After a long, long LONG writers block, I'm back with a fresh new outlook, and hopefully improvement. This is going to be a two (or three) part fiction, a songfic based on the song "Buried Myself Alive" by The Used.
It's an alternate take on the Spinner/Paige breakup at the end of Islands In The Stream. I hope you all like it!
You almost always pick the best times
To drop the worst lines
You almost made me cry again this time
Another false alarm
Red flashing lights
Well this time I'm not going to watch myself die
Spinner Mason looked at his girlfriend, Paige Michalchuk, feeling confused. He knew the night before, he'd made a huge mistake. But it was only then he was seeing what it was costing him, as well as her. He expected yelling, he expected her to be mad. But the one thing he didn't expect were the words that came from Paige's mouth.
"...I've had enough of this."
"Paige!" He responded, not really sure of what she meant, but knew it was bad.
"Spin, I've had enough of you." Paige said, and she turned to walk away. She shook her head walking away with an eyeroll as Spinner stood.
He was completely stunned. The last thing he'd expected was for Paige to dump him. He had felt the relationship straining, and knew a break may be needed, but not on such bad terms. Tears began to fill his eyes and he fought to hold them back. After standing for a good five minutes with the same dumbfounded expression on his face, he made his way back to the table where Craig and Jimmy had been.
"Yo man, what took you so long?" Jimmy asked his, raising his eyebrow. He had a notion something was wrong.
"Dude..." Spinner trailed off, trying hard to keep his composure. He couldn't be weak, he knew he brought it on to himself. "She just... dumped me."
Craig looked up from his sandwich, trying to stifle his laughter. He was still angry from the night before, and almost felt a smidgen of satisfaction when he heard it. That soon faded when he realized how soon Spinner may move on, using Manny as his rebound. And that's what we need, more of Manny around. Craig thought to himself.
The table remained quiet, and Spinner bit down hard on his lip, losing himself deep in concentration. Thoughts came in and out of his head at a rapid pace, and it was beginning to give him a headache.
Does she really think I wanted Manny over her? I flirted... yeah. But I didn't want to hurt her. Why did I say that last night? It's Craig's fault. He was the one who brought up Manny at the theatre.
Later on that day, Spinner was still in thought about what Paige had said. He so desperately wanted to apologize, but knew he couldn't He didn't want to fall into the cycle of an unhealthy relationship. As the day passed, he continued to fight his emotions, wanting to dull and numb the pain so he couldn't feel it.
"Yo, man, really, are you okay?" Jimmy said, approaching Spinner at his locker after last bell had rang.
Spinner nodded his head, trying to assure his friend he was okay. "Dude, I'm okay. Shocked but yeah. I don't need her."
"Oh that's right, you have the smokin' hot Manny anyway." Jimmy joked, nudging him with a laugh. Spinner just shook his head walking away from Jimmy. He wasn't in the mood for jokes, especially not concerning his lovelife. Not then.
As Spinner walked away, something sparked in his head. He realized it was what Paige wanted. She had always held the power in the relationship, dragging him around on a short leash that she had total control over. Suddenly things had become clear to him, and when Jimmy joked that he had no backbone, he was right. Her decision to break up with him was her way of gaining the power back. Paige knew Spinner well enough to know he could come crawling back on his hands and knees, and suddenly the stars would be aligned and all would be right in Paige's world.
"Well, not this time, honeybee." He snapped to himself out loud as he exited the building. "Not this time."