Chapter 11

The rest of the ride to Riverdale was made in silence. After Paige sat, mumbling quietly to herself for nearly five minutes, Megan forced her from the drivers seat and drove them to their destination.

Paige sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window while occasionally looking at one of the others, her thoughts a jumbled mess. She knew without a doubt she never told Simon her name and the fact he'd said it, twice, caused her brain to work overtime.

He apparently knew who she was. There was no other explanation. No contact with the others whatsoever except for back at the store and that was after he'd said it. It was all too confusing.

Her mind drifted back to the first night in the club and the way he came toward her from the minute he stepped onto the stage. She didn't think anything of it at the time, other than she happened to be the lucky girl of the night, but when she started to think heavily on it, she had to wonder if she hadn't been his target all along.

He told her the dance wasn't part of his act. Did he lie to her? Did the other ladies at the club expect that from him? Is that why he was so popular?

If it were, then why her? Why not one of the other ladies lined up watching him? She was sure some of them were regulars. Woman he was guaranteed a huge tip from.

As the questions mounted, her mind raced to answer them. She couldn't explain why it upset her so much that he said her name other than he was hiding something, but what? If he knew her, then why didn't he just say so?

* * *

"Did you hear me Paige?" Megan asked.

Paige looked up from the sidewalk. She’d stopped walking without noticing. They were all walking down Main Street, leisurely taking in the changes since their last visit to the little town.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

Megan smiled, taking a step closer to Paige and threading her arm through her friends. "I asked you if you were hungry."

"Oh, no. I think I'll wait until the reunion," Paige replied. "I'm a little too freaked out at the moment to eat."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she lied. She looked over at Meg, seeing the concern on her friends face, before sighing. "I'm just still thinking about the whole Simon thing."

"I figured as much," Meg smiled. "Don't drive yourself crazy over it."

"I won't," she said. Megan raised one eyebrow at her before she laughed lightly.

"Okay, okay. No more Simon worries. We're here to reminisce and have fun."

"Damn straight we are." Megan laid her head against Paige's trying to show her support. "Speaking of fun, we're heading over to the high school. Heather feels the need to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk."

Paige cracked a grin, raising her eyes to look at the others.

"That would be fun," she said. "Too bad there won't be anyone there to see."

"Oh, I'm sure we aren't the only ones going to be there."

* * *

Simon stood on the sidewalk looking up at the building where he'd spent the better part of two years feeling like a total outcast. Starting a new school in his junior year wasn't the easiest transition, especially with the social groups established at the school. Being a new kid, and one so totally different from the others, only made it that more difficult to fit in. The only highlight in the whole experience was Paige.

He'd seen her not ten minutes after walking in the front door and she had literally taken his breath away. When the girls had all passed by him, Paige had turned to look at him, flashing a brilliant smile, and he knew at that moment he would be forever lost in her. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

He spent years trying to get over her after graduation and finally convinced himself he did. Well, until he saw her again. The minute he laid eyes on her at the club, all those feelings came rushing back. He didn't know what it was about her that held his heart captive. She was like a drug he couldn't get enough of.

Was it the whole challenge aspect of it? Did wanting something you knew you couldn't have make it that much more tempting? He really didn't think that was the case. It was simply her. It was the smile she gave him for no reason. The way her eyes lit up when she laughed. Everything about her was intoxicating to him.

Even now—after ten years of not seeing her, with one tiny glance, she captured his heart and held it in the palm of her hand again. He only hoped this time it wouldn't destroy him like the first time.

Colin Gregory had died with every laugh he'd received on the day he poured his heart out on paper and with a single red rose. That was the day he gave her one last glance and vowed never to look upon her again. And he didn't. It was easier that way. He avoided her. Knew where her and her little group of friends hung out and purposely avoided them. Even on graduation, when her name was called, he'd sat there, staring at his feet. Her smile tore his heart out and he couldn't bring himself to even glance at her. It was too painful.

The endless nights of tears staining his pillow because of the cruel and heartless things her friends said to him had worn him down. But he suffered through it… for her. He loved her enough to endure anything they dished out and he did. For a year and a half, he took everything they threw at him. He took it and filed it away in that tiny place in the back of his mind to use later on if he needed it.

But that day… that day had been different. That day he'd seen. He'd seen the look on her face when everyone in the room laughed. He'd seen her embarrassment… because of him. His beautiful angel held pain in her eyes and he caused it. His world crumbled around him then. He'd hurt her. He hadn't meant to but he did. Every day he hurt her with the taunts and laughs of her friends. They weren't just directed at him. She felt them too.

He knew what he had to do then. He had to be someone she would want to love. Colin would never be the man she needed. Colin would never be the kind of man any woman would want.

Simon had risen from the ashes of his broken heart. A man who didn't take shit from anyone and didn't let his heart get in the way of what he wanted. He'd searched for years for someone equal to her but never found her. There hadn't been a woman in ten years to stir any emotion in him other than the feelings that a pleasurable night wrapped around another warm body could give. And he knew now that no one could ever take her place. He would forever love the girl who couldn't see him for more than what her friends thought he was.

Taking a deep breath, Simon let it out slowly before he tossed his spent smoke to the ground and crushed it with the heel of his boot. He turned, sitting back down on his bike.

The loud roar of the engine rang out across the street before he gave the old school one last glance, pulled away from the curb, and headed into town.

* * * *