Shattered Reality

Betrayal

Paige sat at her table at the Dot impatiently waiting for Ashley and Hazel. She had just gotten life changing news from her parents who had been hiding this secret all this time. Paige didn't want to talk to her parents about it but she felt like she had to talk to someone. Paige was snapped out of her thoughts as Spinner brought her order to her.
"Hey, you okay? You look upset." He asked, concerned, he had never seen her like this before.
"Just had a rough day at home." Paige sighed, it wasn't a lie exactly even if not the whole story.
Finally Ashley and Hazel showed up, sitting down at the table also.
"Hey, is everything okay? You sounded upset over the phone." Ashley asked.
Hazel sat next to Paige looking concerned as this was not like her.
Paige was still feeling emotional from the recent revelation, she took a moment trying to compose herself. "So today I was at home going through family photos for the family tree project for Perino's class. I found this." She said as she showed the picture to both of them.
"It's not me...it's Heather Sinclair, my parents just revealed that I suffer from Dissociation identity disorder...I'm... I'm Heather." Paige said as tears began gathering in her eyes. Paige expected them to be as surprised and shocked as she was. Instead they looked at each other with looks of concern and a little bit of guilt, it slowly dawned on her.
"You both knew...didn't you?" Paige said slowly, feeling her emotions rise again. Hazel let out a sigh.
"Paige...this doesn't change-" Hazel tried to say.
"Don't BS me! Did you know?!?" Paige semi shouted. Paige didn't realize her voice had gotten louder, she was convinced she knew the answer but wanted them to tell her the truth.
"Yes Paige...your parents told us but they told us it'd be better if we didn't say anything." Ashley explained.
"They said they were afraid of how you'd take it." Hazel added.
"Explain to me how finding out this way is better? I just found out I'm 2 different people and now I'm finding out my two best friends who I should be able to trust have been keeping this from me." Paige said, trying to control her temper.
Both the girls remained silent and looked abashed. "Who else knows?" Paige asked.
"Us...Spinner...Marco...Terri...Jimmy... maybe Craig" Ashley listed off the names. Each one caused Paige more distress that so many people knew and kept it from her. Paige couldn't take it anymore.
"I gotta go." She said as she stood up from the table. As she stormed out Spinner saw that she was upset.
"Paige, seriously are you okay?" He asked again as she headed for the door.
"Don't talk to me!" She snapped before leaving, leaving him dumbfounded. Ashley and Hazel looked down sad and Spinner realized what happened instantly.
As she arrived home, she walked through the front hall. Her parents were still in the living room from earlier, as she passed by their eyes locked, her expression changed from one of anger at Ashley and Hazel to one of hurt and betrayal. Paige kept walking, not wanting to talk to them yet, she headed upstairs to her room, she slammed the door behind her.
Paige thought back to all the times she had forgotten something over the years, had she really forgotten them or was it a matter of Heather being the one in control. She wondered about the other kids at Degrassi and how many of them knew about her double life. If they did know, would they hate her like most of the school hated Heather? There was a knock at her door as her sister poked her head in.
"Hey...can I come in?" She asked. Paige didn't answer but didn't chase her away either. "I really did want to tell you since I found out." Holly J told Paige.
"If they had just told me yeah I'd been shocked and upset but hiding it then dropping it on me like this and expecting me to trust them...it really hurts, do you have any idea what it's like having people you thought you can trust keep a secret from you?"Paige explained.
Holly J didn't know what to say so instead she just sat down on the bed next to Paige hugging her. "...and it really bothers me at home you're this really supportive sister but at school you seem to take pride in being Lakehurst's version of Heather Sinclair." Paige stated.
"Lakehurst is a lot different from Degrassi, it's a survival mechanism if you want to get by there." Holly J said before continuing.
"Still if people saw this version of you you'd have a lot more friends." Paige explained.
"I got Anya as a friend."
She's sweet but if more people met this version you wouldn't be seen as some devil spawn." Paige started to say.
"Maybe I'm not sure what version is the real Holly J." Holly J said, surprisingly timid and quiet.
"Trust me after today I know how that feels." Paige said, annoyed remembering her own issues. "I feel paranoid, it's like there are things I feel like i should remember but don't, is it just a matter of I forgot them or were these moments that Heather was in control? Ashley had a party a few weeks ago, all I remember was getting there and then getting home later." Paige said, recalling that incident with dread now
"Ya know stress can trigger this kind of stuff..." Holly J informed her. "and you have had a pretty stressful year so far. Between the guy with the gun and everything with...ya know how your court date went."
"So the more stressed I get, the more she's going to show up and the more she shows up the more stressed I get?" Paige asked, feeling horrified
"I know it doesn't seem like it but the reason your brain created her is to protect you from something, we just got to figure out what." Holly J said trying to be encouraging
"How do you know so much about this?" Paige asked, not sure she wanted to know.
"When they told me about your condition but told me not to tell you I started researching it." Holly J said.
"Then maybe you can explain this to me because I'm really scared." Paige said, her voice trembling.
Holly J moved closer to Paige who rested her head on her shoulder as she began to softly cry.
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Authors note: so when I write the first chapter it was as a joke and I used an AI. This chapter and the rest I will be writing just me. Always enjoy hearing feedback.