'Come to the library at dusk. We need to talk.'

Jono re-read the message, not knowing what else to do. With a mental sigh, he thumped his head against the door to his room and closed his eyes. When had everything gotten so complicated?

*Three days ago this would've been so much easier. Paige askes yer out, yer say yes, everybody lives 'appily ever after.*

He usually scoffed at the idea of Fate or destiny, but sometimes coincidences were just too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. Or something. He was over Gayle, he knew that much, but the arrival of her letter got him thinking. What if he had only been attraced to Paige because she was the first person to show any interest in him after the accident? The fact that she was beautiful, intelligent, and caring might have confused the situation. What might have only been a friendship got mixed up with some other emotions which soon produced a crush of horrifying proportions. Before when he thought of her, he got all the typical signs of a crush. Now all he got was a wash of unidentafiable emotions. He might just be hurting from Gayle, or he might be realizing that his feelings for Paige didn't run as deep as he once thought.

And Angelo hadn't been as big of a help as he hoped. From some of his reactions, Jono judged his friend to be in the same boat he had been in a few days ago. Poor kid.

So the easy way out hadn't worked and he had to make up his mind. Considering he honestly didn't know how he felt about her, this wasn't going to be as easy as one would think, and he only had a few hours to make a decision.
~~~~~~~

She'd been sitting for forty five minutes already. She should've put a specific time for him to meet her, not 'dusk.' When would she learn? It seemed like everything she did lately was just stupid. Well, there was no way of changing any of it now, so she might as well just wait. If he didn't show up, well then, she had her answer. If not, then it would only be a matter of time until he did. And it wasn't like she didn't have plenty of reading material.

An hour and three unread books later, she was still waiting. Every book she tried to read just went out her ear. She couldn't concentrate on anything except her impending situation and her sore bottom. She was just standing up to leave when the door to the library opened and a tall, brown-haired young man walked in, looking rather out of place among the Jane Austen novels.

She froze. She just watched as he came towards her, the clicking of his black leather boots on the tile floor coinciding with the pounding of the blood in her ears. Maybe it was the reddish light of the setting sun, but she caught a faint air of James Dean about him. Not in the way he dressed, he always looked like that, but in his eyes. That tough guy with the air of sadness that made her want to cuddle him and shoo his demons away.

All too soon he was at her table.

~Yer wanted ter see me, gel?~

"Yeah." Not knowing what to say, she said nothing, still standing awkwardly at the book-strewn table.

~Listen--~

"No, wait, Jono." she interrupted. "Before you say anything, can I ask you something?"

~...Sure.~

Now suddenly unsure of herself, Paige lowered her eyes to the table as her fingers absently traced the cover of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' that she had been trying to read before.

"Do you have any interest in me?"

That was the question he had been dreading. He had spent a long time pondering that question, not really making any definite headway. Until this moment, he had had no idea of how to answer that query. To tell her yes and not be sure could end up hurting them both later on. To tell her no withou being sure, he could end up throwing something away that could have been so right. But seeing her there, the setting sun painting her hair reddish-gold, looking far all the world like she belonged in the book under her hands, he knew his answer. He didn't know if it was the right one, he just knew he couldn't answer any other way.

~Not...in ther way yer 'oping...I think.~

She nodded, not looking up at him. She wasn't crying, but he could still see she was upset.

"I think I pretty much knew," she said, overdoing the 'yankee' accent, making it sound as false as it was. "I just...didn't want to admit it to myself, I guess."

~I'm sorry, luv.~ It was stupid and cliched, but it was all he could think of to say.

"Don't be." Her head turned to face his, her eyes clear and a sad smile tugging a the egdes of her mouth. "You can't change the way you feel, so there's nothing to feel bad about. It's no one's fault, it's just the way it turned out." She took a deep breath and let it out. He then realized she was closer to crying than he had thought at first.

"I feel good!" she said with a laugh that was only half sincere. "I feel better than I have in a long time." She ran a hand through her hair, trying to hide it's shaking.

~Yer sure?~ He asked, not out of need for his ego, but of genuine concern for her. Rejection was never easy, especially when you weren't used to it.

"Yeah." She gave him a grin that couldn't quite hide the sadness around her eyes. "I'm fine."

She was going to cry, she needed to cry, and he knew neither of them wanted him to be around when she did.

"Well, I'm sure I have some studying to do, so I'd better..." She motioned toward the door.

~There's a book I've been meaning ter check out 'ere fer a while. I--uh...~ He trailed off, nothing left to say. As she walked by he stood still, feeling worse than he thought he would. And he wondered if he had done the right thing. If they were supposed to be just friends or if he'd just blown his only shot at something that
would have worked. But he had had doubts. One thing Gayle used to tell him was if there was any doubt at all, don't do it. You could forget about the nagging little sensation at the back of your neck for a while, but not forever, and it would always come back. He hadn't agreed with that philosophy, he still didn't, but sometimes, if the doubt was big enough, it held true.

As soon as she had passed him, he turned to look at her, guilt making him watch until she had left and the door had completely closed. Long blue shadows lengthened slowly down the floor as the last of the sun's rays slid beneath the horizon.

_________

The door closed behind her with a resounding thud. Her legs weak, she leaned up against the heavy wood. She took a couple deep breaths, trying to keep herself under control, and then took a few curious sniffs.

A small smile touched her face. She'd have to lecture Angelo about eavesdropping, or at least smoking while trying to do it. But it could wait for a while. Right now she just needed to be alone with her thoughts and try to mend as much as she could. And a pint of Ben and Jerry couldn't hurt either, she thought as she headed to the kitchen for a brief pit stop.

The unnoticed crimson shadow over her head hid from view in the branches of a leafy oak tree. From this vanage point, she had seen everything. She may or may not have understood the words, but it didn't matter. These people's actions spoke clearer than any language. And in the cool evening of a Massachusetts summer, Penance smiled at the ongoing saga of youth, and marvelled at it all.