Secret Lightning [REWORK IN PROGRESS]

======================SECRET LIGHTNING======================

This is the reworked version of chapter 11, the first part of a HUGE project to completely revamp Secret Lightning. It’s going to take me a while to do, I had to replace a lot of this chapter. And this is just the first of many. Why I chose this chapter to work on first, I’ll never know. And I removed the six-foot author notes cause I just said screw it, no one cares about copters and stuff. So enjoy the reworked chapter! Also, warning you just now: new version has some brief language to it, so you have been warned.

======================CHAPTER 11: AN OLD FRIEND [REVAMPED]======================

Matt was unable to speak. His mind ran at a mile a second, desperately trying to process the situation unfolding in front of him. Then it clicked: her.

Finally, his brain forced his mouth into motion. “P…..Paige?”

“Yes, Matt, it’s me. As I said, it’s been a long time.”

Matt’s brain finally made the connection. So this is where she went. All these years. It HAS been a long time. TOO long, in fact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You see, Matt wasn’t always a loner. Back in middle school, he had met someone. Her name was Paige. She was beautiful, with shoulder length jet black hair, a thin face, and that voice. Oh, that voice. She was usually very gentle and shy, with a very quiet voice, but when she got pissed, no amount of anything would calm her down until she was satisfied. She and Matt shared similar parental problems, but hers were much darker. Her father was a drunken mess most of the time, and her mother was never around. Back when Paige was about 10, her father had started molesting her.

Matt was the only person she had ever told this, as she was so afraid that if she told someone else, they would tell her dad. He had always said, “If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you” and she believed him.

Matt had fallen in love with Paige, even though he knew he couldn’t push anything due to her parent situation. But after a while, she became attached to him, becoming much like a little sister to him. But at the same time, it was more than that. He loved her. And she loved him as well. But yet he took care of her almost like a surrogate brother, having her stay over at his house when her father got violent. He would look after her at school as well, when people called her “Pussy Paige” due to her resulting timidness. One time, he was even suspended from school for beating the crap out of a kid who had lured her into a room, and tried to force himself on her. If a teacher hadn’t been right around the corner, he would have done much worse.

That had been one of the few times Matt’s dad had not yelled at him. He had gotten into a scuffle, defending a lady. And for once, his dad approved of his actions.

It had all gone down in a matter of seconds.

Matt sighed and grabbed his jacket from his locker, slamming the door closed.  It had been another boring day in school. As usual, his teachers annoyed the crap out of him. But at least they weren’t as bad as the other kids in his classes. You have to admit, it is pretty hard to concentrate on not failing a class with the people behind you throwing stuff at you, kicking your seat, and occasionally jabbing you with pencils. But it wasn’t all that bad. He’d made it through another day, and that meant he got to see Paige after school again. He had to admit, he was really glad he had met her, she was the one who kept him together, gave him reason to get out of bed in the morning, to try and do better in school, and to try to be a better person. As such, he hadn’t been in any fights since he met her, and his grades had gone from a failing number to one that wasn’t awesome, but you really couldn’t complain either. There were lots of opportunities for him to get into fights, sure, like when other guys made passes at her, or made fun of her. But he didn’t. He told himself he would be better than that.

His mind snapping back to reality as he walked down the hallway, Matt thought he could hear a noise. He couldn’t quite identify it, but it almost sounded like…muffled crying. And as he moved down the hallway, it started getting closer. He decided to investigate, as the only room at this section of hallway was the resource room that no one ever used.

Matt approached the door carefully, and opened it veeery quietly, still unsure exactly what was the source of the noise. Positioning himself halfway inside the door, he scanned the room. The room was dark, all the tables had a light coating of dust on them. But more importantly, in the far corner of the room some random guy had a girl pinned up against the wall, his hand covering her face, muffling her cries. His other hand was holding both her arms at bay while his knee kept her legs and feet from moving as well. Matt wasn’t sure just what this guy was trying to do. But he suddenly realized he didn’t care, as he identified the girl as Paige. “C’mon! I’m sure your little wimpy ‘boyfriend’ wouldn’t even be able to do anything if he found out!” the guy was saying.

His body was in motion while his brain was already putting together what to do and feeding it to the rest of him on the fly. Well, he had a habit of wearing steel-toed shoes so kids couldn’t step on his feet to try and hurt him, might as well use them. He leaned forward and took off at almost a full sprint towards the far part of the room. He hadn’t been noticed yet. He smiled as he ran, with one thought in his mind about that: good. When he neared the far corner of the room, since there was a table between them, he jumped with his right foot, put his left foot on the table, pushed himself forward, and swung his right foot around towards the guy’s head. A split second before the weighted steel toe connected with his skull, Matt remembered to turn his foot sideways so the side of his foot hit him. He needed to knock him off her, not knock him out. He also checked to make sure the attacker’s head was far enough away from Paige’s that he wouldn’t accidentally kick her as well.

The foot connected, the strengthened steel in his toe making a satisfying *whop* sound as it struck the other guy’s skull. As the applied energy plus the shock of the kick to the guy’s brain knocked him sideways, Matt’s momentum carried him over the table and into a landing standing directly over the guy, who he now identified as Steve Jabronsky, the leader of the people that bullied Matt. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was holding his head groaning. Matt smiled. He’d be out of it for a couple minutes. Now to check on Paige.

She had been released the second Matt’s foot connected with Steve’s skull, and had hit the ground and curled up in a ball, sobbing loudly. He stepped over the groaning Steve, and knelt down next to her. He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, but at his touch, she flinched violently and curled up even more. “Paige?” he whispered in her ear “Paige, it’s me. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

She sniffled and pulled her face from her hands to look at him. “M…Matt?”

“Yes Paige, it’s me. Don’t worry, you’re safe now. I’m not sure what he was trying to do to you, but it’s okay now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Suddenly, she jumped up and grabbed him in such a tight hug that Matt thought his lungs might pop. “Oh, Matt!” she cried “It was horrible! He tried…he tried to make me do things with him. But I…I didn’t want to. He tried to tell me…tell me you wouldn’t care.”

“Ssh, it’s okay” he whispered while stroking her back gently as she cried into his shoulder “He can’t hurt you anymore. I’m here now. It’s okay.”

“Uuurgh” well, Steve was coming back to his senses. Time for a little ‘talk’.

Matt released Paige, before giving her a reassuring smile, and got up and moved quickly over to Steve, who was slowly getting up clutching his head. When he noticed Matt standing glowering over him, he looked up. “Dude, what the fuck?” he demanded.

Matt squatted down to Steve’s level, who was sitting up using his elbows. He grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him back against the wall with enough force Matt was pretty sure he’d knocked him out again. A quick visual check, nope, he hadn’t. Good. He got right in Steve’s face, so close they were almost touching.

“Now listen here, Steve!” he pretty much screamed in his face “I’m not a violent person. That doesn’t mean I can’t fight. You’ve got balls trying what you just did. Don’t ever do it again. Because while yes, I’m not a violent person, if I EVER find out you’ve so much as LOOKED AT her again, I will NOT hesitate to change that! You got me?! And make sure all your little chronies know this as well. No one is to lay a hand on Paige or they will suffer my wrath!” he punctuated the last word by releasing Steve as well as throwing him back against the wall once more. “And I’m pretty sure you DON’T want to know just how painful my wrath can be!”

He got back to his feet, and looked over at Paige, who had gotten up as well, and walked over to her. “C’mon, let’s go.” He said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. On the way out of the room, she grabbed his hand. They ended up holding hands all the way back to her house.

When they got to Paige’s house, since Matt had things to do at home, he made sure she was ok, gave her a hug, said his goodbyes, and left. As he started walking home, it started to rain. It was a cold rain too, one of those rains that’s really miserable and depressing. But nothing could dampen Matt’s mood right now. “Well,” he said to no one in particular as he walked “I’m walking home in the cold, miserable rain, but at least I know she got home safe.”

The next day, as he and Paige walked into school, holding hands once again, they were stopped by the music instructor, Mr. Burlough, who informed them they were both to report to the principal’s office.

Sitting in the waiting area for the principal was the hardest thing in the world at the moment for Matt. The clock on the wall clicked off the seconds ever so slowly, getting louder and louder with each passing minute until the soft little clicks were thundering in his head. The principal had called Paige in first, and that had been almost half an hour ago. A slight cough from the secretary reminded Matt that he was not in fact alone in the room. But then again, Mrs. Torrell never really liked talking with students that much. If Matt could find a way to measure just how BORED he was sitting here into some kind of a number, he was sure it’d be somewhere over 9,000.

The door to the office opened just a crack. “Matt?” came the voice of the principal “You can come in now.”

Matt stood up and walked tentatively in. There wasn’t that question on his mind as to what he’d done, he knew EXACTLY what this was about. And it wasn’t going to end well. But really, he didn’t care. As he walked into the principal’s office, he motioned for Paige to leave. She stood up and started walking out, but Matt stopped her and gave her a quick hug first. Then she left and closed the door, and he sat down in the left one of the two chairs that sat in front of Mr. Cook’s desk, at just the perfect angle.

“Well, Matthew,” Mr. Cook said while toying with one of those little kinetic sculpture things on his desk without looking up. “I believe you know why you are here today.”

“Well sir…” Matt stammered “I…I do.” Just because he didn’t care about consequences didn’t mean he couldn’t be nervous about them.

“ Now you see, Matthew,” Mr. Cook continued, still toying with the sculpture, not even having looked up at Matt “I have already talked to both Steve and Paige about this. The information I have gotten so far has been…intriguing to say the least.”

Matt’s words almost froze in his throat, but he forced them out. “What…what do you mean, sir?”

“Well, Matthew, what I mean is, I’ve got two conflicting stories. The first one says that you were completely in the wrong, with the other person having done nothing wrong. The second one says that the first person was completely in the wrong, and that you were in definite right by what you did. But I want to hear about you. What do you think? Do you think you were right? Or wrong? Tell me what happened, Matthew.” He finally set down the sculpture thingy over on the corner of the desk and looked at Matt.

Matt had to think about it for a second to actually force himself to remember. “Well, I…I walked in the room and found Steve pinning Paige up against the wall, and covering her face. And he was saying something about I wouldn’t even be able to do anything anyway. I think you have a pretty good idea of what I was thinking. So, I…I knocked him off her…with my foot. And…yeah, that’s about it.”

Mr. Cook nodded, appearing pensive. He just sat there staring right at Matt for a full minute, until Matt was starting to get a little creeped out. Finally he perked up his head and spoke.

“Do you know how long I have been principal at this school, Matthew? No? A long time. And, I’ve got to say, while I have seen incidents of this nature before, I must admit, I’ve never heard of one where steel-toed shoes were used as weaponry. Now, I have already talked to Miss Paige, her story confirms everything you have told me. And while I must command you for defending your friend, I must also tell you that this school as a zero-tolerance policy for violence. If it were up to me, I would let you out of here with a warning after giving that troublemaker what-for. But it’s not up to me; it’s up to the superintendent. So, I’m sorry to say, I have to suspend you. I’ve been told a month, but I’m cutting it down to two weeks, I don’t think a whole month is very fair.”

Matt was somewhat stunned, yet also not surprised. “But…what about Steve?”

“I have already talked with him as well, and although I have yet to find a very…fitting punishment for him, rest assured, he will learn the consequences of his actions. But as for you, I’ll be contacting your parents. Please go wait outside.” He gestured for Matt to go wait out in the waiting area again.

Matt walked back out into the waiting area, and thankfully, Paige was sitting there. He sat down next to her, and she leaned

over onto him, snuggling her face against his chest. “So” she asked “How’d it go?”

“Suspended” he grunted “Two weeks”

“That’s terrible!” she exclaimed as she sat back up to look at him “You shouldn’t be punished for-“

Matt grabbed her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. “Paige, it’s okay. I got in trouble, yes, but I got in trouble for YOU. For you, I would do anything. So yes, I got suspended. But I don’t even care. I don’t care because I got suspended for you. So it’s okay.”

“Why? Why do you not care? This is going on your permanent record, how can you not care?”

“Because, Paige. I love you. And if I get in trouble doing something for you, then oh well. Screw the consequences. That’s why.”

She smiled and stared up at him for a second, then leaned up and kissed him. It wasn’t the first time they had kissed, sure, but for both partners, it still had that ‘first kiss’ electricity to it. They held it for a full minute before they both had to break off for air, her panting slightly. When they had both caught their breath, she finally spoke. “Matt…I love you too. And thank you. You are….the best thing that has ever come into my life. Promise me one thing? Promise me you’ll never leave me?”

“Of course I’ll never leave you.” Matt replied softly. “Even if I died tomorrow I’d never truly leave you.”

This pacified her, and she leaned back into him as he put his arms around her, smiling contentedly. And they stayed that way until Matt’s father arrived to drag him home.

Those two weeks went a lot faster for Matt, seeing as every day after school, Paige stopped by to thank him once again and hang out with him a while before she had to go home. She also kept him up to date as to what was going on in the school. Since he had defended her, everybody at the school had left her alone completely, having heard about the very one-sided confrontation, and afraid of what Matt would do to them if they did anything to her.

The first day Matt went back to school, he was a little worried. Paige had not met up with him at her street’s corner, like usual. Oh well, perhaps she was at school already. When he walked in the door and down the hallway, he immediately noticed something. As he walked through the crowd of other students, they all immediately parted to give him passage. No one talked.  No one even breathed. Everyone just stood there and stared at him. Matt smiled. They must have heard.

As he neared Paige’s locker, she still was nowhere to be seen. However, her best friend Marceline was getting her binders and pencils and things from her locker, directly next to Paige’s. “Hey Marceline” he said as he walked up to her “Have you seen Paige around? I haven’t heard from her since yesterday, and I’m kinda worried.”

She immediately whirled on him “You mean you didn’t hear?” Matt shook his head a very confused ‘no’ “She’s in the hospital!”

“Wh…WHAT?!” Matt cried, surprising Marceline. “What happened?! Is she ok?! What hospital?!”

She sniffled and shook her head, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. “She…I…I don’t know much. I know she’s at Saint Francis hospital. And I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

“Marceline.” He said very firmly while gripping her shoulders “What. Happened?”

“All I know is, last night…last night her dad got real drunk again. Got really angry for some reason. I heard he beat the life out of her. Even threw her through a window. Like I said, I don’t think she’s going to make it.”

“I got to get out of here!” he said as he turned and bolted for the side exit. He didn’t care if he was skipping school. He didn’t care if he’d get in trouble. He just…didn’t…care. As he approached the door, Mr. Annino, the gym teacher, was walking by, and tried to stop him. “Whoa there, Matt, where are you going?” he exclaimed. But Matt just brushed the man aside. His adrenaline was moving now, nothing was going to stand in his way.

He ran all the way to the bus stop near the school, and sat down to wait. He didn’t calm down though, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Thankfully there was no one else at the bus stop.

After a few agonizing minutes, a bus finally pulled up. Matt jumped on immediately. “Please, sir” he begged the driver “I need to get to Saint Francis hospital right now!”

“What’s the hurry, kid?” asked the driver “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Please sir, just please!” he begged, tears beginning to collect and run down his face. “I just found out my girlfriend is in the hospital. Her…her dad beat her up. They don’t expect her to make it. I just need to see her… one last time. Before it’s too late. Please, I’ll pay you all the money I have!” he cried while holding out his lunch money for the week.

The driver looked at him for a second, and then glanced up into the rear view mirror. It was early in the morning, but after everyone had gone to work, so the bus was empty. He sighed. “Put your money away, kid.” He said softly. “And go have a seat.”

“Th…thank you sir.” Matt choked out.

“Think nothing of it, kid.” The driver said with a tip of his hat. “Now let’s get going. We’ve got a hospital to get you to.” He said as he closed the doors and punched ‘OFF DUTY’ into the sign controls. As they started rolling, Matt walked over and flopped into a bench seat against the wall.

As they bumped and jostled down the road, Matt didn’t even notice. His mind was too busy remembering all the good times he and Paige had had together. Thinking about how much he loved her. If she died before he got there, he’d never even have the chance to say goodbye. Not to say he was even prepared for her to die at all, but that would make things even worse. Matt stopped himself from thinking before he got too deep into that. The best thing he could do right now was think about happy things, and hang in there, hoping things would turn out okay. They had to, right?

“Hey kid,” the driver said, scattering his thoughts like rice on a drum “We’re here.”

“Thank you again, sir.” Matt said as he climbed off the bus.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” The driver called after him “And good luck to you! I hope things turn out okay for you and your

friend!”

Matt ran in the nearest door marked ‘ENTRANCE’ ,and sprinted up to the information desk. The receptionist was busy painting her nails. He stopped short at the foot of the desk, startling the receptionist and causing her to spill her nail polish.

“What the…” she started to say.

“Please, I need to know where I can find a Paige Hickam! It’s an emergency!” he yelled over her, completely not caring about her nail polish.

The receptionist sighed and punched some things into the computer terminal on her desk. “Alright, I found her. Ooh, sorry honey, looks like she’s in the ICU. No visitors, I’m afraid.”

“No, please, you don’t understand!” Matt yelled, crying now “I have to see her…say goodbye to her..before it’s too late!”

The receptionist picked up her phone and was about to call security, but then she looked at her desk. Two little puddles were collecting on it and getting bigger. Looking up, she saw they were from the tears running down and dripping off his face. She looked into his eyes, and saw the desperation…and love…and sadness they carried…and dialed the shuttle instead.

Minutes later, Matt was zipping down the hallway on the little electric shuttle the hospital had for visitor transport. There was a line on the floor the driver was following, and two flashing lines on either side of it, warning anyone in the long hallway to get the hell out of the way as it screamed through, shunting the little autonomous medicine transport bots out of the way automatically.

When the shuttle arrived at her room, Matt immediately jumped off, yelling a quick ‘thank you’ to the driver. Tentatively, he approached the door. Carefully, he opened it, and stepped inside. When he looked inside, his heart stopped. There she was, laying on the bed, almost completely covered in bandages, hooked up to various machinery. There was an oxygen tube in her nose, and at least three IVs. There was no way this was good.

As he stepped carefully over to where she was laying, she opened her eyes and spoke. “Mhh…..Matt?”

“Shh, I’m here, Paige.”

“Oh, Matt, it was horrible. My father caught me coming home a few minutes late, and asked me…asked me where I was. I told him I had been seeing you, and he just….” She trailed off, sobbing raggedly, while Matt bent down and hugged her gently, tears welling up in his eyes once more.

“This…this is all my fault, Paige, I brought this onto you. I’m…I’m so sorry.”

She reached up and pressed a single, thin finger weakly to his lips.

“Matt, this could never be your fault. If anything, I’m thanking you for taking care of me. For defending me. For caring about me. Matt, I….I’ve always loved you. You know that. You’ve known that for a while. But now, seeing as I probably won’t see tomorrow, I just…I just want to say goodbye.” She said, her voice beginning to fade in volume. “And I just want you to know. Whatever happens, just know: I always loved you. From the day we met, I knew there was something special about you. I noticed that you took care of me, much like a younger sister, and for that, I thank you. I just wish…I just wish I could stay here and be with you forever.”

Matt choked, and a single tear fell from the end of his nose, making a tiny little wet spot on her hospital gown, followed by another. And another. He released his hug, but stayed right by her side, and took her hand. He felt it tighten a little in his. “I just wish I could, but I guess I’m not meant to.”

Her voice was really faint now, and a couple of the machines attached to her were starting to sound alarms, attempting to notify anyone in the room that something was wrong.

“Goodbye Matt. My love. The only one I ever loved.”

And with that, she was gone. The hand in Matt’s grip slackened, and fell limp. Her whole body relaxed and fell limp as well. Matt was pretty sure for a second that he had died as well. He didn’t breathe. He didn’t blink. He just stood there, holding the hand of the only girl he ever loved.

Matt flopped down in the chair next to the bed, any trace of strength and resolve shattered. He just sat there, sobbing, the dull “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” of the heart monitor filling his ears. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t feel. He was broken. Well and truly broken.

Eventually, the hospital staff came to take her body away. And still he sat there, his face in his hands, crying his mind into a stupor. It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the shuttle driver. “C’mon, kid, I know…I know you’ve suffered a loss, and I’m sorry for that. I know you loved her. But why don’t I get you out of here. It’s probably better for you to go anyway, I know if I don’t make you, you’ll be here all week.”

Matt didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to. “Take me…Take me back to my school.”

The driver cocked an eyebrow. “Really, kid? After what you just went through? You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure!” he yelled. “Take me back to my school!”

The driver raised his hands in defense. “Whoa, okay, kid, okay. I’ll take you back to your school.”

They clambered back into the electric shuttle, and took off again. The whole ride back, Matt just sat there, thinking. Hey, at least he got to say goodbye.

They reached the garage of the hospital, and the driver got out of the little electric shuttle, plugged in the batteries, and led Matt to one of the little shuttle buses. Matt attempted to get comfortable in one of the seats while the driver fired up the PowerStroke engine under the hood.

The entire ride back, Matt did nothing but think. What was he to do now? He just lost the one that gave him the will to get out of bed in the morning, the one who inspired him to strive to be a better person. How was he going to carry on with his life now? For just a split second, he considered suicide. It would be so easy. So easy right now for him to end his life. End his life and be able to join her. It’s not like anyone would care anyway.  No, no, he forced those thoughts from his mind. She would want him to stay strong for her, not do anything stupid. And for her, he would do anything.

When Matt reached the school, he didn’t go anywhere in particular, just wandered the halls staring at the floor. Eventually, the gym teacher caught him and dragged him to the office.

And so Matt sat in the principal’s office, the gym teacher standing against the back wall of the room, and the principal sitting at his desk. “What am I going to do about you, Matthew?” Mr. Cook asked Matt “You just get back from a suspension and decide to walk out of school. I can’t… I’m trying to understand why here, I mean, if you had a good reason, that’s one thing. But it would help if you actually SAID SOMETHING. Seriously, Matthew, what’s wrong? You look like someone you knew just died.” Matt barely suppressed a maniacal chuckle at that statement. Oh, if only he knew. If only he knew just how much she meant to him.

Then the phone on his desk rang, and he answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is the principal. Yes. No, I don’t know anything about that. Well, is she going to be okay? …………Oh. Well, thank you for telling me. I see. Yes, I’ll let them know. Alright, goodbye.”

Mr. Cook hung up his phone and turned his attention to the gym teacher. “Mr. Annino, would you mind telling the guidance directors and Vice Principal that there will be an emergency meeting for all teachers and staff members in ten minutes.”

The gym teacher looked rather disappointed. He wanted to see what punishment Matt would receive. “But…I….”

Mr. Cook wasn’t having any of it. “Now, John. This is important.”

Mr. Annino bowed his head in resignation. “Fiiiiiine” he sighed before turning and walking out.

Mr. Cook just shook his head and turned back to Matt. “Well, Matthew, it looks like your reasoning was much different than I expected. I figure…if you were willing to get suspended for her, you must really have loved her.” Again Matt suppressed a chuckle and retort. There was no way he could possibly know. “And while you did just get back from a suspension, I’m sending you home again. Take the week off. After what you’ve just been through, you deserve it. Now I’m going to call your parents again, and tell them to take you home. You’re welcome to go retrieve anything you may need from your locker.”

Matt nodded.

The principal sat back down at his desk and dialed his phone. As Matt got to his feet to go to his locker, he heard Mr. Cook explaining to his mother about what had happened. From what he was saying, she wasn’t believing him at first. Pfft, adults. They would never understand.

As Matt went to his locker to go retrieve his jacket, and was stopped in the hall by Steve. “So I hear she’s in the hospital. What’s wrong, you get pissed and do to her what you did to me?”

Matt retaliated in three swift moves. A left hook, a knee to the gut, and a steel-toed Spartan kick that sent the kid sliding a good ten feet down the hallway. Nobody stopped him, not even the teachers that were peeking out of their rooms into the hallway.

While Steve was on the ground groaning and coughing, attempting to get to his feet once more, Matt turned and walked to his locker in silence. No one spoke. No one so much as breathed. You could have heard a mosquito sneeze in the pure silence. He retrieved his jacket, slammed his locker shut, and walked back down the hallway past Steve and everyone without saying a word. Everyone just stared at him like he was crazy. They would never understand. Hell, maybe he was crazy. It’d be a lot easier of an explanation to people than telling them that your heart had been swallowed by a pit of pure emotional emptiness and pain, wouldn’t it?

Paige’s funeral was held the next week. Matt was there, sitting stonefaced in one of the front rows the whole time. lots of people from the school showed up, from students, to teachers and guidance counselors. Even parents.  Plenty of people tried talking to Matt, either to attempt to console him, or whatever. Matt wasn’t paying attention. None of them would ever truly understand. A couple of guidance counselors tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t playing. Sure, they claimed to be on the same page as him, but no. There was no way they were. This was a common tactic to get kids to open up, and he wasn’t playing this game. What was the point of opening up if no one truly understood? Understood his pain, and the emptiness he felt inside whenever he allowed himself to think or feel.

Shortly after Paige’s death, her father was arrested for several charges including assault and battery, murder, and a few more. He would be in jail for the rest of his life. This fact did not grant Matt any satisfaction, as it couldn’t make Paige come back to him. In fact, he was pretty pissed they didn’t give him the death penalty for what he did. He just beat his daughter to death in a drunken rage, and he didn’t even care. Oh, sure, he was ‘sorry’, but in the end, his excuse was that the alcohol was to blame. This made him just like everyone else, not willing to admit fault of his own, always looking for someone or something else to blame for his actions.

After graduating middle school, he sort of drifted through life in high school, not really making any friends. He stayed away from everyone, not wanting to get too attached to anyone and have something happen. When his friend showed him My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, he noticed himself becoming strangely enumerated with one character, named Fluttershy. She was timid, shy, and soft-spoken, but when she was pissed, mountains would move out of her way. That reminded him a lot of a certain someone he used to know. Even so, she ended up being his second favorite, despite all of that, almost like his brain wouldn’t allow him to choose Fluttershy as his favorite. But if he had actually gotten a good look into her eyes, that would have all changed in a heartbeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK OVER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt just sat there, now crying once more, tears flowing down his face with a heat they hadn’t had in a long time

“Paige, I…..I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve…I’ve missed you too, Matt. How did you end up here?”

“Well, it’s… kind of a long story”

“I’ve got time.”

“I’ll tell you, but it’ll have to wait a little while. First things first, how did you get here? What happened? How have you been?”

“Well, when I arrived here, all I could think of was you, and that I’d left you behind. I went crazy, doing everything I could think of to get back to you. To find you again, to be with you again. But Princess Celestia wiped my memory and turned me into this Pegasus. I became Fluttershy, and that was the only thing I knew. But just before you appeared, Twilight used the memory spell on me, and suddenly, I remembered everything again. Which is why it shocked me so to see you here. But I’m glad you’re here.” She said, while nuzzling him gently.

“I’m glad I’m here now too.” He found himself saying.

Twilight stepped forward. “Matt, if you loved her so much as a human, maybe I can help you.”

Her horn started to glow, and Fluttershy/Paige was picked up off the floor and cocooned in the purple glow, her figure twisting and contorting. After a few seconds, a completely different figure inside was set back down, and the glow dissipated.

There she was, standing in front of him, human once more.

Matt almost fainted. She hasn’t aged a day since I last saw her.

The second the glow was completely gone, she bolted over to Matt and hugged him so tightly he thought he was going to pop.

“Oh, Matt, how I’ve missed being human. And being with you.” She said, tears flowing with renewed force down her face.

“Shh. It’s okay, we’re together now.” Matt comforted, returning the hug.

===========================END CHAPTER 11===========================

Well, there you have it. This chapter skyrocketed from about 1,200 words to over 6,000. Sorry for starting with chapter 11, but this is the chapter I figured would be easiest for me to rework. As it is, it still took me several days. But am I complaining? No. next up is the flashback chapter explaining how Matt and Paige first met, I think that’s chapter 12. From there, I’ll go back to chapter 1 and completely redo EVERYTHING. But anyway, hope you enjoyed the redone chapter!