Authors Note- Ok, first, DO NOT READ this is you haven't read CRASHING DOWN. It is the sequel, therefore, you must read story before it. So before you read this, read CRASHING DOWN ( and review it)! This story is going to be about Manny, Craig, Roxie, Spinner, Paige, Ashley, Emma, Sean, Ellie, and Jay. It is set one month after the ending of Crashing Down, and Manny is back from rehab…but is she any better? Craig and Ashley are dating, but they're going to encounter some problems…Emma and Sean have been dating for awhile, but Sean's troublesome friends will come between them, and another girl….Roxie is back in town, but what is her real reason for returning? Read and Review! Thanks
Nearby, a car door slammed loudly, shattering the peaceful silence of the dark evening. Roxie turned onto her side on her bed and stared out the closed window, watching as the clouds cleared away, revealing a bright, full moon. She wrapped her arms around her pillow and sighed loudly, wondering if she was ever going to be able to fall asleep.
A minute later, Roxie heard loud footsteps coming down the hallway, and her bedroom door opened slowly. A sliver of light penetrated the dark room, and a dark figure was silhouetted in the doorway. Roxie immediately felt her entire body tense up, and she didn't have to turn around to know that Dan, her Aunt's sleazy boyfriend, was standing a few feet away. She squeezed her pillow tighter, and closed her eyes. From her bed, she could practically smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Go away," she said, her voice sounding vulnerable and small, even to her own ears. "Please…"
She heard a low, drunken laugh. "You don't mean that. I cam home tonight just for you, baby." Dan slurred as he took a few unsteady steps to her bed, and Roxie took a deep, shaky breath. She kept her back turned to him and continued to stare at the moon.
"Please…you said no more," she said, clutching her pillow even tighter. There was another harsh, drunken laugh. Roxie squeezed her eyes shut, and a solitary tear slid down her cheek as Dan laid a hand on her shoulder….
Manny rummaged furiously through her closet, the bright, glistening moon shining into her window. She could barely see in the dark, but she didn't dare turn on a light, in risk of waking her parents, who she knew were sleeping peacefully down the hallway. Manny stopped and threw up her hands in frustration.
It was her first night home from rehab, and already Manny was considering hiking to the nearest bridge and taking a flying leap. She couldn't help smirking slightly when she remembered the conversation she had had with parents in the car after they had picked her up from the center that afternoon. Her mother had babbled on about "trusting her" and how they were allowing her to come home and expected her to "behave." Whatever the hell that meant. Manny had had to refrain from gagging.
What had they expected her to do- thank them for letting her leave the Hell-Hole that they had forced her into a month before? It was like they expected her to be appreciative or something. If anything, Manny's month of horror in rehab had only made her bitterer and more fucked up than she was before. Way to go, parents, she thought sarcastically as she resumed rooting through her messy closet. For the past month, Manny had been insisting to anyone who would listen that she didn't have a drug problem, but no one listened to her! Well, she was going to show them.
A minute later, Manny triumphantly held up a shiny, black boot that she had bought two years ago. She had somehow managed to lose the other boot when she had gone on a school camp trip in sixth grade (she still thought J.T had taken it when she was sleeping in her tent), but Manny had found other purposes for the shoe. She reached into the boot and pulled out a small, but substantial, bag of weed. She grinned. Excellent, she thought.
Ten minute later, after pulling on a purple fleece jacket, Manny slowly pulled open her window. Glancing over her shoulder wearily at her closed door, she slowly hoisted herself over the windowsill. Manny shimmered herself down the brick exterior of the house, and finally landed gently on the grass. She dusted her hands off and smiled in satisfaction. Well, that was surprisingly easy.
She turned and quietly ran across her front lawn, taking the bag out of her pocket as she went. There was a neighborhood park about three minutes away. She decided she would crawl into one of the large tires that kids climbed on, but then she realized she couldn't do that- she had always suspected that stupid little kids peed in those tires. Manny wrinkled her nose and shivered as she neared the park. It really didn't matter where she got high- all that mattered was that she got high. Manny smiled happily as she pushed through the fence that surrounded the small park. This is going to be the best night in a long time….
The sun was just setting as Roxie stuffed the last of her clothes into the large suitcase that was sitting on her bed. She glanced out at the evening sky as she continued to pack the rest of her things. She carelessly tossed in a few t-shirts, and then attempted to zip up the over-stuffed bag. She groaned in frustration as she tugged on the zipper, and after what seemed like forever, it finally zipped. Roxie took one more glance around the spacious room that she had been living in for the last month, making sure she had taken everything that she needed. When she was satisfied, she picked up the heavy suitcase and dragged it out of her room to the staircase.
She walked through the living room into the kitchen, and dropped her suitcase on the floor. She walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a notebook and pen.
Aunt Tammy,
Thanks for letting me live with you for awhile, but it just wasn't working out for me. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll call you.
Roxie.
There. Short, simple, and to the point. She thought for a minute.
P.S I took the last banana.
She laid the note on the counter where she was sure her Aunt would find it, grabbed that banana, and picked up her suitcase. Aunt Tammy had been great to her, but she just couldn't stay. She had made a decision. She lugged her bag to the back door and headed out.
Twenty minutes later, Roxie was standing at the ticket counter at the local bus station. A girl who looked only a few years older than Roxie was sitting behind the counter, holding a nail file and looking extremely bored. Roxie cleared her throat loudly, and the girl finally looked up. "May I help you?" she asked, in a lazy mono-tone. Roxie nodded.
"Yes," Roxie said, nodding, as she pulled out her money. She asked the girl for one ticket, and the girl nodded and turned to the computer. She fiddled with the computer, and that took about twenty minutes alone. Roxie fidgeted anxiously, wishing the girl would stop being a complete moron and just give her the ticket. Finally, the girl nodded again and glanced back to Roxie.
"Are you sure about your destination?" the girl asked. Roxie sighed.
"Yes." So give me the goddamn ticket that's in your chubby little hand! She thought angrily.
"I have to ask that. Aren't you a little young to be traveling alone?" the girl asked, handing her the ticket.
"Aren't you a little incompetent for this job?" Roxie snapped as she snatched the ticket out of the girl's hand. Roxie then handed the girl her money, and the girl made a face. Roxie rolled her eyes and turned and walked away. A few minutes later, Roxie was sitting in the back of the large bus, staring out the window. Roxie hardly noticed as the engine roared to life, and they pulled away from the station….
Emma walked out of the counselor's office that same afternoon, and she glanced around the hallway. She spotted Sean leaning against the wall a few feet away. She smiled softly and walked over.
"Hey," she said, reaching over and giving him a quick hug.
"Hey. How did the session go?" Sean asked, as the two began walking down the hall to Emma's locker. Emma shrugged thoughtfully.
"It's going ok. The sessions have been helping a lot," Emma said slowly, inwardly wincing as she thought about the reason she was in counseling- her rape at the party a little over a month ago. She swallowed hard and tried desperately to push the memory aside. She was definitely moving on- and she was moving on with Sean. She glanced over at him, glad that the two were officially "together."
"So…how was your day?" Emma asked, deciding to change the subject. Sean shrugged and sighed.
"Well, I got detention for two weeks. You know that big painted portrait of Principal Raditch outside his office? Well, Jay thought it would be funny if he drew earrings, lipstick, and nose hair on it with a marker," Sean said as they neared Emma's locker. "Of course, Raditch blamed me."
Emma sighed angrily as she pulled open her locker. "Why do you hang with him? He's clearly bad news."
Sean shrugged. "I don't know…he's cool."
"Cool? What cool about him- he goes around and makes fun of people, and gets in trouble? Sounds awesome to me," Emma said sarcastically. "I just know he's not going to be able to make our ten-year reunion because he'll be sitting in jail."
Sean frowned harder and narrowed his eyes. "Emma, I don't jump all over your friends. Speaking of jail, isn't one of your friends sitting in a rehabilitation center right now?"
Emma closed her locker and turned to her boyfriend. "That was low, Sean."
Sean was quiet for a minute, and then he nodded. "Look…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that about Manny. I just…get defensive, you know?"
Emma nodded in understanding. "I know. I'm sorry, too. Look, let's not let our friends get in the way of us, ok?" She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Sean smiled and nodded.
"Deal."
"Spinner, you are a complete pig!" Paige squealed, setting down her hamburger as she watched her boyfriend in amazement. "Ok. Have officially lost my appetite."
Ashley, Craig, Paige, and Spinner were sitting outside the school during lunch the next day. Spinner was hording a juicy hamburger into his mouth, and he had somehow managed to get a large streak of ketchup on his cheek. Paige shook her head in amazement as she pulled out a napkin. She then reached over; grabbed Spinner's face before he could take another massive bite, and wiped the ketchup off.
Craig and Ashley watched in amusement. "I think we should start a petition to the school about investing in a troth for Spinner," Craig joked. He watched Paige as he slung his arm around Ashley's shoulders. "Paige, I forgot- are you Spinner's mother or girlfriend?"
Paige rolled her eyes as she tossed aside the napkin. "Please, Craig. Someone has to look out for Spin here. Or else he'd probably weigh three hundred pounds and walk around with condiments smeared all over his face."
Ashley cringed as she opened her bottled water. "I guess we should all thank you, then."
Craig smiled and leaned back on the stone step he was sitting on, and glanced over at his girlfriend, who was trying to look interested as Paige began chattering away about the Spirit Squad. Ashley and Craig had been dating for almost a month, and things couldn't have been going better, in his opinion. The two had completely reconnected, and on an even deeper level than before. Craig felt like he could tell Ash anything, which he took as a good sign. Craig took a long sip from his can of soda. Things had been pretty rocky between the two (cough, Manny, cough), but now thing were back on the right track.
Suddenly, Craig found his thoughts wandering to Manny…and inevitably to Roxie. Craig hadn't seen or heard from either of them in a month. He wondered how things were going with both of them…and if they ever wondered about him. Craig shook his head, trying to clear away any thoughts of Manny or Roxie. Just as he told himself to start focusing more on Ash, he spotted someone walking toward him from the parking lot. It was….Carter Monroe.
Craig gulped and felt his stomach drop as he realized that Carter was heading straight for him. Craig was pretty sure that anything Carter had to say to him was not good.
"Well, if it isn't Craig Manning," Carter said when he approached, a bitter smirk on his handsome face. "We haven't talked in awhile….have you managed to steal anyone else's girlfriends lately?"
Craig glanced anxiously at his friends, who had grown completely silent and were watching the confrontation wearily. Craig sifted anxiously in his seat. "Look, Carter…could we not do this? I'm just trying to eat lunch with my girlfriend, and I'd really appreciate-"he began, before Carter cut him off.
"Your girlfriend?" he said, glancing at Ashley. "It's Ashley right? Well, Ashley, you should keep an eye on your boyfriend. He likes to go after other people's girlfriend, or maybe you knew that already?"
Craig stood up quickly, and he felt something inside him snap. "Man, she was my girlfriend first!"
Ashley stared up at Craig in horror. "Craig!" she exclaimed in surprise, but both Carter and Craig ignored her.
"So, are you happy, Craig?" Carter said angrily. "You're sitting outside, enjoying a nice meal, all la-la-la, while Manny is sitting in some rehabilitation center! Don't you feel bad about what you did?"
"Wait-you're blaming this on me?" Craig cried. "If you hadn't cheated on her, she would have never come to me in the first place! If this is anyone's fault, it's yours!"
Before he knew what was happening, Craig felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and he realized that Carter had punched him. He staggered back slightly, but recovered quickly, and delivered a blow to Carter's jaw. Carter then grabbed Craig by the shirt and threw him down, and soon the two boys were fighting it out on the ground and a small crowd had gathered around. Finally, Spinner stepped through the kids and grabbed Craig and pulled him away, and one of Carter's friends did the same to Carter.
"Calm down, man!" Spinner said, putting a restraining hand on Craig, who was still glaring at Carter, who had a bloody lip. Finally, Carter shook his head and walked off angrily. After the other kids had cleared away, Craig gently touched the bruise that was forming on his cheek, and turned to Spinner, frowning.
"Man, you should have let me have him!" Craig exclaimed. Just then, Ashley picked up her lunch. She brushed past Craig, giving him a cold, hard stare, and then hurried off.
"Nice going, Craig," Paige said sarcastically. Craig ran a hand over his face and groaned.
He heard Paige sigh from behind him, and she walked up and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Um…F.Y.I…this is usually the part where you go chasing after her," she said, nodding toward Ashley's retreating back. Craig nodded quickly, and then hurried after his girlfriend…
Roxie shivered slightly as she hurried up the walkway to the familiar, split-level house, and wrapped her arms around herself. I hate the cold, she thought bitterly. Roxie glanced up at the house with the blue shutters and the matching front door. It was big, but not that big. Roxie stepped onto the front porch, and took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to just knock.
Do it, she thought. But she seemed frozen in place. A part of her mind screamed at her to turn around and just run away, but another part was telling her that she had come all this way…she couldn't back down. Ok, you're freezing your butt off, standing on the doorstep….damn it…just knock! She had come back for a reason, a reason that no one else could possibly understand.
Before she could stop herself, she knocked loudly on the door. A minute later, she could hear footsteps approaching the door. The blue door flung open, and before she could react, two arms were engulfing her in a big hug.
"Honey!" her mother said into her hair. "You've come back."
Roxie simply nodded and let her mother hug her….
"Ashley! Ashley, wait!" Craig called, following Ashley around the school. He finally caught up with her in the small alley behind the building. He grabbed her arm to stop her, but she wrenched her arm away from his grasp.
"Craig, you just got in a fight over Manny Santos!" Ashley cried, staring at him with wide eyes.
"I know! I know. It was stupid, Ash," Craig said desperately, raking a hand through his hair. He glanced up at the sky and sighed. "I just…"
"You just what?" Ashley asked softly. "You're just is love with Manny?"
"No!" Craig said quickly. "It's not that. You heard him, Ashley. He was blaming me for what happened to Manny. I just snapped, because…maybe…" he trailed off, swallowing hard and glancing at the ground. "I do blame myself." He glanced up at his girlfriend. "But I love you, Ashley. It's you I want." He reached out and took her hand.
Ashley stared at him for a long minute, and finally she nodded. "I love you, too." She reached up and wrapped her arms around Craig's neck, and she laid her head on his shoulder. Craig smiled softly.
"Ok," Mr. Raditch said. "Well, isn't this a lovely bunch," he said sarcastically. "Now, because you have insisted on continually making trouble, I've come up with a special project for you. We are having a special alumni gathering in a few weeks, and it's going to be an excellent time to promote our wonderful school. I want you four to work on something for the special presentation we are going to be having. I was thinking…a little speech…a video documentary..."
The four kids gathered in the small classroom stared blankly at him. He sighed. "I want this to promote and make our school look like a good environment to learn in. Now, you may spend the next hour brainstorming. Have fun." He smiled at the group and walked out of the room.
"Man, this sucks," Sean muttered, slouching down in his seat.
"Continually making trouble?" Marco said, looking confused. "Ellie, we skipped class once."
"Yeah, so you could go buy that jacket before anyone else did," Ellie said, rolling her eyes. "Just so you know, I blame this entirely on you."
"Hey, this doesn't sound so bad. This project could be kind of cool," Marco said, glancing around the room. Jay snorted from next to Sean.
"Ok, Marco. Then why don't you just take care of the whole thing?" he suggested, smirking at Sean.
"Ignore him," Ellie said quietly. "He's just mad because he's a huge loser," she said louder, so Jay could here. He rolled his eyes again and looked at Sean.
"Oh, that was a nice one," he said sarcastically. "I'm not doing this lame-ass project shit, ok?"
Twenty minutes later, Mr. Raditch walked back in. Sean was listening to his C.D player with his head in his hands, and Jay was throwing a ball against the wall. Ellie was working on a piece for Caitlin's show, and Marco was drumming the table with two pencils. Mr. Raditch sighed and shook his head.
"Maybe this was a mistake," he muttered to himself. He walked to the center of the classroom and cleared his throat. "Alright. I can see that you're obviously not making much process with this. Alright. Sean and Ellie, you two can work on the video documentary. Marco and Jay, you can work on the speech for the alum, and the signs. Now, I'm going to sit here, so split up, and get to work."
After a minute of grumbling, Marco went and sat next to Jay, and Sean plopped into the seat next to Ellie. Ellie tried not to roll her eyes as she pulled out her notebook. Sean may be a complete slacker, but Ellie was so not going to let him spoil this. She was excited about making the mini-documentary.
"Ok…so…I'm thinking we could just go around and film a regular day at Degrassi. Or maybe just do a montage of kids and events at Degrassi?" she suggested, scribbling her idea down. Sean shrugged, and glanced at Raditch.
"Whatever," he muttered, and then he slipped on his headphones. Ellie's mouth dropped open. Ok, rude, she thought. She wasn't going to take his attitude. She reached over and yanked his headphones off. He frowned.
"Hey!" he said, sounding angry. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"Look, I'm not going to just let you slack off on this. We're a team. Have you heard of that? It's when people work together," she said. "So do you have any ideas? Any good ideas?" She tapped her pencil against her notebook. Sean rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"I was thinking we could just film a regular day at Degrassi. Or maybe just have a montage of kids and events at Degrassi," he said, basically repeating what she just said. Ellie sighed in exasperation.
"You know what, forget it. I'll just do this all by myself, alright?" she said coldly. She sighed, and there was a long minute of silence. Ellie stared down at her list of ideas, and Sean noticed that she was absent-mindedly snapping a rubber band against her wrist. Sean frowned, but decided not to say anything. He sighed, feeling a little bad.
"No. Look, Ill help out. I think your idea sounds good," Sean said. Ellie glanced at him, and he thought he saw her smile. She stopped snapping the rubber band and picked up her pencil.
"Good. Let's get started."
Manny adjusted the blue polo shirt she was wearing, and flipped her long, black hair over one shoulder. The polo shirt was a little conservative for her, but she hadn't wanted to come on too strong- after all, she and Craig were supposed to just "friends." She smiled happily as she glanced up at Craig's house. No one knew Manny was back from rehab, and Manny had thought it would be fun to surprise Craig.
She had thought about him a lot in rehab- ok, more like every second of the day. He was one of the only things that kept her from sneaking a knife from the kitchen and slitting her wrists when she was in there. She wanted him to know that- how much he really meant to her.
Manny held her head high and walked confidently up to Craig's front door. She couldn't wait to see the surprised and excited look on his face when she saw her. She smiled happily and rang the doorbell. A minute later, it opened, and Craig was standing there, of course, looking as adorable and cute as ever.
"Surprise!" she said, smiling. "Guess whose back in town?"
Craig simply stared at her. Manny's bubbly smile faltered. Ok, that's not exactly the excited and happy look I was going for, but he's probably just….shocked. She glanced around.
"Um…that wasn't a trick question or anything," Manny said slowly. "The answers…me."
Craig glanced over his shoulder, and smiled softly. He leaned against the door. "Um…Manny. Look, I'm really glad to see you and everything, but this isn't really…the best time," he said quietly. He looked…nervous. Manny frowned. Was she getting…the brush-off? She had been gone for a month, and Craig had barely even said hello! In fact, he kind of looked like he wanted to push her off the doorstep or something.
"Craig….who's there?" Manny heard a voice call out. Suddenly, Ashley appeared behind Craig, her hair slightly disheveled.
"It's….uh….Manny," Craig stuttered. Manny felt her stomach turn. He said her name like it was a disease or something.
"Oh." That was all Ashley said.
God, Manny felt like throwing up. She felt completely unwelcome. She had obviously just interrupted a very special "Ashley and Craig make-out-session." Manny honestly wanted to sliver into the ground and die. So Craig had wanted to be just friends with Manny, because he had actually wanted to be with Ashley.
Manny cleared her throat, interrupting the awkward silence. "Um….I should go. I just wanted to tell you I was back." Without waiting for a response, Manny turned and fled from the house, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment. When she finally reached the corner, tears were streaming down her face.