Ah... Craig and Manny, a time before Degrassi was boring and the writers bothered to flesh-out their characters. I had high hopes with Fiona in particular, but ugh... Let's all take a moment to mourn the wonderfulness that was Degrassi the Next Generation.
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. If it did, Cassie Steele would still be on the show.
It wouldn't be until seven years later that Manuela Santos would dial the number to her ex-boyfriend's ancient cell phone, having a golden opportunity to talk to Craig again. She thought the odds of him actually picking up, or even him still having that old thing, were slim to none. So when Craig answered after the third ring, Manny could have gone into a happy cardiac arrest.
"Hello?" came his eternally soothing tone, a lullaby in itself. "Anybody there?"
"Craig Manning? It's me, Manny Santos," she answered, lying down on her couch.
"Oh! Hi, Manny. Wh-Why are you calling?" Craig questioned, sounding exhausted—maybe even annoyed.
"I-uh—just called you on a whim, sorry. I'll hang up. You don't really seem up to talking," Manny replied, fighting back her sorrow over this. She could feel that familiar lump in her throat building, always there to remind her how much she still loved this guy. Parting ways from was the equivalent of someone—him in particular—smashing her heart to the pavement. Honestly, she should have learned never to expect Craig to finally be ready to be her Mister Right, but. . .
"No!" He exclaimed quickly. Could Manny be detecting desperation from him? Nah. "It's just been awhile since I've heard from you, but I am happy to hear from you. I've been thinking about you a lot lately."
Really? She wanted to ask aloud to him, the news obviously catching her off-guard. It was a nice surprise.
"How are you?" Craig queried, and Manny listened to the smile in his voice.
"I'm perfect," Manny retorted, lying only a little bit. She was a Hollywood starlet with billions of dollars at her disposal and neighbors with Taylor Lautner, but it wasn't much at all without somebody to share all the glory with. "You?"
"Great," he replied simply. "Especially today. It's good to hear from an old friend." Manny wanted to snort at that, but decided to it wasn't very ladylike. "I mean, you were more than that to me. We were together after all, and. . . I'm babbling like a sweaty teenager. Sorry."
Manny giggled. "I have to go, Craig, but we'll talk soon. Is that okay?"
"Beyond okay, Manny. Trust me." Her heart sped up at that, easily recognizing that compassionate tone he only took on with Manny—she remember the time at the ice-skating rink, and Craig told her that she was the only one for him. "Goodbye, Manny.
"Bye, Craig."
Manny hung up the phone, continuing to backtrack through every moment her and her ex-lover had spent together. It felt like it had all happened forever ago, yet the memories were as fresh as though they happened yesterday. She started to walk away from her phone and halted, upon hearing a few muffled voices.
"Was that her?" Manny heard a femininely innocent voice—Angie?
"Yeah," Craig sighed. "She must think I'm a moron."
"I wouldn't blame her. What happened? You've been waiting for a chance to tell Manny that you feel about her, and you blew it!" Angie yelled, amused with her half-brother.
"I'm dumb, okay? I know. I was never expecting to get a chance and I ruined every shot I had at begging her to give us another go," the musician said, his voice gruff from frustration.
Manny rushed to pick up her phone. "Craig, Craig! You forgot to hang up your phone!"