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In another world, Craig asked Emma to dance. Naturally, she had jumped at the chance to be held in the arms of her crush. Although, Craig seemed the slightest bit hesitant himself when taking her hand, Emma dismissed this as him just being nervous as she was. But when his soft grayish-greenish eyes momentarily stole a glance back at her best friend's petite figure, Emma felt a twinge of jealousy in her system. It seemed that everything had been completely fine for the next five minutes until Craig kept looking back at Manny from the corner of his eyes.
And that's how their entire relationship had been from that instance on. Craig and Emma. Together. But he always continued looking at Manny with the stars in his eyes.
Craig and Emma walked through the halls of Degrassi with their hands awkwardly intertwined in one another's. Everyone 'awed' at them, knowing them only as Degrassi's cutest couple. Emma had to admit that she and Craig did make a handsome pair and getting all the attention was sort of fun, but living a lie felt wrong. Apparently she was the only person who ever noticed how Craig always wanted to rip himself away and go find the only girl he ever really wanted to be with, which he couldn't have done anyway even if he finally mustered up the courage to do so; Manny was already in a relationship with Sean Cameron, and was completely oblivious to anything Craig did.
"Craig," Emma murmured in a questioning tone, stealing his attention. He looked at her, painfully peeling his orbs away from where Manny stood in Sean's arms. "Are you okay? You seem distracted."
"I'm fine, Em," he replied. "I was just thinking about a new a new song to write for the band."
Emma grimaced that, because it was probably true. When Craig wasn't sneaking sideways glances at Manny, he was worrying about Downtown Sasquatch. His music was his life and he had proved that on a thousand different occasions when Craig had canceled his dates with Emma just to practice in his garage. However, Emma was aware of how his practice paid off, as expected.
"Whatever you think of will be great, Craig," Emma encouraged sweetly, walking over to her locker. Manny skipped up to them, her face glowing with the ultimate happiness. The blond faked a smile, noticing once again how her boyfriend became more at ease with Manny around. "Hey, Manny, what's up?"
"Oh, nothing. Sean was just telling me about the wrestling tournament coming up. He's really excited about it." Manny replied. "Sean swears that I need to be there, because I'm his good luck charm. Isn't that so sweet?"
"Yeah, really sweet," Emma hoped that Manny and Craig wouldn't notice the bitterness in her voice. "And you know that Craig and I will definitely be there to support him, too," she stated, as Craig nodded in a solemn promise, because wherever Manny goes, he would surely follow. "Sean will do great."
Manny giggled, "I know he will."
"Yep," Craig said, shyly smiling in Manny's direction. "Um, I gotta go." He kissed Emma passionately on the lips, pressing her figure against the locker.
"You two are so made for each other," the petite, raven-haired girl gushed.
That, as per usual, wasn't exactly the reaction Craig wanted out of Manny. He wanted to make her as jealous whenever she was with Sean, and Emma knew it. Whenever Craig kissed her like that, it was always an attempt to gain Manny's undivided attention. And, he got most of the time, just not in the way that he wanted. But it was also the same reason why Emma couldn't let go of Craig. In his kiss, she felt warmth that fluttered from his heart and into her soul; she wouldn't deny herself that feeling. And in that, Emma could keep Craig away from Manny. Because she needed Craig like an addict needed cocaine.
Craig pulled away, gluing his eyes to Manny, searching for any sign of frustration on her face. He found nothing.
"Bye," he told Emma. "See you around, Manny?"
"Of course," Manny said matter-of-factly. "Another time, Rock Star."
"Yeah," he blushed at his pet name that she had given him. "Later." Craig walked away.
Manny squealed. "He so completely loves you, Emma!"
Emma smiled, aware of the small truth in that sentence. Sure, she may never be number one on his list, but it was better than being at the very bottom. Craig did, in fact, love her.
(1). Manny Santos.
(2) Downtown Sasquatch.
(3) Emma Nelson.
Being third on Craig's list of important things would have to be enough for Emma, and it was.