All Wrapped Up (ON HOLD)

Chapter II.

ALL WRAPPED UP

-CHAPTER TWO-

            The house looked exactly as she remembered it.

            From the windows being illuminated by colorful strobe lights, the ground shaking to the heavy thumping of a bass drum, crazed teenagers dancing through the clear windows, and the red drinking cups scattered messily across the front lawn, it looked the exact same.

            Paige felt a sense of déjà vu creep up her spine as she stood far away on the sidewalk. Paralyzed by fear, she couldn’t find the strength to move forward from the cement no matter how much she tried. The home, belonging to Logan, was the last trace of Hampson that she recalled before departing, swearing to never return.

            “Paige, where are you going?” Callie shouted, chasing after her best friend who was steadily walking away towards the end of the driveway. “Paige, wait!”

            Burning tears were felt behind Paige’s eyes as utter humiliation and disgust spread through her body like a disease. How could she have been so stupid? To think that someone like Dean actually could’ve felt the same way that she did. To think that she had let him into things she didn’t even know herself. To think that his motions had been perceived as motions filled with love but they weren’t at all. To have given up the only thing pure to someone who didn’t love her in return.

            “Paige, just wait a damn second!”

            She didn’t stop and she wouldn’t stop. Not for Callie who was calling to her to stop, not for her mother who was expecting her home later that night, not for her younger brother who was lying there in the hospital anxious to see his sister tomorrow; not for anyone. Her broken heels and broken heart continued to saunter away from a regret that would haunt her and push her conscience into making decisions that would only destroy her life further.

            The memory was vivid in Paige’s mind. She could still hear Callie calling out to her as she ambled away without turning back. The pain in her heart was still as prominent as it was then, as she stood there looking at the home three years later. The feeling of betrayal and feeling like a fool still settled in her mouth with an uneasy and bitter taste.

            Even the single, chocolate cupcake she was holding in her hand for Dean wouldn’t get rid of the horrifying memories that played in her mind like a movie strip.

            She knew returning wouldn’t be easy. She had come to the conclusion that it would be a process of reconnecting and being strong. But she didn’t expect it would be this hard, either.

            Oh, come on. What did we just talk about, Paige? Her conscience spat in disappointment. You said you wanted to be strong, to show them that leaving only made you a bigger person than them. You had the guts to leave while they all stayed put.

            The voice inside Paige’s head was more powerful than anyone could’ve imagined. It was the voice that pushed her into the arms of danger the night she left town. It was the voice that convinced her to leave the city when her life was on the line. It was the voice of reason that controlled every aspect of her life; a voice she couldn’t get rid of.

            You’re going to walk up to that door and stride into that party like you own the place. You’ve been through hell enough to know that something like this is insignificant compared to other things.

            Glancing at the front door, Paige took a single step forward towards the home. Despite her heart telling her to turn around, her conscience pushed forward. Another step… one more… one more…