Finding Paige: (The Paige Diaries #1)

by D. K Lake

  "But seriously, what do you think about Mav?" She nudges me as we walk along the pathway.

  "He's cute. Okay? I said it. Now, leave me alone."

  Em giggles and squeezes me in a side hug.

  "College is going to be so much fun." she squeals.

  Maybe she's right. Maybe this year will be better than last year. As long as I stay away from Dario everything will be fine. Maybe Maverick is just what I need to take my mind off him.

  Chapter 6

  Monday morning comes around fast. I'm already out of bed and dressed while Em is still snoring. I pull on my skinny jeans and browse through Em's clothes. She has way more stuff than me and her clothes are a little more daring. All my clothes have been handpicked by my mother. I lift out a beige, knitted top that is a little baggy and hangs off the shoulder but it's cute. I've seen her wear it before, and I know she won't mind me wearing it. I decide to wear my contacts and have a little time to mess around with my makeup and end up with more mascara and more eyeliner than I usually wear. It's still less than what Em wears. My brown eyes stand out more with the black eyeliner. I raid Em's makeup bag and find the right shade of lipstick, adding a little color to my lips to make them a little darker. I check the time and hurry over to Em's bed and nudge her.

  "Em, come on. We have classes in thirty minutes. We can't be late on our first day."

  Inaudible moans come from under the covers until she finally peeks out at me.

  "I feel like I haven't even been to bed." she complains, rubbing her eyes.

  "That's because you stayed up all night watching that new series on Netflix. I told you not to."

  "It was really good." she says, sliding her legs over the side of the bed as I help her to sit up.

  "Not for your health. You look dead." I study my friend as she yawns and falls back into bed. "Em, no! Get up!" I laugh and grab her hand and pull her out of bed and she shuffles around the room picking up clothes. She starts to dawdle so I hurry her up and find her shoes for her, and I have already packed her bag for her.

  "How long have you been awake?" she asks.

  "A while." I reply, handing her a paper bag with a donut inside that I picked up from the cafeteria for her, knowing she'd need her daily sugar dose this morning.

  "You're too good to me." she moans as she pops the donut into her mouth.

  We both have English Literature together and I'm excited to meet the new professor and get stuck in. To the coursework. Not the professor. God, that came out wrong.

  The room is just filling up as we head inside. We find seats in the middle and get comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean I organize my notebook and pens on the desk while Em uses her bag as a pillow.

  "Don't you dare fall asleep. You snore, remember?"

  "Shh. I'm just resting my eyes." She waves her hand at me to be quiet and I shake my head at my friend.

  Something catches my attention to my left and I casually glance over at whoever has just claimed the seat two spaces over from me and find Maverick smirking back at me. I offer him a smile and go back to organizing my desk.

  "Paige," he says to get my attention.

  "Martin, right?" I say, trying not to smile.

  "I mean, you can call me Martin if you want if it means you'll give me your number." he says hopefully.

  "I don't have a phone." I smile and nudge Em but she's already asleep.

  "Really? I thought she was joking about you not having a phone because she didn't want me to have your number." he gestures to Em next to me. "I mean, I get it, you don't know me and don't want to give your number out to strangers."

  "No, it's not that. I really don't have one." I assure.

  "Huh. So how am I supposed to get in contact with you?" He edges closer as the professor walks in and sets his coffee cup down.

  "Get in contact with me for what?"

  "English notes." he says with a smile.

  "Well, I haven't taken any notes yet."

  "Or say, I need to remind you about that party coming up on Friday."

  "I don't like parties."

  "I can change your mind."

  I turn to face him and see a beautiful smile playing on his lips.

  "I guess you'll just have to send a bird carrier." I joke.

  "I'd need your dorm room number for that."

  I shake my head and try not to laugh at him. Is he flirting with me?

  "Right class, settle down." the professor says loudly and everyone settles down. I dare another peek at Maverick and catch him watching me. I turn away from him and let my hair fall around my face to create a barrier so I can't see him. I thought maybe Maverick could be a distraction from Dario, but he might be more of a distraction than I had bargained for.

  He is cute though.

  I casually peek at him again while he's busy digging through his bag. Today he's wearing baggy jeans, Chucks, and a green t-shirt with a white logo on it and his wrists are decorated with leather wristbands and a couple of festival bands. His skin is a shade or two darker than my pasty white skin, and his hair looks too good. Clean. Soft. I want to reach out and touch it.

  What is wrong with me?

  Maybe I did spend too long at that all-girls school.

  I hear a weird noise coming from the desk beside me and realize Em is snoring. The professor is about to start but he stops when he hears Em, and so does everyone else.

  "Looks like someone had a late night." the professor jokes as I elbow Em. It does nothing and I end up stamping on her foot to get her to wake her up.

  "The fuck?" she mutters, sitting bolt upright and notices everyone staring at her.

  "Hi. I'm Em. Single. Looking for a good time. Dinner isn't necessary. I'm a dessert kinda girl." Em rattles off, smiling at the tall boy next to her as though she's reading an online dating profile.

  "All right, that's enough!" the professor says and most of the class laughs.

  I don't know how she does it. How she's so carefree. One minute she's snoring, the next she's got the guy next to her passing his phone number to her on a piece of paper. If I was caught snoring in class I'd probably die from mortification, but somehow Em turns it around. I wish I had her confidence.

  A fresh start. I remind myself. You can be whoever you want.

  The class goes by pretty fast and before I know it, everyone is packing up and leaving. Maverick gives me a small smile before jogging down the steps.

  Go on. I dare you to ask him.

  I dare myself which is dumb, but it works.

  "Maverick?" I call and he slows down and stops on the lower steps. I smile at him and he jogs back up and comes over, towering over me. He's so tall.

  Was he this tall yesterday?

  "About that party. I might be interested."

  "Really? I thought you didn't like parties?" he asks playfully.

  "I don't, but maybe you can change my mind." I say confidently and I catch Em listening to us but she's pretending to be busy on her phone. I don't miss the smile on her face though.

  "All right." He nods his head and reaches behind his ear to retrieve his pen. He then lifts up my hand and scribbles something on the inside of my palm. I look at my hand and see he's scribbled his cell number on me.

  "If you still want to go on Friday, give me a call. We'll make it a date."

  "A date?" I ask. He ignores my question and taps my nose.

  "I like the glasses better." he tells me and nods his head at Em before jogging back down the steps.

  "Ohmigawd. What just happened? Paige just landed herself a date and got the boy's number." Em says, lifting up my hand to look at the digits. "I thought you weren't interested in parties or boys? What changed?"

  "College is a new beginning. Maybe it's time I had a little fun."

  "Oookay. What's going on? Where's my best friend gone?" she jokes. "Does this have something to do with Dario?" She narrows her eyes at me.

  "What?" I chuckle casually. "Why would this have anything to do with him?" I grab my ba
g and hop down the steps with Em right behind me.

  "You want a distraction." she says, figuring it out.

  Damn her.

  "No." I lie. "I like Maverick. He's cute."

  "He is cute." she agrees. "But I don't think he's like the others."

  "Meaning what exactly?"

  "He seems like a nice guy. He's more than a distraction. He's boyfriend material. He never dated in high school."

  "Who said anything about me having a boyfriend."

  "I'm just saying, I don't want you to get too caught up in someone else when you're only doing it to get over someone else."

  "I'm not doing this to get over anyone. I'm doing this for me. A fresh start. A new me."

  "Okay, fine. But don't break his heart."

  "Break his heart? You're supposed to be my friend." I point out.

  "I am, but that boy's too sweet, don't crush him."

  "And how would I do that? I've only ever kissed one guy."

  "Yeah and that one guy is still all over you."

  "Is not." I mutter.

  "Just don't start anything unless you're sure it's what you really want. I don't want you rushing into anything to prove a point. To prove that you're over Dario."

  "I am over him. Please stop bringing him up. How can I forget about him if you keep saying his name?" I groan.

  "So you admit that you're still thinking about him?" She eyes me.

  "I should have let you snore all through English."

  Em hooks an arm around my neck. "I love ya really. I just don't want you to regret anything else. You already have a lot of regrets, don't let Dario be one of them."

  "He's not, Em. Really, I'm over him. It was just a crush. I was young and silly. It was nothing."

  "And now?"

  "Now I want to have fun."

  "Okay. Have fun. Be safe. But don't regret anything."

  "I won't. I promise."

  "So Maverick...." she starts as we join the flow of students in the hallway.

  Chapter 7

  The rest of the day goes by quickly and after we've finished classes, we head over to the cafeteria to grab some dinner. I'm constantly checking over my shoulder, hoping to run into Maverick but I don't see him anywhere. I don't even know if he's living off-campus or not. Em is constantly checking her phone for whatever she does on there. Instagram. Twitter. Facebook. She's a social media whore. If I had a phone, I'd just be glued to the Kindle app. Call me boring, but there's something about getting lost in another world.

  After we've eaten, we wander back to the dorm. I'm not paying attention to anything, especially not the boy sitting on the stairs, but when he stands up and gets in my way I can't help but notice him.

  "Paige Moon?" he asks and I cringe. I hate my surname. I don't broadcast it around and I have no idea who he is.

  "Who's asking?" I ask, giving him the once-over.

  He's wearing jeans that are a little too baggy and I can see his red boxers sticking out of the waistband. There's a chain hanging from his pocket and his t-shirt if about five sizes too big and hanging off him. His hair is dark blond and shaggy, and it doesn't look as though he's done anything with it in days. His skin is tanned and there are freckles on his arms and his eyes are mossy green and there's a little scar on his left eyebrow and a black bar through it. His ear tunnels are noticeable but nothing over the top and when he speaks, I notice a glint of something silver in his tongue. He's a cross between a surfer and a wannabe skater.

  "It is Paige, right? Bos said you’d probably be wearing glasses." he says, checking my face again. "I’ve been bothering all the wrong girls." he chuckles.

  Bos?

  Dario Boston!

  Shit.

  Most of his friends call him Boston. I used to call him Boston, but then when I got to know him, I started calling him Dario when we were alone, but most people know him as Boston.

  "Hi!" Em nudges me out of the way and smiles at him.

  "Hi," he says, caught off guard, staring at my best friend.

  "Hello?" I wave my hand in front of his face. "Can I help you?"

  "Oh, right." He tears his eyes off Em and produces a red gift bag from behind his back and holds it out to me.

  "What is it?" I ask hesitantly, not about to accept gifts from random strangers, but Em doesn't wait for an answer and takes the bag from him.

  I scowl at her but she ignores me, reaching into the gift bag and lifting out a box.

  "It's the latest iPhone." she gapes, looking at the box.

  I look back at the stranger.

  "What is this?" I ask, confused.

  "Boston didn't like the idea of you walking around campus without a phone."

  "He bought me a phone?"

  The stranger nods.

  "Well, tell Boston, I don't want it." I snatch the box from Em and drop it back in the gift bag and try to hand it back to him. He doesn't take it and lifts his hands out of the way.

  "Nope. Sorry. If I go back with it, he's gonna kick my ass." he says.

  "I can't accept this. I can't even afford it."

  "It's all pre-paid." he informs me.

  "Well, I definitely can't accept it. I can't be in debt to Dario."

  "It's a gift, Paige. If you don't accept it, he'll just keep sending it back until you do."

  I let out a sigh.

  "You need a phone." Em whispers beside me before glancing back at the stranger.

  "I'm Spencer." he tells her.

  "Em." she says to him, and they get lost in each other again and I have to nudge her to bring her back from wherever she just went.

  Spencer's phone starts ringing in his pocket and he lifts it out and looks at the caller ID.

  "I gotta take this. It was nice meeting you, Paige." he says and then looks at Em. "You too, Em." he says her name and she blushes.

  Em blushing? That's not like her.

  He strolls away as he answers his phone.

  "Ohmigawd! Who the hell was that?!"

  "Spencer, apparently." I mutter.

  "Do you know him?"

  "No. I've never seen him before. He must be one of Dar-" I stop myself from saying his name too many times. "I don't know who he is."

  I climb the stairs and hurry back to our room. Once inside, I dump my bag on the floor and sit on the bed with the gift bag in front of me.

  "I can't believe he bought you a brand new phone. This one is the latest model. Even my dad refused to buy me the upgrade." She lifts out the box and takes out the phone and goes to switch it on.

  "Don't." I stop her.

  "But it's a phone, Paige. You need a phone. Everyone needs a phone. And it's free."

  "I don't want anything from him."

  "It's all paid for. You don't need to worry about the money. You said you needed a phone and you couldn't afford it. Now you don't have to buy one."

  "It's not just a gift. He'll want something in return."

  "Says who? Maybe he just feels bad about how things ended."

  "I ended it. I'm the one that should feel bad."

  "All right, all right.” she sighs. “So, what are you going to do with it?"

  "I don't know."

  "Can I have it?" She smiles sweetly.

  "No." I deadpan.

  "Fine. But how are you going to text Maverick if you don't have a phone?" She flicks her finger against my hand. I look down at the digits on my palm.

  "I can't keep it just to message another boy. That doesn't seem right."

  "Yeah, but it's a gift. You can message who you want if you keep it."

  I groan. "No, just no. I can buy a disposable cell, the kind that hardly costs anything."

  "You mean one of those weird flip phones that they use in the old movies, the kind drug dealers carry? Do they even have Internet?" She frowns.

  "Look, I'm going to take it back. Don't touch it. Don't take it out of the box. Don't even look at it."

  "Spoilsport." Em pouts. "It's just a phone."

  "It's not just
a phone." I say, putting the box back in the gift bag. "It's an excuse to talk to me. He's most likely already got the number and no doubt he'll call to ask how I'm getting on with it."

  "Well, he can't call if you don't take it out of the box."

  "That's the idea. I'm not taking it. I won't be in debt to him. He's not getting anything from me."

  "Except for your virginity and your heart." she mutters under her breath.

  "Em!" I scold her.

  "It's true." she says quietly.

  "Be quiet. Go and sit on your side of the room."

  She groans and stomps across the room.

  "Well, can I have Maverick’s number to text him? I can pretend to be you."

  "No." I say with a shake of my head, hiding the gift bag in the closet so she won't be tempted to open it.

  "You're no fun." she grumbles. "What are we going to do tonight? Shall we go and see what everyone is up to in the entertainment room? There’s a pool table, and I spotted an air hockey table in there."

  "No, not tonight. I want to get a head start on my English reading."

  "You've read Pride and Prejudice a hundred times before." she reminds me with a long sigh.

  "And now I'm reading it again."

  "Fine. Stay in here. If I see Maverick, I'll text you. No, wait, I can't because you don't have a phone."

  I ignore her and pull out my books from my bag.

  "Open it!" she whines.

  "No!" I laugh. "Go and find someone else to pester. I want to get this reading done and then I'm going to take a shower while it's not busy."

  "You drive me crazy." she says, walking to the door.

  "No, you drive me crazy. And behave." I warn.

  "Yes, mom." She bats her eyelashes at me before disappearing out the door.

  I remember to write down Maverick's number on the inside of my notebook because the letters are starting to smudge from where I have washed my hands. I haven't decided if I will ring him or not. I've got all week to decide and no doubt I will see him in English class.

  I get comfortable on my bed and try to get lost in Pride and Prejudice, but my eyes keep traveling back to the closet and won't stay on the damn page.

  Dammit.

  I promised myself I wouldn't think about Dario, but now I can't stop thinking about him and the stupid iPhone inside the closet. Sure, I need a phone, but I don't want to accept a phone from him. I don't need anything else to tie myself to him. I'm moving on with my life and Dario is no part of it anymore. He never really was in the first place. We were just kids.