Status: Read, Stay with me... Please!
Look at Me
9.
If it’s has never happened to you then you just don’t know what it’s like. You can sympathize, but you can’t ever truly empathize with someone who’s suffered from abuse. You can’t know the hollow sensation they feel inside every time they heard a certain name… And you’ll never have the nightmares, dreams that go on even when the abuse doesn’t.
Hayden knew that. He knew as much as he wanted to tell Paige as much as he needed to tell someone…anyone…they wouldn’t understand. She wouldn’t understand. She would look at him with a mixture of pity and morbid curiosity.
FREAK!
The word he tried not to ever think screamed inside his head.
FUCKING JERRY SPRINGER WEREWOLF WANNABE.
No, he wanted to scream back. That’s not me. I can’t be that. I won’t be that! But how could he not? How could he ever be normal if she knew who he really was?
“Paige, there you are! I swear to God I looked everywhere…” Terry Finchly tailed off and gave Hayden a confused, who the H -E -double L are you, look as she walked up on them.
***
When Paige heard Terry’s voice, she quickly backed away from Hayden and shoved her hand in her pocket. It felt kind of pins and needles tingly from touching him, but she tried to ignore it.
“Uh…see you Hayden,” she said quickly as she grabbed onto Terry with her other hand and walked quickly away.
Paige thought she heard him say “see you” too, but it might have just been wishful thinking.
“OH MY GOD!” Terry exclaimed in her, stop the freaking presses, way. “Who was that?”
Her eyebrows were so high they almost reached her hairline and Paige had to fight back the urge to giggle.
“Oh…”she said, “That’s Hayden Peirce. He’s in my History class.”
Paige had tried to sound nonchalant, but Terry wasn’t buying it. Her eyebrows shot up again as she said disbelievingly, “History? The history of what? His tongue in your mouth?”
“Terry!” Paige shrieked.
“What? His face was like half an inch from yours and he looked like he was deciding whether to rape you in the cafeteria or not.”
“Shhhh….!” Paige hissed before she whispered. “He did not. I don’t even know him. I just sat with him at lunch.”
“Instead of me!” Terry said indignantly. “You sat with a total stranger and not me just for the fun of it?”
Paige bit her lower lip. She was cornered and she knew it. So she did the only thing she could. She lied…or rather told a partial truth.
“O.K. I like him. And if you tell anyone I’ll cheerfully murder you with a rusty coat hanger!” Paige threatened as she stared at the floor in embarrassment.
“Ewe. Really? He’s kind of CREEP-E,” Terry said with sadistic glee at having unearthed a new bit of gossip. “But I guess he’s a little smexy if you don’t mind them a little on the dead looking side. I mean with that pale skin and skinny bod, he sorta looks like a corpse. ”
Paige felt a little guilty, because she’d thought the same thing. But as she flexed her still tingling hand she knew the truth. Hayden Peirce was very much alive.
Hayden knew that. He knew as much as he wanted to tell Paige as much as he needed to tell someone…anyone…they wouldn’t understand. She wouldn’t understand. She would look at him with a mixture of pity and morbid curiosity.
FREAK!
The word he tried not to ever think screamed inside his head.
FUCKING JERRY SPRINGER WEREWOLF WANNABE.
No, he wanted to scream back. That’s not me. I can’t be that. I won’t be that! But how could he not? How could he ever be normal if she knew who he really was?
“Paige, there you are! I swear to God I looked everywhere…” Terry Finchly tailed off and gave Hayden a confused, who the H -E -double L are you, look as she walked up on them.
***
When Paige heard Terry’s voice, she quickly backed away from Hayden and shoved her hand in her pocket. It felt kind of pins and needles tingly from touching him, but she tried to ignore it.
“Uh…see you Hayden,” she said quickly as she grabbed onto Terry with her other hand and walked quickly away.
Paige thought she heard him say “see you” too, but it might have just been wishful thinking.
“OH MY GOD!” Terry exclaimed in her, stop the freaking presses, way. “Who was that?”
Her eyebrows were so high they almost reached her hairline and Paige had to fight back the urge to giggle.
“Oh…”she said, “That’s Hayden Peirce. He’s in my History class.”
Paige had tried to sound nonchalant, but Terry wasn’t buying it. Her eyebrows shot up again as she said disbelievingly, “History? The history of what? His tongue in your mouth?”
“Terry!” Paige shrieked.
“What? His face was like half an inch from yours and he looked like he was deciding whether to rape you in the cafeteria or not.”
“Shhhh….!” Paige hissed before she whispered. “He did not. I don’t even know him. I just sat with him at lunch.”
“Instead of me!” Terry said indignantly. “You sat with a total stranger and not me just for the fun of it?”
Paige bit her lower lip. She was cornered and she knew it. So she did the only thing she could. She lied…or rather told a partial truth.
“O.K. I like him. And if you tell anyone I’ll cheerfully murder you with a rusty coat hanger!” Paige threatened as she stared at the floor in embarrassment.
“Ewe. Really? He’s kind of CREEP-E,” Terry said with sadistic glee at having unearthed a new bit of gossip. “But I guess he’s a little smexy if you don’t mind them a little on the dead looking side. I mean with that pale skin and skinny bod, he sorta looks like a corpse. ”
Paige felt a little guilty, because she’d thought the same thing. But as she flexed her still tingling hand she knew the truth. Hayden Peirce was very much alive.