Chapter 2

*Scarlett's POV*

I was sitting with Emma, JT and Toby at the dot, talking about my teachers.

"Ms. Kwan's pretty tough," Emma said. "But if you stay on her good side, she's not that bad."

"Yeah, she seems like she enjoys her subject," I said.

We'd just sat down, and I actually hadn't gotten a drink yet. Just as I was about to, Spinner showed up in Dot t-shirt.

"Oh, you work here?" I asked.

"Yep, and this is for you," he placed a smoothie on the table.

"I didn't order anything," I said.

"I know, it's from Jay," he nodded towards the bad boy sitting at the counter. He was seemed to be watching me, and waved when I looked over.

I leaned my head back and groaned. "Tell him I'm not interested," I said.

Spinner nodded and walked away.

"He's in my business class," I said.

"Who, Jay?" Toby asked.

"Yep. He's in my business class, and it looks like he won't take no for an answer."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for you," Emma said, sincerely.

"You know what, I'm need to go to the bathroom," I said, standing up.

"I'm coming with you," Emma said.

While in the bathroom, I said "Hey, so, what happened with you and Jay? I'm curious."

I heard her sigh. "We're alone, right?" There were only two stalls in the bathroom. "Well, did you hear about the shooting that happened at Degrassi?"

"Yeah, Ms. Hatzilakos told me about it, why?"

"Well, I actually witnessed part of it."

"Oh my god," I said, shocked. "That's so intense."

"Yeah, which is why I wasn't myself afterwards. Jay started coming onto me, and, well, I just went with it. I guess I was numb, and at least Jay made me feel something. We'd go to the ravine, which is where all the bad kids hang out, and there was a van..."

"So what'd you guys do?" At this point, I was washing my hands, and Emma came out.

"I... went down on him. And that's it."

"Wow, well that really seems unexpected of you."

"Yeah, and you know what makes it even worse?"

"What?

Emma swallowed. "I got gonorrhea."

"What!?"

"Yeah, so, believe me, I understand if you're attracted to him, or whatever, but you really should stay away."

"Don't worry, I don't even find him hot."

"Really? Not even a bit?"

I shook my head, and Emma just shrugged. "Alright, well, we should get back to the guys."

She opened the door and held it open for me. As I walked over to our table, I caught sight of Jay. And if I was going to be honest with myself, he wasn't that bad on the eyes, but I wasn't going to let myself feel anything more than that.

Later that night, I'd done my homework, and I was browsing the web. I logged onto Facebook, and found friend requests from Emma and Manny. After accepting them, I searched for TJ and Toby, and friend requested them. I scrolled through the "People You May Know" section, and saw Jay's name. After spending a good amount of time talking myself out of it, my curiosity got the better of me, and I went to his page.

His timeline feed was mainly messages to friends, including Spinner, a few statuses, and a bunch of pictures. Pictures of him in what looked the middle of the woods – the ravine, perhaps? - pictures of him with friends, pictures of him with girls and more pictures of him with girls. Emma was right, most of those girls looked like sluts.

Again, out of curiosity, I clicked on his "About" section. "Goes to Degrassi", "Born on November 10", "Interested in Women", and "Relationship Status – Single". Nothing surprising.

I went to a few other sites, YouTube, things like that, then checked Facebook again. I noticed I had three more friend requests. Two were from classmates, and I quickly hit "Confirm", but the third was from Jay. I went back and forth several times, hovering the mouse over the button, but not clicking it. Finally, I did. Then I quickly turned off chat, and closed my computer. I decided to pay no attention to the fact that the last I things I thought of before falling asleep were Jay and his stupid backwards hat.

A few days later, I was back at the Dot, with Emma and Manny.

"So tell me about the guys here," I said. "Besides bad boys Jay and Spinner," I added.

Emma looked at Manny, who shrugged.

"Um, I don't know exactly what to say," Emma said.

"Some guys are assholes, some guys are nice, just find the good ones," Manny said.

"Easier said than done," I grumbled at my coffee on the table. "My boyfriend history is pretty short."

"Don't worry," Manny said, putting a hand on my arm. "Trust me, our history's are worse." She gestured to her and Emma, who nodded.

I just sighed.

Just as I was starting think there were no guys for me at Degrassi, my luck changed. It was at the end of a drama class. I did a scene with three other people, including this guy, Marco, who came up to me before the block ended.

"Hey, Scarlett, great job in the scene," he said.

"Thanks, Marco, honestly, I'm not that into drama, I'm really just doing this for the credit," I said.

"Really, 'cause you're pretty good."

"Thanks," I said again, smiling. Marco was pretty cute, respectful in class, and a year above me. It could work. He certainly didn't strike as the bad boy type, like Jay did.

The bell rang, and we walked out of the classroom together.

"So," I began, "I haven't been here very long, and I was wondering if you knew some fun things to do."

"Uh, yeah, you wanna' go for movie this weekend?" he asked.

"Sure, and maybe we could grab something to eat first?" I suggested.

"Yeah, sounds good." He pulled out his phone. "Here, lets exchange numbers."

I pulled out my own phone and handed it to him, while I took his phone and put my number in.

I walked up to Emma and Manny in the cafeteria with a smile on my face and pep in my step.

"Somebody's in a good mood," Manny noticed.

"Care to share?" Emma asked.

"Let's just say I'm getting a little luckier in the guy department," I said, sitting down.

"Oooh, who is the guy?" Manny asked.

I contemplated telling them, but I decided it was better to wait. "I'll tell you if it gets more serious. Don't wanna' get ahead of myself."

"Gotcha'," Manny said.

"So are you still free Saturday night? I was thinking girls' night in at my place," Emma said.

"Yeah, I think I can make it," I said. "Hey, then I can give all the juicy details about my date."

"Great!" Manny exclaimed.

Me and Marco had tons of fun on our date. First we went to a place called "Little Miss Steaks", to eat. I had a burger, he had wings. Then we headed to the movie theater, and he actually suggested seeing a romance with Ryan Gosling. When he first said that, I thought he might just be trying to get in pants, but I put that thought aside. Marco had been really nice and respectful, I shouldn't jump to conclusion.

And it wasn't just his movie choice that was great, we had a lot to talk about. He listened to me describe Florida, and we learned that we both love music.

When we walked out of the theater, we sat down on a bench.

"So, I had a lot fun, Marco," I said.

"Yeah, me, too," he said.

I turned to him, ready to try for a kiss. "So..."

He turned, too. "So..."

"You're really sweet," I said.

"Um, thanks," he looked down a bit. "I... I try."

He seemed to get a little shy, so finally I just went for it, closing the distance between us. The kiss lingered for a second, before Marco pulled away.

"Um, Scarlett, you're really nice, but -"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Marco," I quickly apologized. "Was that too fast? I thought we were getting along really well."

"Uh, Scarlett, I don't really know how to say this." Suddenly Marco got really shy.

"Say what? What's going on? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Oh, no! No. The opposite of that, actually."

I just stared at him, completely confused.

He took a deep breath. "I'm gay."

It took me a second to digest. "Um, what?"

"I'm gay," he repeated. "I like dudes."

Then I got it. "Oh my god! I am such an idiot!" I put my head in my hands.

"It's okay, maybe we can be friends," Marco said.

I lifted my head up to look at him. "You did not just say that."

"I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say."

"I have to go," I said standing up, then walked away, towards my house.

"I can't believe you went on a date with Marco," Manny said, while rolling on the ground laughing.

"It's not funny," I said. "I'm completely mortified."

"You really had no idea?" Emma asked.

"No, I have a crappy gaydar, okay?"

"I'll say." Manny was still laughing.

"I can't believe this, I find a cute, nice guy I want to go out with, and he's gay!" I exclaim.

"I can't believe he suggested seeing the Ryan Gosling movie, and you have a clue!"

"Yeah, laugh it up, Manny, how's your love life?"

"I'll have you know I haven't dated anyone since JT, and I'm happy to be single!"

"Oh, really?" Emma said, incredulous.

"Yes," Manny said.

*No POV*

It was Saturday night and Jay was at the ravine, like usual. Carmen, one of the girls who usually hung out there, was in his lap giving him a list of reasons why he should go into the van with her. And while it sounded tempting, he wasn't in the mood.

That girl was still in his mind. He'd been trying with her for the entire week, and still nothing. He kept trying for two reasons: one, he was persistent, and two, he loved the chase almost as much as the prize. He liked the way she wasn't afraid to tell him off, one of the few girls that was true for.

"So, what do you think, Jay?" Carmen snapped him back to Earth.

"Sorry, what?" he asked. She rolled her eyes, got off his lap, and moved on to another guy.

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?" Spinner asked. "She was all over you!"

"I don't know, man." Jay shook his head.

Spinner groaned. "You're not still hung up on Scarlett, are you? She's not into you man, move on."

"You don't think I'd like to? But it's weird, it's like, the more she doesn't want me, the more I want her, you know?"

Spinner just shook his head.

Next chapter preview: Scarlett needs to get her car fixed.