Craig walked the halls of the school slowly that day, with his head down. He was ashamed of what he had done, and he couldn't go back and fix any of it. He had humiliated the one person who could have helped him through everything. Craig knew that announcing to Spinner what had gone on between he and Manny was a bad idea, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. He wanted someone besides he and Manny to know. Craig still couldn't understand why he didn't tell someone other than Spinner, but he supposed it just 'came out'.
No one spoke to Craig until he reached his classroom. "Craig," a shocked voice came from in front of him. He hadn't removed his eyes from the ground once that morning.
Craig looked up to see Emma standing in front of him. "Hey, Emma," Craig said.
"I'm surprised you're here," Emma replied.
"Why?"
"Well, because of what happened yesterday," Emma said as Craig lowered his head once more.
"Look, Emma, I know what happened, and I know there's nothing I can do to fix it, but is there any chance you could try not to remind me of it?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Great. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to class." Craig walked past Emma and into the classroom. Sitting down with his books in front of him, he felt like dying. He wished he had never said what he did, but it happened anyway. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he said as he slammed his head down on the table.
"Hey, what's the matter?" came yet another voice, but this time from behind.
Craig looked up to see Ashley standing behind him. "You mean, you don't know?" Craig asked, wondering why Ashley was questioning his behavior at that moment.
"Well, I know what happened yesterday," Ashley replied as she sat in the chair beside Craig. "I just didn't know if maybe something else had gotten to you."
"No, that's about it," Craig replied. "I screwed everything up, and now I'm paying for it."
"I'm sorry," Ashley said as she removed her books from the bag she was carrying. "I know you and Manny were in a really good relationship and I-," she managed to say before Craig interrupted her.
"Ash, I really don't need to be reminded of what Manny and I had, because we don't have that anymore. I messed everything up, and I really don't want to talk about it."
"Okay, sorry, Craig."
As Craig and Ashley's conversation ended, students began to file into the classroom. Spinner entered with Paige clinging to his arm. Spinner tried his hardest to avoid making eye contact with Craig. He knew he had done something wrong by talking to Jimmy and Hazel about Craig and Manny, but of course Spinner wasn't going to keep his mouth shut if he had the chance to open it.
"Good morning, class," the teacher addressed the students as they took their seats. "Let us get started once everyone is seated." She turned around and wrote a few words on the board. The class began in silence. Craig sat with his head on his books, wanting to break down, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to be strong. He had to seem as though he wasn't crushed or hurt by what had happened.
Class ended, and as Craig left the classroom, Ashley grabbed his arm. "Hey, wait up," she said.
"What, Ash?" Craig asked, annoyed.
"Want to hang out this afternoon? We could talk?" She asked.
"No, Ash. I need to talk to Emma. I need to figure all this stuff out," Craig said as Ashley released his arm from her grasp.
"Alright. Well, you know you can call me if you need anything."
"Fine," Craig said as he walked off, destined to seek out Emma. He wanted to talk to her about how Manny was. He knew that things would be over between them, and he knew that Manny would never forgive him, but at least he knew her best friend would know what was going on, because he knew that Manny wouldn't speak to him.
As he walked down the hall in search of Emma, he thought about all of the things he could have said to Spinner that day, instead of telling him what had happened between him and Manny. He knew he was an idiot for what he had done, but there wasn't much that could be done now, unless he found Emma.