A/N: Very short AU material, post TSS. Read, consider, review.
He was sitting against a set of lockers, his eyes glassy and distant; lifeless. The once welcoming hall reaks of death and blood. Lots of blood. Someone was shot here, had been a popular headline in the week that followed the shooting. Not only in the papers, but on the radio, the television and inside the minds of worried parents.
But that had happened months ago.
Nowadays the shooting was nothing but a bad memory, all physical evidence erased from the media and the halls of Degrassi. Everyone had forgotten, or at least pretended to. Spinner had resigned from his position of being friends with his normal clique and began hanging out with Jay, Marco busied himself with presidential issues, Paige was not-so-secretly playing tonsil hockey with one the young assistant teachers. Even Hazel had gone on with life, and could be found in her usual place; gossiping with Paige in the caf.
That left him, Craig Manning, to deal with it on his own. For some reason he couldn't pretend, like all the others. Every night the image of Jimmy lying there, in a bloody heap on the ground flashed through his mind. It consumed his brain, and was like a pictured framed on the inside of his eyelids.
He couldn't sleep because of it. The doctor had to give him several powerful sedatives just so he could get a maximum of three hours at night. Three miserable hours. Coming to school exhausted had become a daily ritual. His life had gone upside down since the shooting.
It was strange how after the crisis, it seemed like his life had gone to hell, while everyone else was able to put on a fake smile and cheerful facade and carry on as though nothing had happened. They were supposed to be like him; moping, crying, mourning the tragedy of a friend in pain. But they weren't. Time had passed and with it went the memory of that day, all of the fear, the pain, the sadness, gone.
"Craig, you need to get up." A tall brunette mumbled, standing over him, her mouth revealing a frown.
Silence.
"..Look... I know it's hard, Craig. But..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "...Jimmy died three months ago. Eventually, you'll have to accept that." ...Jimmy... He flinched at the sound of the name. Had it been that easy for her to say? He wondered, moving his gaze from the lockers to her eyes.
The brunette paused, outsretching her hand towards him, straining to be patient. "Come on, let's get you home." He nodded and rose, lacing his fingers with her outstretched hand.
He could pretend, like everyone else. Pretend Degrassi hadn't been scarred by Jimmy's death. Yes, he could become quitegood at pretending. It was necessary. To fake, lie, pretend.
But forget?... No, forgetting wasn't an option.