A/N: Hola, I back!!! Sorry to everyone for the wait, but as i said, I was on vacation, so i had no way to upload. When I came home and saw all the reviews, though, it really motivated me… and by request from Phaze, I will stop “holding you hostage” for five reviews ^_^

Sadly, though, I am leaving for camp this saturday and won't be back for three weeks… maybe I'll think of something… or i might just hafta give you a major upload before I leave and make you wait. I sorry!!!!!!

Courage
chapter 3

“I still can't believe we just… SAT THERE!” Paige growled, banging her head on the wall of the elevator again as she, Andrew, and Alex rode it back down from Corey's room.

“Well, I guess we were all just… shocked. But I think we made up for it… at least a little…” Alex grinned mischeviously, making Paige laugh.

“Alex is right, Paige,” Andrew suddenly looked very startled. “I never thought I'd say that…” Alex shoved Andrew's shoulder, who quickly shoved him back, and as they continued, Paige rolled her eyes.

“Please, no killing eachother in the elevator!”she shouted just as the doors opened, and Paige pushed them out. Suddenly, her eyes widened in realization of her mistake, and she went running after them. “AND NOT IN THE LOBBY EITHER!”

~*~

Slowly, Corey opened his eyes, blinking several times. He looked around the room, taking in everything, not really aware of anything.

Shame. Anguish. Pain. Unbearable…

Corey's eyes snapped open and he sat straight up, his breathing becoming quicker.

‘They know… oh god, they know…' Corey thought in absolute horror, his stomach twisting itself into knots as he tried to remember what happened. ‘God, I CRIED in front of them… no…'

Closing his eyes, Corey fell back against the pillow, groaning. Only when reality began to take hold of his mind did he reopen his eyes in curiousity.

And for the first time in what seemed like forever, he laughed in complete solitude. Next to him on the nightstand was a small cereal box, a bowl, a carton of milk, a couple roses (‘Courtesy of Paige,' he thought with a grin), and a card. Letting out a strange noise that sounded like a cross between a gasp of astonishment and a laugh, he reached over and picked up the card.

“They were so worried…” Corey looked up to see his mom, having just gotten out of the shower and wrapped in a towel, smiling at him. “I walked in after… Paige said you cried yourself to sleep… so they managed to turn down the bed for you, and then set up everything.” Sandy smiled warmly, the look in her eyes distant and thoughtful. She was unaware of the grin on Corey's face that he could not get rid of.

“I thought it would freak them out… I figured they wouldn't be back,” Corey managed to say with an even tone, pouring the cereal and the milk into the bowl.

“You really are lucky to have freinds like that, Corey,” Sandy smiled as Corey shrugged, feigning the ‘Yeah, sure, maybe, whatever, I don't really care' look.

“Yeah… I think I'll keep them,” Corey grinned at his mom, and she returned it.

She had no idea how truly happy her son was.

~*~

“COREY!” Alex ambushed him the moment he stepped out of the elevator.

“GAH!” Corey ducked, and much to his amusement, Alex was unable to stop and tripped over a trash can, making them all laugh. “You know, I did not expect to be attacked when you told me to meet you in the lobby…-”

“You're alright, you're alright, you're alright, you're alright…” Paige completely ignored him, throwing her arms around his neck and dancing around, making Corey stumble along with her. When he finally broke free, he ducked behind Andrew, but quickly realized it was a bad idea.

“HE LIVES!” Andrew attemted to crush Corey in one of his rare bear hugs, but the scrawny teen managed to duck and jump away.

“Alright… who spiked his drink?” Corey asked, pointing to Andrew.

“He got three Mountain Dews,” Paige grinned, and Corey groaned. “Now come on… lets warm up. We got a tournament to play!” Corey mouthed a thank you, realizing Paige was giving him a chance to escape from the high-off-caffeine Andrew, and started to run down the hallway. “No problem, but for god sakes Corey, PULL UP YOUR SHORTS!” Corey pretended not to listen, and Paige rolled her eyes, turning to Alex. “I swear, he wears his shorts too low…”

~*~

‘Racquet right hand, tennis ball left hand. Hold together… down together, up together… oh, wait, shit!' Corey groaned, dropping his arms and quickly pulling up his shorts before repeating the process and following through with his serve. Then, as quickly as he could while the ball flew to the other side of the net, he pulled his shorts back down to where he normally had them and got in the ready position.

“I swear…” Paige groaned, turning dumbfoundedly to Alex, who only shrugged.

“Corey will be Corey,” Andrew shook his head, laughing. Then, while Alex and Paige focused all attention on the game, Andrew began bouncing around.

“Hey, you guys wanna go get food with me?”

“Andrew, Corey's playing!”

“Oh yeah…”

He sat fidgeting for about thirty more seconds before:

“Hey, you guys wanna go practice with me?”

“Dude, Andrew, Corey!”

“Oh yeah…”

Thirty more seconds.

“Hey, you guys wanna go-”

“ANDREW! WATCH THE FRIGGIN GAME!” Paige finally exploded, making Andrew immediately slouch down and try to appear as small as possible.

“That is the last time I EVER let you get a Mountain Dew…” Alex groaned, shaking his head. “You'd think he has A.D.D.…”

“HE WON!” Paige suddenly screamed, making both Alex and Andrew jump a good three feet in the air.

“What?!” Alex cried, looking around in bewilderment.

“HE WON HE WON HE WON!” Paige got to her feet and began jumping up and down.

“He won?” Andrew looked up quizically.

“HE WON!” Alex also sprang to his feet, and as Corey made his way off the court, they tackled him.

“Whoa, guys, get off me! That was just the first game!” Corey laughed, trying desperately to shove his friends off him as they lay in a heap on the ground. When he finally managed to wriggle free and jump to his feet, he bumped into someone, making him spin around as Paige, Alex, and Andrew stood up.

“Hi, Corey, right?” a man, seemingly in his late twenties, early thirties, stood grinning in front of him. There was something about him that could make anyone like him immediately, yet at the same time, respect him. He had short, black hair, black sunglasses, a large nose, and tennis attire.

“Yeah… yeah, I'm Corey,” the teen stuck his hand out, feeling awkward, as the man took it.

“Steve. That was a great game out there.”

“Oh, thanks…”

“Hey, I was wondering… are you doing anything this summer?” Corey was rather shocked by the question, and clearly, it showed on his face, because Steve started laughing. “No, no, that's not what I mean… you see, I'm trying to find instructors for a tennis camp. I wanted to see if you were interested.”

“Oh… oh, alright, sure,” Corey replied, laughing in relief. “I don't have any plans. What do I need to do?”

“I'll go over details in a minute. Do your friends wanna'?” Steve leaned to the side to get a clear view of Paige, Andrew, and Alex. All three nodded.

“Yeah, I'm not doing anything this summer.”

“No, neither me.”

“Nothin'.”

“I guess thats four yesses,” Steve grinned, pulling out a notebook and a pencil. “Now, do you know where the Raddison is…”

~*~

“So we didn't win… it was still awesome!” Paige was stil excited, despite the fact that the tournament was over.

“Yeah, and the Rasta tennis summer thing doesn't sound all bad,” Andrew said, grinning. He was finally off his caffeine-high.

“Pshaw, I still gotta make it through school!” Corey was not in such as good a mood.

“Well, if that prick Joey gives you trouble, just let us know,” Paige grinned, throwing an arm around Corey's shoulder.

“Oh please… I'll be calling you every night,” the blonde groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Well that wouldn't be all bad! You ONLY talk to us on weekends… we all talk for hours every night!” Paige replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yeah, and mom says thats why I'm not doing so well in school…” Alex muttered, scowling. “That woman is seriously mixed up… if it's below an A, it might as well be an F, ‘cause it sure is in her world…”

“Sucks to be you!” Andrew laughed, and Alex shoved his shoulder.

“So, anyway…” Paige said loudly so as to break up the soon-to-be-shoving-fest, turning to Corey, “here's my number. Call me sometime!” Corey was at a loss for words as she scribbled it down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“Uh… yeah… sure… umm…”

“COREY! COME ON!”

The teen could never have been more grateful for his mother, muttering the quickest good-bye he could and spinning around before his face became completely red.

“DON'T FORGET COREY!” Paige called after him, making him turn even redder, but he burst out laughing when he heard Paige trying to once again break up another of Alex and Andrew's shove-fests.

~*~

“Hey Corey! Where were you yesterday?”

Corey felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and his eyes widen. Slowly, he turned around, and found that it was exactly as he thought.

“Clarrisa?” he asked, completely shocked, and she smiled her oh-so-perfect smile. Clarrisa had shiny, brown hair, that fell to her chest, framing her sparkling, green eyes and clear complextion. She wore high-heeled sandals, a short, black skirt, and a green halter top, showing every curve of her slender body.

“That's me,” she giggled, shifting her weight and holding her books to her chest. “I missed ya' yesterday! Where were you?”

“You actually noticed I was gone?” Corey asked, truly surprised, nearly dropping his jaw.

“Of course I did!” There was something not right about the way she was smiling at the blonde. Finally, he shook his head and turned around.

“Who put you up to it?” he growled, unlocking his locker. “Wait, don't tell me… Joey, right?”

“You got it!” she laughed, and as he turned around, he saw a sneer had replaced the warm smile on her face. “That truly was priceless!”

“Corey, you shit!” The blonde fell into his locker as Joey shoved him, but Corey caught himself before standing back up. He watched as “perfect” Joey snaked a muscled arm around “perfect” Clarrisa's waist, smirking. When he saw that they weren't leaving, he began to wonder how long they were going to stare at him.

“What the hell do you want Joey?” Corey started to turn away, once again attempting to retrieve his books from his locker, but Joey seemed to have different plans. He grabbed Corey by the front of his shirt and spun him around before slamming his back into the locker. Corey almost laughed, because he knew Joey meant for it to hurt. After what his father put him through, though, it was almost nothing.

“No one talks to me that way, you hear?!” Joey's face was right in Corey's, snarling.

“Oh get off me!” Corey growled, which was clearly not what the jock expected… and as if that wasn't enough, Corey shoved Joey away by his shoulders and for the first time in his life, smirked at his rival.

“Why you little…-”

“WHAT?! Joey, what the hell is it you want from me?! JUST FUCK OFF!” That made Joey mad, and before Corey could react, Joey's fist struck his face. It didn't even knock Corey to the floor, and he soon picked his head back up to stare Joey dead-on.

“What the…” Joey's face went from anger to pure shock when Corey smiled at him.

“What, you think that hurts?! Ha, right!” Corey smirked, feeling a strange courage building inside. Once again, Joey's face became a picture of rage, and he wound up to punch the blonde. Corey found it easy to duck Joey's punch, and when he stood up, he realized a large crowd had gathered around them. Joey had also seemed to notice, and immediately decided he had to do something to make it seem like he'd won the fight. A sudden smirk replaced the look of shock and he turned to face all his followers.

“Hey, everyone, check it out… tennis boy is trying to stand up to me!” Everyone burst into laughter, making Corey growl.

“Tennis boy, thats right. In fact, Clarrisa…” he turned his attention to her, and she raised an eyebrow, “You said you wanted to know where I was yesterday. A tournament. And I had a damn good time without all of you!”

“What, you had a good time with a bunch of faggots in short shorts and high collars? Oh, I forgot, you love that kind of stuff!” Joey sneered, and Corey narrowed his eyes, his lips forming a snarl.

“Andrew and Alex? Faggots? You've got shit for brains if you think that! And Paige? That girl can get any guy she wants! You're calling them faggots?!” Corey spat, stepping forward with a look of such fury that Joey contemplated backing up. He looked back and forth, wondering what he could do, and finally, he settled to using his last resort.

He wound up for another punch.

“JOEY GADGER!” a voice rang through the hall, making the crowd part instantly. The school head-mistress forced her way through, muttering to herself all the while. Joey tried to drop his fist, but nothing got past their principal. “Follow me to the office immediately! NOW!”

Joey, stunned, soon hung his head and began to follow. Just before he dissapeared around the corner, though, he shot Corey a look that might as well have been a bomb threat.

Corey didn't care, though. When Roy shoved him into the locker as everyone began to head to classes, he didn't even turn around.

“Corey, you're so screwed!” people passing by would laugh, but he refused to acknowledge them. He knew he'd won the fight, and they knew it too… and Corey was also aware that they would probably just hate him even more now. Yet still, he didn't care.

~*~

Corey stared at Paige's phone number as he walked home, wondering whether or not he should really call her. She was probably just telling him to call just to make him feel better…

But then again, she would probably want to know what had happened that day…

And engine revving snapped Corey back to reality. Turning around, his heart sank to see Joey's car speeding down the street. A quick glance told him that Roy, Clarrisa, and two other of his goons were with him. Corey turned back around and began to walk as quickly as he could. His house was in sight, not a block away, and for once, he was hurrying to reach it.

“HEY DIP-SHIT!” Corey turned just in time to dodge something Roy had thrown at him. An egg splattered onto the pavement. “EAT THIS!” Another one flew at his face, and though Corey tried to duck, it managed to smash all over his back. Hysterical laughter sounded, followed by a bombardment of more eggs.

Hot tears were in his eyes, but Corey refused to show it. Instead, he began walking again, ignoring the eggs that followed. He refused to answer them when they shouted his name, refused to let them see how deep they scarred him.

After they finally sped off, Corey walked his same pace back to his house, knowing that he had to call Paige. His decision became even stronger when he was greeted by his father, once again wasted, and his mother on the floor, crying.

~*~

When Corey said good-bye to Paige that night, it was in person. Tears stained both their cheeks as she tried to keep her eyes off his bruises, and they parted with a hug in Paige's car in front of Corey's house.

“I'm so sorry Corey,” she sobbed, burrying her face in his shoulder. “I just wish we could be there for you…”

“You've done enough, Paige,” Corey replied softly, letting more tears run down his face as he said it. “It's almost over. I'll be alright, I promise.”

And as Corey drifted to sleep that night, he repeated his own words to himself.

‘It's almost over. I'll be alright…'

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A/N: GAH! Corey was very evil and decided to give me trouble this chapter… no matter what i wrote, it just didn't seem Corey-ish…

Also, I have a picture of the four online: (fiction press is being evil, so I hafta space it or it won't work)

w w w . angelfire . com / realm2 / fanfiction_aya / four . jpg

From left to right, it's Alex, Andrew, Paige, and Corey. Yes, they look weird, because when Steve took the picture, we were all looking right at the sun, so it was a “I'm going to count to three and you're all going to open your eyes!” kinda thing. I think Andrew forgot to open his eyes, though (probably fell asleep ^_^) Also, Andrew looks really wierd, and I think it's because Alex stepped on his foot for something… and for some reason, Alex looks like he has a moustache. He doesn't. M'kay, I'm done rambling.

Also, if anyone likes drawing, fanart of them would be greatly appreciated, becuz this picture sucks… v_v

Please review!!!! ^_^