Author's Note: I don't know why I never thought to explore this pairing. I kind of like it.
Doppelganger
Pairing: Mia J./Manny S.
It's no secret why your co-captain Darcy isn't keen on letting Mia on the squad; the teen mom's past makes her Undesirable Number One for your super-Christian "friend". What is a secret, on the other hand, is why you're so keen to see Mia succeed. It could have something to do with the fact that she fascinates you, since that could have been you, but what would Darcy say if she knew you had had an abortion once? You don't want to know what she, or anyone else, would say. And that's why it's a secret.
So yeah, maybe you want to take Mia under your wing because you see some of yourself in her. Or maybe you want to see more of yourself in her. But no, that's too vulgar for a hardly-credible inkling, even for you. You might possibly want to see more of yourself with her, because to you she's Desirable Number One.
You run through the reactions in your head, the way you do whenever you get a little nervous and a little breathy about this maybe bisexual thing and start wringing your hands. You think about how the general public of Degrassi would react to that bit of information. Some would be utterly shocked, disbelieving your change of preference given your alarmingly torrid history indicating an inescapable addiction to dick. Others would be nonplussed, having seen it coming all along, since most sluts broaden their horizons like this sooner or later. Either way, it's none too flattering. You know that caring about your reputation is a bit pointless at this stage of the game, but still you're terrified as is that anyone will find out your secret. The maybe bisexual one.
It's not like Mia is the first girl you've liked, either. The very first was Emma, but it was more of a combining-best-friend-love-with-seeing-a-girl's-body-in-this-light-for-the-first-time type of thing. Plus, your confusion at sexual attraction to your best friend's body sort of threw everything into an upside-down whirl. You loved her looks in one (new) way, and you loved her in another. One was harmless, normal; the other scared the living shit out of you. No, embarking on the liking-girls journey with a crush on your best friend really started it off with an overwhelming bang. But soon those feelings for Emma passed (thankfully), and moved on to others. Lots of others. Paige, even, for a very brief spell.
Now it's the new girl, the girl with a past, the girl who has to push and challenge to get respect and who reminds you of yourself so much you wonder how weird it is that you've maybe fallen for your own doppelganger. Narcissism at its basest?
But no, you don't love yourself that much. You love yourself hardly at all, and Mia is not so much like you. She's better, that much you know. She's got brown eyes like you, but they're set in a much prettier, much more delicate face. She's prettier, and she's possibly more talented (you can't remember the last time you could do the splits like that, even though you spread your legs plenty, and you haven't had a kid like her), and she's without a doubt braver. Brave enough to have the baby, brave enough not to lie about it, brave enough to walk with her head held high.
And you want to find out more ways that she's better than you. You want to get to know her better, to uncover more strengths that will just make her more beautiful to you, because you know they're there. They have to be.
If and when you get to that point, you know you might just fall in love with her, this beautiful riddle of a girl with kissably troubled lips and perfect flaws. But for now, you've just got this curious crush on your pseudo-doppelganger.
