I put my stuff in my locker and started to prepare myself for what is going to come at lunch. I went over what I was going to say.
Theo was just giving me a ride to school. Yeah. That's what I'll say. It's not a complete lie.
Once I got my plan down I opened to cafeteria doors and kept my head down. I walked to my table and saw that Dylan and Ryan were the only ones sitting there.
"Hey, guys. Where is everyone else?" I say as I sit down next to Dylan. I look over to Ryan for answers when I see that Dylan is way too busy on his phone.
"Sydney said she had to take a test in biology. I don't know where the others are at." He answered. I was about to ask another question when I was cut off.
"Paige Taylor!" I heard her voice from the other side of the lunch room. I cringed when I felt everyone's eyes land on me. I slowly turned to meet my doom.
"Hi Hailey." I said as she got closer to the table. From Hailey yelling my name that caused Dylan to look up from his phone. He smirked and leaned in closer.
"Good luck." He said and went back to looking at his phone. When she reached the table I smiled innocently at her.
She grabbed my arm and tugged me up out of my chair. She dragged me to the bleachers outside. When she let go I sat down.
"Why did you run from me this morning?" She asked. I could hear the hurt in her voice. Now I felt bad. I stood up and enveloped her in a hug and said, "I just wanted to avoid this confrontation that early in the morning." I let her go to look at her face.
"It's not that I didn't want to talk about it, it's that I didn't want to talk about it then and cause a big scene. But I'm glad I can talk about it with you now." I saw her facial features soften as she heard me.
"Okay, I forgive you. But you have to tell me everything." She exclaimed. I felt the panic rise in me. I cant tell her about Roe or Chad. I'll only tell her about Theo. I felt myself relax when I thought it over.
"Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even Racheal or Sydney. No one can know okay?" I held out my pinky and smiled. She rolled her eyes playfully and hooked her pinky with mine.
"Okay, Theo was staying at my house for the past couple of night and last night I stayed with him." I watched as she slowly took in the information. A shit eating grin washed up on her face. I knew exactly what she was thinking.
"Nothing like that happened." I scolded her. Her smile just grew wider. I slapped her shoulder and rolled my eyes playfully.
"So, why was he staying at your apartment?" She asked in a suggestive manner. I shrugged and tried to think of my answer.
"He got in trouble at home and he needed a place to stay." I lied right through my teeth.
I wanted so badly to tell her about Roe and what happened with Chad that night but I couldn't have anyone else find out about it. I don't think Hailey would tell anybody about it but I cant take that risk.
Cole and Dallas don't even know the whole story. I feel bad that they know more about my situation than Hailey does. But then again, they don't know the whole story. The only person that know is Theo. And I want to keep it that way.
Theo knows what I've been through, I think. He said his dad went to prison for abuse and a bunch of other things, but I don't know if he was abused. Theo's biological father could have only beat his mother. Maybe he didn't beat Theo.
Thinking about all this made me sick to my stomach. I pushed the thoughts out of my brain and focused on Hailey. "We should do something this weekend." I suggested. Roe wasn't home so I was free to do what I wanted.
'What about Chad?' I cursed my brain for bringing him back up. I tried to forget about him. I wasn't going to see him yet.
What was going to happen when Roe came back. I told Theo I had it under control, but truth is I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know when she came back, it was going to be hell. I know that I cant handle this situation. I guess I really do need Theo's help.
"Yes! We should go to the mall. I need to go shopping again. Cold weather is coming and all I have are shorts and t-shirts. This will be fun. Should we invite Racheal and Sydney?" She asked excitedly.
"Sure, if you want." I said less enthused. She frowned slightly.
"No, I change my mind. Just you and me and we can go see a movie and whatever else you want to do."
"Okay, we can g-," I was cut off by someone shouting my name. I turned to see who was calling my name. I smiled when I saw Cole walking towards us.
"Hey, Cole." I said when he got to us. He waved awkwardly to Hailey. She said her hello to him and went back to being quiet.
"Do you want to come to Turner's with us after school?" He asked. I looked towards Hailey and she was just looking at the ground.
"Hailey I'll call you tonight, I promise." I said and I gave her a hug. She furrowed her brows and spoke.
"Can I come with you? I don't have anything to do tonight besides sit at home." She asked with a glint of loneliness in her eyes. I immediately felt bad. She didn't look up from the ground. I looked over at Cole with a sad look.
He shook his head no. I frowned. "It's an old arcade, I don't know if you'll like it but you can come." She looked up at me with a smile that made me smile back at her. It made me feel good inside.
"Thank you!" she squealed and gave me a hug. Then the bells rang. "I have to go to Chem and so do you let's go." She said as she grabbed my hand.
I pulled my hand out of her grasp. "I'll meet you there." I promised. She nodded and jogged over to the school.
I carefully looked over at Cole. He didn't look too pleased with my promises. "Sorry. I couldn't say no. She's my best friend." He huffed and kept looking at me.
"I promise as soon as she see's it tonight she'll want to leave, I swear." I smiled at him innocently. "Anyway, why are we going to Turner's?" I asked.
"Theo has a fight. You snuck in last time so I decided to invite you. I didn't think you were going to invite Hailey." He accused. I cringed slightly when he was yelling at me. I didn't like mad Cole.
"Don't worry Cole-Bear, she'll leave when she sees the place. And if she doesn't I'll leave with her." I reassured. He nodded in agreement and started to walk towards the school. I caught up with him and interlocked our arms.
"Aww, don't be mad at me." I pouted at him and I saw him crack a grin. "There we go. That's the Cole I know!" I shout to him. I let go of his arm and we walk to class in silence.
The bell had just rung when I walked into class. I saw Theo sitting in the seat in front of mine, working on his notes. I took my seat next to Hailey and began taking the notes as well.
I waited by Theo's motorcycle at the end of the day. Theo kind of stormed out of the building with a girl hot on his trail. He looked sort of mad. The girl kept trying to get his attention but he just ignored her.
He relaxed when he saw me next to his bike. I could see the girl more clearer now and I recognized her as the girl from Jade's table. When the girl tried to get his attention for the last time he finally turned to face her.
"For the last time, I don't like you and you are a really big bother. Please, leave me alone. I have more important things to deal with." He said and walked my way. I smiled at him which he returned. I glanced back over to the girl who was glaring at me.
I looked away and back to Theo. He handed me the helmet and we got on his motorcycle. He blew the horn at the girl when we passed.
Once we made it to his house, he parked the motorcycle in the garage. We got off and went into his house.
"You told Hailey about the fight?" He asked like he couldn't believe me. I shook my head vigorously. I know he didn't want anyone to know about his fighting and I respected that.
"No, I wouldn't do that and you know that. I'm not that kind of person. She wanted to spend time with me. I told Cole not to worry about it." I reassured.
"She isn't coming to the fight, Paige." Just then Theo's phone rang. It reminded me that I needed to get me a phone. My Ipod wasn't enough anymore. He huffed and hit the answer button before I got a chance to see who it was.
"Hello?" He asked confused. He must not have known who it was either. "Um, hi Hailey." My eyes widened when he said her name. "Yeah, sure." He handed it to me with a shrug. I took it from his hands immediately.
"Hailey? How did you get Theo's number?" I asked. I heard shuffling in the background.
"I asked Racheal for Cole and then I asked Cole. I'm sorry but I cant go with you guys tonight. My cousins from Oregon are coming down tonight. I can still go out this weekend though." I smiled. She just made this a lot easier.
"Hey, don't worry. It's fine. You probably wouldn't have like it anyway." I explained to her.
"Sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up without letting me say goodbye. I grinned at Theo and handed his phone back.
"Her cousins are coming in so she cant go." I said to Theo. He smiled a smile of relief.
"Okay, we have 3 hours before I have to be there, so what do you want to do?" He asked while walking up to his room. I followed behind him and sat beside him on his bed.
"We could get our homework done." I suggested. He groaned and shook his head.
"Well, it's that or something a lot less fun." I prompted. He looked up at me, waiting for my answer. "What?" I didn't want to tell him because that would put him in a bad mood.
"I need more clothes if I'm going to be staying here. I need to go back to the apartment to get some." I said wincing away from what he could say next. He didn't look pleased. "I think Chad is at work or he's gambling. I could never tell where he goes." I tried to persuade him but I didn't convince him.
"You can come in with me. I'll be ten minutes tops. Please, Theo. Its either that or let me go shopping with the money I earned from the last fight." He snapped his eyes up to me.
"Okay, fine. We'll stop by your house. I don't want you spending that money on clothes when you have some at the apartment. Let's go and get this out of the way."
I felt happy that we agreed. I quickly stood up and put on my shoes. When we went down to the kitchen I had a question pop into my head. "Who's cars are those in the garage?"
"One is mine and the other two belong to my parents. Do you want to ride in one of the cars?" He asked. I shook my head yes so fast, I might get whiplash.
"We are taking the mine." He grabbed the keys and walked out to the garage. He hit the unlock button and the black Camaro beeped to life. I walked over and sat in the passenger side.
He slipped in and started the car. "How come you don't drive this to school?" I asked out of pure curiosity.
"Do you remember Morgan?" I scrunched up my face and shook my head no.
"Who is Morgan?"
"She was that girl following me at the end of the day. I drove this to school the first day. Now she wont leave me alone. She's like a tick, really." He explained.
"Why wouldn't you want to go out with her?" I asked. I felt a something in my stomach and I didn't like it. God, I hope it wasn't jealousy.
"People like me don't go with people like her, I guess. I know she doesn't really like me. It's because of my parents money. If you haven't noticed she's the only one who likes me, everyone else is afraid of me except for Dallas, Cole and you. Maybe Hailey, I mean she called me, no one would ever do that."
"Why are people scared of you. You're not that scary." I said playfully but he was serious.
"When someone found out about what my father did, they spread rumors. They think I'm just like him." He muttered the last part. He looked down at his lap and sighed. I bit my lip and tried to think of a way to cheer him up.
"Okay, well screw them. No one that matters thinks you're like your father. So let's just forget about it." I said and turned up the music. Ride by Twenty-One Pilots came through the speakers.
"Ohh! I love this song!" I squealed and turned it up louder. I started to sing along to the words. I looked out the window as I sang off key. I peeked over at Theo and saw that he was smiling. At least he's smiling.
Next stop, my apartment. Where Chad could possibly be. I hope not.