Title: Breathe Me

Pairing: Mostly Jay/Other, maybe some Emma/Manny if I get around to it, but probably not maybe.

Warnings: Probably eventually sex, but nothing yet.

Word Count: 1690

Rating: PGish for now

Spoilers: Stuff woth Craig (very sort of) and Jay & Emma stuff.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Author's Note: This doesn't take place in a specific time. In fact, the timeline makes no sense. Sean is around, but it's after he supposedly moved to Wasaga Beach, and all sorts of other weird timeline things. Try not to let it worry you, okay?

Breathe Me

Jay stalked through the halls looking like death warmed over. His head was pounding, his stomach turning, the lights and sounds of Degrassi amplified a billion times over. He slammed open the nearest door, looking for some peace and quiet before homeroom. That was the thing about staying out all night—there were very rarely clocks, and while he usually showed up late, there was the occasional time where he showed up an hour or two early. But instead of finding a nice, empty room, he burst in on a group of people sitting in a circle.

"Jay Hogart, what a surprise!" Darcy Edwards stoop up, skipping over to where he stood. "It's so great to see you here, at seven in the morning no less. Come on in and pull up a chair."

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What is this, fag club?"

Darcy's smile hardened. "Friendship Club. And judging from your bloodshot eyes and the fact that you don't seem quite sure where you are, let alone when, I'd say you could use some new friends." She put a hand on his arm and he jerked away.

"Yeah, I don't think so." He turned to leave, shoving her on his way out.

Darcy stared after Jay, then pushed him back. He stumbled, and turned around to face her. She smirked. "Just because the Lord is merciful to drunks doesn't mean I have to be."

Jay smiled, the one that made her take a step back. "Boy, you've picked the wrong person to mess with." He dropped his bag and advanced, fully prepared to take out his hangover on the closest person; in this case the Jesus-loving, drunk-hating girl standing in front of him.

"Jason! What do you think you're doing?"

He turned around to see Mr. Simpson standing in the doorway. "Nothing, sir," he said, picking up his bag and brushing past his teacher.

"I knew seeing you here this early was a bad sign. Why don't you go catch up on your homework? You owe me two spreadsheets, and…you're not listening to a word I'm saying, are you?" he trailed off.

Jay raised a hand as he turned the corner. He shook himself; beating up little Christian kids wasn't his style. He liked a good fight, not picking on kids half his size. He saw the door to the stairs and, suddenly inspired, headed that way. The basement was usually deserted, especially the boiler room. He had copped a few feels, had a few beers, smoked a few joints down there, and it seemed like a good place to grab a nap before class started.

He made his way through the maze of the basement with practiced ease, staying quiet in case the janitor was lurking around somewhere. He stopped outside the boiler room, hand on the door, listening for anyone. He frowned. Instead of the janitor scuffling around, or the heavy metal he was known for listening to, classical music drifted out the door. Piano, to be precise. Jay slid down the wall, closing his eyes as he went. It was actually kind of soothing, he thought, letting himself drift off.

Just what I need…

"Hey. You. Bell's about to ring."

Jay woke up with a start, instinctively grabbing his bag. He blinked, trying to remember if he was still at the party or not. A not-so-light kick to his ribs only confused him more.

"I'm leaving. Good lucking getting to homeroom on time."

Jay managed to focus and saw a girl walking away. He jumped to his feet and ran to catch up with her. She was short, with long hair dyed a light purple. She was wearing jeans, a miniskirt and a shirt with some band he had never heard of on it. She gave him a quizzical look as she started up the stairs.

"Can I help you?"

"I—what were you doing down there?" he asked, thrown off by her attitude. The boiler room had been his secret place, and this girl he had never seen before was acting like she owned the place. "Who are you?"

She glanced at him. "Ham. And I'm late."

She disappeared into a classroom, leaving Jay staring after her. She sat next to Manny, pointing at him and saying something that made them start giggling. He glared at them, and hurried off to class. If he was actually at school, he might as well be on time.

"Hey Sean, you got held back."

Sean shrugged out from under Jay's arm. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me."

"Dude, I need your help." Jay grabbed his arm and pulled him around the corner. "There's this new girl in your grade and—"

"So talk to her yourself. What's your problem?"

"She stole the boiler room."

Sean stared at Jay. "She stole the—what are you talking about?"

­Jay told him what had happened. "It's my—"

"You got here early this morning, and now you're freaking out about a girl? What's gotten into you?"

"Especially when you can just talk to her yourself."

Jay spun around. The new girl—did she really say her name was Ham?—was standing in front of him, flanked by Emma and Manny.

Emma glared at him. "Come on, let's just go."

New Girl smiled. "No, I wanna see how he gets himself out of this."

Sean elbowed him. "That makes two of us."

Jay glared at him, glanced at the wall, and then turned back to the girls. He gave them his best I'm—so—cool look and said, "Ladies."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I am so out of here." She left, flipping her hair as she went.

"Meet you in the café," Manny said before going after her.

"Jay Hogart, right? And Sean Cameron? According to Emma, I shouldn't be talking to either of you."

"That doesn't seem to be stopping you."

She smiled at Jay. "Never said it would. So, why are you concerned with my supposed stealing of your precious boiler room?"

"I—It's quiet down there," Jay said defensively.

"You don't strike me as the type of guy to like quiet.­"

Jay stared at her. "What did you say your name was?"

She smiled. "Ham. Most people don't forget it."

Jay smiled back. "Well, Ham, a bunch of us are hanging out at the ravine tonight for a not—so—quiet time. See you there?"

Ham smirked. "I don't think so." She turned to leave, calling over her shoulder, "I don't need any wire bracelets, thanks. I'm more of a diamonds girl."

Jay stared after her, barely hearing Sean's laughing, or the accompanying, "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

­

"What was that about?" Emma asked as Ham sat down next to her. "Why were you even talking to him?"

"I like to put guys in their place. And it seems that you're right; he desperately needs it."

"Oh, is that what you were doing? Because it sure looked like you were flirting with him."

"If that's what I was doing, I would've agreed to go to the ravine with him tonight," Ham said, taking a huge bite of her sandwich.

"He what?" Emma exclaimed.

"Em, relax. It's not like she said yes," Manny interrupted.

"Just be careful of him. Sean, too," she cautioned, picking at her food.

"So you've said. Jay didn't seem too thrilled when I mentioned wire bracelets…"

"Oh, you didn't!"

Manny laughed. "Come over tonight. Emma and I will tell you all the dirty little secrets of Degrassi's least wanted."

"Speaking of…" Emma trailed off as Toby came up to their table.

"Ladies…"

"Oh, and avoid Craig at all costs," Manny added. "Unless you want to—"

"Hang on, my phone…" Ham dived into her bag and pulled out her phone. I wanna spike your milk with wine…

Manny snorted. "Nice ring tone."

Ham snorted as answered, "Hello?"

"You're not at the ravine."

"Uh huh. Considering I said I wasn't coming, that's not all that surprising, now is it?"

"Who is it?" Emma asked.

Ham waved her aside. "Actually, how did you get this number?"

"A little of this, a little of that, a little stealing Toby's cell phone…"

"Cute. You're trying to impress me by bullying my friends. Not going to work, sorry."

"Normally I'd skip ahead and wait for you to come around, but I actually really hate being blown off."

"Shame."

"You say that, but you haven't hung up."

Ham smiled, leaning back. "You amuse me."

"Is that Jay?" Emma asked.

She made hushing motions as Jay said, "I'm not sure how much I like that."

Ham rolled over onto her stomach. "You're ridiculous. Does this actually work on anyone?"

"Actually, yes." He paused. "You're really annoying, you know that?"

"Me? I'm the one who's supposed to be annoying?" Ham laughed. "How do you figure?"

"You…get stuck in people's heads. And don't get out."

"People."

"People like me." Jay paused. "Look, do you want to go out some time?"

Ham sat up, all of the good humor gone from her voice. "I don't know you, and all I've heard is that you're a jerk who likes to talk girls half your age into having sex with you. If you have any interest in me beyond sex, you'll have to prove it to me." There was silence on the other end of the phone, and she smirked. "Oh, and just a tip—falling asleep while I play piano isn't exactly the way to go about doing it." She hung up, and turned to Manny. "So, what were you saying about Craig?"

Manny and Emma exchanged a look. "I'd say Jay is a little more interesting than Craig right now."

Ham groaned. "Not exactly. Like you said, Emma, he's just a jerk who wants to get into my pants. I couldn't care less."

"Your little lecture suggests otherwise," Manny teased.

"If she doesn't want to talk about him, she doesn't have to," Emma said. "Manny, do tell us about Craig. We must warn our new friend."

Manny rolled her eyes. "Right. Well, it started when he…"

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