he was reliving just by talking about what had happened, but he kept pushing on until he was finished. By the end, the two toned haired quarterback was absolutely speechless.
"Jeez... That's... Wow. I'm... I'm sorry man. I had no idea that had even happened. Seriously fucked is an understatement. What happened to you was just downright despicable. I wouldn't wish that shit on my worst enemy." Seth said, clearly caught off guard by the information he just received.
"Don't be sorry, Cap. You didn't do it. Besides, I only told your that so you could understand why this is so important for me. I've already forgiven the kids who turned on me anyway. I'm over it now."
"Over it?... No offense man, but I find that really really hard to believe."
"Why do you say that?" Shane asked.
"Cause, Cash. That's not something you just, "get over." If it was me, I'd probably never fully forgive any of them for doing that to me. You put your trust into them, and they just crushed it and kicked it to the side like an empty soda can. That's unredeemable in my opinion." Seth stated.
"That's cool if you feel that way. But, I'm just not gonna worry about it anymore. The hell am I crying over fake friends for? You, Alexa, Dean, Big E, Becky, Bayley, the rest of the boys on the team, and the cheer squad. You guys are my real friends. You're all like family to me. From the outside looking in, it might seem pretty stupid to put my trust into another group of people, not long after being tossed aside by another. I don't care though."
"Oh no, you don't have to worry about that. None of us will ever kick you to the curb like that. Never. You've got a family for life here in New York."
Price smiled and laughed.
"That's what I'm counting on. If you guys turned on me I'd be even sadder than I was the first time it happened. Not gonna lie, you guys in New York are waaaay cooler."
Seth laughed with him.
"I'm glad you feel that way. Means a lot, and I'm sure the others would be happy to hear that as well."
"Yeah, especially Bayley, I'm sure. I can imagine me saying that to her face, and then being violently hugged to borderline asphyxiation." Price joked.
"That's a fetish for some people." Rollins joked back.
"Some people, but not I, sir. Not my thing at all. Though speaking of Bayley, how is Smiles doing anyway?"
"Oh, she's fine. We went on a little picnic date down in Central Park today. Man can that girl eat. I made like 7 sandwiches, and the next thing I know, 5 of em are gone within 20 minutes. But, we had a nice time nonetheless. I really like her, dude."
"And I know she really likes you back, Cap." Shane said encouragingly.
"Thank God for that. Say, where have you and Alexa gone for dates?" Seth asked.
That question made the Irish boy stop and think for a second.
"Dude... I don't think we've even been on a single one yet. I mean, we went on that double date with Dean and Becky a while back, but just me and her on a straight up date? No, that hasn't happened at all."
"That's surprising actually."
"I know... And kinda messed up when I think about it. We've been together since the beginning of October and I still haven't taken her out once. Damn, I'm... I'm screwing up here."
Seth was quick to try and lift his spirits.
"Hey, better late than never. You should ask her if she wants to do something when you guys come back home. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to take you up on that offer."
"You know what, Seth? That's not a bad idea. As a matter of fact, Imma go do that right now."
"Go on then, soldier. Make your captain proud." Rollins jokingly ordered.
Price saluted.
"Of course, sir! I will not fail you, sir!"
That made the quarterback bust out laughing.
"You're such a goofball, Cash, I swear."
"Thank you, I'm here all night. Anyway, this was a nice talk. I'll see you around?"
"I better, man, I better. See you when you get back."
"See ya. Oh, and also do me a favor? When you get the chance, tell Dean that his ass is still mine when I come home." Shane instructed.
"What did he do this ti- Actually, I don't even care to know at this point. I know most likely whatever he did is worthy of tongue lashing and/or ass kicking. Will do. Bye, Cash."
Seth hung up the phone, and Shane put his phone back in his sweatpants pocket. He stood up from the couch and cracked his knuckles.
"Welp. Time to go ask my girlfriend out... After we've been together for a while and have already committed multiple sexual acts upon each other." He thought, before making his way to the staircase leading to Paige's room. He walked up the stairs, came up to the door, and was about to politely knock... when he heard a shriek coming from the other side.
"Oh my God!" He heard Alexa scream out.
Instantly, Shane's protection instincts kicked in, and he decided to forego the knocking, quickly opening the door.
"What?! What happened?!" Price frantically asked.
He looked and saw the faces of his two female companions. They were sitting on Paige's bed. Alexa had her hand over her mouth, looking shocked and horrified, while Paige looked both surprised and pissed off.
"Those bitches are gonna fuckin pay tomorrow, I swear to bloody Christ." The raven haired girl threatened, visibly shaken.
Meanwhile, Shane was just happy no one was hurt it seemed. However, he was still out of the loop on what was going on.
"Guys, seriously. Why'd Alexa scream? What happened?" He asked while standing in front of the two girls.
Paige took her phone and held it up to his face.
"Look."
So, he did. It was a video. It was kind of hard to see at first because it was obviously filmed at night. Eventually, he could kind of see, and when he did... Shane started to seethe in anger. The video was of a rather tall gentleman kicking the absolute crap out of none other than the guy who helped them put this whole plan together, Lio Rush, Shane couldn't quite make out who it was, but it didn't matter. You could hear Lio's cries for the guy to stop, but they went unheard. When the guy was finished stomping poor boy out, all you saw was a bloodied Lio, grabbing at his ribs and gasping for air.
Sadly, the tall man wasn't done. The camera followed him as he slung Lio's almost lifeless body over his shoulder and carried to him to a nearby dumpster. There, he roughly threw him inside of it. Not only had he beaten him, but he had also humiliated him as well. What made it worse, was that the person filming the whole thing, started laughing, almost maniacally. It was a female voice, and it sounded oddly familiar. Sure enough, they switched the camera setting to self-portrait, and now in full view... was Carmella Van Dale. Complete with a shit eating grin on her face.
"You see? You see what happens when you try to embarrass and intimidate me? Huh? Shit like this happens. You thought you were so clever, didn't you, you pale freak? Bringing your loser friend and his blonde bimbo of a girlfriend back here to try and mess with me. You even enlisted the help of Lio, which I wish you hadn't have done, because now this happened. I actually like the short idiot, but whatever. He tried to play me, and this what he gets. If you're wondering who just pummeled him by the way- hold on..."
She walked over to the guy and stood next to him, holding the phone up to his face so that they were both in the frame. Shane's eyes widened when he saw him, instantly recognizing who it was. Back to the video, and Carmella was laughing again.
"That's right! It's my big, tough, amazing boyfriend, Colin Cassady. He doesn't take too kindly to people that mess with me. Like, he really doesn't like it. Rush obviously found that out the hard way. You should let that loser Price boy know that before he decides to show his ugly face tomorrow. Well, this has been fun, but I have better things to do than talk to you, you piece of British garbage. Bye bye. Don't show up if you know what's good for you."
She mockingly blew a kiss and then ended the recording. Shane was without a shadow of a doubt, absolutely livid.
"OOOHHH, I hate that bitch! I hate her so fucking much! Did she post that online?!" He asked, angry enough to punch a hole through the wall.
"No.", Paige explained in a deadpan manner, "She must've taken Lio's phone, recorded the video, and then sent it to me."
"That was so... So evil." Alexa struggled to say.
Since she had almost been a victim of an assault herself, that video had hit the petite princess the hardest. Poor girl had tears running down her cheeks. Shane quickly sat next to his girl and embraced her.
"It's okay, it's okay, princess. I've got you." He cooed.
Paige saw this, and an overwhelming wave of guilt washed over her entire body.
"I'm... I'm sorry for getting you into this. Maybe... fuck. Maybe we were too in over are heads with this one. I didn't even think she'd bring Big Cass into this situation. I'm so fuckin stupid!"
Shane was quick to shut that down.
"No. You didn't bring us into anything. We came all this way because we wanted to. We came all this way to make sure you don't suffer anymore, and damn it, that's what we're gonna do. This was already personal, but Carmella just made this even more fucking personal. This means war... This. Means. War."
