Lieutenant Casanova

Chapter 2 - Paige

"I'm not going." I shake my head at Maddie as I walk back-and-forth in my dad's kitchen putting the last touches on the food for the barbecue that is about to start in thirty minutes. Maddie, which is short for Madelyn, is my sister-in-law-if-my-brother-Nick-would-get-his-head-out-of-his-ass and my assistant at my boutique.

"Why not? It will be fun!" She pleads with me from the other side of the kitchen island. "Jackson and Nick had a blast when they went to their high school reunions. You will too!" I sigh and walk to the refrigerator to pull out the tray of chicken that has been marinating since last night. When I turn back to face her, she was looking at me with puppy dog eyes, making me giggle. This woman may be two years older than me, but she is acting like a 4-year-old begging for another story at bedtime.

"First of all, they were both the most popular guys in high school and probably still are. Secondly, they are ex-Marine Raiders and very handsome firemen making them practically heroes around here. Of course, they had a good time. Everyone was probably kissing their asses the entire night trying to get their attention. That won't be the case with me. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee people in my graduating class will have quite the opposite reaction to me." I walked placed the tray of chicken on the counter and returned to the refrigerator to pull out the tray of baby back ribs.

"You don't know that Paige!"

"I do know that Maddie!" I dumped the try of ribs on the counter and closed the door of the refrigerator a little too hard in frustration. I turned my attention to the trays of meat and began taking the coverings off so I can bring them to the grill, all the while explaining to Maddie why I did not want to attend my high school reunion next weekend. "I was the shy, awkward little sister of the two most popular guys in high school, who they had to help raise after our mother died. I lived in their shadows the entire four years of high school.

People only talked to me because they were my brothers and they thought they would gain brownie points with them by being nice to me. I only had two real friends, who I have not talked to since graduation. I was invisible, a nobody for four years so you will have to excuse me if I don't feel like experiencing that feeling again, even if it is just for one night."

"But I thought..." She stopped mid-sentence and scrunched her face.

"You thought what?"

"Um, nothing," she said quickly. "Paige, you are an up-and-coming designer with your own label and store. You are not a nobody. You were not one back then and certainly are not one now. If I remember the stories correctly, you did amazing work with the theater department and even won awards. That does not sound like you were invisible or a nobody." I smile and give Maddie a hug for trying to make me feel better. But the truth is, while it may seem like I am more confident now, the shy little sister of the two most popular boys in school who was bullied by the most popular girls in school was still there just waiting to resurface.

My mom died when I was in eighth grade from Cancer. My dad, Gary Summers, was serving in the military at the time and had only a few more months before his service was completed when she passed. For those few months, my paternal grandparents moved in with us to watch over me and my brothers, Jackson and Nick, until he came home. I kept to myself and only socialized with my dad and brothers.

I was tired of people taking pity on me because I was the young girl who was growing up without a mother in a house full of men. Maybe it would not have affected me as much if people took pity on my dad for losing his wife and having to raise his three children alone, or if they looked at my brothers for having to also grow up without their mother, but they didn't. They were the strong ones who were admired for carrying on with their lives through the tragedy. I was so hurt from losing my mom and how people were treating me that I retreated into my own world focusing only on my studies and art.