Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Degrassi, the characters of the series, etc.

Author's Note: I wrote this this just after Venus had aired. It was my interpretation of how Craig could have helped Manny cope with the video tape incident.

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As Manny walked through the crowded halls of Degrassi, her arms linked with Emma's, she could not help but hear the constant whispers and snickers coming from all of the people around her. Try as she might, she could not ignore all the hurtful words they uttered.

"She's so easy."

"What a slut."

"Degrassi's favorite porn star."

Though only words they may have been, they cut through Manny like sharpened daggers . If Emma hadn't been beside her acting as her safe hold, her sole companion, she surely would have broken down in tears. As the two girls continued to walk through the halls, Manny kept her head hung low so as not to come face to face with anyone else. She did not let her eyes stray farther than the sight of her shoes, in fear that if she did, she would only be met by pointing fingers and insulting remarks. As the two girls rounded a corner, Emma let out a warning directed towards her friend.

"Manny, watch out…"

Manny stopped walking, narrowly avoiding colliding with another person. To her sheer embarrassment, when she looked up to see who that person was, her eyes were met by none other than Craig. Quickly, she looked away, all the shame she felt doubling inside of her. He had to have seen the tape of her drunken escapades. Everyone else had. How would he react to her? Would he laugh and make raunchy remarks as most of the other guys had done or would he be a source of comfort? Being as pessimistic as she was then, she only expected the worst.

"Manny…" Craig uttered. "How's it…"

But before he could let out another word, Manny pulled Emma along, walking as fast and as far away from Craig as she possibly could. He called after her, but Emma turned her head in his direction, giving him a look as if to say " Not now, Craig. She's too heartbroken to talk." With that one look, Craig retreated, hoping to catch up with Manny when she would be ready.

"Could the time be passing by any slower?" Manny thought to herself, as she sat in English class with Emma still by her side. She gazed at the clock, urging its hands to land at three. When it did, it would finally initiate the end of the school week. To Manny, that would mean two blissful days without having to endure the torment of her peers.

"Come on. Come on…" she whispered in desperation. Her eyes concentrated even harder on the ticking clock, as if trying to make it go faster, "Just a few more seconds… three….two…one."

At the sound of the bell, Manny quickly gathered all her belongings and shoved them into her bag. When she had finished, she impatiently waited for Emma to grab all of her things. Being the studious person she was, Emma made sure not to leave behind any important assignments. Manny wanted desperately to tell her to pick up the pace, but seeing as how Emma graciously had forgiven her and taken her into her arms after the incident, she couldn't bring herself to say anything. It would seem so unthankful.

When Emma was finally finished, Manny felt an overwhelming amount of relief. Together, they made their way towards the door, but just as they were about to step out of the room, Mrs. Kwan called after Emma.

"Emma?" she began, "Can I speak to you alone for a moment? I wanted to go over your last book report with you."

At Mrs. Kwan's request, Manny could not help but cringe. That would mean her having to walk through the halls alone. With a concerned look plastered across her face, Emma turned towards Manny.

"Are you going to be all right?" she questioned.
"Ugh…s-sure. I'll be fine." Manny lied. With a nervous laugh, she added, "After all, I'm a big girl. I can make it through the big bad halls of Degrassi by myself." Probably doubting those words, Emma replied, "Look…I'll try to finish this up as soon as I can. I'll meet you at your locker, then we can walk home. We'll order some pizza and have a nice Friday night movie marathon. Just like old times. What do you say?" she ended with her usual sweet smile.
"That sounds really nice." Manny said, smiling back. And with that, Emma disappeared through Mrs. Kwan's door.

Taking in a deep breath, Manny began walking towards her locker. As was expected, wolf whistles and vulgar remarks were thrown at her. Her grip hardened over her books as she tried her best not to cry. To the best of her abilities, she drowned out all the sounds of laughter around her. She was managing things pretty well, but once she arrived at her locker, she fell apart and became overwhelmed with tears.

There, written across her locker and covered with her x-rated pictures it quoted:

"I am going to be an actress. An academy award winning actress! And you can sell this for a million dollars, because I am going to be famous!"

Manny sunk down, knees close to her chest and her head pressed against her palms. Whether or not people were gawking at her, she did not care. All she knew was that, at that moment, she wished she could just disappear.

At the same time, Craig was walking towards the school entrance with Ellie and Marco by his side. As usual, the subject of discussion was their band, Downtown Sasquatch.

" El," Marco began, "with you as our new drummer, I dare say Downtown Sasquatch can reach higher potentials."
" Thank you." added Ellie, giving a playful curtsy, "And I dare say we can sure as hell beat the rest of the competition in this year's Battle of the Bands."
"That's why we've got to start rehearsals today," chimed in Craig.
"Already?" Marco and Ellie whined simultaneously.
"Yeah. I mean, last year when we won, I kinda screwed over our studio recording time. What with Ashley and everything… This year…this year, things needs to be different. "
"Just forget about last year, Craig." said Ellie, "I mean, Ashley was, and is my best friend, but…" she paused, wondering whether to say it, "…but you deserve someone better."

With that, Marco glanced at Ellie with a knowing look on his face. He knew for quite some time about her developing crush on Craig, but he doubted whether Craig held any feelings back.

They continued to walk towards the front doors of Degrassi, but just as they turned a corner, Craig saw something that made him stop dead in his tracks. There, with her back against her locker sat Manny, crying into her hands. He wondered what could have made her act like that, but his question was soon answered when he glanced up at the graffiti on her locker. At that moment, he became filled with anger. He bound towards Manny, completely ignoring everything else around him.

"Wait!" called Ellie, as Craig walked away, "What about our band rehearsal?"
"Never mind that!" he called back, " We'll just postpone it!"

Ellie sighed, watching as he walked off. She felt pity towards Manny, but she just wished that Craig hadn't gone after her, hoping to be her knight in shining armor. His actions could only mean one thing.

Noticing the sudden melancholy that took over Ellie, Marco asked "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much," she replied quietly, " Just thinking that my little crush on Craig was a waste of time."

Craig knelt down beside Manny, putting his hand on her shoulder. With deep concern he asked her, "Manny, are you okay?" At the sound of his voice, she looked up, tears cascading down her flushed cheeks. But she did not answer. She only looked back down and covered her face with her hands. At the sight of her saddened expression, Craig felt the emotions inside of him double. He got back up on his feet and tore off the pictures on Manny's locker.

Clutching them in his hands, he yelled out, "Who did this?". When no one responded, he yelled out even louder, "WHO DID THIS!"

Still no one answered. In frustration, he threw the crumpled pictures onto the ground. Just then, Emma came walking by with Darcy at tow. Their attentions caught by the events unfolding before them, they ran towards Manny and knelt down beside her.

"Oh…Manny," mumbled Emma, nearly on the verge of tears herself, "Are you okay?"
"What happened?" asked Darcy with a sympathetic tone in her voice.

Manny tried to answer them, but it was no use, being that her breath was shortened by her crying. Quickly, Emma and Darcy brought her to her feet. With her arms draped over her shoulders, Emma began leading Manny towards the front door. Darcy offered to stay behind and clean the locker.

As Emma and Manny made their way outside, Craig came running after them, hoping to be of assistance. When he offered to drive them home in his car, Emma was somewhat hesitant to say yes, but eventually, she decided that riding home would be a much easier task then walking home, especially with the state that Manny was in. Taking Manny's belonging from her hands, Craig led the two girls towards his car and held open the back door. When all was finished and everyone buckled tightly, Craig drove away from the school campus, a few onlookers looking at them as they made their getaway.

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This is going to be a relatively short story. Probably no more than 3 or 4 chapters. Reviews are more than welcomed.