Author note: I always try not to take criticism too hard, but sometimes it gets to me especially when it's a rude comment. But upon a review that was actually genuine and made a bit of sense, I decided to take their opinion and changed some things! I do agree after re-reading that maybe Emma's 'realization' came too quickly. So I added some things. I can't give credit since it's under 'Guest' but just so reviewers know, I do like your advice! (But rude comments are not needed). It's that simple! Thanks, enjoy the redone chapter!

NEXT CHAPTER

"Hey Em," Darcy greeted as the blonde stood at the top of the stairs of Degrassi.

Emma was waiting for someone and turned to see Manny following Darcy behind. "Want to ride with us?" she asked.

Emma smiled kindly, "Thanks but, I got a ride."

Darcy looked confused over at Manny who looked too confused until she smirked, "Ty?"

Emma smiled more and nodded, "That'd be the one.." she drifted off and slowly the smile went away. She glanced at the road and saw an orange car go by in the distance. Her eyes watched it until out of site until she shook herself out of it when a car honked.

"Oh my, is that him?" Darcy even gushed, both her and Manny checking the guy out who drove the black corvette.

Emma nodded and went to leave but turned, "Manny, want to just come with us?"

Manny shook her head and pointed at Darcy, "No thanks, we still have to go pick up the cake from Spinner for Zig's birthday." She rolled her eyes, "He didn't start it til this morning."

Classic Spinner. Emma laughed and waved goodbye, getting into Ty's car. "Hey sweetness." he greeted.

Emma gave a tight smile and put her bag at her feet. It was filled with all the books she needed for homework for studying, to get ready for those exams. "Hey."

Holly J was picking up Jack today for Emma so she and Ty were stopping at a party supply store in town. Zig's party was tomorrow.

As Ty's car went down the street slowly to park near the store, Emma's head turned towards Jay's garage across the street. It was still open since only 4pm. Her hazel eyes scanned the front for him but he wasn't in site. Her stomach kind of dropped and she frowned, shaking it off and focused on something else.

She didn't know why, but it felt like she hadn't seen Jay in a while.

"Ready?" Ty asked, unbuckling his seat belt and Emma blinked and sucked in a deep breath. "Yea." she said and grabbed her purse and getting out with him.

Across the street, inside the garage, Jay worked on a truck with a new employee that was also from Degrassi, Lucas Vaughn. Lucas noticed Jay looked up and over his shoulder to glance twice. Then, Jay looked in a trance.

"What?" Lucas barked, snapping his partner out of it. He couldn't fix this damn excuse of a truck himself!

Jay tore his eyes off what he saw and focused back down at the engine they were working on. "Nothing," he muttered and grabbed a wrench. But across the street, wasn't nothing. He saw Emma, with her new boyfriend, holding hands and going 'shopping' it looked like.

Lucas raised an eyebrow as Jay nearly threw the wrench back into it's tool box after he was done and then grabbed a towel. There was rage his eyes but his face was stone cold.

((((***))))

That night, Emma worked late at the Dot. It was a 10pm until 1am shift, but that meant more money, even if she did lose a bit of sleep for school tomorrow but it was only a 4 hour shift that really only consisted of serving the last few customers, closing up, counting the register and locking up. Easy peasy.

"Hey Em," Spinner greeted when she came in from the darkness outside, nothing but the dim lights of the diner on.

Emma hugged her jean jacket around her a bit from the cold outside (Too cold if you asked her for almost summer). Her curls from today were a little blown out and wild looking until she smoothed it with her hands, "Hey." she laughed a little but yawned. She's been studying all night, now had to do this. Did she mention it was windy as hell outside too?

Spinner was washing his hands before he turned around towards her as she punched in, "I just wanted to make sure I got home before this this Wizard of Oz turnado." he joked, then eyed her yawn again and nod. "You sure you're okay to take my shift?"

"I need the money." Emma said with a somewhat sad laugh.

Spinner blinked, "You're one tough cookie." he turned his head towards the door as it dinged open and he greeted, "Hey man."

Emma turned to see Jay walk in and she even felt her own body perk up. Her eyes followed him as he just muttered something to Spinner before standing across the counter they stood behind and turned his head away from them. He said something along the lines 'you ready to go?' and while he stood there, he didn't even glance at Emma. She felt the tension, but didn't know why.

"Yup, hold on." Spinner said, turning to clock out as Emma walked away from it and stopped next to the coffee machine. She pressed the start, and pressed it again when it didn't work as she thought about what could be up Jay's ass? He was completely ignoring her.

"The coffee machine is broken again?" Emma asked with an annoyed tone as the coffee machine wouldn't start.

"Just hit it a few times and it'll come on." joked Spinner, grinning like an idiot who thought it was funny.

"Can't you just fix it?" she asked. She needed a coffee if she wanted to last tonight without any sleepy interruptions.

"I can't do it. Todd will have to on Monday." Spinner insists. Emma pouted a bit, glancing back at the machine hopelessly. Spinner then walked around the counter to meet up with Jay.

Jay taunted Emma while digging into his jean pocket for his keys, "Why don't you ask that boyfriend of yours to do it?"

His voice had this attitude and snark Emma hadn't heard in awhile from him. She hated that tone. Emma shook her head confused, then insulted, then once again confused. What the heck did he mean by that? Before she could even speak, he left, and Spinner followed after him waving at Emma.

"Night Em." he closed the door.

Emma stood there, tapping her fingers slowly on the counter and Jay on her mind. "Jerk." Emma muttered to herself, and sat on a stool. What the hell was with him? .. .

He must be mad at her. Maybe that's why he wasn't coming around. And why wasn't he coming around? What the hell did she even do!?

Wanting to think of something else and not let Jay ruin her whole night, Emma got to refilling every tables Salt And Pepper shakers.

((**))

The next day after school again, Emma sat on the steps waiting for Ty. Manny and Darcy were grabbing the cake that Spinner was keeping 'hidden' at the Dot for Zig. It was suppose to be a surprise party so Manny agreed to just grab it today instead.

Emma watched other students getting into their parents' vehicle, or their own, and she tilted her head a bit as one girl's mother kissed her daughters forehead and then drove off to probably go home. She glanced down until she heard her name being shouted and looked up, seeing Ty in his car by the parking lot. Emma snapped out of it and went over. "Hey." she greeted.

"Hey," he leaned over and shocked her with a kiss. Emma pulled away rather quickly but bared a smile before turning her head to look out the window. She wasn't really in 'the mood'.

"Em?...Emma."

..

…..

"Emma!"

Emma snapped out of it, looking to the left to Ty who sat on her family living room couch now. She sat on a recliner doing the bills and finally blinked, shaking her head. "Sorry." She laughed sadly.

"Thought we lost you there." Ty teased

Emma smiled a little and looked back down to paying her bills. She snuck a glance back at Ty and frowned a bit. It's been two weeks now of dating and she couldn't tell you where it was going. She was bored, honestly. Already.

"Is it here?" Zig asked, coming down the stairs.

Emma rolled her eyes and smiled turning her head, "Not yet. Geez. I haven't seen you so excited since Christmas."

"I wanted this dirby bike for a long time," Zig confirms, "Since KC broke my last one."

"I didn't do it!" yelled KC from the kitchen out of site. Emma softly giggled and Zig rubbed his hands together.

"So when is everyone showing up?" he asked.

Emma opened her mouth and then closed it, furrowing her eyebrows together. "When is what?"

He rolled his eyes, "My surprise party."

Emma's mouth dropped and then Ty stood up, cringing. "..he got it out of me." He admitted and Emma whirled around.

"Great!" she said outloud, a little annoyed. For once she just wanted one of Zig's birthday to go well for him. Something he could remember for a while.

Last year, Spike ended up coming home. At least she came home just in time for Zig's birthday but sadly, she didn't even know it and just got so drunk that even the neighbors who came to wish him a happy birthday had left in disgust for how tanked she got.

"Whatever," Emma muttered, noticing maybe she was getting too angry by the look on Ty's face, "It will still be fun."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"And it begins." She said and Zig happily ran to grab the door. When he opened it, most his friends from school came in a big group and crowded inside.

Zig smiled, about to shut the door before Manny and Darcy too came up the porch with Spinner following behind them with cake. Zig held the door open for them. That's when Sean's car too came up and parked when Zig's personal closer friends came too- walking up the driveway. Grace and Tiny.

"Happy birthday," teased Grace, coming through the door and pinching Zig cheeks and Tiny laughed.

Sean chucked as he jogged up the porch following them inside too. He stopped by Zig and cringed with a bit of embarrassment as he held a bunch of balloons.

"Think you got enough?" Taunted Zig, crossing his arms while still in the door way and a slight attitude still. He just loved Emma, and he wasn't sure if he had completely forgiven Sean for what he did to her even if Emma claimed that they were friends now and Sean had a good heart.

Sean gave a short laugh before clearing his throat and went serious, shrugging his shoulder. "I just know it's important to Emma that this goes well for you. So, birthday equals balloons." He paused before he lowered his voice, "..and a 6 pack in my backseat."

Zig had to admit, it was hilarious seeing Sean Cameron holding a bunch of multi color balloons. He laughed and opened the door, "Come on it."

The guys went to join the party but at the corner of Zig's eye, he saw Maya come out of her house. Their new next door neighbor. He glanced back inside to where his friends were gathered, and music started to play. It grabbed Maya's attention since the walls basically vibrated for how loud it was. Zig nervously waved and then cursed at himself to man up.

"Hey." He greeted, coming back outside and walked to the side of his porch, digging his hands into his pockets.

Maya raised an eyebrow but smiled a little bit, walking to her side of her porch to meet him halfway. "Hey."

Since she had moved in here with her family, she wasn't sure if these neighbors liked her or not. They kept to themselves but she knew there was a lot of them. She hadn't seen any adults yet though, other then the oldest Emma. But the rest were in and out. Especially this one- Zig. The one she couldn't take her eyes off of when she got the bus home from school and saw him walking home. Or even just when he walked down the halls at school. Sometimes late at night if she was sitting near her window reading a book, he'd sneak out. .and he had this mysterious aura about him she was so curious about. She wondered all the time where he went.

Zig itched the back of his neck and asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

It was a beautiful day out, Maya was just going to take a walk. She wore her hair in it's natural curly state, with a jean skirt on and pink tank top. Zig couldn't stop staring at the way she kept glancing back at him under her eyelashes. She seemed shy too, naturally. He wanted to get to know her badly.

"Nowhere exciting." Maya joked.

"Do you want to come join the party?"

"Ah. So that's what that racket is." Maya joked and he sheepishly grinned a bit. She giggled and then shrugged her shoulders, walking off of her porch and around to his. "Sure."

He got more nervous the closer she got, his heart pounding.

She was coming. To his party. Maya was coming to his party.

"She's got a great ass." Said Tiny to Zig later on at that party. People had just dug into the cake and were standing in the back yard where Emma had decorated streamers and balloons upon the fence. Tiny was talking about Cheryl Stewart, a redhead who stood next to her 'minions'.

Zig decided to glance away as Tiny and the other two friends he stood with checked out Cheryl's ass. He eyes gazed over to Maya who had actually found something to talk about with Grace. Grace didn't have much girl friends, so this shocked and impressed Zig a bit who hid a small smirk.

"Shit she's coming over here." Tiny cursed and Zig looked back, noticing indeed Cheryl was coming this way and her eyes were right on him.

"Lucky 16th, huh birthday boy?" she flirted, even Zig could tell and he was usually all for a girls attention, but for some reason, he didn't want Cheryl's.

Meanwhile, over by Emma, she stood with Ty and Spinner at the barbeque and she bit her tongue as she finally had to ask, "Where's Jay?"

Ty kept eating his cake. Spinner glanced over twice from trying to pick up a piece with his own fork and then shrugged, "Busy. Working."

"But it's 6 now?" Emma said. Jay usually didn't work late on weekends. It was Friday. Why wouldn't he want to come? When there's a party, there is usually a Jay Hogart.

Spinner just shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Jay wasn't here, and Jay wasn't coming.

Emma frowned deeply and excused herself, going to get herself a drink. When she opened the fridge to all the pop, water and beer, she cursed and just took a beer. Usually with Spikes reminder of alcohol, Emma stayed away from it mostly, but tonight, she wanted one.

When she opened it and sipped it she cringed a little. How did people get use to this taste or crave it? As she turned, she looked out the kitchen window to the backyard where the party seemed to be a hit. She smiled gently, happy that even Zig looked like he was having fun. A lot of fun. She even caught him making Maya, the new girl next door, blush.

Emma sighed and put the beer down on the counter for a moment, frowning again. Jay popped back into her mind just then and she didn't know why. Ugh- maybe..maybe she did. She leaned on the counter and crossed her arms.

She missed Jay. Jay wasn't just the life of the party.. he was a part of her life too and right now it was just boring without him. It felt.. lonely. Emma couldn't understand how she could be the host of a party and still feel lonely but she did. Because those people weren't Jay Hogart.

Her mind kept wondering, and wondering, to something it shouldn't...

Did she still have feelings for Jay? Hell. Maybe.. Maybe she always did. . she just couldn't admit it out loud.

...Why didn't he come? In fact, now that Emma thought more and more about it, she didn't think she had seen Jay or hung out with Jay since Ty has been around.

She has missed friends and family before when they weren't around, but it didn't feel like this kind of ache she got when thinking about him. This was suppose to be a happy day but all she could do was sulk around that Jay wasn't here. Every orange car that went by her lately always reminded her of him too. Or even other stupid little things.

"You okay?" Emma jumped when Manny's voice entered the room and she popped in for a beer as well, walkinig to the fridge and glancing at her friend a little worriedly.

"Yea." Emma lied and smiled with force. She then gave a short laugh, "Yea actually, I'm glad Zig's party is working out."

"Me too." Manny admitted but when she turned back to Emma, she still saw a sad look in Emma's eye, even as she smiled but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Em, really, what's wrong?" she's been acting funny all week it seemed.

Emma didn't even know how to answer that herself. She glanced around the room and gazed at the sink with all the dishes she would have to hand wash later since the dishwasher still broken. She joked, "I'm just preparing myself mentally for clean up later."

Manny smiled for a mere second until she walked closer and said gently, "Emma…seriously"

Emma's eyes locked on Manny's, and her shoulders dropped. "Seriously?" she said out loud and leaned back against the counter with a distraught look on her face. 'Seriously what is wrong with me?' Emma thought to herself, 'Well.. Jay's not here. And I seriously miss him. I miss his jokes even at my expense, and I miss his grin, even that stupid little smirk- God, I just miss Jay and I want Jay here.'

"I think...I like Jay." Emma spat it out, a little fear but sincerity in her eyes as she looked back at Manny whose face brightened up to Emma's realization. Finally!

Wow. It was a little easier for Manny to take this in probably more than Emma, since being an outsider gave her more of a look between the twos blossoming romance.

Manny put a hand on Emma's arm and rubbed it for support, "I think it's more than that, sweetie."

Emma nodded, she knew that too. That's why she was so scared. It was so scary, so real. Not only was Jay who she wanted right now but she knew why. He was there for her, alot , even more than Sean was when he was her boyfriend. She didn't know why it took this long to admit it. Maybe it was his absence?

Emma sniffed sadly and then laughed a little. She had fallen for Jay Hogart. When ? Who the hell even knows. Maybe a long time ago.. Maybe just now? Whenever it was, Emma knew she couldn't deny it anymore.

((((((****)))))

Later that night after helping Emma clean up a little, Ty was finally showed to the door to leave. Emma felt bad about her 'realization' today and didn't want to use him as help just for clean up.

"Goodnight Ty, thanks for coming." She smiled a little thankfully.

Ty stopped as he stepped out the door and she hung back to lean on the door frame. "No problem. I had fun." He smiled so sweetly.

Emma just gave a sad smile. She couldn't give him much else, except for her delusional 'crush' on him. Now that she accepted her real feelings for Jay, looking at Ty was a deal breaker. Jay beat him 0 to 10.

But could Jay ever be in a real serious relationship? Would Jay even want to know Emma's feelings for him or would that freak him out? This was the huge fear Emma had.

Ty leaned in and kissed Emma goodbye, and after a moment, she finally shut the door behind him and just leaned back against it, closing her eyes and shaking her head. What had she gotten herself into?