by Vega, W. H.
Kenny quickly talks over the sound, raising his voice more than necessary.
“Alright, it was great talking to you! I’ll be in touch.”
The line goes dead.
Someone called Kenny dad.
Kenny only has one child, one daughter.
I sink down on the couch, burying my head in my hands. It’s almost too much for me to take in. Is it possible that Paige is back in Nashville? How could that even happen? After Paige moved back to Bristol, I tried so many times to contact her, tried so hard to get answers.
She had only responded to me once, just before we both graduated from high school. I’ll never forget the email:
I’m sorry Blake. Everything hurts too much. I can’t ever come back to Nashville. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
-Paige
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
She was sorry.
She had gone through horrors I couldn’t even imagine, and there she was, apologizing to me.
I need to get a fucking grip. It was thirteen years ago. We were both adults now, and here I am about to get married. For all I know, Paige was married. Maybe she even had kids.
And before I can even push the thought away, I feel the pain cut through me like a knife.
I need to get over these crazy thoughts. Whether or not Paige was back, shouldn’t concern me. We were nothing but high school sweethearts. Barely even, she left before junior year.
I have Savannah now and that's all that matters. And even if Paige is in Nashville, I can’t imagine she'll be staying here long. Maybe she and Kenny have finally reconciled and she was just down for a short visit.
I force myself up from the couch and busy myself with trying to fix one of our kitchen cabinets. I’m can't stop thinking of Paige, so I curse out loud and head back to my studio to work on some music.
I sing a song that I wrote about Savannah, strumming at my guitar as the lyrics roll off my tongue from memory. I sing about her long legs and rich brown hair and the way she makes me feel in the hot summer.
But it’s Paige’s legs, and her blonde hair that I’m picturing, and the way I felt when I was fifteen, crazy in love. The way I felt in the hot summer when Paige and I were just kids.
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