nyc prep continued

Paige looked up and down the hall as she walked to her locker to get books for her next class. She didn't see Peter or Jarid. She wouldn't be suprised if jarid was mad at her

"Okay," Jaimie nodded. "Sasha will be home, if that's okay."

Jarid stood at his locker, gym had helped with his need to hit something, but he was still angry at Peter, but he mostly felt confusion towards Paige. Why had she done that?

Paige checked her phone, hoping Jarid had texted her. No messages. She looked up and saw Jarid at his locker. She wanted to talk to him but she didn't know if he'd want to talk to her.

"Mac and cheese it is then." he teased, " it will be good to see her."

Jaimie laughed. "Yeah, okay. She'll be glad to see you. And your mac and cheese."

Jarid slammed his locker shut. No, he couldn't stay in school. He reopened the locker, took his backpack out, and walked out.

braden smiled, " good. I'll see you then." he said glancing over his shoulder, "I better get to class."\

ooc: so I just thought of something that could have the potential to effect everyone in the rpg. would you gals be ok with that and if yes then would you be ok with a little god modding when the time came?

ooc: sounds okay to me =]

"Yeah, me too," she smiled. "I'll see you later." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and quickly walked to class, a little embarrassed by that sudden show of sweetness.

braden stood there grinning like a fool for a few more minutes then headed to class hismelf

Ooc: i'd be ok with that


Paige watched Jarid walk out. She closed her locker slowly. Part of her wanted to run after him but the other part was afraid of what he would say. She glanced around the hall before fallowing him out the door.

Jaimie sat in her next class, restraining the smile.

Jarid looked back when he heard the door close again. "Oh, Paige," he said, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't sure what to say, he just felt confused.

"Can we talk?" Paige asked as she stepped slightly closer. "I..uh i'd like to explain."

He nodded. "Yeah.. I uh, I think that would be good."

Paige looked at him for a few moments. How much could she tell him? "I...I was in a pretty dark place two months ago. My family has been falling apart for the past two years." She looked down at her hands then back at him. "I know that doesn't justify what I did and I'm sorry. I just...I know it was a mistake and I regret it. But I can't change what happened. I am sorry." She didn't know what else to say.

Christ, why was she apologizing to him? They weren't together, she hadn't been cheating on him. Did she think... "I'm not mad," he replied. "I'm just... confused. And mad at Peter because he's a.." his voice trailed off, not saying the word he was actually thinking. "I don't know Paige, I mean..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I get why you didn't tell me. But Peter?"

"I just wanted to forget," she said. "Just for a little while." She looked down again. She hated that she felt that she needed to explain herself, that she needed to know he could forgive her. She hated caring about what he thought. But he was different, at least that's what she kept telling herself.

He nodded. He could understand wanting to forget. "Okay, I get that." He ran a hand through his hair. After a few moments of silence, he looked at her. "Wanna get some coffee?"

She nodded, "yeah. Coffee would be nice."

"Cool," he nodded, "I know a good place just around the corner."

"Ok," Paige shoved her hands into her pockets and followed him silently, she didn't want to say the wrong thing and make tings worse

They walked to the small shop in silence. He held the door open for her, searching for something to say. He wasn't mad at her. He was mad that he found out that way, but at the same time, he got why she didn't tell him. He felt hurt because... well because he liked her and Peter was a jerk. But he didn't know what to say.

"Thanks," Paige said. She wanted to tell him what really happened at the Halloween party and why Peter had told him but she was afraid of how he'd react.

"You're welcome," he replied. Once they'd ordered and sat, Jarid shifted in his seat. "I'm really not angry at you," he tried to assure her. "I get why it happened and stuff and... and we were barely friends at that point, so it's not a big deal." Unless she thought it was a big deal. Was it a big deal?

Paige nodded slowly. Then why did she feel like it was a big deal? "You were never supposed to find out." she said quietly. "Peter...he said if I didn't sleep with him again he'd tell you." She kept her eyes on her coffee. "That's what the argument at the party was about."

"So you said no," well that was comforting. "Okay." That made him feel better about it, less hurt.

"Yeah," she looked up at him. "I should have told you, I just, I didn't know how you'd react."

"There's... uh, there's no reason why you had to tell me," Jarid replied. "I mean, we're not, like, dating..." awkward. he liked her, but... but he forced himself on, "So I get not telling me. Really."

"Right," Paige said. So that was it, they were just going to be friends. "You're right."

He nodded, for some reason sure that he had just screwed something up. She'd kissed his cheek before leaving on Halloween and he'd liked that, but how did he... How could he say that? He was lost.

She forced a smile. Being just friends with him wasn't going to be easy but she'd try. "Did you dad like your hair?" she asked, just to change the subject.

"Didn't see it," Jarid shrugged. "He left before I got up and came home late last night. He probably won't even end up seeing it."

"That's to bad," she said. she wanted to tell him again how awesome it looked but she didn't. She didn't want to cross any line that may have been drawn.

"Yeah, well, maybe if I lose again, we'll dye it again," he said, forcing a chuckle.

She smiled for real this time, "I'll just have to make sure you lose then." She wanted to tell him how she felt but she couldn't, not now.

He really laughed then. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

School felt like it dragged on for years but it was finally over. Carl practically danced out of class and down to his locker. He looked around for Brooklyn.

Brooklynn slipped the books into her backpack. She wondered where Carl was, if he was still grounded, and if she'd get to see him.

Jaimie was already on the curb waiting for the car. She had to pick up Sasha, then Braden would be coming over. She was still nervous, the whole topic of commitment made her feel on edge.

Ooc: I keep confusing Braden and Carl

"hey there beautiful." Carl grinned walking up to Brooklyn

"I've been practicing," she said. "Its my new hobby."

Brooklynn smiled, tucking her hair behind one of her ears. "Hey genius. How's your eye feeling?"

"We'll see. It's been my hobby for a long time," he grinned, taking a sip of his coffee.

"its fine as long as I don't touch it." He shrugged, "you doing anything fun today?"