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The next day, Paige grabs his phone after he’s finished putting on a bright blue hoodie and a normal pair of jeans. He opens the group chat he, Bro and Brandon shared and types in a message.
paige: So when do we leave?
Brandon adds on almost immediately.
branflakes: ya
branflakes: nd how r we getting there
branflakes: piper normally picks us up from ur place so shld we come over
It takes a moment, but eventually Bro responds.
brobart: nah
brobart: we;ll come get u guys
brobart: since ur so close tgthr
Paige squints at what Bro said, confused a bit. “T… tuhguhth…” he mumbles, ending in a gasp. “OH! Together!”
paige: Oh okay! See you soon!
brobart: ya
brobart: we’ ll be there soon
Paige nods and switches to his texts with just Brandon.
paige: I’ll come over now then, okay?
branflakes: ya sure ill tell mom
With that, Paige pockets his phone and grabs one of his small bookbags, different from his school bookbag. This one was a nice dark blue and beige. It was one of Paige’s more liked outdoorsy bags that he owned. He brought it whenever he went out somewhere that wasn’t school.
He packs his things and hops downstairs to where his mom is eating a snack. “Mom! I’m heading off to Brandon’s so we can hang out with Kevin!”
“Oh?” Quinn asks. “Kevin from when you were younger?”
“Yeah! We’re gonna catch up a bit!”
“Oh, alright, sweetie!” Quinn waves. “Have fun!”
“I will! Bye Mom!”
Paige makes his way out of the house and to Brandon’s, humming a tune. “Hotdog, french fries…” he mumbles happily.
It’s not long until he’s knocking on the front door of the Aguja household once more. Footsteps soon sound on the other side of the door and it swings open.
“We’re off, Ma!” Brandon calls.
“Okay!” Carmen calls out. “Hi Paige!” she adds on.
“Hi Aunt Carmen!” Paige shouts back. “Have a nice day!”
“I will!” she chuckles.
Brandon pushes himself out the door and closes it behind himself. He’s got a colorblock t-shirt and shorts on and a drawstring bag on his back. “Hey dude!” he smiles. “We can wait here since Bart probably put my address in.”
Ting! Ting!
Both teenager’s phones ping at the same time. They blink at each other before checking their phones.
brobart: we’re almst thre
brobart: ull kno its us whn u see us :p
“Speak of the devil,” Brandon chuckles.
“Know us when you see us?” Paige reads aloud. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Dunno,” Brandon shrugs, looking up the road. “Maybe they have a cool car or something.”
“Maybe…” Paige mumbles, putting a finger to his chin.
There’s a honk that can only be described as… elegant that rings out from behind them shortly after. Both teens turn towards the sound, gasping.
“Oh my god,” Brandon says.
The window of the vehicle rolls down, showing a snazzed out Kevin wearing sunglasses and a smirk on his face. “Heyo!” he greets. “Get in, nerds!” He opens the door. Inside is Piper, Bro, and a third person who’s scrunched up in the corner.
“Oh my gosh,” Paige mumbles.
“Is this,” Brandon starts, awestruck, “A fucking limo?”
“Woah, dude!” Kevin laughs. “I didn’t know you swore!”
“You just rolled up and told us to climb into a fucking limosuine, Kevin.”
“And?” Kevin looks confused. “Dude, did you think I was kidding when I told you I was rich all those times?”
“YES?” Brandon says, finally climbing into the car. Paige follows behind and Bro closes the door behind them. “I can’t believe this. I really cannot believe this.”
“Well then, surprise!” Kevin laughs. “Collins, we’re goin’ to the skatepark now!”
“On it, boss!” a voice from up front calls. The car pulls off right after.
Paige blinks wide-eyed. He’d never seen the inside of a limo before. Now that he’s in the thing proper though, he can see the person from earlier up close across from him. They looked kind of familiar…
“Oh!” Paige gasps. “You’re Sebastian, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Sebastian scoffs. “And you’re one of Kevin’s rowdy friends, aren’t you?”
“I… I don’t think I’m that rowdy…” Paige murmurs, put out.
“Oh, ignore Seb,” Kevin waves. “He’s just all upset ‘cause he wanted to drive around and I needed the limo at the same time.”
“I told you I was going on my weekend drive!” Sebastian trills.
“And I told you that we’re just goin’ to the skatepark, nark,” Kevin says, sticking out his tongue. “Besides, you get some company this way! Some good as hell company, might I add!”
“Aww!” Brandon coos. “You really think so?”
“Hell yea, I do!” Kevin grins. “Me and Paige used to be thick as thieves, and I know you’re cool, and Bro’s awesome, and Piper—”
“Is your little pogchamp?” Piper cuts in.
“Is my little pogchamp!” Kevin cackles, hitting Piper on their back. They also bark out a laugh.
“Ugh,” Sebastian scoffs again, rolling his eyes and turning away.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Kevin says.
“H-he’s just like th-is,” Bro nods.
“Oh… if you’re sure,” Paige frowns. “Sorry for interrupting your drive anyways, Sebastian.”
“Glad to see one of you brutes has some civility!” Sebastian humphs. “I appreciate it very much, citizen.”
“My name is Paige,” the teen introduces himself.
“I appreciate it very much, Paige,” Sebastian corrects, nodding towards him. “I’m going to bide my time now by looking out the window.”
“Oh, um… okay?”
“Okay indeed.” Sebastian turns away, doing exactly as he said he would.
Odd guy. But he seemed like he could be fun if you were nice to him? Maybe he should talk to him at school more…
The thought flies around Paige’s head as he stares at the other, conversation happening right next to him. The others are laughing up a storm and jerking and jabbing at each other, but Paige is stuck in his head.
At some point, Sebastian catches Paige’s eye and blinks. “Yes, Paige?” he asks, face furrowing after. “Wait. Paige?” he asks, looking at Paige with new eyes.
“I… yes?” Paige replies, confused.
“Oh my god,” he breathes. “Oh my god.”
“Sebastian?” Paige asks carefully.
The car comes to a stop. “We’re here, boss!” Collins calls.
“Thanks, king!” Kevin shouts, opening the door. “C’mon, guys, let’s leave Seb to his lovely afternoon drive,” he smirks. “Have a good one, Sebby!”
Sebastian has been in a deadlock stare with Paige since he seemed to realize who the other was.
“Paige!” Brandon yells from outside the limo, “Come on!”
“Coming!” Paige yells back before saying to Sebastian, “Um… it was nice to… meet you properly?”
“Eep.” is all he says.
“Eep…?” Paige blinks.
“Paige!” Brandon yells again.
“Um! See you later?” Paige tries one last time before getting up and climbing out of the limousine. Bro closes the door behind him and the car pulls off after.
“Y-ou okay?” Bro asks as they walk ahead, slowly following the other three. “Did S-eb say someth-ing wack?”
“More like he didn’t say anything at all…” Paige says. “But I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked to him before today, so?”
“Weird,” Bro shrugs. “H-he is j-ust kinda like that, th-ough.”
“If you say so,” Paige sighs. The two of them hurry and catch up with the rest of the group now, conversation over.
“...fine that you don’t have any gear,” Paige catches. “We sell stuff here now.” Kevin huffs with a smirk. “I told Mom it would be a good business venture. She actually fell for it too!” He throws his head back and laughs. “Things are cheap here. On purpose.”
“Power to the people!” Piper recites, pointing a finger gun upwards.
“Hell yeah,” Kevin cheers on. “But don't worry about paying. It’s cool if you just take stuff.”
Brandon grins. “Really?” he says, eyes wide and hopeful.
“Sure, man. Who cares?”
“Hell yes!” Brandon shouts, running ahead. “I want the coolest board you guys have!”
The rest of the group laughs heartily.
+++
“A-am I supposed to just… go?” Paige wobbles as he’s on the edge of a tall ramp.
Everyone had gotten some correctly sized protective gear and a board of their choosing. They’d then done the basics, how to stand on it, how to take off and stop and how to recover from a wipeout.
Now they stand on top of one of the bunny slopes. Paige is clutching his skateboard close to his chest, trembling a bit.
“Just go for it, man!” Kevin cheers. “You can do it! Remember what I taught you!”
Paige turns back to see the group all giving him thumbs ups. Brandon’s face is a bit worried, though.
“Be careful!” he says.
Paige turns back to the ramp. “I don’t know about this…” he mumbles. Still, he takes a deep breath and backs up a bit.
Now or never.
Paige rushes forward, plopping the board down in front of him and hopping on with acceleration.
The next couple of seconds happen in flashes.
First, Paige slips.
Then, the group of friends gasp.
Then…
Crack.
“Paige!” someone cries.
The wind is knocked out of him as he lands on the ground and rolls downwards a bit before stopping.
And then things become very bright very suddenly and Paige doesn’t know what’s up and what’s down.
Shade covers him and he blinks hard.
“Paige, oh my god. Paige!” Someone is yelling at him, shaking him. He wishes they wouldn’t. His head hurt…
“Don’t shake him, dude!” someone else shouts. “You’ll like, discombobulate him or something!”
“G-get the m-edics,” a third person says. “H-he might n-eed re-re-re-...” They groan. “He m-ight need CPR.”
“On it,” yet another person says, footsteps walking away after.
Ugh… His eyes start scrunching up. His head was spinning and sounds were too loud and people kept yelling…
“Don’t crowd,” Paige hears. Then, he’s being lifted up by the head. “You okay, son?”
“Oww…” Paige mumbles.
“Oh thank god, he’s awake.” …Brandon?
“Paige, buddy.” …Kevin? “You good?”
Paige cracks his eyes open again. All his friends are loosely surrounding him and there’s someone holding him up.
“I…” Paige groans. “What happened…?”
“You wiped out big time, dude,” Piper says. “It was scary.”
“It was beyond scary!” Brandon shouts. “Your helmet cracked in two!”
“Really…?” Paige asks.
“Yes!”
“Good thing I had it on then…” the teen sighs. “Sorry for messing up as soon as we got here…”
“Dude, I’m just happy you didn’t die,” Kevin says. “You wanna sit around for a while?”
“Yes please,” Paige nods very slightly, turning to the person helping him. “I think I can move on my own.”
“You sure, kid?” they ask.
“Yeah…” Paige stands and wobbles only a bit before giving a weak thumbs up. “Don’t wait up for me though, guys.”
“We’re not gonna go and have fun while you’re just sitting around!” Brandon pouts.
“Y-eah,” Bro nods. “We don’t mind chillin-g with y-you.”
“No, no,” Paige waves after he’s taken a seat on the nearby bench where they all left their bags. “Go skate. I’ll just sit here for a while, okay?”
“Are you sure?” Brandon asks, looking pensive. “Seriously, we can—”
“Goooo,” Paige drones, slumping in the seat. “I’ll watch from here. Maybe I can even learn a thing or two this way?”
“...Alright,” Brandon relents. “You better yell if you need anything, okay?”
“I will,” Paige promises.
The four friends all give each other one last look before walking a little ways off to steeper slopes. When they get there, Brandon seems to be a bit paralyzed, looking from the ramp to Paige and back again.
Even though he’s a bit far away, Paige raises a thumbs up high into the air. You’ll be fine, he pushes into the air. I’m just clumsy.
That seems to do the trick. With a nod at Paige, Brandon finally takes his running start and hops on his board. Unlike Paige, he lands on it and skates down the hill with ease, shouting and laughing all the way.
The mood shift must be palpable over there, because the others immediately line up for their turns. Good. Paige wanted them to have fun even if he couldn’t join right now.
With nothing else to do, Paige pulls out his phone. Most of his contact list was here, so he couldn’t text them. Sue was on a date or something, he thinks. Which, great for them! But it means he can’t text them either. He wouldn’t want to interrupt.
Once again Paige finds himself in OJ’s DM’s.
paige: Hello OJ!
paige: I bet youll never guess where I am right now.
paige: Or what happened!
Paige kicks his legs as he waits for a reply. He didn’t know what else to say.
Eventually typing bubbles form on OJ’s end. His texts were always so wordy but typed out so fast somehow. Paige absently wonders how he does it.
Then the text comes through.
squeezed to meet you: Hello, Paige! It’s nice to hear from you before Sunday. What have you gotten into today? Has something bad happened? Are you alright?
Paige smiles softly. He was worried about him… Count on a good friend like OJ to always want to be there for you.
paige: Guess :P
The response is immediate.
squeezed to meet you: I’m afraid I cannot, Paige. You’ve given me no context. You could have visited family in Jersey for all I know.
There’s another message after it.
squeezed to meet you: Though I know you can’t be doing that, as you have no family in Jersey. You would’ve told me by now if you did.
Paige laughs at the message. OJ was always such a card.
paige: That’s fair!
paige: Im at Kevins skatepark!
paige: He owns a skatepark BTW!
squeezed to meet you: Yes, I’m aware. The Sharp Skatepark is quite infamous for having cheap prices whilst pretending like they’re expensive. I think it’s something of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” sort of thing. Its history is actually quite interesting.
paige: Woah! I didnt know that!
squeezed to meet you: Would you like to know more? I have studied the park a bit in the past… But no one really likes listening to the history of a skatepark, you know?
paige: Well I want to!
squeezed to meet you: Really and truly?
paige: Yep!
With that, Paige gets comfortable while waiting for the wall of texts that he knows is about to be thrown his way.
For the rest of the afternoon, Paige texts with OJ. Then, at some point, they start a call.
“I thought this would be easier,” OJ says as Paige picks up the sudden call. “Shall I continue where I left off?”
“Yeah!” Paige says enthusiastically.
Their conversation switches to other things at some point, but Paige doesn’t really care what they’re talking about. Just hearing OJ’s voice is helping his head feel better, honestly.
“Yo Paige!” he hears and turns.
“Oh, hold on OJ, Paige says, pulling the phone down. “Hi guys!”
“We’re about ready to dip,” Piper says. “You good to go?”
“Oh, what time is it?”
“Check your phone, dummy,” Kevin says.
“Oh yeah,” Paige blinks, checking the time. “Oh my gosh.” He pulls the phone back to his face. “OJ, have we been talking for three hours?”
“It would appear so,” OJ replies. “Apologies if that’s… sorry if I talked too much.”
“No, it’s okay!” Paige says quickly. “I just didn’t realize so much time had passed!”
“Ah. Then shall I continue on the history of cherry blossoms in New York? Or must… do you have to go?”
“I think we’re leaving, yeah,” Paige says apologetically. “But we can still text! And we’ll see each other tomorrow, right?”
“Right,” OJ says, smile hearable. “Well then, talk to you again in a moment, Paige. I love…” OJ pauses. “I love having conversations with you. We must do this again soon.”
“Tomorrow!” Paige laughs.
“Yes, but also on the phone,” OJ explains.
“Oh, I see. Okay, yeah. That too.” Paige looks up to see Kevin on his own phone, probably calling Collins to come pick them up again. “I think I have to go now.”
“Ah, alright,” OJ says. “Farewell and goodbye, Paige.” The line shuts off.
Paige smiles at his phone. He remembers OJ always used to say that before getting off the phone in the past as well.
“You done, talking to your crush or whatever?” Kevin teases.
“Huh?” Paige blushes. “I—me and OJ are just friends?”
“OJ?” Kevin asks. “That one nerd?”
“He’s not…!” Paige starts, then glances away. “Well… he’s not a nerd in a bad way!”
“Never said that, king,” Kevin chuckles. “But you sure about that just friends thing? I’ve never heard you talk like that to anyone with that funny little tone in your voice before.”
“You haven’t talked to me in ages!” Paige pouts, voice cracking a bit. “Besides, even if I did have a cr—even if I…” Paige shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. OJ’s not interested in people like me.”
“People like you?” Brandon asks, sounding upset.
Paige is quiet.
“Paige, do you like men?” Piper asks.
Paige blinks. “...Yes?”
“Okay,” Piper nods, then turns to the others. “Let him do this one himself, guys.”
“What?” Paige asks.
“Fair,” Bro nods. “For the b-best probably, actually.”
“Agreed,” Brandon nods too.
“He’s so close, though…” Kevin says, sounding disappointed.
“What the heck are you guys talking about?” Paige asks, a bit distraught. They were talking about him, weren’t they? What did him talking to OJ have to do with him being gay?
Kevin’s phone pings. “Oh hey,” he says, checking it. “Collins is here.”
“C’mon, Paiges,” Brandon chuckles a bit, pulling an extremely confused Paige up. “Time to go.”
“Guys?” Paige mumbles.
“You’ll get it when you get it,” Piper says like some sort of Pokemon using Future Sight.
Paige sighs. If they were gonna be all cryptic for no good reason, he would just have to deal with it he guessed.
His phone pings. Paige smiles, knowing it was OJ.
At least he knew OJ would always be straight with him.
Paige is in his room after doing his nightly routine. He had just pulled on a fresh pair of pajamas when his mom knocked on the door.
“Come in!” he says, walking over to his closet. The door opens.
“Hi, honey.” She walks in. “You all ready for tomorrow?”
“I was just about to pack everything!” Paige smiles. He picks up a silver bag that has two tall ears popping up from it and a tail dangling from below. It’s designed after a shiny Eevee. Brandon had a matching Pikachu one which he swore was also shiny, but Paige knew they both knew better.
“Ooh, breaking out the big guns, are we?” Quinn chuckles.
“I think he still likes Pokemon?” Paige mumbles. “I don’t think I ever showed him this bag. I thought he’d like seeing it since it’s so rare.”
It was true. Paige had won a giveaway for this bag and only about 100 of them were ever made. He was so happy about it. But he can’t remember if he ever actually mentioned the event to OJ or not.
“Go get 'em, honey!” Quinn smiles. “You want help picking out your stuff or are you good?”
“Moooom,” Paige whines. “I’m 16! I don’t need help picking out clothes!”
“Okay, okay!” Quinn laughs. “You don’t have to rub in the fact you’re growing so fast!” She walks over to him and sits down next to him, pulling him into a side hug. “You used to be so small… Did you know when you were born they thought you were a premie?”
“A premie?”
“Premature. They thought you were born too early.”
“Why?”
Quinn chuckles, holding up a cupped hand. “You could fit in my palm. You were just the tiniest thing!”
“Woah…” Paige breathes. “Is that even possible?”
“Very,” Quinn says. “I remember being so afraid for you…” She sighs, tightening the hug. “But! Look at you! You’re 16 and doing just fine, aren’t you?”
Paige thinks of earlier. “Um…” He laughs awkwardly. “You could definitely say that.”
“Paige?” Quinn asks, sitting up. She turns to him head on and holds his shoulders so he does the same. Her eyes are full of worry. “Sweetie? Did something happen today?”
Oh no. Had he somehow given away too much? He was just trying not to lie…
“Um,” he says, thinking. “...Nothing major,” he finally settles on.
Quinn isn’t having it. “Paige,” she says sternly.
Paige sighs. “I wiped out while skateboarding.”
“Oh, is that all?” Quinn says, exhaling. “I thought you had hurt yourself again!” When Paige looks away, Quinn gasps. “Paige, you didn’t get hurt again, did you? You were wearing protective gear, weren’t you?”
“Yes, I was,” Paige nods. “It’s um… it’s actually the reason I’m probably still talking to you right now.”
“Paige,” Quinn breathes, turning his head back to her. “Paige, what does that mean?”
The teenager frowns pensively. “The… the helmet may or may not have cracked in two when I landed wrong.”
“Sweetie!?” Quinn cries, pulling his head into her chest and holding him tight. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Sweetie, honey, tell me you’re alright.” She pushes him back and frantically feels around his head. “No wetness… no blood…” She sighs and pulls him close again. “Oh my god, baby. You can’t just say things like that without a warning.”
“I’m sorry Mom,” Paige says, sad that he upset his mom. “I was trying to be careful, honestly!”
“I know you were, honey,” Quinn whispers. “I know you were.”
The two of them simply sit like that for a while, Quinn rocking them slowly back and forth. Paige doesn’t mind it in the slightest. She always did this when he reported some sort of injury. He knew she was just worried he’d end up like his dad.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Paige says eventually. “I won’t end up like Dad, you know.”
“I know you won’t,” she says like she’s trying to will it into existence. “You’ll grow to be big and strong and an amazing little book of Paiges, won’t you?” She smiles softly and leans forward, planting a small kiss on his forehead.
Paige smiles. “Of course I will, Mom!”
“That’s my kid,” she chuckles. “Now go on, go get ready for tomorrow.” She stands up slowly and leaves the room. Right as she steps out though, she steps back in. “I love you, Paige,” she says.
“I love you too, Mom!” Paige beams.
Quinn has an odd smile on her face, but it’s a smile nonetheless. “Goodnight, honey.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
Paige waves as his mom leaves him to pack as he pleases. He lists the things he needs to bring for tomorrow and then also Monday.
“Pajamas… underwear… uniform…” He packs things one by one, folding them along the way. Finally, after a hot minute, he’s done.
He brings the bag near his door before dropping it. This way he wouldn’t forget to grab it when he left tomorrow.
There. That should be everything he needed to do.
…Although… There seems to be something Paige is forgetting… Something about school? Let’s see… yesterday he was taken to the pizza place after school by OJ. Before that he had some classes, and before that he had Lunch. At lunch, Kevin came and asked about…
Oh!
The note!
His reply!
Paige quickly scrambles to his desk. This time, he uses a nice and neat piece of loose leaf to write his note down. He writes:
“We're friends? That's a much bigger hint than ‘we go to the same school’, you know! You're really funny. Can you tell me a joke this time instead of a fun fact? Not that I don't like the fun facts, but I think you'd be able to make me laugh!
(P.S
I'm happy to hear you love animals also! What do you think about dogs? My favorites are shih tzus!)
(P.P.S
I do ramble a bit... if today's note wasn't obvious, haha! But it's okay. I hope this was cute for you, because you definitely sound cute rambling. :) Heehee!)”
Paige smiles down at the note. For just a moment he imagines large hands opening the note, a gasp as the person reads it, a smile pulling at full lips…
His phone pings, startling him out of his reprieve.
Before he goes to check it, he folds and slips the note into the Eevee backpack. Then he picks up his phone.
branflakes: dont forget ur note tmrw
Paige sighs. Way to give him a heart attack over something he’d already done!
Still, he replies nicely.
paige: I won’t!
Paige waits outside for OJ and Sam to show up, Eevee bag in tow. He sits on the sidewalk, kicking his feet.
“I wonder if um… oh, I can’t remember his name…” Paige mumbles to himself. “Well, I wonder if OJ’s other parent will be with them…”
A cool, three tiered honk trills from down the street. Paige blinks, turning towards the noise. In only a few seconds, the grooviest RV Paige has yet to see comes into view.
“Paige!” OJ waves out of the window. “We’re here!”
Paige smiles wide as he hops up. The door is opened for him and he quickly climbs in.
“Hello, Snowy!” Sam greets.
“Hey, kid!” the person driving says.
“Hi, Sam!” Paige waves. “Hi… um…”
“This is Dani!” Sam says at the same time Dani says, “I’m Dani!” They both blink and look at each other for only a moment before laughing.
“They always do this,” OJ says, fond smile on his face. “Ma, Mami, this is my friend Paige!”
“Oh, don’t act like we don’t know Paige!” Dani laughs as he begins pulling off. “You only talk about him all the time.”
“Oh, please don’t say it like that,” OJ begs, glancing at Paige.
Paige tilts his head, confused. “Why not?” he asks. “It’s okay that you talk about me! It makes me feel good, actually!”
“It does?” OJ asks.
“Yes! It’s like…” Paige thinks. What was it like?
Like a hug after a crummy day.
Like sharing a knowing look with a friend.
Like knowing you exist to others just as others exist to you.
Like… like…
“I don’t know,” Paige eventually says, shaking his head. “But it makes me happy to know I’ve been on your mind enough to talk about me!”
Sam giggles. OJ, sitting behind her, kicks her chair a bit.
“Oh, Orville!” she continues laughing. “Don’t be so over dramatic! You of all people should know it’ll be fine.”
“¿Podemos no hablar de el ahora? ¿Por favor?” OJ says, switching to Spanish for some reason.
“Okay, okay,” Sam sighs. “Sorry, honey.”
“As long as you do not continue, it is quite alright, Mom.” OJ sighs. He then turns to Paige. “Sorry, there was… something I couldn’t think of how to say in English.”
Paige tilts his head again, interested. “Is English not your first language?” He asks, then gasps. “Um! Not that there’s anything wrong with it if it isn’t!”
OJ shakes his head. “No, no. It is. I just… didn’t know how to phrase it right.”
“Oh, okay!” Paige smiles. “It’s cool that you have more than one language you can speak fluently.” He scrunches his eyebrows and purses his lips, pushing his pointer fingers together. “You probably already know I’m not the best at Spanish after Friday…”
OJ laughs. “You did well for what you did!” he smiles. “Honestly. You just mixed up ‘have’ and ‘want’.”
“Ah, darn it,” Paige says, snapping his fingers. “I always do that…”
“Es OK, pequeña tórtola,” Sam singsongs. “We can teach you if you so wish!”
“Oh!” Paige gasps. “That’s so nice of you!”
“Mandy here just loves to flex every bit of Spanish she knows.” Dani chuckles.
“I do~!” Sam sings, laughing. Dani laughs with her.
“Mandy…?” Paige whispers to himself.
“A nickname my Ma has for my Mami,” OJ explains, then scrunches his face. “Erm… that is to say, Dani’s nickname for Sam.”
“Oooh,” Paige nods. “That’s cute!”
“Aw!” Dani coos. “You’re cute!”
Paige blushes. “Heehee!”
The four of them fall into a comfortable back and forth, the radio having come on at some point. Eventually though, they reach their destination.
“It’s an early 1 PM, kids!” Sam says once they get out of the car, stretching. “What will you two do in the beautiful sun today?”
“Hide from her,” OJ jokes with a smirk. “We’ll be in my room.” He grabs Paige’s hand and turns towards him. “There’s something I wanted to show you!”
“Oh!” Paige smiles as OJ begins pulling him into their house. It’s a tall, blue home. It looks complicated on the outside, but inside it’s layout is actually rather open. Something something, the home reflecting the tenants, something something… “There’s something I wanted to show you too!”
“Yes?” OJ questions as they ascend the stairs.
“It’s my bag actually!”
“Ooh! Well, we’re almost to my room. Show me once we’re there, yes?”
“Of course!”
OJ brings Paige into a fairly large room, almost rivaling his own. The decorations clash every which way he looks, one corner being filled with trains upon trains and another filled with Sonic merchandise and a third filled to the brim with Pokemon plushies. That last corner was actually his bed. Paige could barely tell it was with it being buried under all the plushies!
There’s one last corner, filled with a cornered desk which houses two monitors. There’s a bunch of stuff on the desk, all little bits and pieces Paige couldn’t really tell what they were.
“Welcome to my room, Paige!” OJ grins, striking a pose. “It’s rather crowded, but I made sure there was enough room for you to sleep here tonight!”
“I get to sleep in here?” Paige gasps, pulling off his backpack.
“Yes! You even—oh my gosh.” OJ cuts himself off in his own gasp, rushing over next to Paige and bending down. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.”
Confused, Paige blinks. Then, he looks down to where OJ is hovering.
Oh! His bag!
“Paige,” OJ breathes, “Is this an honest to god shiny Eevee backpack? The one they only made 102 of?”
“Yes!” Paige smiles. “It’s actually what I wanted to show you!” He sits down on the floor and pats next to him, urging OJ to do the same. He does, plopping down with an exhale.
“How did you get your hands on this?” OJ asks, turning it around and around. “This is incredible! Though you’ve most certainly had this since 2009, it’s practically immaculate!”
“I like it a lot!” Paige laughs. “I like to keep my things clean!”
“Yet you use it often, yes?”
“Eh,” Paige wobbles his hand. “Every so often. Like I said, I like it! I wanna keep it looking as good as it can for as long as I can.”
“Incredible willpower you show,” OJ commends. “For I would’ve run this poor thing into the ground! Haha!”
Paige watches as OJ laughs, something warm filling him. OJ had the prettiest laugh Paige had ever heard. He loved hearing it. He didn’t even realize how much he had missed it until just now.
He hopes he can hear more of it soon.
“Oh, apologies, Paige. I do tend to get a bit carried away.” OJ says, a little shy.
“Don’t apologize!” Paige grins. “I love to hear you talk!”
OJ rubs the back of his head. Was he blushing? “Ah… thank you.” He shakes his head a bit. “But! This is amazing. I’m so happy I got to see one of these backpacks up close.” He hands it back to Paige. “Here you are.”
“Thank you!” Paige smiles, placing it in his lap. “Now what did you wanna show me?”
“Oh yes!” OJ grins, clapping his hands together. “Well, you know how you mentioned my love of Sonic the other day?”
“Yes?”
“Yes! So! You kind of sparked a revitalized love for it in me!” OJ stands and goes to his computer, beckoning Paige to follow along. “I made something and I was hoping to show you!”
“Ooh!” Paige smiles, putting his bag aside and going after OJ. “What is it?”
Paige comes up behind OJ and looks over his shoulder. The mouse moves in precise motions. Soon, the screen shows a document entitled “Sonic ‘06 is Savable, and Here’s Why”.
“I have a power point prepared!” OJ smiles wide. “I can prepare some popcorn if you so wish!”
“And, because of that, Silver is then able to return to a good, happy world with Blaze, and they all live happily ever after,” OJ concludes. “The end!” he smiles.
Paige claps from beside OJ, having pulled up a chair. “Bravo!” he congratulates. “Amazing!”
OJ’s smile turns bashful. “Thank you, thank you,” he chuckles. “I’ve been working on that since Friday. I do hope it wasn’t too verbose…”
“No! I think I understood most of it from what I remember and what you explained!” Paige grins. “Besides, I’m sure we weren’t here that long.” In truth, he wasn’t really paying attention to how long they had been here, but as he checks his phone, he can see it’s now 5 PM. “Oh my gosh.”
“Hm?”
“OJ, we’ve been here for four hours.”
“Oh my,” OJ gasps. “Apologies… I didn’t realize my essay was so long.”
“It’s okay!” Paige says earnestly. “Like I said, I really love listening to you. Besides, it’s not like we didn’t get distracted every two minutes,” Paige laughs.
“Yes, I suppose that is true,” OJ chuckles. “But if it’s been four hours, that means it should be around 5 now, yes?”
“Yeah, it’s…” Paige checks his phone again. “5:23.”
“Ah. Dinner soon, then.”
“Oh!” Paige gasps. “You have dinner around now too, then?”
OJ nods. “Everyday at six. Ma cooks and Mom cleans and I get to do the dishes.” He sticks his tongue out at the last thing, pouting. “I hate it, but at least I get to use my gloves.”
“You guys don’t use paper plates?” Paige asks.
“We try to minimize waste as much as we can,” OJ explains, stretching. “Paper plates are quick and easy, but they add up over time.”
“I never thought of it like that before…” Paige mumbles. “Should I ask Mom and Aunt Carmen to switch to glass plates?”
“Oh, no, no,” OJ is quick to say. “This is just something me and my family do. You’re very welcome to do whatever you wish.”
“Oh, okay!” Paige smiles. “Well, we have about another half hour to kill. What d’you wanna do?”
“Well, I think I have spent quite enough time talking my head off!” OJ laughs. Paige’s face softens. “So I think perhaps we should switch to a topic you know an equal amount on?”
“Oh? Like?”
“Pokemon perchance?” OJ offers. “I know we mentioned it briefly once you arrived, but…”
“Oh my goodness,” Paige gasps. “I would love to talk about Pokemon!”
OJ smiles wide. “Wonderful!” He turns back to his computer for a moment. “Here, let me put on some music. I realize I neglected to do so after we got distracted the first time.”
“My bad!” Paige giggles, rubbing the back of his head. He had wanted to hear Shadow’s theme after hearing it be described as just the coolest thing ever. And it was!
“It’s quite alright, Paige,” OJ says, turning on the Sun and Moon soundtrack.
“Oh my gosh, Sun and Moon!” Paige smiles wide. “Oh, those are my favorite games!”
“They’re some of my favorites as well!” OJ grins. “I do prefer the pixel graphics over the 3D ones, but I can’t deny a good game when I play one!”
“Yeah!” Paige nods. “The game was really fun and the story was amazing!”
“Yes, yes!” OJ agrees, practically beaming. “Oh, speaking of story, what did you think of the story changes in Ultra Sun and Moon?”
Paige frowns immediately. “Boo!” he pouts, sticking his tongue out. “I hated it!”
“Finally!” OJ cheers. “Someone who gets it!”
With that thread successfully picked up, the two teenagers talk about the differences between each version of the games, ranting in equal amounts about the things they liked and disliked. Eventually, there’s a knock on the door.
“Orville? Snowy?” Sam calls from behind the door.
“Come in, Mom!” OJ calls back.
The door swings open and Sam walks in a bit. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Ooh!” Paige smiles. “What’s for dinner?”
“Stir fry!” Sam answers enthusiastically, clapping. “It’s Dani’s special!”
“Oh, I love Ma’s special!” OJ grins, clapping himself.
Paige smiles. He can see OJ in Sam a lot. It’s sweet, knowing they obviously must be close.
“Come, come!” Sam beckons. “It only gets colder by the second!”
“It’s not going to freeze in two seconds, Mami!” OJ giggles. He stands anyways, holding a hand out for Paige. “Come on, let’s go get something in our stomachs.”
Paige’s face is likely to break with how wide his smile is.
+++
The table is ready and set when the three of them arrive. “Heyo!” Dani greets. “Got everyone’s plates ready, hope that’s alright.”
“Of course it is, sweetie!” Sam giggles, walking over quickly and kissing Dani on his mouth.
“Aaah, Mandyyy!” Dani drones playfully, pulling away a bit. “Not in front of the kids!”
“Oh, the kids are 16! They’ve seen a kiss or two in their lives!” Sam turns towards said children, who have taken a seat at the rectangular dinner table. “Haven’t you, sweeties?”
“Um!” Paige says. “Um…!”
“I live with you two,” OJ says, rolling his eyes. “Of course I have.” The smile on his lips betrays his serious tone. He turns to Paige. “Have you really never seen a kiss before, though?”
“Um…!!!” is all Paige can say, face flushing hard. “I—I’d love to try some of the stir fry!” he says, dodging the question altogether.
The other three laugh as Paige stares down at his plate. He knew he was a little sheltered, sure, but…
“Are you alright?” OJ asks suddenly. Paige blinks, looking over.
“Y-Yeah…” he mumbles. “Just… I don’t know.” He pouts. “I didn’t get out much as a kid.”
“You’re still a kid,” OJ notes.
“Yeah, but I mean like a kid kid. You know, like before I was 8.”
“Ah.” OJ nods. “Well, that’s quite alright, you know. It matters not if you’ve seen a kiss before. It’s nothing special.”
“Isn’t it?” Paige asks as the adults take their own seats across from the children. “It’s supposed to be like… this big, huge thing, isn’t it?”
“Not necessarily,” Dani shrugs, taking a bite of food. “Ooh! I did good today!”
Sam laughs. “Yes, my dear turtle dove. It’s nothing big if you don’t make it something big!”
“Oh…” Paige pulls a hand to his mouth and turns to OJ. “Have you ever kissed someone before?” he asks without really thinking about it.
OJ, mid bite, chokes.
It now suddenly strikes Paige how out of the blue that question must seem.
“Ah!” he gasps, patting OJ on the back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“It’s—” OJ tries, only to cough again. Dani has gotten up to get a glass of water for him while Sam has leaned over the table to hold her hands over his, eyes huge with worry.
“Here, Orv,” Dani says, pulling him back from being leaned over and pressing the cup into his hands. “Drink up.”
OJ does as requested while Paige sits there miserably. He had nearly killed OJ! All over some dumb question he didn’t even mean to ask, really…
Once the commotion has died down, OJ having recovered from choking, there’s a collective sigh to be had.
“Um,” Paige says bashfully. “Don’t worry about answering that.”
“It’s alright,” OJ says, a little hoarse. “Let’s—let’s try it this way: what were you doing at the skate park yesterday?”
“Ooh, you skate, little man?” Dani grins. “Longboard or a reg?”
“Um…” Paige takes a quick bite of food. “I um… I don’t actually skate.”
“But you found yourself at a skate park?” Sam questions.
“I was with my friends!” Paige smiles a bit. “OJ, you know Brandon and Bro, but I was also hanging out with my old friend Kevin and his friend Piper!” He takes another bite. Gosh, this was good! “Did you know Kevin actually owns that skate park?”
“Oh!” Dani says, pulling his arms up a bit in excitement. “I just connected some dots!” He looks at OJ. “IIs that what you were talking about last night?”
“Yes!” OJ grins. “Me and Paige were on the phone for quite some time as he let me talk about the history of the Sharp’s park.”
“Cool!” Dani smiles. “Good to know you’ve got someone else to talk to about your fun facts with again!”
“I agree,” OJ says, turning to Paige with a polite nod. “I do so appreciate you listening to me go on about it.”
“Of course!” Paige smiles. “I didn’t have much else to do, anyways.”
“Oh?” Sam asks. “But weren’t you at a skate park? To skate?”
“Well, yes…” Paige says, swallowing another bite. “But… there was a… hmm… how do I say this…?”
“I just remembered, you said that something had happened?” OJ prods. “I never followed that thread. Is that what you’re talking about?”
“Yeah,” Paige nods. “It… well…” He looks over at everyone to make sure none of them are in the middle of chewing. Once the coast is clear, he says. “I may have almost died…?”
The following silence is palpable.
“I—I’m sorry?” OJ asks, placing his fork down and turning to face Paige head on. “You what?”
“Ahaha! Yeah! It’s um… it’s actually a little funny after the fact!”
“Paige, you just told us you almost died,” Dani says, voice serious. “Are you alright? I mean—how are you even here right now?”
“Well, I said almost for a reason, you know!” Paige defends. “But… I um… I slipped. Badly.” He knocks on his head lightly. “If it weren’t for that helmet that cracked in two, I might be humpty dumpty right now! Haha!”
Paige laughs weakly, but no one joins him. In fact, everyone’s faces look mortified.
“Paige,” OJ breathes. “Should you not be in a hospital right now?”
“What?” Paige blinks. “No, no. I’m alright! Honest!” He takes another bite of his food and flaps his hand. “This sort of thing happens to me all the time.”
“Huh?” Dani asks, sounding completely dumbfounded. “All the time?”
“Orville told us you were a bit accident prone, but my goodness…” Sam breathes.
“Really, I’m okay!” Paige assures. “Like I told my Mom, I’m not gonna end up dead like my dad or anything!”
“Huh?” everyone asks at the same time.
“Didn’t I tell you about my dad, OJ?” Paige asks, confused. “How he died by slipping and falling and hitting his head?”
OJ stares at him. “Paige,” he says.
“Yes?”
“Do you realize what you just said?”
“Um…” Paige mumbles. “Nnnooo…?”
“You just told us your dad died by slipping, falling and cracking his head open,” Dani recaps. “Which is the exact same thing you just told us about you wiping out yesterday.”
“Oh.” Paige says smartly. “I guess I didn’t really think about it like that.”
“Ok,” Sam says, shaking her head. “No more talk of death, yes?” She turns to Paige. “You’re okay? Really and truly? You promise?”
“I promise!” Paige smiles. “Really, I’m normally good with a little rest in my system.” He yawns. “Speaking of rest… I’m a little sleepy…”
“Sweetie, it’s only 6:20?” Sam asks. “Do you usually sleep this early?”
“Yeah, actually,” Paige nods. He quickly picks up the rest of his food on his fork and pops it in his mouth. “Really delicious food, by the way, Mr. Dani!” he smiles after he swallows.
“Dani, Dan, Dan the Man, Dandy…” Dani lists off, pushing one finger out with each name, “You can use any of those, but Mr. is not allowed in this house, buddy boy.”
“Oh, okay!” Paige nods. “Well, I’ll go get my clothes ready for a bath, if that’s okay?” he asks, hopping off of his seat and taking his plate over to the sink. He rinses it off a bit, leaving it to be thoroughly washed by OJ later.
“Oh, I’ll show you how to use the shower,” Dani offers, also done with his food. “C’mon.” He stands and does the same thing Paige just did and then begins leading the way.
+++
Later, Paige is falling asleep at OJ’s desk, slumped back in his chair. OJ himself was busy showering and getting dressed, but he hadn’t told Paige where exactly in his room he’d be sleeping tonight. So, he waits, curled up into a loose ball.
“Terribly sorry for the wait,” OJ says as he pushes into his door. To his credit, Paige only startles a little bit.
“‘M up, ‘m up…” he mumbles.
“Oh dear,” OJ worries. “It seems I may have kept you waiting too long doing my routine…”
“‘Sokay,” Paige yawns. “I jus’ didn’t know where I was gonna sleep… so I jus’ sat here for a minute…”
“Oh, did I not tell you?” OJ asks, moving to his closet and pulling out what looks like an inflatable mattress. Oh, wonderful. Paige always liked having an excuse to break out one of these bad boys. “You’ll be sleeping on my bed.”
“Oh, okay,” Paige nods sleepily. Then, as the air mattress begins to blow up, he blinks. “Wait, what?”
“You’re my guest!” OJ smiles. “It’d be rude of me not to offer my bed!”
“But!” Paige says. “It’s—it’s your bed!”
“Yes, and it’s my choice to offer it to you.” OJ’s smile falters a bit. “If it makes you uncomfortable, however…”
“No!” Paige is quick to yelp. “I—I mean… I… I don’t mind.” Nice save. “It just… I’ve never slept in someone else’s bed?”
“Well, here’s your chance!” The mattress finishes inflating and powers down. “I need to go find the sheets for this and take my medicine,” OJ says. “Feel free to go to sleep, however.” He stands and waves, one hand behind his back. “Goodnight, Paige.”
Paige waves back after slowly having sat down on OJ’s bed. “Goodnight, OJ.” With that, OJ leaves, closing the door behind him.
Paige slowly lays down on OJ’s bed. It’s fluffy and bouncy, and so are his pillows. The teen takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
The whole thing smells exactly like OJ.
Paige is going to be dizzy if he doesn’t force himself to sleep right now.
Ultimately, it’s not a hard thing to achieve. He just has to count the immense amount of figurines OJ had until his eyes slipped closed and his breathing evened out.
+++
“Apples…?”
Paige shifts in bed. Someone was mumbling something out loud.
“No, no… Apples aren’t interesting. What about…. no… that would be too obvious…”
…OJ?
“Perhaps something like… ohh, what was that joke about the mathematician…?”
Paige’s eyes are quickly closing on him. Whatever OJ’s talking about can wait until later. Right now, Paige needed some more z’s.
Monday is October first. Paige and OJ walk to school together, talking about whatever pops up in their heads. It’s such a pleasant moment, Paige feels a little sad once they reach the school grounds.
“I have to get my first period class early,” OJ says, waving at Paige. “I’ll talk to you soon, yes?”
“Yes!” Paige nods, waving back. With that, OJ is off.
Nothing to do now but wait for Brandon. Paige pulls out his phone.
paige: Hey! Im at school!
Brandon replies in a couple minutes.
branflakes: b there soon <3
Soon… Paige stands near the school gates, waiting to see his mom’s car. Eventually, it pulls up, Brandon hopping out.
“Hey man!” it greets. “Got your bag.” It leans back into the car and pulls out Paige’s normal school bookbag.
“Oh, thanks!” Paige smiles, pulling off his Eevee bag. He walks over to the front of the car where the window is pulled down. “Hi Mom!”
“Hello darling!” she smiles brightly. “How was your sleepover?”
“Um…” Paige mumbles, remembering the dinner fiasco. “Good?”
“Did something happen, honey?” Quinn asks, looking worried.
“Not really? It’s… complicated.” Paige places his Eevee in the front seat through the window. “I’ll tell you when I get home, okay?”
“Okay, hun.” Quinn says, somber smile on her face. “I love you!”
“I love you too!” Paige grins. “Take care of Eevee for me, okay?”
“Of course, honey.”
Paige is ready to move away from the car, but then he gasps. “Oh!” He quickly rummages through his bag and takes out his note. Almost forgot!
But, with that, Paige backs up and waves, and Quinn drives off.
“Alrighty, man!” Brandon says, giving Paige one of its Brotherly Pats On The Back and holding out its hand. “Hand it over.”
“The note?” Paige asks.
“No, your homework,” Brandon jokes. “Of course the note, Paiges!”
“Oh, alright!” Paige gives over the note. “Be sure to get it to him!”
“‘Course, playa,” Brandon winks, throwing a finger gun. “See you at Lunch!”
“See you!” Paige waves, walking into the school instead of to the side like Brandon would do everyday. It must have a secret meeting spot or something with the admirer…
Paige shrugs. Nothing to be done about that.
+++
Lunch seems like it comes faster than usual, Paige stuck in his own head during class. He thinks about the note he’ll get today. He thinks about yesterday, when he made a bit of a fool of himself in front of OJ and his parents. He thinks about the day before, where he almost died.
There’s a lot for Paige to think about.
But now it’s Lunch, and Brandon has a new note for Paige. It reads:
“I’ll be honest, I’m not too good at jokes! But here’s one I heard quite some time ago. It’s a little cheesy, but…
Did you hear about the mathematician who was afraid of negative numbers? He’d stop at nothing to avoid them!
I hope that was able to at least get a giggle out of you. I’d love to hear it again someday. ♥
(P.S.
My favorite dog breed is corgi! I love them a lot, they’re very fun! I had a moment where I really, really wanted a corgi, but my parents had refused. Now that I think of it, I wouldn’t have been able to take care of the poor thing on my own, so they would have been the main ones taking care of it. Makes sense now! Haha!
Anyway, I noticed your bag today. What is your favorite starter Pokemon? Mine is Charmander! A little cliche, I know, but I can’t help it! He’s my favorite color!)
(P.P.S.
You flatter! But yes, the note was very cute, just like always!)”
Paige smiles wide at the note. His admirer certainly did have a tendency to ramble, but it was so cute! And the joke was cheesy, but Paige loved cheesy.
+++
Paige is getting ready for bed, Teds all warmed up and him with clean pajamas on. Time to write his reply note.
“I think the joke was silly! It made me smile a lot! …It was a little cheesy though. Heehee! If you think facts are easier to write, you can do that again. I like learning things!
(P.S.
My favorite starter is Eevee, just like one of my bags! Your favorite is cool, though! My friend OJ’s favorite is also Charmander, actually! He told me yesterday! Maybe the two of you could be friends? Whenever we meet of course! What’s your favorite Pokemon ever? I think mine is probably Alolan Vulpix!)
(P.P.S.
I think all your notes are really cute, too! I can’t tell you how excited I always am to receive them, really! So, thank you for starting this!)”
There we go. Perfect. Paige folds the note and slips it into his bookbag.
There’s a knock at the door as Paige is climbing into bed. “Come in!” he calls.
Quinn enters the room. “Hello, my little book of Paiges,” she smiles softly. “You wanna talk about yesterday?”
Paige sighs, cuddling up to Teds. “I may have told everyone about Dad and then talked about how I almost died in almost the same exact way on Saturday?” he tries, awkwardly smiling.
“Paige!” Quinn gasps. “You can’t just say things like that!”
“I didn’t realize it would be a weird thing to say!” Paige defends. “I thought OJ already knew about Dad so I mentioned it off handedly… and they asked about Saturday so I just told them!”
“Oh, baby…” Quinn mumbles, coming over to sit on Paige’s bed. “Honey, you’ve got to be a bit more conscious of the things you say, alright? I know you’re a bit…” She glances to the side. “...Air headed, but this is new for you.”
“I guess…” Paige mumbles, feeling bad.
“Hey, hey,” Quinn is quick to move over and give her son a hug. “I never said that was a bad thing. Just… try and be more present to the atmosphere.” She sighs. “I know it isn’t easy, lord knows it’s not, but nothing beats a failure but a try, alright?”
“Alright,” Paige nods. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my boy,” Quinn smiles. “Now get you some rest, okay?”
“Okay. Goodnight, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie.” Quinn plants a kiss on Paige’s forehead before standing and leaving.
Alright, then. Starting tomorrow, Paige would try his hardest to be more present.
+++
Wake up, do the dailies, text OJ on the way to school, give Brandon the note and then wait for Lunch. This was the start of Paige’s Tuesday.
He’s got the goal of being more aware of himself and others today. But, try as he might, he finds his mind wandering in his classes. Nothing interested him enough in the early morning to really catch his attention, so he simply let it all pass by him.
Until Lunch, of course.
Today’s note reads:
“I am much better at facts, I think! Speaking of which, did you know hermit crabs, king Crabs, and horseshoe crabs are all false crabs? They’re not actually classified as crabs, but they look it! I however would never lie to you about my feelings. I think I may have a crush on you… ♥
(P.S.
My favorite Pokemon ever is Riolu! It’s full of energy and it’s emotionally tethered to the world. A second favorite of mine is Ralts for the same reason! Unrelated to those Pokemon, have you ever heard of the secret Mew in the original games? The myth intrigues me so!)
(P.P.S.
I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to hear you like my notes! I look forward to replying everyday. Really and truly. Excited to hear from you tomorrow!)
Paige is so busy giggling at the note, he doesn’t notice two people walk up behind him.
“Oh my god, crabs?” one of them says, sounding upset. “Oh my god. Paige, you cannot be serious.”
Paige blinks. Who in the world?
Turning, he sees the two folks that had rounded on him. He remembers the blonde one being Sarah and the other being Peppa. Sarah speaks up again.
“We seriously learn you get an admirer and they’re telling you facts about crabs?” They stick out their tongue. “Boo!”
“This is a little disappointing,” Peppa says. “I don’t know why anyone would care about crabs. They’re so creepy!”
“Hey?” Brandon breaks in. “Who the hell are you people?”
“Oh, sorry,” Peppa apologizes. “Sarah and I heard from a little birdie that Paige here had an admirer! So we totally had to come and check it out!” He frowns. “But knowing the weirdo must like crabs… Paige, I think you’re better off finding someone else.”
“He’s not a weirdo!” Paige defends.
“And like, who the hell are you to say that?” Brandon adds.
“Y-you don’t even kn-ow us,” Bro says.
“If all you're going to do is insult Paige’s admirer, you two should take your leave,” Sue huffs.
“Okay, okay!” Sarah pouts, holding up their hands. “Geez. We can tell when we’re not wanted. C’mon Peps.” Sarah turns and walks away.
“Good luck with Crab Guy,” Peppa says before following behind.
“What was that?” Paige blurts out.
“No clue,” Brandon says, frowning. “But it looks like your secret is getting around.”
“Oh no…” Paige frowns. “I hope this doesn’t scare him away…”
“It won’t,” Sue says matter-of-factly. “Trust me.”
“If you’re sure…” Paige mumbles, folding the note away. Lunch would be over soon, after all.
+++
“I didn’t know crabs could be fake! That’s so cool… I have a fun fact for you today, though! Did you know rainbows could form at night? I learned this one day after searching what makes rainbows so colorful! Night rainbows are called moonbows! Cool, right?
(P.S.
I do know about that myth! I thought it was real for the longest time. I didn’t know how to get to the truck though, so I never could try it for myself… Maybe that was for the best, though? I didn’t have to get disappointed at the young age of 8! Heehee! Do you know any other myths or legends? They don’t have to be Pokemon related!)
(P.P.S
I think every note I get is the highlight of my day now. Please don’t stop!)
+++
“Hey Sue!” Paige hears on Wednesday. He turns to see two people he barely recognized, but he remembers Sue used to talk with them a lot in the past.
“Nick,” Sue says, tone flat, looking at the shorter one with gray-black hair. “Barret,” they say, tone now normal and with a small smile. Barret is taller and has fluffy black hair. Sue then turns back to Nick, eyes looking bored. “What do you want.” It’s not a question.
“Good to see you too!” Nick laughs, pushing his way to sit next to Sue and throwing an arm around their shoulder. Sue picks it off.
“What do you want, Nick?” They ask again, no nonsense tone.
“Ugh. You’re no fun,” Nick pouts. “But, whatever. You know a lot of info, right?”
“You’ll have to pay me $20 to continue this conversation,” Sue deadpans, holding out a hand.
“Aw man, are you serious?”
“Very.”
“Ugh.” Nick digs through his bag and pulls out his wallet, taking a 20 out and handing it over. “There. Now. Info?”
“You could’ve gone for Michelle for free, you know,” Sue smirks, pocketing the 20. “But yes, I know a fair amount of things.”
“Awesome. So me and Barr were wondering about this thing we heard about..”
“Just tell me,” Sue says, rolling their eyes.
“There’s someone getting love letters in the school,” Barret says. “And Nick wanted to know who it was.”
“Wow!” Nick chuckles. “Way to throw me under the bus, Barr Boy!”
“Ah…” Barret mumbles, shuffling where he stands. “Sorry…”
“Nah, I’m just fuckin’ with you,” Nick grins, then turns back to Sue. “So? You know who it is?”
Sue stares at Nick. Then, slowly, they pull out the 20 and hand it back.
“What?” Nick blinks.
“I cannot give you that information,” Sue says plainly. “Do not ask anyone else about it, either.”
“What!?” Nick huffs. “You deny me knowledge and then tell me not to learn it from elsewhere?” He’s talking really haughtily. “Hmph! See if I listen to you!” He stands and grabs Barret’s hand. “Come, Barret! We have a Mic to see!”
“Oh, okay…!” Barret squeaks out. “Um… see you later, Sue,” he waves.
“See you,” they wave back.
“What the hell was that…” Brandon mumbles. “And who the hell is spreading the rumor around? We didn’t tell anybody!”
“I don’t know,” Paige frowns. “But if it doesn’t scare him away… I guess I don’t really care who hears what.”
“So I could have kept that 20?” Sue asks seriously.
Brandon and Bro laugh.
Paige finally reads his note for the day.
“Back again with another fact! Did you know cuddling heals wounds and fights off depression? I consider myself a pretty happy person, but I would love to cuddle with you. ♥
(P.S.
I did not know about moonbows! I would love to see one with you one day, should we get lucky enough. I think that would be amazing. As for myths… there’s a common misconception that women accused of witchcraft were burned in the Salem Witch Trials. This is actually untrue! In medieval times, however, they did burn people.
Apologies for the mood shift, but I recall being really interested in witches and wizards and the like. I kept finding things of an unmentionable source, however, so eventually my searches lead me to historical matters. I do hope this note still makes you smile with the new knowledge you may have gleaned!
That being said, do you have any odd facts that you know of? I’m intrigued!)
(P.P.S
I can’t wait to talk with you in person one day. Hopefully that will also be a highlight!)”
The school bell rings. Lunch was over.
+++
“I’ve never cuddled with anyone besides my mom, aunt and my friend Brandon before… I think it would be really nice to cuddle with someone else! The idea of being next to someone like you… well! Heehee!
(P.S.
I didn’t know about the witch trials! That is interesting! I always thought they were burned for no reason, but it sounds like they weren’t burned at all!
As for weird facts… I don’t think I have any weird ones, but I do have a fun one! Do you know Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood? It used to be a show on television! The main man, Mr. Rogers, used to feed his fish every episode, but never would mention it. Then, one day a blind girl mailed him a letter that said she was afraid the fish would die if he didn’t feed them. So he started announcing whenever he fed the fish so she would feel safe knowing they were fed! It’s such a nice and wonderful thing I learned about once, it’s never left me since!)
(P.P.S
Do you think a meetup could happen sometime soon? Not right now, I don’t think I’m ready, but… I really want to know who you are!)
+++
It’s Thursday. The day goes by as usual, Paige barely paying attention to his classes until he was released into Lunch.
Today’s note:
“Did you know sea otters hold hands so they don’t drift apart? I can’t tell you how badly I’d love to hold your hand… ♥
(P.S.
I remember Mr. Rogers! He was always so kind, a fact like this doesn’t surprise me. I never really watched the show, but I listened to it while nodding off in my evenings at home. The theme song was so calming. What’s your favorite theme song? It can be a cartoon or a live action show, I’m simply curious!)
(P.P.S.
Meeting has been my hope since the beginning. I hope that doesn’t come off as weird. I just really like you, and I would love to show you how in person. I think of it quite often in fact!)”
Paige swoons over the note. He was so head over heels for this mystery person…
As Lunch draws to a close, Paige excuses himself. He had to get some books before the next class. He hums on his way to his locker, thinking of the notes, when suddenly a scream splits the air.
Paige blinks. What the…?
“STOP!” someone screams. It sounds kind of like Kevin, actually. “STOP, STOP, STOP!”
Paige abandons his locker in favor of rushing towards the sound of the voice. He was hoping everything was okay, but…
He finally turns a corner to see Kevin on the ground, sobbing. Their leg is at an odd angle.
“Oh my god, Kevin!” Paige shouts, rushing over. He hovers over them, unsure what to do. “Oh my god, what happened?”
“S-someone came by and just started attacking me… I don’t know why or anything.” Kevin hisses. “They stomped really h-ard on my leg when I fell down… I think… I think they broke it…”
Paige’s face creases angrily. “Do you know who did this?”
Kevin shakes their head, wincing in pain. “Some kid I’ve never seen before…”
“Description,” Paige demands, voice dropping an octave.
“Huh?” Kevin blinks.
“You’re one of h—my oldest friends, Kevin,” Paige says. “I’m not letting whoever did this to you off scott free.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asks, eyes full of pain and confusion.
Paige chuckles. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m gonna return the favor.”
Paige blinks. Where did that come from?
He shakes his head. That was unimportant right now. “I’m going to get Ms. Tiseu, okay?”
“Y-yeah…” Kevin breathes heavily. “Please.”
Paige rushes to the nurse’s office as fast as he can. Bursting through the door and startling Ms. Tiseu, he shouts, “Ms. Tiseu! There’s an emergency!”
"E-emergency?" she repeats, hand to her chest and trying to catch her breath. “Oh dear. What happened?”
“Someone broke Kevin’s leg!”
“WHAT!?” the nurse yelps, standing immediately. “Show me to him! Hurry!”
Paige quickly makes his way back to where he left Kevin. He’s still on the floor, but his tears seem to have dried up a bit. Even so, he’s obviously still in immense pain, breathing heavily.
“Oh my good lord,” Ms. Tiseu gasps. “Kevin, how did this happen?” she asks, bending over him in much the same way Paige did a moment ago.
“Some kid stomped on my leg…” he recounts again. “Ms. Tiseu, it really, really hurts.”
“I can imagine, dear. Just let me do one thing, okay?”
“Okay…”
The nurse very, very carefully pokes at Kevin’s undamaged leg. Nothing happens. Then, she does the same to his injured one.
He screams.
“OW, OW, OWW!” he cries. “It hurts! It hurts!”
“Okay, okay,” Ms. Tiseu soothes. “We have to get you to the hospital, dear.”
“Hospital…?” Paige breathes.
“Yes, the hospital. It looks like this is a pretty bad fracture. I can’t do anything about it here.” The nurse pulls out her cellphone and dials a number. “Yes, hello? We need an ambulance at Ingenious High ASAP. I’m the nurse and I have a student here with a broken leg.”
Paige stares down at Kevin’s leg, disbelieving. He was fine not only a week ago! How… how could someone do this!?
“Yes, thank you.” Ms. Tiseu says, hanging up. “They’ll be here soon. Paige?”
“...”
“Paige.”
“......”
“Paige!”
“Huh?” he blinks. “Y-yes, Ms. Tiseu?”
“Go on to class, sweetie. I’ll make sure Kevin here is alright.”
“No!” Paige cries. “I—I want to go with him!”
“Honey…” the nurse murmurs sympathetically. “I’m afraid I can’t release you even under these circumstances.”
Paige is going to cry. “Then I want to go home!” he shouts, stomping his foot. “You can’t expect me to see one of my best friends like this and then go to class like nothing happened! It’s not fair!!”
Ms. Tiseu looks down at the child with a tight face. “...You’re right,” she says eventually. “I’ll call your aunt.”
+++
Carmen looks in his rear view mirror directly at Paige. Paige is trying not to let his aunt catch his gaze, but he fails.
“Paige, mijo, what happened today?” he asks, worry clear in his voice.
“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Paige says flatly.
“...Alright, sweetie.”
+++
Paige doesn’t sleep well that night.
+++
“Hey!” Brandon greets the next morning. “What happened to you yesterday, man? You weren’t in class in the last two periods.”
“I left,” is all that Paige says.
“You left?”
“I left.”
“Why?” Brandon prods further.
Paige frowns. “Kevin broke his leg.”
“What?” Brandon blinks. Then, he says again, “WHAT?”
“I really don’t wanna talk about it,” Paige sighs.
“Okay, but are you alright?” Brandon frets.
“Fine,” Paige replies.
“Are you sure?” Brandon pouts. “You seem… I don’t know. You’re acting a little different.”
“I just saw one of my oldest friends sobbing with a broken leg,” Paige deadpans. “I think you’d be acting different too.”
“Oh,” is all that Brandon can muster.
“Yeah,” Paige says back.
+++
“Are you gonna give a note today?” Brandon asks as the two of them unload out of Quinn’s SUV.
“Shoot,” Paige says, sucking his teeth. “I forgot.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Brandon nods. “You want I should tell him you can’t make it today?”
“No,” Paige says, pulling off his bag. “Hold on.”
Ripping out a piece of paper from a random book he had, Paige writes:
“Sorry. Something serious came up. I’ll try to reply properly on Monday, okay?”
He hands the note off to Brandon. “Thanks,” is all he says before walking off into the school, leaving Brandon in his wake.
+++
Paying attention normally for Paige was difficult. Now? It was impossible.
Flashes of Kevin’s broken leg pop up in Paige’s vision again and again. Everytime he tries to write something. Everytime he tries to read something. Everytime he looks at the board. Everytime a teacher calls on him. It’s all he can see.
But when Brandon has a note for him at Lunch, he’s surprised. It reads:
“I understand a close friend of yours was hurt. Take all the time you need to recover.”
It’s just that. Two sentences.
It takes all of Paige’s willpower not to scream. Not to cry. Not to do anything.
The middleground is Paige’s best friend for the rest of the day.
+++
kev: hey man
kev: thought id update u
kev: i can get visitors now so if u wanna drop by im good
When Paige receives these texts on Saturday afternoon, he jolts up out of bed. He’d been just sitting there all day, scribbling in his sketchbook. But now there was something much more important at hand.
“MOM!” Paige shouts as he leaves his room. “MOM, WHERE ARE YOU?”
“Kitchen!” she calls back.
Paige rushes down the stairs, almost tripping but barely catching himself on the couch. He then dashes into the kitchen, panting heavily. “Mom, Kevin can get visitors now!”
“Visitors?” Quinn questions, putting butter on a piece of toast. “What do you mean, honey?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Paige asks, incredulous. “Someone broke Kevin’s leg and now he’s in the hospital and he can get visitors now so now we have to go visit okay? We have to!”
“Woah, woah, woah,” Quinn calms. “What do you mean someone broke Kevin’s leg?”
“On Thursday! Some kid broke his leg and now he’s in the hospital!”
“You very much did not tell me this, Paige,” Quinn says, frowning. “Is that why you’ve been so distant since then?”
“Mom, can we just go?” Paige pleads. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Quinn stares at her son for a moment before sighing. “Yes, alright. Go get ready.”
+++
Paige anxiously walks into Kevin’s room. “Kevin…?” he breathes.
“Hey-hey,” Kevin waves weakly. His leg is in a cast, which Paige is thankful for. He thinks if he saw it again it would haunt him until he died. “What’s up, man?”
“Nothing,” Paige says, moving over to the side of Kevin’s bed. “How are you, though? Did they fix your leg?”
Kevin chuckles a bit. “Well, I mean… as much as they could, I guess.” He lifts up a bit. “I’m gonna be out of the game for a long time, though,” he says, stretching and then wincing. “Ow…”
“Kevin?” Paige asks, eyes wide with worry.
“I’m good, I’m good,” he assures. “Just gotta get used to not jostling this thing so much.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, man.” Kevin smiles a small smile. “Don’t worry so much.”
“You broke your leg!” Paige yelps, surprising himself. He continues, though. “It was at an angle I’d never seen a human’s leg at before! It was really scary!!”
“Oh geez,” Kevin breathes. “I guess I didn’t think about it from your point of view.” He frowns apologetically. “I’m sorry you had to see that, man.”
Paige seethes. To think that Kevin was apologizing for having his leg broken? It was unbelievable. Paige wanted to hug Kevin and tell him it was alright. He wanted to help Kevin magically become better.
He wanted to return the favor to whoever did this to him.
Suddenly, something in Paige snaps, and he can feel himself become calm in the matter of just a second.
“It’s alright,” he says in a plain voice. “I’ll be sure to get the bastard who did this.”
Kevin blinks. “Paige?” he asks. “Did you just say the word ‘bastard’?”
Paige chuckles. “I did.” He stands up. “Sorry for the short visit, but I gotta go get ready.”
“Ready?” Kevin asks. “For what?”
“To knock someone’s teeth in, obviously.”
+++
When Paige wakes up on Sunday, he feels… off. Weird. Just… there’s something happening to him that he can’t quite explain.
He catches himself doing things without really remembering how he got there. Like he’s eating crackers at some point, but he doesn’t remember going to get them. And then later, he’s washing his hands, but he doesn’t remember going to the bathroom. Even later still, he’s smack dab in the middle of brushing his teeth when he blinks to attention.
What in the world was going on with him?
+++
Monday again. Paige is barely able to stumble his way to Lunch today. Brandon gives him a worried look as he passes a new note over to him, to his surprise. It reads:
“With things piling up, I thought it’d be best to give you a breather from these notes. I don’t believe getting love letters whilst everything is happening is really the best for you when you must be processing things. Once the upcoming tests have been completed, my daily notes will return.
I wish you the best, Paige.”
Paige looks down at the note, growling a bit.
This was all because of that kid who hurt Kevin, wasn’t it? Paige shakes with rage, crumbling the note a bit.
That was it. He had to find them. What would he do once he did? He wasn’t sure. But something had to be done.
Justice had to be served.
“I have to go,” the white haired boy says, standing up. “See you later.”
“What?” Brandon asks as the other walks away. “Wait, Paige, where are you going?”
He doesn’t respond.
Leaf grumbles as he walks away. He knew Paige wouldn’t feel the best about what he was going to do, but that was fine. He would deal with it later.
Looking over the cafeteria, Leaf tries to spot the three puffballs of hair he knew would most likely help him find the culprit of the crime that was committed.
It takes a moment, but eventually he spots the girl and walks straight towards her.
“Michelle,” he says as a piss poor way of greeting.
“Oh, hey!” Michelle smiles. “Paige, right?”
“...Yeah,” Leaf mumbles. “I have a question.”
“Oh, okay! Shoot!”
“You know Kevin Sharp?”
“‘Course I do!”
“You hear how he got attacked recently?”
“WHAT!?” Michelle yelps. “That’s who went away in an ambulance on Thursday!?”
“...You won’t be any help,” Leaf sneers. “Thanks, or whatever.” He begins walking away.
“Wait!” Michelle calls behind him.
He ignores her.
+++
Leaf doesn’t ask for permission when he grabs his bag and leaves school for the day. There was no way in hell he was sticking around here just to stare at pieces of paper he didn’t know anything about for another 3 hours.
Navigating home would be an issue, however. He hadn’t really been paying close enough attention for the past… however many years to remember directions. He hoped the GPS on Paige’s phone would help.
…Wait. Paige had a phone. Phones were used to call people.
Leaf hits himself on the head. He then immediately regrets it. He’d done it much too hard, forgetting how fragile the body was. Ugh. That one was gonna smart for quite a while.
Whatever. Paige’s phone is luckily locked with a fingerprint scanner, so Leaf is able to open it with ease. He navigates the device until he can find a contact labeled “Mom :)”.
He taps on it and sighs. He was gonna have to school his voice to sound like Paige’s. Here’s hoping he could do it right.
“Sweetie?” Quinn asks, sounding confused. “What’re you doing calling me right now?”
“I—I’m sorry, Mom,” Leaf says, forcing his voice to be a little higher. “They let us out early and th—the bus won’t be coming for another 30 minutes…”
“Oh, are you stranded?” his mom asks. “You should’ve called Min, honey! You know I can’t get off of work this early.”
“Sorry…” Leaf mumbles. “Should I call him instead?”
“No, no, I can do it. He’ll probably just panic if you do it.” Quinn’s got a little laugh in their voice. “Just hang on a moment, okay? I’ll text you when he’s on his way.”
“Okay!” Leaf says, putting as much emotion as he can into it. “I’ll talk to you later!”
“Talk to you later, sweetie!” Quinn repeats, hanging up.
“Ugh,” Leaf groans. “Carmen better not take forever. I just want to go home.”
+++
Leaf is graciously dropped off at home by his aunt after being completely silent on the ride. Carmen had tried multiple times to start a conversation, but Leaf wasn’t having it. At some point, he’d just folded his arms and put his head down, pretending to be asleep.
“Thank you, Aunt Carmen,” he says like a good little boy once he exits the car.
“Are you alright, mijo?” he finally gets out. Leaf has to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
“Just tired!” he smiles. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay… Feel better soon, alright?”
“Alright!”
The smile falls off of Leaf’s face the moment Carmen pulls off. Ugh. Pretending to be Paige was so tiresome. How did he do this everyday of his life?
Well, whatever. He didn’t have to worry about pretending again until Quinn got home.
Leaf enters his home and flops down on the couch, exhaling.
Finding whoever hurt Kevin was obviously not going to be an easy job. If the resident loudmouth of the school didn’t even know Kevin was the one who got hurt, there was no way she knew who had done it. There had to be someone Paige knew who could point him in the right direction, though…
He thinks. Sue was really the only other knowledge well he knew of, but that would be risky. What if they realized he wasn’t Paige? He could pretend for a while, but he doubted he could keep it up for an entire conversation.
Let’s see… who else could…
The big puffs of hair Michelle had swirl in Leaf’s mind as he thinks, eventually forming a new shape, one of the puffs disappearing entirely. When the shape finally lights itself, Leaf gasps.
Lucy Lulu!
Of course! He’d have to be sure to ask her tomorrow.
For right now though, Leaf gets up and stretches. If Lucy had info, he needed to get ready for a fight. Quinn had a small personal gym set up in the back of the house. He ambles over and looks over the equipment.
Paige had never bothered with these things, but Leaf would have to if he wanted to have any chance of beating whoever the hell hurt his best friend.
Time to get fit. Time to get physical.
When Leaf enters the school building on Tuesday morning, they’re not entirely sure how to get to Lucy. If they remember correctly, she only shared one class with Paige, but even so… The teachers didn’t exactly like it when you talked in the middle of class.
So, they suppose waiting until Lunch it is.
Leaf feels every minute tick by with an aggravating intensity. They fight the urge to simply stand up and leave more than they breathe. School was nothing to them. Unimportant, stupid, and ultimately useless in the adult world.
That’s what they’d read once, anyways.
Leaf spends the time they should be doing work doodling in Paige’s sketchbook instead. They draw themself mostly, scratchy things with cartoony proportions. It was honestly a little fun.
They do this until one page is filled, then a second, then a third. With little else to do, it’s not very difficult.
By the time Lunch arrives, six and a half pages have been filled to capacity.
Instead of going to get food, Leaf enters the cafeteria and scans the area for the two puffballs he needed.
It takes a bit of standing around, but eventually they spot Lucy near the windows. They make a beeline over to her, ignoring whoever seems to be calling Paige’s name.
“Lucy,” they say in a serious voice, only to clear their throat. “H-hi!” they try instead, pushing their voice higher. “I wanted to ask you a question?”
“Ooh, hi Paige!” Lucy smiles. She’s sitting down and sipping at chocolate milk. “What’s up?”
“Um… so you know how Kevin got beat up the other day?”
“Oh yes, yes,” Lucy frowns. “What a fiasco! There were ambulances and everything! I saw the EMTs when I was in the hall, passing by.” She glances to the side. “I just barely saw his face, but I know a face when I see one. Luckily I didn’t see the leg, though.”
“Yeah, well…” They put on their best pouting face, hoping it was good. “You wouldn’t happen to know who did that, would you?”
“Why?” Lucy blinks. “But no.”
“Oh…” Leaf fights to keep their face straight. “That’s alright, then! Sorry to bother you!”
Leaf turns and is ready to walk away when Lucy puts a hand on their shoulder.
“Paige…?” Lucy asks.
“Yes?” Leaf replies, turning back. “What do you—what’s up?” Aah… a slip.
Lucy stares hard at them before smoothing out her expression again. “Are you okay?”
“Wha—why wouldn’t I be?” Leaf stumbles.
“You’re acting… weird.”
“We don’t… we don’t talk much, do we?” Leaf says with a small laugh in their voice. They’re trying to de-escalate whatever’s happening here.
Lucy gives another stare. Shit. Was that the wrong thing to say?
“Okay,” Lucy says finally, more to herself than to Leaf. “Sorry to keep you.”
What?
Lucy lets go and waves. “Say hi to Paige for me when he comes back, alright?” And without another word, she turns back to her lunch and starts up her conversation with Peyton again.
Leaf blinks.
What?
+++
The Lucy scare is enough for Leaf to realize they’re not very good at playing Paige. Going to school again was probably not the best course of action. How to get out of it though…
A lone gust of wind passes by and Leaf sneezes.
Oh!
“That’s it!” Leaf says, smirk on their face.
“Huh?” Brandon asks, startling Leaf a bit. They’d forgotten entirely that they were walking side by side with it on the way to the bus.
“Um… sorry! I just… remembered something!” Leaf tries. “Nothing um… nothing important. I just feel a little sick?”
“Oh…” Brandon mumbles. “I see.”
The two of them don’t talk for the rest of the way home
+++
“Moom…” Leaf mumbles the next morning as Quinn tries to wake them. “I don’t feel so good…”
“Oh no, sweetie… Are you running a fever?” Quinn pushes her hand up to their forehead. “Mmm… It doesn’t look like it… What’s wrong?”
“My… my stomach hurts…” they lie, clutching their middle. “I feel really, really sick.”
“Okay, okay,” Quinn soothes. “You wanna stay home today?”
“Please…”
“Alright, honey.” Quinn gives Leaf a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll make you some eggs and toast and leave it in the microwave for you, alright?”
“Okay…” They smile softly. “Love you, Mom.”
“I love you too sweetie.”
+++
The moment Quinn is gone, Leaf hops out of bed. It was time to eat and then go to the gym. One day was nowhere near enough after all.
Leaf keeps up this charade until the weekend, pretending to be sick, working out, going to bed before Quinn can get home, and then repeating.
When the weekend is here, Leaf is suddenly better! Who would’ve guessed it?
“Mom,” they start. “Can I use your gym equipment?”
“Huh?” Quinn blinks. “Um… sure, honey. Can I ask why, though?”
“I thought it would help me get over this stomach bug for sure!” Leaf grins awkwardly. They can tell it’s not quite what they’re aiming for, but it seems to work.
“Maybe so!” Quinn smiles. “Do you need help?”
“No, I think I can probably figure it out! Thanks, though!”
“Of course, sweetie.” Quinn waves. “Don’t overexert yourself!”
“I won’t!”
For the rest of the day and the next, Leaf trains. There’s no immediate gains or anything, but they feel stronger nonetheless.
+++
It’s Monday again and Leaf has decided enough was enough. It was time to figure out who this mystery assailant was.
It turns out to be a lot easier than they thought it’d be.
While walking into Lunch, they overhear a loud person going, “Yeah! I think I broke his leg entirely!” They laugh. “Serves him right!”
Leaf blinks. Leaf turns. Leaf stares at a kid with eyebags and scruffy hair and a disheveled shirt.
It was this one. This was the kid.
“Pretty cool, Yusef!” one of the kids they’re talking to cheers. “I can’t stand those Sharps. You’re right! Serves him right!”
Oh. This was the end of them.
“Hey, fucker,” Leaf spits, walking over.
“You’re talking to me?” Yusef asks, smirking. “What d’you want, Paper Plate?”
With a rage filled heart, Leaf pushes themself into Yusef’s personal space, grabs their collar with one hand and swings with the other.
Immediately a shout rings out. “FIGHT!”
Yusef stumbles as Leaf lets go of them at the peak of the punch. Children move to crowd the two of them as Yusef stands again.
“You wanna fight?” they smirk. “THEN LET’S FIGHT!”
Yusef’s smile turns evil as they push their curled hands up and pull them down to their sides. With Leaf being so close, he can see they’ve got dangerous knife-like nails. It almost looks like they were filed to be that way.
Leaf shakes his head and pushes up his sleeves. No time to day dream. Yusef runs towards Leaf and swipes, but Leaf dodges back. Yusef swipes again, but Leaf ducks.
Paige was fragile. He had to remember that. Attack when open, dodge when not.
What was that one move Brandon had used back in middle school?
The crowd moves with the action as from his ducked position, Leaf rises with a punch directly to Yusef’s chin. Caught off guard, they fall back on their ass once again.
“Ugh!” they growl. “Why are you so… so… flighty!?”
They stand again and Leaf doesn’t even give them the chance. He quickly punches Yusef in the gut, full of determination.
It’s a miscalculation.
As Yusef recoils from the hit, they dig their claws into Leaf’s forearm, pulling as they stumble back.
“FUCK!” he shouts, clutching the injured arm to his hoodie. Red begins to stain burgundy.
Fuck. Okay. This had to end quickly.
As suddenly as he can, Leaf pulls down his sleeve and goes to give the hardest punch he can muster.
It hits Yusef directly in the face.
This time, when they fall, they hit their head on the wall, effectively stunning them.
Now was Leaf’s chance.
The crowd roars as Leaf walks over to Yusef with a dangerous expression on his face. “You like breaking people’s legs, huh?” he chuckles. “Let’s see how much you like it when it’s your leg!”
Leaf pulls up his leg, ready to strike.
And then he’s being pulled backwards.
“Wh—HEY!” he shouts, thrashing. “LET ME GO!”
“I think not, Mr. Woods,” says the person pulling him.
Fuck. Was that the dean?
“Let me go!” Leaf yells regardless. “They have to pay for what they did!”
“They need an ice pack and a place to sit. You, meanwhile, are to come with me.”
+++
Leaf steams as he sits in one of the chairs provided in the dean’s office, Yusef in the other. They have an ice pack held to the back of their head.
In front of the two of them sits the dean, Mr. Parlett, and the principal, Mr. Stephen. Leaf recalls people often calling the latter “Stevie” for some reason.
“I am very disappointed in you two,” Stephen frowns. “Yusef, this is unsurprising,” he says, pointing a finger at them, “However, Paige? This is extremely unprecedented.” His frown deepens. “What do you have to say for yourselves?”
“He started it,” Yusef growls.
“I started it?” Leaf growls back. “Yeah, ‘cause I’m the one who broke Kevin’s leg, right? I’m the one who attacked him for no fuckin’ reason, right?”
“Mr. Woods!” Stephen gasps. “You will watch your language!”
Leaf huffs, but doesn’t say anything.
“Now,” Stephen continues. “Yusef, this is your umpteenth time in this office. You will be punished accordingly.” He turns to Leaf. “And as this is your first offense, you will also be punished, but to a lesser extent.” He evens his gaze between the two of them. “Both of you are to appear on Friday for tests. Paige, you are not to return until then. Yusef, you are not to return until then, and then for a week later.”
“WHAT!?” Yusef shouts. “How in the hell is that fair!?”
"Language," Parlett says.
“You have been here far too many times, Mx. Yami. I don’t have any other choice.”
Leaf smirks. Severed. Them… Right……
The teen clutches his head. Ugh… What gives? Why’d his head hurt so much all of a sudden?
Gasps ring through the air and Leaf flinches.
“Paige!?” Stephen yelps. “Are you bleeding!?”
Leaf blinks hard before looking up. Ah… His sleeve had fallen down. Red is streaming down his arm.
Oh. Yeah. That was happening.
Leaf takes a deep breath.
“I’m gonna pass out.”
Leaf closes his eyes and lets the dark swallow him.
Paige groans.
His head hurt something fierce and there was an incessant beeping somewhere near him.
What in the world…
Paige slowly blinks his eyes open. A white, sterile ceiling greets him.
“What…?” he rattles, voice hoarse.
The sound of a chair screeching attacks Paige’s ears. He grimaces and tries to pull his arms up to cover his ears, but one of his arms snags. The left one.
“PAIGE!?” his mom cries. “Oh my good god!”
“Mom…” Paige says, throat grating him. “Please… not so loud…”
“Oh my gosh,” Quinn gasps, voice a lot quieter. “I’m so sorry, sweetie. Oh my god.” She bends down and kisses his forehead, then his cheeks, then his forehead again. Up, left, right, up. Just like always.
Paige giggles weakly. “Mom…”
“Oh my god, I have to tell the doctor,” Quinn rushes out. “Baby, I’ll be right back, okay? Stay awake for me.”
“Okay…?”
With one last glance at her son, Quinn quickly leaves the room. He can hear her shout, “DOCTOR! DOCTOR, HE’S AWAKE!”
Paige wants to cover his ears again, but he’d better check what had snagged him in the first place.
He looks down at his arm.
There’s a whole bunch of gauze running down the length of his forearm. And there’s an IV right above where they stop.
He looks to the other side of him. There’s a heart monitor. That’s what’s making the beeping, he realizes.
Paige blinks.
This was the hospital.
Quinn returns with a young looking man in a lab coat. Or, a doctor’s coat? Whatever.
“Hello, Paige,” the man smiles. “I’m Dr. Charm, but you can call me James.” He walks over to the side of Paige’s bed.
Oh. He was in a bed. That makes sense.
“How are you doing?”
“My head hurts…” Paige reports. “And I guess my arm hurts? I… honestly can’t really feel it.”
“That would be the morphine,” James chuckles. “You were pretty beat up when you got here.”
“When I got here…?” Paige mumbles. “When did I get here?”
“Yesterday, sweetie,” Quinn answers. “I’ve been here all night.”
“What time is it?”
James checks his wrist. “About 7 PM.”
7 PM!? It wasn’t even 1 PM when Lunch started! Speaking of which…
“How did I get here?” he asks. “I was… I was just at Lunch with everyone…”
“Sweetie?” his mom breathes, voice full of fear. “Do you… Do you not remember yesterday?”
“Is there something I’m supposed to be remembering?” he questions, voice cracking a bit. Ugh. His throat… “Can I get some water or something?”
“Oh, of course, Paige.” James walks over to the small table a little bit away and pours a tiny cup full of water before handing it over to his patient.
“Thank you,” Paige mumbles, taking a big gulp. He clears his throat afterwords. “Aaaah…” he tests. His throat feels a lot better. “Oh thank goodness.”
“Paige,” Quinn starts, voice trembling a bit. “Sweetie, what is the last thing you remember?”
“Like I said, I was at Lunch with everyone at school,” Paige answers. “And then I woke up here.”
“Are you not aware of the fight you were in, Paige?” James asks gently.
“F-fight…?” Paige repeats. “I—I wasn’t in a fight! I don’t fight people!”
“You have some shallow gashes on your arm that would say otherwise,” James retorts. “That, and the whole cafeteria having witnessed the whole thing, apparently.” Quinn gives him an odd look. “I have a daughter who goes to IH,” he says simply. “I hear the going ons pretty frequently. Especially with something like this happening.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Paige cuts in. “I don’t fight people! I bruise too easy!” he cries. “I would never fight anyone anyways!”
“Well…” James writes down something on a nearby white board. “It seems you have a bit of amnesia.” He turns back around to Paige. “We can discuss that more later, though. Right now, since you’re awake, we’d better try and find someone to help you get a blood transfusion.”
“Blood transfusion…?” Paige breathes. “W—why…?”
“You lost a lot of blood, buddy,” James says, concern on his face. “You barely made it in the ambulance in time.”
“What?” Paige blinks. “An ambulance brought me here?”
“Hmm…” the doctor hums. “A bit of head trauma suffered in the fight might’ve caused this amnesia…” he mumbles to himself.
“Head trauma?” Quinn gasps. “You said nothing about head trauma!”
“Now, now, Ms. Woods,” James soothes. “It’s only a theory. But it’s not as important as the transfusion right now.” He frowns. “However… We checked Paige’s files while he was out. He seems to have a blood type of AB negative. That’s the rarest type in the world.”
Quinn frowns deeply. “I-I'm O positive…” she mumbles, biting her fingers on one hand and tucking the other under her arm. “I—I don’t know if we know anyone with AB negative…”
That’s right, something in the back of Paige’s head whispers. You know someone with something even better.
What was it talking about? Who could—
Brandon has O negative, remember? the whisper continues. That’s the universal blood type, isn’t it?
Oh…
Oh…!
Oh goodness!
“Brandon!” Paige bursts out, interpreting whatever conversation was happening.
“Brandon?” Quinn repeats, confused.
“Brandon! He has O negative blood! I remember, because we both got our blood taken at the same time once! And we were super interested in what types we were, because we were learning about it in Science!”
Both Quinn and James look down at Paige, dumbfounded.
“Paige,” the doctor starts, “How old were you when that happened?”
“About…6 or 7 I guess?” he answers. “Why?”
“Darling, how do you remember something from almost ten years ago, but you can’t remember any of yesterday?”
Paige scrunches his face. “I-I don’t know…” he says miserably. “I wish I could remember. To be honest with you, the idea that I got in a fight and don’t remember it at all is so, so scary.”
It’s better that you don’t remember, actually, the voice in his head says. Trust me.
“Trust you?” Paige asks aloud.
“Huh?” Quinn says as the same time James goes, “Hmm?”
Don’t talk out loud, Paige! the voice says. Just think.
‘Oh…’ Paige thinks. ‘O–okay.’
“Sweetie, what were you saying?” Quinn asks.
“Um… Um…” Paige doesn’t know how to save this.
Repeat after me, the voice says.
‘Um! Okay!’
I trust you to handle this!
“I… I trust you to handle this!” Paige smiles awkwardly. “That’s what I was saying!”
Nice.
“You’re right, sweetie,” Quinn grins nervously. “We’ve got this all covered.” She starts moving towards the door. “Brandon’s right outside with Min, I’ll ask them if it’s okay right now.”
Wait.
‘Huh?’
Ask if you can be the one to ask Brandon.
‘Why? Didn’t I just say I trust them?’
He’s your best friend. The voice is quiet for a second before continuing. He’s our best friend.
‘Our…?’
Ask now before it’s too late! they stress.
‘Okay, okay!’
“Mom, wait,” Paige says, holding out his un-IV’d hand. “I—can I ask Brandon?”
Quinn’s eyebrows furrow. “Why would you…?”
“Please?” Paige begs.
His mom relents immediately.
“Of course, honey.”
Thank god.
+++
Brandon shuffles his way into the hospital room, looking anywhere but at Paige. Quinn and James have left to give the two of them some privacy.
“Brandon!” Paige cries. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“Oh, so now you’re happy to see me?” Brandon huffs, crossing his arms. “What even happened, man?” He looks at Paige finally, pained expression on his face. “We’re like brothers! Why did you suddenly shut me out? Why did you suddenly shut all of us out?”
Paige blinks. “Brandon, what are you talking about?”
Brandon scoffs. “Man, don’t trip. You’ve barely talked to me for the past week!”
Paige’s face falls. Past week?
“Brandon,” Paige breathes. “The last thing we ever did together was sit at a table with Sue and Bro. Mom said I got here yesterday.” Paige can hear the beeping to his side increase. “Are you telling me I’m missing a week’s worth of time right now…?”
Brandon stares. He stares long and hard.
Paige is going to cry. What was happening? Why was everything fuzzy? Why was Brandon saying he’d been walking around for a week and ignoring him when he can’t even remember anything past getting the note on Monday?
Why was there someone talking to him in his brain?
Finally, Brandon’s arms fall to his side. “Oh my god,” he says. “You’re serious.”
“What do you mean, ‘you’re serious’!?” Paige cries, holding himself, tears forming. “Brandon, I don’t remember anything that people are telling me I did! I had a fight? Did you know I had a fight?” He’s going into hysterics. “I don’t fight people, Brandon!
“I fought someone and they hurt me and now I’m in the hospital and I need a blood transfusion or I might die or something and you’re the only one we know with the universal blood type because my blood type is so rare and—and—”
“Paige!” Brandon yells.
Paige shuts his mouth immediately, silent tears pouring out of him. He rocks back and forth a bit.
“Paige…” Brandon says again, walking closer to him. His own eyes are looking damp. “Wh—what do you mean you might die?”
“I—I heard what the doctor said,” Paige trembles, holding himself as best as he can. “I lost too much blood. I don’t have enough anymore…”
“Wh—you…” Brandon blinks hard. Tears are coming out in earnest now. “You… don’t have enough…” he mumbles. Then, with a deep breath, he goes, “Yeah, man. Y—of course.” He wipes his eyes. “I—I love you, man. You’re my best friend in the world. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Thank you…” Paige sighs. “I’m… I’m so relieved…”
“I’ll go get the doctor,” Brandon says, turning and walking two strides per step towards the door. He flings it open once he gets there. Paige can just barely see James from where he’s laying down.
“Oh! Hello Brandon,” Quinn greets. She must be right out of view. “What did you say?”
“Yes, of course,” Brandon says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “We have to hurry up, don’t we? How much time does he have left, even?”
“Huh?” James asks. “Time?”
“He’s gonna die isn’t he?” Brandon huffs. “C’mon, let's get a move on!”
“What?” James asks, completely taken aback. “Brandon, he’s not going to die, goodness!”
Paige blinks. “I-I’m not…?” he asks the air.
“He’s not?” Brandon asks the doctor.
“No!” he assures, putting a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “Paige just lost a lot of blood. If he gets a transfusion, it’ll help him heal a lot faster. Nobody’s going to die. I promise, okay?”
“Oh…” Brandon sighs. “Okay. Okay, good.” He walks back into the room. “Paige!” he smiles. “You’re not gonna die!”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Paige breaths. “I… I thought for sure…”
“Yeah! Don’t—don’t worry!” Brandon’s smile is wobbly. “I’ll… you can still have…” He shakes his head. “I’m—I’ll let them get me ready, okay?”
“Okay,” Paige nods weakly. “I love you too, Brandon.”
“I know, man,” Brandon says. He sounds really close to crying again. “I know.”
+++
Paige blinks. He’s sitting up, mouth open. He doesn’t remember anything since after they put him to sleep for the transfusion, but he can tell he was clearly in the middle of saying something.
Sorry, the voice in the back of his head says. Thought it’d be better if you heard this.
“Heard…?” Paige mumbles.
“Sweetie?” Quinn asks. “You cut yourself off there. What were you saying?”
“Um…” he says, worried. He had no idea!
Calm down, the voice urges. We were talking about your discharge.
“U-um… my discharge?” Paige tries. “Um…”
Ask when it is.
“When is it?”
“Tomorrow, buddy,” James smiles. “We were just going over aftercare.”
“Aftercare…?” Paige repeats. “It’s over? You did it?”
“Of course they did, honey,” Quinn chuckles. “How would they send you home if not?”
“Oh…” That did make sense. Then, he gasps suddenly. “Brandon! Brandon—is he okay!?”
“He’s just fine, Paige,” James assures. “He should be able to leave tonight, even.”
“Oh…” Paige breathes. “That’s… that’s good.”
“You’re gonna be just fine, champ,” James smiles. “Brandon too, alright?”
“Alright.”
“We’re gonna step out a moment to let you rest, alright?” James says. “It’s important you get all the sleep you can.”
“Okay.” Paige waves weakly as the two adults exit the room. He lays back down after, sighing. “I wonder what that was about…”
What what was about?
“Waking up mid sente—ah!” Paige yelps. “W-who’s there?”
Calm down, calm down, the voice soothes. It’s becoming louder. Hold on…
“Hold on?”
The sound of someone clearing their throat reverberates in Paige’s head. It kind of hurts.
“Here we go,” the voice says, a lot clearer and closer than before. Paige has to stop himself from shouting. “Hey.”
“U-um…” Paige starts wearily. “Hi…?”
“I think I’ve got some explaining to do.”