Real Gone

Chapter Four

"Doubts and Chances"

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I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters

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"Seriously man, she is so amazing. I can't get over it!"

Jay sighed. He had just spent two and a half hours repairing Sean's car to make it go faster, and Sean had spent the entire time talking about that Manny girl. Apparently, after last night at Smash, they were "official," and Sean was ecstatic.

"I talked to Craig and Spinner too I guess they're with Ellie and Paige now," Sean added.

Jay's ears perked up, though he was not surprised. Craig and Spinner were always finding girls; really, it was Sean who Jay was surprised about. The two of them had always been more for flings than steady girlfriends, so this Manny must be something to get the noncommittal Sean to change his mind.

"Well, good for them," Jay noted. He was happy for his friends.

"Yeah, everyone seemed to really hit it off," Sean continued. He raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jay, "Especially you and Emma."

Jay froze. Emma. Memories of last night flashed through his mind: first seeing Emma from across the club, watching her laugh, kissing, that electricity…

Sean cleared his throat, and Jay looked up, for once flustered.

Sean gave him a little smirk, "That's what I thought," he concluded.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jay defensively.

"You and Emma," Sean said. "You're actually into a girl for more than a hookup. Emma."

Jay looked down and glanced at his father's pistol on the inside of his jacket, remembering what he had told himself that morning. "I can't, man." He nodded to the gun. "I have more important things I have to focus on; I can't get involved with Emma and have her get hurt. I just can't- besides, it was just the heat of the moment. It wasn't anything, really!" Jay sped up as he talked, trying to convince himself that this was true.

Sean rolled his eyes; let Jay believe what he wanted to believe; Sean wasn't convinced.

A loud ringing shattered the intense moment, and Sean picked up his beeping phone. He grinned before mouthing "It's Manny" to Jay. Jay shrugged and went over to grab his stuff from the office.

He heard Sean talking quickly to Manny and focused instead on drumming his fingers on the table. After a couple minutes, the murmurs in the other room stopped and Sean popped his head in the tiny room.

"Hey man, I know I'm taking us home, but can we pick up Manny from school first? She needs a ride home," he explained. Jay nodded, knowing that Sean planned to pick her up no matter what his answer was. Sean smiled widely and grabbed his keys. The two boys jumped in Sean's red car and zoomed off toward Degrassi High.

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Emma Nelson stood at her tidy locker, grabbing the various books that she needed for homework that night. She had everything she needed in her black backpack, but she kept going through her things over and over again. She knew that if she forgot a homework assignment, the reaction from Charlie would be less than pleasant.

She unnecessarily ruffled through a purple folder and quietly sighed when she heard Manny come up behind her. Apparently, things had gone really well between Sean and Manny last night, and Manny had been gushing all day about how they were now "official." Emma was happy for her best friend, but hours and hours of "Sean this" and "Sean that" got old. Fast.

"Emma!" Manny squealed. "I talked to Sean and he's giving both of us a ride home." Her eyes were bright with excitement.

Emma smiled in relief, "That's great- now we don't have to worry about my car until tomorrow."

The girls shared a comforted look; Emma's car had died that morning and they had to leave it on the side of a road and walk the rest of the way to school. Now, at least, they could save themselves the long walk home.

Manny nodded, "I just got off the phone with him and he should be here soon. Are you all ready?" she asked.

Emma checked her backpack one more time and quickly glanced in her locker mirror. Her concealer was still holding up and the bruises were barely noticeable. She slammed her locker shut and headed outside with Manny to wait for Sean. They found a wooden bench to sit out outside of the school and relaxed until a shiny red car pulled up. Manny beamed and darted towards Sean, who was waving from the driver's seat. Emma laughed to herself and followed her friend with a leisurely pace. When she reached the car, Manny had already hopped into the passenger seat. Emma let herself into the back seat, surprised at who she found sitting there…

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Jay glanced up, surprised at the person sliding into the backseat with him. It was Emma. Her face was slightly flushed and stunned that he was there. He smiled at her; his memory had not done her beauty justice. Her blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and her jeans and t-shirt fit her perfectly- classy without being trashy.

"Hey," she said quietly to him.

"Hey," he replied back.

She scooted in the rest of the way and buckled her seatbelt. She put her backpack down and slid over to make room for it, making her and Jay's knees bump for a second. Both of them held their breath as they felt it. That electricity. Emma's eyes widened and Jay stared down at where their knees had touched.

"Okay- we turn left out of here," Manny instructed to Sean loudly. Her comment broke up the intensity of the moment and Jay panicked; he remembered that it was better to avoid Emma and slid over on the seat as far away as he could from Emma.

He turned his head to look out of the window and occasionally snuck peaks at Emma through his peripheral vision. At first, she looked hurt, but then her expression became… unsurprised? Jay looked back out the window; it made it easier to ignore the obvious chemistry between him and Emma.

Both of them stayed quiet in the back row of seats, listening to Manny and Sean's flirtatious banter. All of the sudden, Manny squealed. "The car!" she exclaimed. Emma's head shot up and she stared out of the window. Jay's eyes followed her line of eyesight, spotting a small gray sedan on the side of the road.

"Oh, is this what you were telling me about earlier?" Sean asked Manny.

She nodded. "Yep. It's Emma's and it broke down on the way to school," she explained.

Sean bit his lip, "You guys didn't get rides from someone you don't know, did you?" he asked protectively.

Manny rubbed his arm and smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry big guy, we walked."

"Armstrong wasn't happy when we showed up to class twenty minutes late," Emma added in cheerfully. She and Manny laughed, remembering the angry look on their teacher's face.

Sean chuckled. "Do you need me to pull over?" he asked.

Emma shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. I'm going to have to call a mechanic in the morning- hopefully someone who can work under the counter. Charlie won't be too thrilled about this." She visibly paled at his name. "Oh God, Charlie won't like this at all," she whispered. Her hand started to slightly shake, although Jay seemed to be the only one who noticed her reaction.

The car was quiet for a few moments when Jay spoke up, turning to look at Emma. "I can fix it," he offered. "I'm pretty good with cars and we can keep it quiet."

Emma looked at him in surprise and Sean smiled jovially. "Man, that's perfect. Why didn't I think of that?" he said. He looked back at Emma and explained. "Cars are Jay's thing. He's brilliant. Just finished up my baby today," he elaborated.

Sean's enthusiasm alleviated any of Emma's doubts. She nodded to Jay and his heart started beating faster for some odd reason. Suddenly, Sean pulled up to a brick apartment building and Emma got out of the car. She waved bye to everyone and walked reluctantly into the building.

Sean glanced at Jay in the rearview mirror as they pulled away and Jay averted his eyes, not knowing why he felt so excited at spending more with Emma tomorrow.