WC: currently 92,047
Chapters
prologue | ch1 | ch2 | ch3 | ch4 | ch5 | ch6 | ch7 | ch8 | ch9
Paige Woods is a normal, everyday average kid.
Well, he was a Teenager, but… you know.
Just like every day, his alarm blares at 6 AM. He yawns as he clicks it off and gets up from his bed.
Ahh. Time for another day of school.
Paige does his morning routine—use bathroom, brush teeth, take shower, towel off and get dressed. Once that’s all done, he goes downstairs.
“Morning honey!” His mom greets. “I made you your usual. It’s on the table.”
“Thanks Mom!” Paige smiles, walking past her and into the kitchen. There, on the table as promised, is two slices of toasted wheat bread, an overeasy egg, and of course, a cold glass of orange juice.
Paige could jump for joy. This was his favorite breakfast!
He sits at the table and munches at his food until it goes away piece by piece. He always had everything in the same order. Not for any particular reason, of course. It was just his preferred method of eating. He did this with all of his meals.
At 6:45 AM, Paige is finally ready to start his day.
“Mooom!” he calls into the house. “It’s time to gooo!”
“Coming, honey!” his mom yells back. “Just have to find my keys!”
“I’ll wait for you outside, then!”
“OK!”
Paige gathers his things—backpack, house keys, wallet and finally his phone. He taps at it to activate it and inputs his password. A cute picture of a kitty greets him as his background. He grins at it as he enters his texting app.
paige: Hi good morning.
branflakes: GM!
branflakes: is it time 2 go?
paige: Yes. Meet me outside?
branflakes: OK!
Paige closes his phone and pockets it in his hoodie. It was getting kind of cold with it being October soon. His standard get up was his burgundy uniform pants along with a plain white t-shirt. His hoodie was actually barely allowed, but because his teachers liked him, he was allowed to wear a burgundy hoodie.
Lucky for him! Sorry to anyone else, though.
Paige makes his way outside and waits by the front of his fence for his friend.
“Paiiige!”
The teen turns and smiles wide.
Running down the block was Brandon—Paige’s best friend and right hand man.
“Hi!” Paige greets once Brandon is close enough. “How was your night?”
“Awesome!” Brendon exclaims between panting. “I got… a new trophy… on Worms Armageddon!”
“Oh, congrats!” Paige claps. “Is that one of the games that Bro let you borrow?”
“Yeah!” Bradon’s face looks a little red. Perhaps he should stop running to meet up with Paige everyday? “Bart finished it all, so I got to hold onto it indefinitely!”
“Cool!” Paige says, giving a thumbs up. “You’ll have to let me see you play sometime, okay?”
“Of course!” Brandon’s face turns a little sly. “I can’t wait to beat you into the dirt.”
“Hey!” Paige pouts. “I resent that!”
Brandon laughs as Quinn finally exits the house. “Come on, boys!” she shouts from the garage.
“We’re coming!” the both of them shout back.
“Race you!” Brandon grins. “Onetwothree GO!” He takes off like a rocket, leaving Paige to blink in his wake.
“Wait!” he cries, beginning to run after the other. “Cheater!”
“Don’t hate the player, playa!” Brandon calls back, sticking his tongue out. “Hate the game!”
“I’ll hate the player all I want!” Paige laughs.
The two of them are a panting mess by the time they get to the SUV. Quinn is clearly trying very hard not to laugh at their antics, but she’s failing. The teens don’t seem to care one way or another though, continuing to rib each other even as the car leaves the garage.
The 20-ish minute drive there is filled with dad rock, poking and prodding and laughter. Tons and tons of laughter.
Just the way Paige loved it!
“I’ll see you later, alright kids?” Quinn says as she finally drops them off at their destination.
“See you Mom!” Paige waves at the same time Brandon says, “Bye-bye Auntie Quinn!”
The car pulls off, students soon filling the spot it left.
The two teens turn to one another as kids of all shapes and sizes stream past them. “Ready for another bomb day?” Brandon asks, holding up a fist.
“Yep!” Paige grins, completing the fist bump. The two of them make explosion noises as they pull their hands away, slowly opening them.
“Dorks!” someone from the crowd shouts. A small amount of giggles ripple through the crowd. But then Brandon puts on his one and only Scary Face.
The Scary Face consisted of a scowl so scathing it almost hurt to look at, eyes being squinted so much it was surprising Brandon could even see out of them, and to really sell it, he tilted his head downwards. It immediately shuts everyone up.
“C’mon, Paige. Let’s go,” Brandon says, turning back to him and dropping the Scary Face like it was nothing. In its place is a genuine smile, one that Paige had noticed he only really shared with himself and Bro and Sue. It made him feel special. After all, the four of them were pretty good friends! It felt great to have someone as close as Brandon in his life.
The school bell rings out. For a moment, the sea of students still. Then, they all scramble towards the front doors like rats about to be caught. Brandon quickly grabs onto Paige’s hand, not wanting them to get separated.
“Bomb day?” he asks, looking back at the other as he pulls him through the crowd.
“Bomb day,” Paige smiles back.
Even though people were already being mean to him today, Paige figured it didn’t matter. It would just be another boring day of school, nothing exciting happening. Nothing ever happened here at Ingenious High.
Why would today be any different?
Paige yawns as he sits in his 1st period class. He was rather smart, so the idea of studying ELA bored him. Not because ELA was boring in of itself, but because they were only trying to teach him things he already knew.
Paige hated to be told things he already knew.
Science was a different story. It was his 2nd period class. He had a waning interest in it, but it was enough to keep him from doodling the period away.
Third up, French, made Paige want to pull his hair out. The conjunctions never made any sense to him, no matter how much he studied. The teen sat in the back of the class and kept his head down for as much of the period as he could, unwilling to be spotted and called upon.
Algebra 2 right after was a welcome change of pace. He was extremely good with numbers, but he didn’t care much for them. Still, answering questions in the blink of an eye did have its fun qualities. He liked to watch as people who would make fun of him on a daily basis struggled to do the same as him. It would reinflate his ego after they would pierce and pop it all the time.
After Algebra 2 was Paige’s second favorite subject—lunch of course!
“Yo!” Brandon calls from the back of the lunch line as Paige squeezes into the cafeteria. “Paige! Over here!”
Paige knits his brows together with a worried smile. He glances around, looking for any of the Lunch Squad.
The Lunch Squad consisted of a group of three separate teachers, all of whom seemingly hated everything to do with the students. They wanted to prevent any fun from happening at all costs, as well as stopping anything they deemed “incorrect” or “immoral”.
Frankly, Paige found it ridiculous. What was the harm in people skipping the lunch line every so often? One extra person wasn’t going to hurt anyone. But he digressed.
None of the Lunch Squad seemed to be around, so Paige scuttles over to Brandon before he can be spotted.
“Hey-o!” Brandon smiles, holding up his fist. Just like earlier, Paige smiles and completes the brofist. This time though, in order not to alert any of the Lunch Squad, the explosion noises and effects are on a much smaller scale.
“How were your morning classes?” Paige asks, neatly slotting into line behind his friend.
“Good, good,” Brandon says. The two of them didn’t share many classes, the only two being their last two periods, Art and Writing. “I got to talk to Bart a bit. We’re working on that one project together, you know the one from Science?”
“Yeah, the one for the Science Fair, right?” Paige asks. Brandon nods. “I didn’t think you’d agree to be part of the pair to represent your class! What are you two doing?”
“Something about vitamin C, I don’t really remember much actually,” Brandon shrugs. “Was too busy thinking about the next time me and Bart get to hang out. Besides, they’re the one who’s good at sciency stuff. I’m more geared towards the big pic, you know that.”
Paige giggles as they move up in the line. “Yeah, I do.”
“That supposed to mean something?” Brandon asks, quirking an eyebrow.
Paige’s giggles turn into full-on laughter.
Eventually the two teens get to grab their lunch, a passable amount of dumplings along with fried rice, chocolate milk for Brandon and 1% for Paige, and go to find the table they always sat at.
There, waiting for them, is Bro and Sue.
“Hey guys!” Sue waves. “What’s on the menu today?” They and Bro always brought their own lunches from home, so they’d always ask what the other two got to eat for the day.
“Dumplings ‘n rice!” Brandon smiles. “Tasty treat for a Monday.” He and Paige take a seat.
“Nice to see you’re with us today, Sue!” Paige beams. Sue smiles back as Brandon begins to use his teeth in an attempt to open a packet of soy sauce.
“Y-you’re gonna spill that everywhere,” Bro mutters calmly. To anyone else, it would probably sound like they were shy, but Paige knows better. They just talked like that.
“Am not,” Brandon bites back, muffled by the packet still in his mouth. He pulls at it harder. “Damn thing… won’t…”
Rip.
Paige and Sue gasp.
Bro, meanwhile, breaks into a hiccuping mess of laughter.
Just as predicted, Brandon’s shirt is now stained dark with soy sauce.
“None of it even landed on the rice…” he laments.
“H-here,” Bro manages through laughs, handing the poor condiment’s victim a wipe.
Brandon sighs. “Thanks, Bart.”
“Any… anytime,” Bro smiles.
Their hands linger for a moment before Brandon finally pulls the wipe away and begins cleaning himself off.
Luckily, once that’s taken care of, Bro offers to open the next one for him.
“Um,” Brandon says, “Don’t you think you’ll just end up like me?”
“N-nah.”
With one magic tug, Bro has a second packet opened and spilled over Brandon’s helping of rice. Then a third. “Want a-nother?” they ask, hand hovering over the last one.
“Please?”
“G-otcha.”
Bro does as asked of them with no complaints. Brandon smiles at them, one of those specifically saved for this group of people. It’s got something else hidden in it though. Paige can’t exactly parse what it is, but it’s noticeable, that’s for certain.
He chooses not to comment on it.
The lunch period continues amicably after that, the four students chatting with one another happily. The period is soon to end though, and as the conversation drifts over to the next class, Paige jolts in his seat.
“Oh! My books for Social Studies are still in my locker!” He stands quickly, rounding up his garbage and placing it all on his tray. “I’ll see you guys soon! I don’t wanna get trampled trying to get them while everyone else is trying to get to their classes.”
Brandon nods, Sue waves and Bro shoots a finger gun. Each one of them had their own little ways of saying bye. Paige smiles. He loved his friends.
On the way out of the cafeteria he tosses his garbage and fixes his bookbag to be more comfortable on his back.
The walk to his locker is made in relative silence, Paige brokenly humming a tune he vaguely remembers. He reaches his destination with no interruptions. He grabs his lock and begins to enter the combination.
16… 5… 18. There we go!
Paige pulls open his locker, ready to get his things, but something catches his eye as it falls gently to the floor. He scrunches his face in confusion as he bends down to pick it up.
What was this?
The back of it is blank, but when Paige flips it over, his mouth falls open.
“Did you know? Cats are typically thought to have nine whole lives!
If I were a cat, I’d be more than inclined to spend every life with you.
(P.S.
My favorite breed is ragdoll. What’s yours?)
(P.P.S.
Leave your response right under your locker. I’ll find a way to get back to you. Promise. ♥)”
Paige blinks.
He reads the note over once, twice, three times.
Was… was this meant for him?
Paige looks around the hallway in a tizzy. No one else was around. No one else was around when he arrived either. So… who could have…?
The bell rings.
Ah… time for the next period huh…
I really hope Social Studies isn’t a lot today, Paige thinks, stuffing the note in his pocket. I don’t think I could handle it. I won’t be able to stop thinking about this note…
He quickly nabs the books he came here for in the first place and pushes them into his bag, closing the locker behind himself.
He’s almost about to leave, but…
If this was really and truly meant for him, wouldn’t it be rude not to respond?
Students begin to enter the hallway. Paige panics. He only had about 5 minutes to make it to his next class on the 3rd floor.
As fast as he can, he grabs one of his notebooks and scribbles out an answer.
“I like orange cats!” is all he manages before the crowd begins to thicken. It would have to do.
He pushes the note overtop of his locker, letting just a bit stick out. Hopefully whoever had left this note would find it?
He lets the wave of students carry him off to his next class, thoughts full of whoever could have written such a thing. And just for him no less!
He couldn’t wait until 7th period. He had to tell Brandon about this.
In Social Studies, Paige stares into the middleground. Around him the class buzzes about history and current events, but he hears almost none of it. The period seemingly starts and ends in the blink of an eye.
Much of the same happens in Art, Paige absently doodling in his sketchbook. Who could’ve sent that note, he wondered. He didn’t have many friends outside of the immediate four he could think of—Brandon, Bro, Sue and, occasionally, OJ, so the idea that anyone outside of them really liked him in that way was kind of… unthinkable, really.
After all, he was the only openly gay boy at the whole school at the moment.
There were actually a good amount of lesbians he knew, but no other gays.
“Paige?” Sue asks, tapping on his shoulder and snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?” They seem worried. “You haven’t really been paying attention.”
“Um… yes I have,” Paige lies.
“You lied just now,” Sue states.
“Did not,” Paige lies again.
“...Are you aware your blue eye twitches when you lie?” Sue inquires. “Only that one. It’s actually a very obvious tell I wasn’t going to ever mention to you, but you know I don’t like liars.”
Paige sighs. “I… did not know that,” he says, rubbing his arm. “Sorry, also. I didn’t mean to lie, I just… have a lot on my mind right now.”
“Like?” Sue prods. “You can tell me.”
Paige looks away. The two of them were close and all but… There was no way he could tell anyone besides Brandon first.
“It’s nothing,” he lies again, making sure to close his eyes first. No twitch would out him this time.
Sue is pouting when he opens his eyes again. They look pensive, but they don’t push any further.
“If you’re sure,” is all they say before turning back to their own work.
It’s not long before Paige is spacing out again.
When he’s interrupted the next time, it’s Brandon.
“You good, dude?” it asks. It’s got the same worried expression on its face as Sue had on earlier. “You’re like, barely drawing.” Paige blinks, looking down at his book. As it turns out, it’s true: the only thing on the page is back and forth strokes and half formed circles.
“Um,” he says smartly, glancing over to where Sue was. “It’s… um.” He scrunches his face and sighs. “I’ll tell you next period, okay?”
“Ookay…” Brandon nods, eyebrow raised.
The period ends shortly after and Brandon is like white on rice to Paige.
“What is it?” It asks. “What is it? What is it? What—”
“In class!” Paige shushes. “I said I’d tell you. In. Class.”
“Fiiiine,” Brandon groans. “How do you expect us to talk without getting caught, though?”
Paige hums as they descend the stairs. “How about… our secret code?” Brandon beams.
“Yes!” it cheers. “I’ve been waiting so long for an excuse to use it!”
The two don’t really talk after that, Brandon practically skipping ahead of Paige to the next classroom.
When they make it to the class, they take their seats next to each other and let the rest of the class pour in. The bell rings again after a moment, and class begins.
There’s a sub today. They announce that everyone’s to write a journal entry to start off, then write a short story based off of something they experienced today.
A journal entry… Paige briefly considers writing about the note, but… No. No one else besides Brandon needed to know right now. Especially not a nosy teacher.
So, Paige writes down all he can think to write down: Everything today was normal just like always. I did good in my classes, I think. That’s good. My mom will be proud of me.
That done, he glances up and over at the teacher. They’ve got their nose stuck in a book.
Perfect!
From the back of his notebook, he pulls out a sheet of paper and starts writing in the secret code he and Brandon shared.
The code went like this: Using the name of any random Pokemon you could think of, write down your message from top to bottom, then fill in the rest of the letters with a Pokemon’s name! Like this:
aipom gastly
latias oddish
litleo octillery
deoxys
That would translate to: ALL GOOD.
Paige scribbles out a message in their secret code.
(There was a note in my locker today. At lunch.)
He passes it over. Brandon quickly reads it and scribbles something else for a hot minute before handing it back.
(What was it about? Is someone trying to anonymously threaten you or something? Because I’ll find them and threaten them back if so.)
Paige almost laughs at the misunderstanding. He writes back and they continue to do so for a while longer.
(No! It was like. A love letter?)
(A love letter!?)
(Well not exactly. It was more of a. I don’t know.)
(Let me see!)
(Okay. Hold on.)
Paige checks on the sub again. They’ve moved on to typing something on their laptop furiously. He wonders what that was all about briefly, but shrugs it off. All that mattered was that they were still distracted.
With that confirmed, he quickly pulls out the note from his hoodie and passes it over. Brandon snaps it up immediately.
It reads it over quickly. Then it looks over at Paige. Then back to the note.
Then it bursts out in a quick laugh.
“Mister… kid,” the sub immediately barks. “Quiet.”
“Sorry!” it giggles. “I’ll be quiet.”
“See to it that you do,” they huff. With that, they go right back to typing on their laptop.
Brandon writes more down on the scrap piece of paper and hands it over along with the note from the locker.
(This is so funny. Just so you know.)
Paige pockets the note again and frowns.
(It’s not! I think it’s really cute, actually!)
Brandon chuckles a little bit when it gets the scrap paper back again.
(If you say so, Paige!)
Paige pouts for the rest of the class, a bit miffed at Brandon. He ignores its pokes and prods as well, staring down at his notebook where he writes nonsense words in no particular order. Anything to distract him until the bell rang for the final time that day.
And finally, ring it did.
Once the two teens had stuffed their bags and left the school to wait for the bus, Brandon finally explodes into questions.
“Who do you think it is?” it smiles. “Do you already know? Do you have a guess? Ooh, if you have a guess you have to tell me, okay!? Okay!?”
“Calm down!” Paige pleads, getting overwhelmed. “I… I don’t know who sent it. But!” He glances away, feeling his face warm a bit. “I think it was really cute of them.”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” Brandon chuckles.
“Hey!” Paige frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothin’, nothin’,” Brandon reassures. “You just seem like the type to easily fall for notes like this.”
“Oh,” Paige breathes. And, now that he thinks about it, the idea of finding love does kind of make him feel dizzy in a good way. “I guess I am.”
“See!” Brandon smiles. “Even you know it!”
“I guess…” Paige sighs, holding one hand to his cheek. “Still… not knowing who it is just makes me so…”
“So?” Brandon asks.
“So… so…” Paige struggles. “I don’t know,” he sighs, giving up. Brandon gives him one of his Brotherly Pats On The Back. The ones that are just a little too hard, but not enough to actually hurt. Just enough to jostle your insides, though.
“That’s alright,” it says solemnly. “You’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Yeah,” Paige coughs, recovering. “Yeah, I sure hope I will.”
The bus pulls up shortly after that, the two of them taking their seats in the back while chatting amicably. Brandon tries and fails to bring up the notes several times, to Paige’s dismay. He tells it to just wait a bit, as there were still kids they knew were from the school on the bus as well.
Eventually it gives up and they talk about more lighthearted things until their stop comes. They depart from the front, Paige giving a quick wave and a “Bye!” to the bus driver. They blink, smile and wave back before pulling off for their next stop.
“Now can we talk about the note?” Brandon asks. “We’re off the bus.”
Paige digs around his backpack for his keys. “What would we even talk about? There’s not much to it.”
“Who do you think wrote it, silly?” it says, a laugh barely hidden. “Could it be someone we know? Or some stranger who’s never talked to us before?” Brandon pushes his hands together under his chin. “Oh, this is so exciting!”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re more excited about this than me?” Paige laughs. “Oh, there they are!” Triumphantly, he pulls out his house keys and holds them up to the sky for a moment, humming a tune as he does. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he giggles.
“Are you telling me you’re not excited about this?” Brandon asks. “It’s exciting!”
“Oh, it is,” Paige agrees. “I just.. it’s a lot to take in, you know?”
Although it’s all Paige has been thinking about since receiving it, he hadn’t really… thought about it thought about it. Really, it was a little… much to think about think about.
A lot to think about think about.
“Paige?” Brandon asks, sounding a little worried.
“Huh?”
“You spaced out on me a little there.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, man. You wanna come over and chill or do you wanna go home?”
Paige thinks on it for a moment before ultimately deciding on the latter. “Home,” he says apologetically. “Sorry. Lots to think about, y’know?”
Brandon nods. “Yeah, I can imagine.” He holds out his fist. “See you tomorrow then?”
Paige nods and finishes the brofist. They explode it, although Paige’s is a lot less enthusiastic than the ones from earlier.
“Sorry,” he apologizes again.
“Don’t worry about it, brother.” Brandon claps its hand on his back again for another Brotherly Pat On The Back. “Text me if you need, alright?”
Paige nods. “Of course, Branflakes,” he smirks. Brandon laughs and walks off to its own house.
“Peace, playa!” it farewells. Paige giggles a bit.
Well. Nothing else to do but go home himself.
On the way, thoughts cloud his mind thoroughly. There weren’t many people he really knew enough to make any solid guesses… but he supposed that was the point of a secret admirer, huh?
Paige makes it home in one piece, but the same can’t be said for his split mind.
On one hand, he was swooning like there was no tomorrow. Imagine, someone liking him! Him! Of all people!
On the other hand, it’s scary. What if this was just an elaborate prank? Someone trying to get him excited just to burst his bubble at the last moment?
He goes back and forth as he repeats his morning routine—use bathroom, brush teeth, take shower, towel off and get dressed, this time in pajamas.
He then does his evening duties—homework, eating a TV dinner, and then off to bed.
While he’s fluffing his pillow and covering himself, his mom walks in. “Hello, darling,” she greets quietly. “How are you?” She walks over and gives him a kiss on the forehead. He gives a small smile.
“I’m okay,” he yawns. “Had a big day, I think.”
“You think?” Quinn chuckles. “Weren’t you there for it?”
“I was!” he laughs. It peters off after just a couple seconds though. “I don’t know. Something happened but… I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it yet.”
“That’s alright, sweetie,” Quinn soothes, petting his head. “I’ll be here whenever you’re ready, okay?”
“Okay,” Paige smiles again. “Can you warm up Teds for me?”
“‘Course, hun.” Paige holds out his bear and his mom takes it, walking out of the room to go microwave him. While she’s gone, Paige sighs.
He hoped his response was enough… He didn’t get to do anything more than answer the question. Hopefully… hopefully if it was a real note to begin with, they’d find Paige’s note and respond in turn…
“Here you are, Paiges,” Quinn says, entering the room with the newly warmed Teds. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, alrighty?” She hands over the bear and kisses his forehead again. “Goodnight, hun.”
“Goodnight, Mom!” Paige waves.
Quinn flicks off the light on her way out. Paige gets comfortable snuggling up to Teds.
Ah well. No use dwelling anymore. It was the end of the day.
Whatever would happen tomorrow would happen, and he would have to be ready for it.
It’s Tuesday.
Paige ambles his way through his classes, swapping his French class for Home Ec and his Art class for Gym, just like he does every Tuesday and Thursday.
He makes sure to check his locker before going to his 1st period class, but the note he left there yesterday is still there. He frowns a bit, but keeps it moving.
The day goes by smoothly. There’s a mild explosion in Home Ec because Tiesha messed with chemicals again, but they always messed with chemicals, so it was about as normal as a regular Home Ec class went.
Everything in Paige’s day had been going good, all things considered. But, with the minimal amount of distractions he had, he noticed something.
He hadn’t seen OJ in a good couple of days…
He and everyone else had the same Lunch period. OJ was the only outlier in their group, having his Lunch be a period later.
He and OJ used to share practically every class last year. It’s how they became such good friends! They had some classes together in Freshman year as well, but not like last year. So, to share no classes with him this year was really upsetting. He missed him so much!
It didn’t help that he maybe had a bit of a crush on him…
Just a bit.
The thought is popped out of Paige’s head as Mr. Reed’s whistle blows.
“OK, kids!” Mr. Reed shouts, loud and proud. “Dodgeball today!” He looks over the crowd of children and points. “Lulu! Bola! You two’ll be the leaders of the two teams!”
Barret flushes in embarrassment. “Dad…” he grumbles.
Mr. Reed either doesn’t hear him, or ignores him entirely. “Round up your crew, team leaders!” He blows into his whistle again.
Immediately kids scramble to one side or the other, claiming their spots on their respective teams. Barret and Lucy don’t even get the chance to choose.
Paige runs with the crowd, somehow ending up on Lucy’s team, along with a good amount of students he recognized as hard hitters.
Great! Maybe he could just hide behind them…
See, Paige wasn’t really a big fan of dodgeball. He always ended up getting hurt or striking out first… It wasn’t a fun game for him at all.
“All ready?” Mr. Reed calls. The crowd of kids all cheer. “Alright then! PLAY BALL!” The teacher blows into his whistle one last time before popping some dodgeballs into play.
Immediately chaos breaks out. Balls are thrown left and right, making Paige dizzy trying to duck and weave. People strike out at seemingly every second, whistle after whistle splitting the air and calling out the poor players.
All things considered, Paige is doing pretty good for himself. He hasn’t tried making any moves, but just outlasting was an achievement in this game, wasn’t it?
Still, doing all this back and forth tires him out, and for just a moment, he takes a breather.
Big mistake.
Immediately, Lucy shouts out, “PAIGE!”
But it’s not soon enough.
Paige is beamed in the head by none other than Piper, who cheers, “Hell yes! Super Piper Power!” once Paige is sent cascading backwards. He hits the ground with a thud that rings in his head.
Paige doesn’t remember the next couple of seconds.
But when his eyes blink open, Mr. Reed is over him.
“Paige? Paige, open your eyes, kid!”
Paige groans. “What…?”
“Peter!” Mr. Reed shouts, hurting Paige’s head, “Call extension 811. Tell Ms. Tiseu to expect someone for a bed!”
The ground rumbles a bit and Paige holds a hand to his head.
“Owowow…”
“Hey, try not to touch it,” Mr. Reed says, gently pulling his hand away. “It’ll just aggravate it.”
“Okay…”
“Do you think you can make it to the Nurse’s office by yourself?” Mr. Reed is frowning. “Can you even stand?”
Could he?
“Here, grab on.” Mr. Reed holds out a hand, which Paige takes shakily. He’s hoisted up with ease by the strong teacher and he has to adjust to his jelly legs.
“I… I think I can do it…” Paige mumbles.
“You sure you don’t want Peter to go with you?”
“Piper?” Paige looks over at the other kid, who looks genuinely sorry for hitting him so hard. But…
“Mmm… I’m sure,” Paige nods. “Can I get a slip?”
“‘Course, kid.” Mr. Reed immediately power walks over to the table set up in the gym and scribbles something on a piece of paper while Paige slowly makes his way to the door. “Here, this should do you good.” The teacher hands over the note. “Be careful, y’hear? Use the walls if ya gotta.”
“‘Kay…”
Paige makes his way out of the gym and towards the Nurse’s office.
On the way, he has to pass by his locker, so he might as well check if the note he left was gone…
Ah.
It was.
And it’s place was a new one, stuffed into the side like before.
Paige’s head pounds, so instead of stopping to read, he simply tugs at the note and pockets it. He had to get to the office before he passed out, which he honestly felt like he was close to.
Luckily, he makes it there without falling.
“H-hello, Ms. Tiseu…” he greets, opening the door.
“Oh goodness.” Ms. Tiseu hops out of her chair and places a gentle hand on Paige’s shoulder. “Are you the student from Gym?”
“Yes…”
“Come, come,” she says, pulling Paige along. “Let’s get you sideways.”
Paige allows himself to be led to a bed and laid down. “Is it bad?” he asks, refraining from touching it.
Ms. Tiseu sucks her teeth a bit. “Well… it’s not pretty, sweetie.”
“Oh…”
“You’ll be fine, though!” she smiles. “I’m gonna get you an ice pack and a lollipop, alright?”
“Mmhm.”
Ms. Tiseu walks away and busies herself after pulling the separation curtain across the room, giving Paige some privacy.
Well… this seemed like a good as time as any to try and read that note.
Paige pulls out the small paper and smoothes it out. It reads:
“Did you know? U.S. cherry blossom trees date back to 1912.
If we were to date from then to now… how much more in love with you do you think I’d be?
(P.S.
What’s your favorite flower?)
(P.P.S.
Orange cats suit you. ♥)”
Paige flushes immediately. Oh goodness. Oh goodness, oh goodness, oh goodness.
The nurse returns and Paige quickly shoves the paper back in his pocket, holding his face in his hands immediately after.
“Oh dear, are you alright?” Ms. Tiseu asks, coming closer. “You’re a bit red…”
“I’m okay!” Paige yelps. “I-I mean… my head hurts a lot. B-but it’s… my face is just red because I’m… tired?”
Ms. Tiseu doesn’t look convinced, but she doesn’t press. Instead, she gives Paige a lollipop and an ice pack. “Hold this to your head until it stings, okay? It should take about 5 minutes.” She points at the clock on the wall. “You can keep track yourself, but I’ll come tell you when too, okay?”
“Okay.”
With that, the nurse leaves him to his own devices.
Paige holds the ice to his head and lays back.
The note was so cute… he had to find a way to get one back to his secret admirer. It was only fair!
He thinks about the several ways he could go about it, eyes slipping closed. He could ask to go to the bathroom? Or says he needs something from his locker. Or… or…
Paige falls asleep.
…
And then the bell rings.
It makes him scream, completely unprepared.
“Paige!?” The teen is clutching his chest and breathing heavily when Ms. Tiseu pulls the curtain back, clearly startled. “Are you alright!?”
“Ow…” Paige groans. “I… oww…” He lets go of his chest in favor of his head, which is now ringing painfully. “It hurts…”
“Oh dear.” The nurse bites at her finger. “Should I call your mother?”
“Mom’s busy…” Paige mumbles. “Call Aunt Carmen…”
“Your aunt?” She bites down. “I don’t know, sweetie… even if she is your aunt, we legally can’t release you to anybody we don’t know.”
“She’s on my blue card…”
“Oh!” Ms. Tiseu gasps. “Then I’ll call her, okay?”
“Okay.”
Without pulling the curtain back this time, the nurse leaves Paige and goes over to her filing cabinet. “Your last name is… Woods, correct hun?”
“Yes…”
“Alrighty. I’ll have your card in a sec. Sit tight.”
Paige nods. It hurts.
The late bell rings. It hurts even more.
The next period must be half over by the time Paige’s aunt makes her way through the Nurse office’s doors.
“Mijo, ¿estás bien?” Carmen cries, running up to him and grabbing his face with her hands. “What’s wrong, what happened?”
“Got hit by a dodgeball,” Paige mumbles, cheeks thoroughly squished. “This kinda hurts…”
“Oh! I’m so sorry, baby!” Like she had touched a hot stove, she pulls her hands back and flaps them. “Where does it hurt?” She flutters her hands around Paige’s whole head, like she’s unable to stand with her hands still but still unwilling to touch him and hurt him again.
“Here…” Paige points to his forehead, still a little damp from the ice pack. It still feels like it’s throbbing.
“Aah, honey…” Carmen continues moving her hands around, more to herself this time though. “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
“He’ll live,” Ms. Tiseu smiles softly. “Just be sure to keep an eye on it for the rest of the day.” She gives the aunt a small stack of papers. “I’ll just need you to sign these for the early leave, alright?”
“Of course, of course.” Looking like she’s happy to finally have something to do with her hands, Carmen swiftly reads through the forms.
Paige, still a little out of it, takes a moment to think. If he’s gonna leave now, he wouldn’t have time to reply to the note…
“I-I have to use the bathroom,” he says suddenly.
“Oh, go ahead, mijo,” Carmen waves. “Come back here when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay!” Paige grabs his bag and skedaddles before either of the adults can say anything to him.
Instead of going to the bathroom like he said he was, Paige makes a beeline towards his locker. On the way there, he thinks really hard about his answer.
There were a lot of flowers to pick from, but… there was only one he could really call his favorite for sure.
At his locker, he tugs out a piece of scrap paper and writes:
“My favorite flowers are lilies of the valley! I hear they’re very nice flowers that have very nice meanings. :)
(P.S. to you too,
Can I get a hint as to who you are? The curiosity is killing me!)”
With that, he stuffs it overtop his locker and makes his way back to the office.
As he walks, he thinks back to earlier in the day, before he got smacked upside the head. What was he thinking about again?
…Oh! OJ!
He slips his bag off really quickly to retrieve his phone. He inputs his password as he walks, smiles at his background and quickly goes to OJ’s contact.
paige: Hey OJ!
paige: It’s been a while since we talked. I wanted to wave your way!
paige: 👋
paige: (Thats me waving!)
Paige smiles at his message. As he pockets the phone, he hopes OJ will answer today.
“Oh, there you are sweetie!” Carmen smiles. “That was quick.”
“My head was hurting too much,” Paige half lies. “I just came back before I went.”
“That’s alright, the trip home’s not too long. C’mon,” she holds out her hand for Paige to take, and take it he does.
“Goodbye, Ms. Tiseu!” Paige calls behind him. She pokes her head out of the office and waves.
“Feel better, hun!”
+++
Paige ends up falling asleep on the ride home. He wakes up to his aunt shaking him awake.
“Honey, we’re home,” she sing-songs quietly.
“‘M up…” Paige mumbles. For a moment, he’s forgotten where he was, what he was doing, why his Aunt Carmen was waking him up…
But then his head starts pounding again and it all comes flooding back.
“Oww…” Paige mumbles, holding his head.
“Aww, I know, sweetheart,” Carmen coos, scooping up her nephew and his bag in both arms. “C’mon.” Somehow, even with her short stature, she’s able to hold both him and his bag, kick the car door closed and lock it with the keys she still had in one fell swoop. Paige would clap if his head didn’t still hurt.
Instead of going to his house, Paige is quick to notice the outside of his aunt’s and Brandon’s house. It made sense, but… really, Paige wanted to be in his own bed.
Still, the Aguja’s couch was plenty comfortable, he guessed.
Carmen places him right where he expects her to, dropping his backpack gently next to him on the floor. “You rest up, okay honey?” she pouts. “I’ll… I’ll make you some soup, okay? Auntie’s Homemade.”
Paige was going to say he wasn’t actually hungry, but the announcement of what it was shuts him up. There’s no way in heck he’d be giving up a chance for his Auntie’s Homemade.
“Thank you, Aunt Carmen,” he says quietly. “I’m gonna… take another nap.” The world was starting to spin a little bit. Had he still gotten a bout of motion sickness while being out like a light?
“Okay, sweetie!” Carmen says. He can hear the smile in it. “Sleep well!”
Paige settles onto the couch, pulling his bookbag on top of him. He found the weight comforting for whatever reason as he lets his eyes slip closed and sighs.
What a day…
Paige’s phone pings in his pocket. To his credit, he only startles a little bit.
squeezed to meet you: Hello Paige! It has been quite the while, has it not? Apologies to the deepest degrees, things got away from me. But! I’m sure we can get some time to hang out and pal around again soon, yes?
squeezed to meet you: By the by, I heard you got hurt today. To help, I thought I’d show you this cat I saw earlier today. It was cute and reminded me of you, so I thought I’d send it your way. Smiley face.
squeezed to meet you: [IMG]
Paige blinks as the picture loads.
It’s a meme of an orange cat chasing its tail. In big, outlined impact font above and below the cat it says:
“I AM UR KING!
WHY DO U RUN FROM ME?!”
Paige giggles. How sweet!
paige: Heehee!
paige: I love it! Thank you!
Paige pockets his phone once he’s done sending his message. This time when he closes his eyes, he’s smiling. He hopes he and OJ can meet up again soon like he said they could!
Paige chuckles. He wonders if OJ knew his favorite types of cats were orange ones?
“Paige, mijo, wake up!”
Paige blinks his eyes open slowly. “Mmm?”
“Auntie’s Homemade is done, sweetie.” Carmen smiles. “It’s piping hot!”
“Come get some, king!” calls Brandon, presumably from the kitchen. “Your ma’s here too!”
“Don’t shout, Brandon,” Paige can hear his mom say, “You might hurt his head more.”
“Oh, sorry!” Brandon apologizes, this time at a much more reasonable volume.
Paige rubs his head. It still hurt a little bit. “Mom’s here?” he asks.
“Si, Quinn’s staying the night with you.” Carmen gently grabs Paige’s arm and begins pulling him up.
“We’re staying the night?”
“Yes!” Carmen grins. “I talked to Ms. Tiseu a bit while you were gone earlier. She suggested not moving you around a lot, so me and Quinnsie thought it would be best to just have you sleep on the couch tonight.” He looks down at Paige. “That okay?”
“Yeah, sure.” Paige and Carmen walk to the kitchen table side to side, Carmen having an arm thrown around Paige’s shoulder.
“Heyo, man,” Brandon waves at the two of them, taking a huge bite of his soup. “C’mon in, the water’s fine.”
“If you mean the soup’s good, I already know!” Paige grins. “Aunt Carmen never fails a dish, let alone his patent pending Auntie’s Homemade!”
Carmen blushes. “You flatter me, mijo!” He sits Paige down in a chair next to Quinn and Brandon. “You wanna start small in case you get a headache, sweetie?”
“Um…” Paige’s eyebrows ruffle, actually causing him a bit of pain. “Ow…”
“Don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard!” Carmen laughs, pouring some soup into a bowl. “Tell you what, less is more if you can’t decide, so we can just make you several small bowls, ‘kay?”
“Okay!” Paige nods. “As long as I get any I’ll be happy!”
Carmen giggles. “So sweet!” He places the bowl in front of Paige before going back to draw up another one. “Quinnsie, darling, how did you get such a wonderful son?” He places his own bowl in the last spot at the table, between Quinn and Brandon, before going back over to Paige. There, he gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Can I steal him?”
Quinn chuckles as Brandon pouts. “Ma!”
Carmen laughs. “Kidding! Kidding!” Brandon just continues putting on his most pathetic pout. This was one of the High Scale ones. He had been teaching Paige how to master the Art of the Pout, so he had studied this one rather hard in hopes of recreating it himself.
Carmen is unaffected.
He simply takes a seat and begins eating his own food, smiling innocently.
The small family eats together while chatting amicably, thankfully at a quiet volume for Paige’s sake.
“So, Paige,” Quinn starts, placing their spoon down in their bowl, “Do you think you can go to school tomorrow, sweetie?”
“Umm…” Paige is torn. On one hand, his perfect attendance would be at stake! But on the other hand, he couldn’t imagine going through classes like this.
And on the other other hand, how would he get tomorrow’s note…?
“...Ask me tomorrow?” Paige finally answers noncommittally.
Quinn nods. “Fair enough. See how you feel in the morning and all.”
“Can I crash with you on the couch tonight?” Brandon asks, pulling his bowl down from having just finished slurping the rest of the soup up.
“Sure!” Paige smiles. “It’ll be just like old times!”
“We could literally just go up to my room, you know,” Brandon mumbles with a chuckle.
“And walk up all those stairs?” Carmen gasps, shaking his head. “No, absolutely not. I’m not taking Ms. Tiseu’s word lightly.”
“It’s just two stories, Mami!” Brandon giggles.
“Actually, I’m inclined to agree with Carmen on this one, Branflakes,” Quinn says. “Paige isn’t really built to be beat up.” They turn to their son. “Right, honey?”
Paige rubs the back of his head. “The doctor says I bruise easy,” is all he chooses to say.
Brandon, to his credit, seems to be trying really hard not to laugh. Paige rolls his eyes.
“I think I’m done, Aunt Carmen.”
“Oh, what am I, chopped liver?” Quinn chortles.
“No!” Paige cries, “It’s just that Aunt Carmen was already helping me, so…”
“I know, honey, I know,” Quinn laughs. “I’m just poking a little fun.”
“Ooh, okay. Sorry, then.”
“It’s alright. You wanna go lay down?” Quinn yawns. “I could actually go for some shut eye myself…”
“Where will you sleep, Mom?” Paige asks as Carmen helps him back up.
…Was that blush on his mom’s face?
“Don’t you worry about that,” Carmen breaks in. “You know me and your Mami always find a way to work things out.”
“Oh, okay.”
The two of them walk back to the couch while Brandon rushes past the two of them. “Gonna get the epic blanket!” he shouts behind him.
“Ahh…”
“Sorry!” Brandon stage whispers.
“Honestly, that kid…” Carmen chuckles, shaking his head. “Let’s get you situated, sweetie.”
As Paige sits back down, he notices a pillow that wasn’t there when he had first fallen asleep. “Did you get me this while I was asleep?”
“I did! Couldn’t have you resting on the hard armrest, could we?” Carmen smiles, fluffing up said pillow for the boy.
“Got the blanket,” Brandon announces, smiling wide. In his hand, he triumphantly holds an extremely large green Creeper blanket. “Dug it out from where I always keep it for sleepovers!”
“Oh, awesome!” Paige smiles as Brandon comes over and lays on the opposite end of the small couch, spreading the cover over them. He also has a pillow he pushes behind himself as he proceeds to get comfortable.
“You kids rest well now, y’hear?” Quinn chuckles. “Me and Min are gonna go see about sleeping arrangements.”
“Yes, yes,” Carmen agrees. “Rest up, you two!”
“‘Kayyy,” Brandon waves as Paige simply smiles and quietly nods. Carmen gives them both a quick pat on the head and a peck on the cheek. Quinn comes right behind him and does the same.
“Night, loves!” Carmen says, grabbing Quinn’s hand and walking away and up the stairs with them.
Paige and Brandon both wait until the sound of a door opening and closing happens, and then wait a little longer. Finally, Paige is the first one to break the silence.
“Brandon?”
“What’s up, dude?”
“I… I don’t think I wanna go to school tomorrow.”
“That’s cool. Don’t do what you don’t wanna, and don’t do what you don’t gotta.” Brandon pushes his hands behind his head. “That’s always been my motto.”
“I’ve never heard you say that in your life.”
“...Starting now, that is.”
Paige laughs. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Mr. Master Sayings.” He bites his lip after, mumbling. “But, even though I don’t want to go, I don’t wanna miss tomorrow’s note either…”
“You mean from your secre—Ow!”
Paige had kicked Brandon. “Not so loud!” he shushes. “I don’t want Mom or Aunt Carmen to hear.”
“They’re probably too busy talking with each other to be listening to our amazing and incredibly insightful conversation,” Brandon scoffs with a smile. “But I hear ya. I’ll be more quiet.”
“Thank you,” Paige sighs.
“But, okay,” Brandon says. “You’re scared of missing the note from… PSA, right?”
“...PSA?” the other repeats, confused.
“Your… you know,” Brandon says hushed, waving a hand. “It’s you, Paige, and the first two letters of the phrase. PSA.” He crosses his arms with a smirk. “Pretty neat idea, right? Now we can talk about them in front of whoever and they’ll never catch on!”
Paige scrunches his face slightly, wary about doing it too much lest his head revolt again. “Hmm… you know what? That actually works pretty good!” he finally smiles.
“Epic!” Brandon smiles right back, holding out a fist. “Pound it, dude. To PSA!”
“To PSA!” Paige giggles, pounding and exploding the brofist.
“Heh,” Brandon chuckles. “Awesome. With that outta the way, I was trying to say earlier, I can totally get the note for you.”
“Really?” Paige gasps. “You really would?”
“‘Course, man!”
“Oh, thank you, Brandon!” Paige claps gently.
“Heh, just another awesome perk of bein’ my homeboy,'' Brandon jokes. Paige laughs quietly.
The two of them then dissolve into much simpler talk, mundane and boring, until eventually both of them are slurring their words so badly, they’ve both fallen asleep.
+++
“Yeah, no,” Paige hears, breaking into the waking world. “He said he’s not feeling up to it today.”
“He tell you that last night?” Quinn asks.
“Yeah,” Brandon replies. “But it’s cool. I’ll get all his work and stuff at the end of the day for him.”
“You stay the sweetest, don’t you, my little Branflake?” Paige can hear Brandon blow raspberries as the sound of a very put on mwah! comes from Quinn.
“Come onnn, Tía Quinn,” Brandon whines. “We’re gonna be late.”
“Just give me a minute! I’m giving you before we leave kisses to supplement for the ones you won’t let me give you when I drop you off!”
“Fiiine,” Brandon sighs, though it’s clear from his tone that he doesn’t mean it. “Let’s get out of the house, though. Don’t wanna wake Paige.”
Paige thinks it would be really funny to just say, “Too late!” and then pretend to fall asleep again, but by the time he’s gotten the idea in his head, the two others are already halfway through the door.
Ah, shoot. Well, there was always next time.
Paige sits up and takes out his phone. It was still early, they had plenty of time to make it there.
He wants to do something now that he’s awake though, but just the idea of playing some tiresome endless runner or tedious idle game made his head hurt. So, with little else to do, he opens up his texts.
He couldn’t text Brandon, that would just give him away as awake, and he didn’t want anyone from home to know he was up just yet. Especially not Brandon, because then Brandon would tell his mom, and they would talk about him without him being there.
Not that he actually thought they’d be bad things, but…
Well, the thought didn’t sit quite right in Paige’s head. So texting Brandon was out.
…Which also meant texting Sue or Bro was out, too. Because Sue would start asking too many questions, and then when he’d dodge them, they’d just go to Brandon for answers anyways, and Bro because…well, have you seen the way Bro and Brandon were always with each other? If Brandon wasn’t with Paige himself, there was a 100% guarantee that if you found Bro, you’d find Brandon right behind them.
So of course, this leaves OJ.
paige: Hey! Good morning. :)
Paige waits for the reply absently, thinking about what OJ must be up to this early. Eventually, his phone pings in his hands.
squeezed to meet you: Good morning to you too, Paige. How are you doing this morning? I sure do hope to see you today and give you well wishes in person.
Paige frowns sadly.
paige: Im staying out today actually :(
paige: Head hurts too much!
The reply dots start up immediately.
squeezed to meet you: So sorry to hear that, Paige. Perhaps when you return we can set up one of those palling around sessions? It would be a delight to see you in well heath again whilst also getting to spend time with you. Smiley face.
That message cheers Paige up again.
paige: Yes! I would love to hang again.
paige: Hopefully I’ll be back in school by tomorrow.
paige: Excited to plan!
Paige and OJ go on back and forth in more texts, already starting to catch up. Eventually though, school has to start, and OJ sends his last message.
squeezed to meet you: My dear friend, it pains me to announce I have arrived at school and thus our conversation must take its pause. I’ll do my best to get back in touch after the period is over, okay? TTYL!
Paige yawns as he replies.
paige: OK! See you soon. :)
Now with the little bit of energy he had burnt off talking to OJ, Paige finds himself wanting more sleep. He fixes his phone so the next ping from OJ will be sure to wake him up when second period comes. With that, he pockets his phone and gets comfortable under the Creeper cover again. A nice hour of z’s would do him good, surely.
+++
When Paige’s phone goes off next, it makes him nearly jump out of his skin. He had completely forgotten he made it that loud. In the time it takes for him to reorient himself, another loud ping has gone off. As quickly as he can, he fixes the phone’s volume with a sigh.
“What time is it…?” he mumbles to no one in particular.
“About time for school to end,” Carmen says from behind the couch. Paige jumps again. “Oh no, sweetie, did I scare you?” He quickly rounds the couch and sits on the edge of it, holding Paige in a quick hug. “So sorry, mijo.”
“‘Sokay, Aunt Carmen,” Paige says earnestly. “I’ll be good. Just didn't expect you to be there, is all.”
“I heard your phone practically scream so I thought I’d come check on you.” He gives the boy a worried look. “You were out for quite some time, sweetie.” He puts a hand up to Paige’s forehead gently. “You didn’t catch a fever as well, did you…?”
“No, I think I’m okay,” Paige assures. “My body just needs a lot of rest to recover from things.” He shrugs. “That’s what Mom told me, anyways.”
“Alright, honey,” Carmen says, lifting up. “I’ll let you wake up some more. then we’ve gotta get some soup in you, okay?”
“Okay!”
Once Carmen disappears somewhere into the household, Paige finally checks his messages.
There’s actually a couple. Three from OJ and one from Brandon. Paige decides to check OJ’s first.
squeezed to meet you: Terribly sorry, Paige. Time got away from me and I was unable to continue our texts from this morning.
squeezed to meet you: But fear not, as I shall be free to hang out with you tomorrow, should you return of course.
squeezed to meet you: Very excited to see you again! Please be well!
Paige smiles gently at the messages. They were so sweet… so genuine… so… well, OJ! He loved that about the shorter boy, just how unapologetically he was himself. His smile only widens as he backs out of OJ’s texts and opens up Brandon’s.
branflakes: got da note B)
paige: :D!
Brandon bursts through the door, rushing up to where Paige is laying on the couch. “Dude! C’mon!” it happily shouts, tugging at the sleepy boy. “You gotta see the note!”
“Okay, okay!” Paige laughs weakly. “Don’t rush me, my head still kinda hurts.”
“You’re gonna love it,” Brandon smiles.
“Aw, what?” Paige frowns. “Did you already read the note?”
“I did—but!”
“Brandooon!” Paige whines, falling on top of the other and flailing his arms a bit.
“But, but, but!!” Brandon laughs, pushing Paige back up and grabbing his hand to lead them up the stairs. “I have a good reason!”
“What reason could you have that’s good enough for reading my mail?” Paige pouts. “Isn’t that like, illegal?”
“First of all,” Brandon chuckles, opening the door to its room, “You’re the one who sent me on this mission. Ask Brandon a favor and you get a Brandon Job.” Paige rolls his eyes. “Second of all, I maybe had a certain reason to look thatIcan’ttellyouabout,” it rushes out.
“Oh, come on!” Paige pushes Brandon lightly. “Don’t keep me waiting!”
“Okay, okay!” Brandon laughs. It tosses its bookback to the side and pulls a note out of its back pocket “Here you go.”
Paige quickly nabs the note, barely containing his excitement. He unfolds it and it reads:
“Did you know that fennec foxes are nocturnal? Sometimes I stay up so late thinking of you, I feel nocturnal too… ♥
(P.S.
What’s your favorite coloration of fox?)
(P.P.S
Here’s your hint! We go to the same school. :P)”
Paige reads the note. Then rereads it.
Then he bursts into a laugh.
“Oh my gosh,” he giggles. “Oh my gosh.”
“What? What’s so funny?” Brandon asks, clearly not expecting that reaction from him.
“Their hint!” Paige answers. “It’s so silly!”
“Oh!” Brandon laughs. “Yeah, I knew you would like that one.”
Paige’s smile is bright for a good moment as he reskims the note. Then, it dims.
“Oh!” he cries. “Oh no!”
“What?” Brandon blinks. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know the first thing about foxes!” Paige despairs. “H-how am I supposed to answer this question!?”
“Dude,” Brandon deadpans. “You can literally search for anything on this wacky thing we call The Internet.” It waggles its fingers in front of itself, trying to make a point.
“Oh, ha ha,” Paige laughs stiffly, rolling his eyes. “Sorry that I got so excited I forgot the world wide web exists.”
“Nah, don’t be,” Brandon says with a snot nosed grin. “It’s cute that you so clearly like this so much.”
“Aw, shut up,” Paige huffs, playfully shoving Brandon, who shoves back. They go back and forth for a second, both laughing.
“Okay, okay,” Brandon finally says. “Let’s go look at some foxes.”
“Alright,” Paige says, only to be interrupted by the sound of his phone going off. A text!
squeezed to meet you: Hello again, Paige! I was going to wait until tomorrow to talk with you again, but I stumbled upon another meme I thought you’d enjoy. Here you are. I hope you like it! [IMG]
Paige taps the image to load it. When it finally shows itself, there’s a picture of an orange cat holding on to a french fry. In big, impact font on the top and bottom of the image it reads:
“HANG IN THERE!
SOON YOU’LL GET YOUR FRENCHIEST FRY!”
Paige laughs. “Silly OJ!”
paige: LOL
paige: Super funny omg!
paige: TY for showing me!!
As soon as he hits send, his phone is seized by Brandon who demands to see what’s so funny. When it loads the image, playing keepaway from its friend, it also laughs its head off.
“Oh this is rich,” it laughs. “This is really rich.”
“Oh, don’t be mean to him!” Paige pouts, finally snatching his phone back. “I think it’s a cute image!”
“Heh, I bet you do,” Brandon chuckles.
“And just what’s that supposed to mean?” Paige questions.
“Ohh, nothing!” It grins. “Now, foxes?”
“Kids?” Quinn calls, knocking on the door.
“Come in!” Brandon says.
Quinn pushes her way in. “Hey, kiddos,” she smiles. “Me and Paige are gonna go home soon, alright?”
“Oh, okay!” Brandon nods. “We just need to finish something here for school, okay?”
“Oh, alright!” Quinn waves. “I’ll be downstairs with Min when you’re done.” With that, she closes the door behind her.
“We gotta hurry up and find you a fox,” Brandon says, hopping over to his computer and logging in.
“What?” Paige asks, following. “Why? I have until tomorrow to find a fox, don’t I?”
“Yes, well, you see,” Brandon says, turning in its chair. Its got a pinched, shy expression. “I… may or may not have met your secret admirer?”
Paige stares.
Then, “WHAT?”
“Don’t freak out, don’t freak out!” Brandon laughs.
“No way! I miss one day of school and you run into my admirer!?” Paige groans. “No freaking way!”
“Oh, calm down!” Brandon says, searching up fox patterns. “By the way, just so you know, I approve.”
“Aw, what?” Paige pouts. “How did you even…?”
“How do you think I got the note in the first place?” Brandon smirks.
“From the locker?” Paige says, bemused. “Just like I’ve been getting them?”
“¡Exactamente, mi amigo!” Brandon grins. “We met at your locker. It was actually by complete accident. I was going to the bathroom and saw them lurking around and well, I wasn’t about to let anyone ruin this for you.”
“Aw, Brandon!” Paige smiles. “How sweet!”
“I know. Branflakes: the sweetest cereal known to mankind!” it laughs.
“Okay, okay,” Paige says, shaking Brandon lightly. “You can’t just tease me like that, though. You’ve gotta tell me, who is it?”
“Nooope,” Brandon chuckles, shaking its head. “I made a promise.”
“And that promise would be?” Paige asks, crossing his arms.
“That I would get the notes between you two safe and sound, no locker needed. But I can’t let you know who it is, ‘cause then where’s the fun in that?” Brandon laughs harder as Paige hits him on the head lightly again and again.
“You’re awful!”
“I’m great!” Brandon shoots back happily. “I’m gonna be the number one guarantee this thing goes off without a hitch, after all!”
“Ughh… fine,” Paige finally relents. “But I don’t want to be beaten to the punch in seeing my own notes anymore.”
“Ooh, can’t do that one either, I’m afraid.” Brandon hangs its hands in the air, shaking its head. “Another stipulation we had was I have to vet all the notes.”
“And why’s that?” Paige asks, knowing Brandon well enough to know the answer will most likely be—
“‘Cause I wanted to!” it singsongs.
“Again, the worst,” Paige deadpans, though he doesn’t mean it. Not really.
“Yeah, yeah,” Brandon waves off. “You love me. Now, come look at these cool as hell foxes I just found.”
Paige leans over Brandon’s shoulder as it scrolls through the multiple pictures of different coated foxes. The pair of them look at so many foxes for so long, chatting about random things they were reminded of, that there’s another knock at the door.
“Sweetie?” Quinn asks through the door. “You done in there? It’s about time for us to go!”
“Oh gosh,” Paige gasps then turns towards the door. “Yeah! One more minute, Mom!”
“One minute!” she repeats, the sound of her walking away coming after.
“So, which fox is your favorite?” Brandon asks.
“Oh, um…” Paige mumbles. “...The white and orange ones?”
“Why am I not surprised?” Brandon laughs.
“Oh, be quiet and hand me a pen and some paper!”
Brandon is still laughing as it does as requested. Paige takes the stuff and begins to write.
“I had to look it up, but my favorite color of fox are the orange and white ones! They look really striking! The color combination also makes me happy for whatever reason, haha!
(P.S.
I know we go to the same school! How else would you get these to me in the first place? Haha!)
(P.P.S
Tell Brandon not to be a snoop!)”
With the final word written, Paige exhales. “There, that should work.” He folds the note and holds it out, snatching it back just before Brandon can take it.
“Wh—huh?”
Paige looks at Brandon with a serious pout on his face. “Don’t look at this. Seriously.”
“Alright, alright!” Brandon laughs. “No need to break out my own Scary Face on me!”
Paige smiles and hands over the note in earnest. “Sorry. Just wanted to make sure, you know?”
“I get it man. I won’t look at any of your notes, alright?” It puts on a wry smile. “But I still get to look at Ohh… um.” Brandon coughs. “Oooh shoot! Look at the time!” It jumps up out of its seat and pulls Paige to the door with it. “Looks like it’s time for you to go!”
Huh? What was happening?
“Tia Quinn! We’re done!” Brandon calls after opening its door.
“Brandon?”
“Oh, did you wanna ride with us?” Quinn asks as Brandon pulls Paige downstairs. “Min was going to drive us.”
“Um… you know what?” Brandon gives the worst approximation of a yawn Paige has ever seen. “I’m like… really tired. Like, really tired.”
“Oh?” Quinn puts the back of her hand up to Brandon’s forehead. “Did you catch a cold or something, my little Branflake?”
“No, no,” Brandon laughs nervously. “I’m just so swamped by everything we got goin’ on at school, y’know?”
“Oh, yes,” Quinn chuckles. “I remember being in your shoes quite well.”
“Yeah!” Brandon nods. “So I’m just gonna go catch some z’s, alright?” It gives one of its patent pending Brotherly Pats On The Back to Paige. “See you t’morrow, yeah?” And with that, it scrambles back up the stairs.
What in the world…?
“Quinnsie? Paiges? You both ready?” Carmen asks, entering the living room. “We can go whenever.”
“Yes, we’re ready!” Quinn smiles, taking a hold of Paige’s hand. “C’mon honey.”
Too dazed by the sudden speed of everything that had just happened, Paige only has time to scoop up his backpack as he’s being brought to the car. When he gets in, he quickly dives into his hoodie pocket to get his phone to text Brandon.
paige: You better not forget to give the note over!
branflakes: you got it playa
Paige sighed, almost pocketing his phone again before catching a glimpse of OJ’s name in his recently texted list. He taps on it, looking at the meme OJ had sent him earlier again, smiling.
Even though they had just started talking again recently, Paige feels his heart lighten at the thought of OJ. They had only known each other for about 2 years, give or take, but everytime Paige talked to him he felt so good. OJ was just such a sweet person… so honest to himself…
Oh gosh. He was getting dreamy headed again, wasn’t he?
“Alright,” Brandon says the next day when the two teens arrive at school. “I’m off to get this note delivered. You go ahead and get to class. I’ll meet up with you at lunch.”
“Oh, okay…” Paige nods, a little put out. He didn’t really expect Brandon to just up and leave him the second they got there.
“Oh, don’t get all pouty on me!” Brandon says, pouting himself. “I’m making the magic happen! You’ll see.” Brandon gives Paige a thumbs up and a smile. “At lunch, I’ll have your note from Prince Charming, just you wait.”
“Prince…?” Paige mumbles. “So it’s a boy?”
Brandon gives him one of his patented Looks.
“What?” Paige asks.
The Look gets more intense.
Paige sighs. “I don’t think I get it, but alright.” He shoos Brandon away. “Go on then, mailman. Go deliver your letter.”
Brandon’s face breaks into a smile. “On my way to be the best Cupid ever!” And with that and a salute, he’s off.
The bell rings soon after and the day starts proper. Paige simply goes through the motions as he makes his way through his classes. Lunch was fast approaching and the closer he got the more excited and distracted he got.
In fact, he gets so distracted, there’s a shatter ringing in his ear late into third period.
“AAH!” he cries, jumping back from the measuring cup that’s now in chips and pieces.
“Paige?” Mrs. Kate calls, rushing over. “Are you alright, sweetie?”
“Ah… um…” Paige takes stock of himself quickly. Everything’s intact, he was just startled. “Yes, I think so.”
“Oh thank goodness,” Mrs. Kate sighs. “You’ve gotta be a bit more careful, alright?”
Paige nods apologetically. “Yes, Mrs. Kate. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” she smiles. “Just sweep this up and no harm no foul, yeah?”
“Okay.” Paige walks over to where the broom and dustpan are kept to retrieve them before getting to work. That was close, he thinks to himself. I can’t be so head in the clouds in a class like this…
Luckily for Paige, the bell rings almost as soon as he’s done dumping the shards of glass.
“Clean up before you all go!” Mrs. Kate says. “Your teachers all know you have Home Ec, don’t worry about being a little late.”
“Yes, Mrs. Kate,” the whole class drones. Paige goes back to his desk to clean with everyone else.
“H-ey,” Paige hears with an accompanying tap on the shoulder. He turns around to face Bro. “Y-you okay?”
“Huh?” Paige blinks. “Yeah, I’m okay. Why do you ask, though?”
“Y-ou dropped s-something pretty h-ard t-to drop when you’re paying at-tention,” Bro explains. “Plus, y-you’ve had this weird lo-ok on your face s-ince class st-arted. S-so I thought maybe something was wrong…”
Paige’s face grows soft. “That’s so thoughtful of you, Bro,” he smiles. “I’m okay though, really. Just… a little distracted by something.”
“Oh? L-ike what?”
“Oh, you know!” Paige laughs awkwardly as the late bell rings. “Oh, look at the time! Gotta jet!”
“B-but…?”
“Talk to you at lunch!” Paige rushes out, shoving everything he needs into his bag before making his getaway.
“Gotta jet…?” he mumbles to himself as he trudges to Algebra 2. “What an old phrase… I haven’t used that since I used to share every class with OJ…”
Algebra 2 comes and goes, and with that, Paige has finally made it to Lunch.
He’s a little late, but as he walks into the cafeteria, he can immediately see the Lunch Squad hard at work. Mr. Memphis, Ms. Meredith and Mr. Merlyn were all making their rounds. Mr. Memphis is going around the tables and making sure kids sit properly. Ms. Meredith is at the line, making sure no one skips. And Mr. Merlyn… well. He sure was standing there menacingly.
They were ultimately just nuisances to Paige, a little miffed he wouldn’t be able to get a fast lunch and hurry to the table he and The Bro Crew shared, but oh well. Cookies and crumbles and the like.
Paige waits what feels like an agonizingly long time to get his meager serving of mozzarella sticks and milk. Finally though, he hustles over to his table where the rest of the Crew are.
“Paige,” Sue greets first, a small smile on their face. Bro simply waves, although they’ve got a worried expression on their face. Brandon, however…
“Yo!” he greets happily. “I got got the note!”
Paige lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he sits at the table. “Oh, thank goodness.”
“What?” Brandon pouts. “You didn’t believe in your main man? Your brother from another mother? Your—”
“I think he gets it, Brandon,” Sue cuts off, taking a bite of their sandwich while looking over a book.
“Oh, c’mon,” Brandon huffs. “You don’t steal a guy’s thunder when he’s in the middle of making it!”
“Unless it’s you,” Sue says playfully, sticking their tongue out.
Brandon scoffs, holding a hand to his chest and looking as hurt as he possibly can. Which, to be fair, is actually really funny. But Paige is so anxious to see the new note, he can’t find it in himself to laugh at the silly exchange.
“Can I see it?” he asks instead of commenting, practically bouncing in his seat.
“Oh, yeah! Sorry, here you go.” Brandon pulls out the note from his backpack and hands it over. Paige does his best not to simply snatch it out of the other’s hands.
Today’s note reads:
“Did you know cats conserve energy by sleeping up to 14 hours a day? If I could sleep that long, I hope I would dream of you… ♥
(P.S.
What’s your favorite thing about cats?)
(P.P.S
I thought the hint would be useful to confirm! And, just so you know, I told Brandon what you said. He didn’t like it very much! LOL.)
Paige immediately bursts into a fit of giggles. Oh, oh, oh…! He was quickly falling head over heels for this mysterious admirer. If they kept this up, he’d have to ask to meet them soon!
“Good one today?” Brandon smirks. All Paige can do is nod happily.
“What is that?” Sue asks, snapping Paige out of his happy little bubble. That’s right… he never actually told the rest of the Crew he was getting secret admirer notes, did he? He supposes he could do it now, but…
Before he can even decide, Sue has plucked the note from his hands and is reading it over.
“Wh—hey!” Paige cries, trying to grab the note back.
Sue holds out a hand. This is effective in stopping Paige immediately. Then, once they’re done, they hand the note back over without a word.
“Sue?” Paige asks, beyond confused.
“I’ve seen all I need to see,” is all they say, cryptic as always.
“W-well I didn’t!” Bro huffs. “Is th-at why you w-ere all weird t-today in Home Ec? Wh-at’s even o-on that?”
“I…” Paige mumbles. “I was debating on whether or not to say anything… but then Sue decided to take things into their own hands. Literally.”
“I’m allowed to know everything,” Sue shrugs simply. “Besides, now that you know about your eye quirk, you might have tried cheating by closing your eyes again. Thought it’d be easier just to look myself.”
“Aw!” Bro pouts. “S-so everybody but me gets to know?”
“Don’t sweat it, Bart,” Brandon says. “We got more important eggs to crack.”
“I would love to study you,” Sue says with seemingly no further context.
“Right,” Brandon says, rolling his eyes. “Anyways, our project?”
“O-oh, right.” Bro puts a sleeve covered hand to their chin. “I th-ink it m-might still be in class?”
“Awesome,” Brandon says, standing. “I just gotta get something from my locker and then I’ll meet you there? I think Lunch is almost over anyways.”
“S-sure,” Bro waves. “See you s-soon.” Brandon shoots a finger gun back as he walks away.
“Lunch is almost over…” Paige mumbles, looking at the clock on the wall. “Wow… time flies.”
“O-okay,” Bro says, “But s-eriously. What’s th-e paper about?”
“Oh! Um…” Paige bites his lip and looks at Sue worriedly.
“I’m not going to say anything, if that’s what you think,” they say plainly. “It’s your decision.”
“B-but you…!?” Paige says, incredulous.
Sue chuckles a bit. “Like I said, I’m allowed to know anything I want.”
Paige just sighs in defeat. “Fine, fine. It’d be wrong of me to not tell you now so…” The teen takes a deep breath and lowers his voice. “I… have a secret admirer!”
“Woah!” Bro gasps. “R-really?”
“Yes!” Paige nods, cheery smile on his face. “This is the… fourth note? I think? Hold on…” Paige counts on his fingers. “The first cat one… the cherry blossom one… the fox one… and now this second cat one! Yep! Four of them in total.”
“Wo-ah! L-look at M-mr. Popular over here!” Bro teases, punching Paige lightly. “Ma-ybe I sh-ould do something like th-is…”
“You? A secret admirer?” Paige gasps. “To who?”
For the second time that day, Paige is met with The Look from both Bro and Sue for some reason.
“What?” he asks. “What am I not getting today?”
“Oh my god,” Sue blinks, some sort of realization crossing their face. “You really don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Oh my god.” Sue turns to Bro with a wry smile on their face. “Bro. Bro, he doesn’t know.”
“O-h m-my god,” Bro giggles. “O-h, th-that’s almost funnier th-an him kn-owing. Oh m-my god.”
“Who?” Paige asks, teetering on begging. “Who is it and how come Sue knows and I don’t?”
“Oh, you know,” Sue says. “It’s just so funny that you think you don’t.”
“...What?” Paige asks. The bell then chooses that exact moment to ring.
“Looks like it’s time to go,” Sue chuckles, closing their books and standing.
“Wait!” Paige cries. “I wanna know who!”
“See y-you later, Paige,” Bro laughs, waving after they gather their stuff. “I’m s-ure you’ll figure it out.”
“Aw! Guys!” Paige pouts as the other two leave. “Ugh!” He stomps his foot as he too stands. “You’re awful,” he mumbles to no one in particular.
With a sigh, Paige continues his school day. Besides Gym, which he opts to sit out as they’re playing another game of dodge ball, he finds it hard to pay attention to anything. There are so many thoughts swimming in his head now… who his secret admirer was… who Bro wanted to become a secret admirer for… what he should reply to the note with…
Oh! His reply!
Brandon isn’t in Writing when he gets there, probably still working on his project with Bro. But the sub is gone from the previous two days Paige had been here.
“Okay everyone,” Ms. Tacari says, clapping his hands. “Today’s assignment? Spin me a tale that would knock Dr. Seuss’ socks off! That is—write me a poem that starts mundane and explodes into insanity, won’t you?” With that, he takes a seat at his chair and does whatever it is that teachers do at their laptops all day. Probably working on future lesson plans or something.
Ah, but Paige had no time to be thinking about that! He had to do his assignment… and more importantly, he had to think of a reply!
Okay, okay. Reply first. He pulls out a scrap piece of paper from the back of his notebook and begins to scribble down what he can think of.
“My favorite thing about cats… Well! That’s hard to decide! But I think the way they move their bodies is what really makes them interesting to me. The way they move like liquid sometimes is so cool! It makes me wish I could do the same, haha!
(P.S.
Are you an animal person too? Three out of the four things you’ve asked me have been about them! I’m curious!”
(P.P.S.
It’s good that he didn’t like it. It’s rude to snoop in people’s mail!”)
Good. Something sizable for once!
With that done, Paige does his assignment as he was tasked to do. He’s actually having quite a bit of fun when the bell rings to signify school’s out for the day.
“For homework you’re to finish those poems, alright?” Ms. Tacari calls as the class begins to shift around. “You’re presenting them tomorrow!”
Some of the class groans, while some of them give a less than lively cheer. Paige himself was indifferent to it, but he was looking forward to finishing what he had started.
As Paige leaves the class he gets a text. When he checks it, it reads:
branflakes: gonna hang w bart tn 2 work on this here project
branflakes: dont w8 up. ill get the note tmrw
Ah…
First this morning and now this afternoon…
Sure, it wasn’t like Paige and Brandon had never been apart before, but with how sudden a departure it was from their normal setup… well…
Let’s just say Paige wasn’t exactly the happiest camper right now.
But, as he stares at the text near his locker, there’s a tap on his shoulder.
“Huh?” he blinks, turning.
“Hello, Paige!” OJ greets, huge smile on his face. “How are you?”
Oh! OJ!
“Hi, OJ!” Paige smiles. “I’m okay! How are you?”
“Well and good,” Orville replies. “I’m very glad to see you in good health once again. It’s been quite some time!”
“Yeah, it has been, hasn’t it?” Paige comments. “What was that phrase you used to say? Long time no see?”
OJ giggles. “That was it! Sonic tended to say it a lot. It was one of the things I picked up from him.”
“Oh yeah!” Paige nods. “Didn’t you used to be obsessed with Sonic?”
“Used to… is not very accurate,” OJ chuckles. “But I am… less obsessed with it these days, I can say.” He grabs Paige’s hand gently. “That’s besides the point though. Shall we do some hanging out like we planned?”
“Yes!” Paige smiles.
“Wonderful.” With that, OJ begins to lead Paige off of the school grounds.
“So, what’s up?” Paige asks. “I feel like we haven’t… palled around in ages!” he laughs. “I really like that phrase you used.”
“Oh, thank you,” OJ says sheepishly. “It’s, um… thank you.”
“Why are you thanking me?” Paige laughs again. “You just used a fun word!”
“Well…” OJ rubs the back of his head. “Not everyone likes when I use… unique words like that.” He sounds a little like a wounded puppy. It makes Paige frown a bit.
“Did someone tell you that?”
“Something like that.”
Paige rolls his eyes. “Then they’re stupid.”
“Huh?” OJ blinks, looking unprepared for that answer.
Paige smiles. “I like all your unique words. They’re very… you! And you’s the best you you can be, you know?”
OJ’s tight expression slowly melts away, making way for a smile of his own. “Yes, I suppose so, huh?” He chuckles. “I like your unique way of phrasing things as well.”
“Thanks!” Paige beams. “But yeah! What have you been up to?”
“Oh!” OJ begins flapping his unoccupied hand. “In lieu of Sonic, I’ve found a love of steampunk! You see…”
The teen goes on and on about the intricacies of his new interest. Honestly, it’s a lot of big words that Paige has either never heard before, or the meaning is slipping his mind, but he enjoys listening anyways. He liked spending time with OJ no matter what they were doing, really.
Speaking of what they were doing…
“Oh, OJ,” Paige cuts in. “Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s quite alright,” OJ nods.
“I was just wondering, where are we going?”
“Oh? Didn’t I tell you?”
“You didn’t.”
“My bad!” OJ laughs. “Well, that’s quite alright as well. We’re here, after all.”
Paige blinks, looking up at the awning. It reads: El Piña Pizzería.
“Oh!” Paige grins. “Pizza!”
“Yes indeed!” OJ grins back. “I live around here, so I visit this pizzeria a lot.” He pushes the door open and pulls Paige in. “Come on, I’m sure we can get a table near the window.”
OJ remembered he liked sitting near the window? How sweet!
The two enter and quickly nab a seat near the windows just as they were hoping to. They put their bags down to claim it before going over to the ordering station.
“¡Hola!” the cashier greets. “¿Qué quieres?”
OJ turns to Paige. “What would you like?”
“Oh! Um, I actually speak a little Spanish myself!” Paige says, a little shy. “Can I try?”
“By all means, Paige!”
Paige nods and gulps a bit before turning to the cashier himself. “Um… ¡hola! Yo… tengo… pizza de queso?” Both OJ and the cashier chuckle a bit and Paige can feel his face flush. “What? Did I say it wrong?”
“Un poco,” OJ says, pinching his pointer and thumb together. “But it’s okay.” He turns to the cashier. “Mi amigo es muy inteligente, ¿no?”
“¡Sí!” They nod. “Yo comprendo. ¿Y tú?”
“Yo también, por favor,” OJ says. “Con carne.”
“Comprendido. Un momento, por favor.”
“Nosotros estaremos en esa masa.”
“OK,” they wave, getting to work.
“We’ll… that table…” Paige mumbles. “Be at?” He tries to look over at OJ for confirmation, but the other teen has already started to walk to their table. Paige is quick to follow behind.
“So, Paige,” OJ says as the other sits down. “What’s up with you? Have anything exciting happen to you recently or anything?”
Paige thinks. “Um… oh!” he gasps. “Yes! Something very exciting is happening to me right now!”
“Oh?” OJ asks. “What is it?”
“Okay, um…” Paige becomes extremely shy suddenly, bending over close and lowering his voice. “You can’t tell anybody, okay?”
“Okay,” OJ nods, interest clearly piqued. “What is it?”
“I…” Paige stops and looks around before continuing. “I have a secret admirer!”
“Oh my!” OJ gasps. “How exciting indeed!”
“I know, right?” Paige gushes. “They’ve sent me four notes so far. I’m so excited to get my reply to them tomorrow.”
“Reply?” OJ prods.
“Oh, we go back and forth with the notes! I have Brandon as a currier currently. Somehow it met up with them! And now it won’t tell me who it is…”
“Isn’t it more fun that way, though?” OJ smiles kindly. “Personally, if I had a secret admirer I’d try and get to know who they are first. Have you been asking questions about them?”
“Just the one!” Paige says. “I asked if they could give me a hint as to who they were, and guess what they said!”
“What?”
“They said we go to the same school!” Paige giggles. “As if I wouldn’t know that considering they left the first couple of notes in my locker.”
“Hmm…” OJ hums. “Perhaps they simply thought it was… good to make sure?” he offers.
“They said something along those lines,” Paige nods. “But still! So silly!” He sighs. “But so sweet…”
“You sure seem to like them a lot,” OJ smiles.
“I do,” Paige says earnestly. “Even if we don’t know much about each other yet, just the thought of someone liking me enough to do this…!” he swoons.
“I really love that for you, Paige,” OJ says, somber. It intrigues Paige, but before he can ask, the waiter comes by with their slices.
“¡Para dos personas!” they chirp as they slide the plates down. “¡Disfruta!”
“Gracias,” OJ thanks at the same time Paige yelps a quick, “Gracias!” caught off guard.
OJ chuckles at him, getting ready to take a bite. “Do you not constantly keep an eye on your surroundings?”
Paige blinks with his mouth slightly ajar, pizza hanging in the air. “Um,” he says smartly. “...Nnno?” he answers, unsure.
OJ swallows his bite. “Oh, that’s not surprising. Most people answer no to that question, don’t fret.”
Paige lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and takes a bite of his pizza finally. “Oh!” he gasps. “This is good!”
“I know,” OJ nods. “There’s a reason I’ve come here almost every day of my life.” He takes another bite. “Well, that… and also…”
“Sweetie~!” flows sweetly from the back of the pizzeria. Following it, a person with long, flowing black hair with a purple headband comes out. They've got on nothing but purple, a small overshirt on top of a regular one, and a long skirt.
“Mami!” OJ beams. He puts his plate down (he was eating his pizza from off his plate? Like with it held up to his face?) and jumps up, rushing into the person’s arms.
“OJ?” Paige blinks, confused.
“Oh, sorry,” OJ apologizes, but his mouth is wide as he says it. “Paige, this is my mami, Sam. Mami, this is my friend Paige!”
“Oooh~!” Ms. Sam singsongs. “Is this the little one you would talk about all the time back in 9th grade?”
“Aaah, Mami!” OJ blushes. “Shhh!!”
“You talked about me?” Paige asks, smiling small.
“All the time~ sweetie!” Ms. Sam giggles. “It was quite cute of you, my dear Orville!” She pinches his cheek.
“Mamiii…” OJ drones. Paige can’t help it. he starts giggling himself. “Don’t laugh!”
“I’m not laughing at you, I promise!” Paige explains. “This is just so cute.” He shakes himself out before presenting a hand to Ms. Sam. “Hello, Ms. Sam! Like OJ said, I’m Paige!”
“Yes, hello Paige!” Sam holds out her own hand, which Paige notices sparkles in the overhead light.
“Oh!” he gasps. “My bad! Mrs. Sam!”
Mrs. Sam laughs heartily as she shakes his hand. “You can simply call me Sam, my little turtle dove!” she beams. “You’re practically family with how much Orville has told us about you.”
“Oh, okay!” Paige nods. He looks over at OJ, who is positively red. “Don’t be embarrassed, OJ! I think your mom is really cool!”
“That’s not why I’m embarrassed…” OJ mumbles, just barely hearable. Before Paige can even think to ask what he means, his phone rings.
“Oh, one second,” he says, pulling it out of his pocket. The caller ID says Mom. “Oh, it’s Mom!” He picks it up. “Hello?”
“Paige, honey, are you alright?” Quinn asks. “Min said you didn’t come home yet…”
“Oh, I’m sorry Mom!” Paige cries. “I went to hang out with OJ… I meant to say something, but it completely slipped my mind.”
“Oh, that’s okay then,” Quinn sighs. “I was just worried! You get home soon, but have fun!”
“Okay, Mom! See you later! Love you!”
“Love you too, sweetie! Mwah!” And with that, the line cuts off.
Paige flicks off his phone and pockets it again. “Sorry, Mom wanted to know where I was.”
“It’s quite alright, Snowy.” Sam says, hands clasped in front of her.
“...Snowy?” Paige blinks.
“Ah, my mom likes to give everyone little nicknames.” OJ rubs the back of his head. “Oftentimes people have said I get my… quirks from her.”
“I can see that,” Paige says, not unkindly. “But, while it was nice to meet you, I think I should go soon.”
“Where do you live?” Sam asks. “I can drive you home!”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” Paige gasps. “I can take the bus just fine!”
“I’m sure you can, Snowy!” Sam says, already turning around and billowing her skirt, “But I can drive you there faster, more comfortably and in style!” She disappears around the corner she came out of to begin with, returning with a large set of keys.
“In style?” Paige asks.
“Oh, she means the RV,” OJ answers. “She… what’s the word Ma used, Mami?”
“Dani tricked it out!” She says it with such enthusiasm it’s clear she’s exactly as happy to say it right now as she was the first time. “It looks awesome!”
“It is rather cool,” OJ nods.
“Come, come,” Sam beckons, going towards the door. “Antonio! Hold down the fort whilst I’m gone, will you?”
“¡Sí!” they nod.
“I… don’t seem to have a choice in this,” Paige says.
OJ laughs. “You don’t.” He once again grabs Paige’s hand gently. “C’mon. The RV’s cool. I think you’ll like it!”
This might as well happen! Paige thinks. At least I won’t have to wait for the bus this way, huh?
OJ follows his mom and tugs Paige along the street.
“So, what’s it look like?” Paige asks.
“You’ll see in a moment,” OJ says. Paige can hear the smile in it.
Lo and behold, the moment they turn the corner, Paige sees it. It’s a huge RV covered in a pattern that can only be described as extremely groovy. It’s orange, a lighter orange zigzagging through with a random pattern. It looks like wallpaper that was carefully plastered on, but when Paige reaches the car and feels it, it’s smooth.
“This is a paint job?” he gasps.
“You betcha!” Sam smiles, unlocking the car.
“That’s amazing!” He stares in awe. “I’ve never seen a car look this cool!”
“Dani loves cars,” Sam chuckles. “I’m sure she’ll be super happy to hear about this~!” She climbs into the RV. “Come, come, get in!”
OJ opens the door and motions for Paige to climb in ahead. How kind! He slips in, OJ following behind and closing the door once he’s in. They both buckle up.
“Where do you live, honey?” Sam asks, fixing her rear view mirror.
“16528 Pacific Road,” both Paige and OJ rattle off at the same time.
“You remember my address?” Paige blinks.
“Of course I do,” OJ replies simply as Sam taps the address into her GPS.
“Oh,” Paige says back.
Something is dancing in the air… a feeling is tugging as Paige’s heart…
And then The Less I Know The Better begins playing over the radio. Just like that, whatever was happening is over and Paige shakes his head a bit.
“I love this song!” he smiles, looking away from OJ and turning towards the front. “It’s so… snazzy!”
“Ooh, a 12th grade word!” Sam grins. “Aren’t you advanced, Snowy?”
Paige blushes and rubs the back of his head. “More like a 7th grade word,” he says.
“Nonsense!” Sam replies, taking a turn. “Unless you’re a Squeeze, words like snazzy don’t often rise to the occasion in one’s head!”
“Rise to the occasion…?”
“Most people find it an unorthodox word to use under normal circumstances,” OJ explains. “Therefore, a 12th grade word.”
“Oh, okay!” Paige smiles awkwardly. “Whatever you guys say!”
“So, how are you doing these days, turtle dove?” Sam asks. “I haven’t heard updates about you in a little while!”
“Mamiii,” OJ drones, sounding shy.
“Oh, that’s probably because me and OJ don’t have any classes together this year,” Paige answers. “We kinda just drifted apart.” He turns back to OJ. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“It’s quite alright,” OJ replies, almost sounding like it’s an automatic response. He pauses though, and then says, “Well, it’s not… alright, but… it’s… alright…?” He sighs. “I’m unsure if that made any sense…”
“No, I think I get it,” Paige says. “Like… it was nobody’s fault? But it’s cool that we’re fixing it. Right?”
“Exactly,” OJ smiles. “Thank you. Sometimes I find it difficult to word things simply.”
“That’s okay.” Paige smiles brightly. “That’s what I’m here for again!”
“Aw, aren’t you just the sweetest thing, Snowy?” Sam coos. “Oh! You know what? I just thought of something a-mazing~!” She stops at a red light and turns to face the back. “How would you feel about coming over this weekend? On Sunday? You could make it a sleepover and everything!”
“A sleepover…?” OJ blinks.
“Yes!” Sam turns back around and pulls off with the green light. “It’d be the perfect thing to help you two catch up!”
“That sounds fun, actually!” Paige beams, clapping. “Don’t you agree, OJ?”
OJ’s face is a little red and he’s looking away from Paige. “I-indeed,” he mumbles. “Fun indeed.”
Oh no, had the sudden plan overwhelmed him? Paige knew OJ was a little sensitive to certain things like he was, like loud and sudden noises, the way some food felt like to eat or tasted, and the feeling of wet socks. But he also had some other things that would bother him, like things happening that he didn’t plan for.
“If it’s too sudden for you, I don’t have to come,” Paige says softly, hand hovering over OJ’s. He doesn’t want to touch, just in case that would also overwhelm him, but OJ surprises him by grabbing a hold of his hand and squeezing lightly.
“It’s alright, really,” he assures. “Just… caught me off guard, is all. Honest.”
Paige smiles. “Then I guess I’ll have to tell Mom I’m busy on Sunday!”
+++
Sam and OJ wave as they drop Paige off, a little bit earlier than his actual stop. He wanted to visit his Aunt Carmen before heading home.
“See you on Sunday, then?” OJ asks.
“Yep!” Paige nods. “Text me your address.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” Sam chuckles. “I’ll be the one coming to get you, of course!”
“I-I’m sure I can get there by bus!” Paige gasps. “Really, it’s okay!”
“Nooo~!” Sam lavishes, falling over the steering wheel. “Let me have an excuse to drive this baby around more, please~?”
OJ sighs, but he’s got a smile on his face. “You might as well say yes.”
Paige laughs earnestly. “Okay, okay! You can come pick me up. Text me when you’re on your way?”
“Certainly,” OJ nods before waving again. “See you then!”
“See you!”
And with that, they drive off.
Paige walks up to the front door of the Aguja household and rings the bell. Before long, the door opens to show his aunt.
“¡Mija!” he crushes the teen in a tight hug, peppering kisses on his face. “I’m so happy you’re alright!”
“Aunt Carmen,” Paige laughs weakly, “I just hung out with one of our friends for a bit.”
“Yes, but you didn’t tell us!” Carmen cries. “You know how it is here in Queens!”
“I know, I know,” Paige mumbles. “But really, I’m okay.” He yawns as Carmen sets him back down. “I’m really tired, though. I just came to let you know I was home.”
“How did you get here?” Carmen asks.
“OJ and his mom Sam dropped me off.”
“Oh, how nice of them,” Carmen smiles. “Well, it’s good to know you’ve got sweet friends.” He pats Paige on the head. “Go get some rest, sweetie. Talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay!” He smiles softly. “Goodnight, Aunt Carmen.”
“Goodnight Paige!” With that, he closes the door.
Time to go home.
+++
Paige is nodding off when there’s a knock on his door.
“Sweetie? You still up?” Quinn asks through the door.
He blinks awake. He had gotten home a while ago and done everything he needed to get ready for bed. He just had to finish his homework… but it seems his tiredness caught up with him.
“I am,” he yawns. “You c’n come in.”
“Evening, honey,” Quinn says, pushing into the room. “You alright?”
“Big day,” Paige replies. “I’m going to be hanging out with OJ on Sunday?” He yawns again. “I think… I honestly might’ve dreamt that up…”
“Well, how’s about we get you into bed so you can think with a clear head in the morning?” Quinn suggests, scooping him up.
“Mooom…” Paige whines, but he doesn’t mean it at all, clinging to his mom. She drops him off like a baby sloth into his bed.
“Goodnight, sweetie,” she chuckles, giving him a kiss on his forehead and pulling the covers over him. “Rest well, okay?”
“G’night…” Paige murmurs, already nodding off again. Goodnight indeed.
That night, Paige dreams of a dinner for two consisting of pizza and an anonymous face. They spin in the air whimsically and Paige feels at peace as they chat in a fake language, both laughing every so often.
When he wakes up, he feels a little dizzy.
+++
“Here’s the note for today, Brandon,” Paige says, handing the piece of paper off to his best friend. “Be careful with it!”
“As always,” Brandon grins.
“This is the second time ever,” Paige says deadpanned. Brandon simply laughs as he salutes and walks away.
Another day of waiting for lunch while snoozing through ELA, barely participating in Science, dodging questions in French and finally being the king of the castle in Algebra 2. Then, and only then, once the bell rings, it’s time for lunch.
“Finally,” Paige sighs, sitting down at The Bro Crew’s favorite table with his Friday Pizza. “I feel like today lasted forever!”
“It’s not over yet?” Sue points out, confusion in their voice.
“No, but now I get to read the note from you know who!” He turns towards Brandon. “You got it, didn’t you? Please say you got it.”
“Of course I did, homeslice,” Brandon grins cheekily, pulling out the new note and handing it over. It reads:
“Did you know trees can make friends and talk to each other? I'm glad that we're friends, and perhaps, someday, something more...? ♥
(P.S.
I am very much an animal person! I love animals dearly and I love studying them! Mammals get me particularly, but I appreciate all animals, large and small. Personally, while I'm not a fan of deep sea creatures or insects, I respect their role in nature deeply. I try my best to scoop and remove any time I find a lone bug in our house, for example.)
(P.P.S
Sorry for rambling. Do you tend to ramble? I think you'd sound cute rambling. ♥)”
“Oh my goodness,” Paige swoons. “Oh my goodness.”
“Yeah, this one was pretty good, I must say,” Brandon nods. “And before you yell at me for snooping!” he says, prematurely cutting off Paige from saying anything, “He ran it by me before solidifying it.”
“He?” Paige gasps.
“Oh, damn,” Brandon curses. “Look, you didn’t hear that—”
“YO!” A styrofoam plate slams down on the table, rattling things very slightly. “Paige! It’s been ages!”
Paige blinks up at the new arrival—scratch that, arrivals. In front of him stands Kevin Sharp and Piper Peter, two of Paige’s old friends.
Or, well, Kevin was an old friend of his. Piper was an addition after him and Kevin had lost connection. He knew they went to the same school again, but with how different their little groups had grown, Paige thought it best to let them come to him.
And come to him they finally have.
“Oh, hello Kevin!” Paige beams, having forgotten himself in the moment. “It’s been forever since we talked!”
“Yeah!” he smiles, rough voice scratchy as always.
“H-ey,” Bro waves.
“Hey to you too,” Kevin says, nodding their head his way. “We gotta hang out soon again, man.”
“S-sure, whenever,” Bro nods.
“Awesome.” Kevin looks back over the table. “Anyways, I’ll be honest? I came to ask you about somethin’.”
“Us?” Brandon asks. “Like all of us?”
“Yeah, sure,” Kevin shrugs, sitting down and pulling Piper down with them. They lean in real close to the table and speak in a hushed tone. “You guys hear about someone in the school getting secret admirer notes?”
Paige gasps. “W-who told you!?”
Kevin stares at him, confused at first. Then, something crosses his face and he lights up like a Christmas tree.
“Oh my god,” he giggles. “Oh my god, Paige. No way.”
“D-did you…” Paige starts weakly. “Did you not know…?”
“Not until just now, no!” They reach over and give Paige a clap on the shoulder. “Congrats, man! That’s so cool!”
“You can’t tell anyone!” Paige rushes out. “I-I don’t want to scare them away by this becoming something big in the school or anything…”
“Lips are sealed,” Kevin says, zipping his lip and throwing away the key. “I mean, Seb’s the one who told me, but I doubt he’ll be telling anyone else. He practically broke down just telling me.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Paige sighs.
“Kev,” Piper prods, elbowing Kevin. “Didn’t you ask Mic too?”
“Mic?”
“You mean Michelle?” Brandon asks. “That girl from Chorus? That loud girl from Chorus?”
“That would be her, yes,” Kevin nods. “But don’t worry!”
“Don’t worry?” Sue chuckles. “A good amount of information I own comes from Michelle.” They look Kevin head on. “You have made a mistake.”
“Ah, geez!” Kevin gasps, pulling back a little. “Do you have to do that?” They look between Paige, Brandon and Bro. “Do they always do that?”
“No,” says Bro.
“Sometimes,” says Paige.
“Yes,” says Brandon.
The three of them look between each other now, blinking.
“Do they not…?” Brandon starts, pointing weakly at the other two.
“I play favorites,” Sue says simply, effectively cutting off the distraction. “Let’s get back to the mistake.”
“Wait!” Brandon cries, “What was that supposed to mean?”
“Mic is a very gossip heavy person,” Sue continues, ignoring Brandon.
“Hey!!”
“She is,” Kevin agrees, also ignoring Brandon. “But she normally doesn’t tell anyone secrets.” They pause. “Well… no one except for Sean.”
“Sean’s quiet,” Piper informs. “He won’t be saying anything to anybody. Trust.”
“Okay…” Paige sighs. “I guess that’s good, then…” He looks down at the note wistfully. All this excitement over something so small…
“Anyways,” Kevin says after finally taking a bite of their food, “We seriously haven’t hung out in forever. I didn’t realize how much I missed you, man!”
“O-oh, yeah!” Paige agrees, shaking his head a bit. “I missed you too, Kevin!”
“We should hang out tomorrow,” they decide, just like that. “If you’re not busy, ‘course.”
“Oh, um…” Paige’s face crumples with unease. “Just us? Or?” While Paige had nothing against Piper per say, he also didn’t know him very well. The idea of hanging out with his old best friend’s new best friend made him feel bad for some reason.
“Pipes is probably gonna be there,” Kevin shrugs. “We’re practically attached at the hip, heh.”
“You say that like it’s a good thing,” Piper teases, snuggling up close to Kevin. Kevin just laughs.
Well… while it was good that these two were such good friends, he wasn’t with both of them. There wasn’t any way he would be able to hang out with them alone. Something would happen, he was sure of it.
“Can me and Bart come too?” Brandon asks, glancing over at Paige and giving him a wink. “We wanna hang too, right Bart?”
“S-sure, man.”
“Then it’s settled! We can all go!”
“No thanks,” Sue says. “I have a museum trip with Lani tomorrow.”
“No one invited you anyways!” Brandon says, sticking his tongue out playfully.
“2.18.2020,” Sue says, gathering their things.
“WHAT!?” Brandon shouts. “What, what, what!? Explain yourself!” he whines. “Explain yourself right now!”
Paige laughs, bubble of anxiety finally bursting with the antics, as well as the knowledge he wouldn’t be going alone anymore. He could absolutely hang out if Brandon and Bro were there. It would be fun, even!
Kevin’s been laughing too. “This is awesome. You guys always crazy like this?”
“Sometimes,” Paige smiles softly. “By the way, where are we going to go?”
“Hmm…” Kevin hums. “How about my skate park?”
Brandon stops mid-whine, blinking. Then his head snaps towards Kevin. “You own a skate park!?”
Kevin laughs again.