ATTENTION: This is the last chapter to this fan-fic. It ends abruptly, and there will still be a few questions that need answered. I plan to answer any remaining questions in the sequel. If anyone wants to read the sequel, please send a review saying so. I do not own Recess or its characters.

Spinelli's POV.

I kicked my feet up onto the seat across from me, and crossed my arms over my chest again. Sure I'm not supposed to put my boots on the chairs, but who cares? After TJ telling the entire gang that he started dating Ashley A, I was put in a pretty pissy mood, so anyone who bothers me right now will face my wrath. And if I broke something throwing that last soda can at TJ, I'm not paying to fix it. He can.

"Uh, Spinelli?" I looked up to Gus, who had called my name.

"What!" I yelled a little louder than necessary.

Gus jumped in his seat at my angry tone, and hid slightly behind Mikey. "Are you okay?" he inquired.

To be honest, I didn't really know if I was okay or not.

I shook my head slightly. "I'm fine, Gus. Sorry I yelled at you."

Gus gave a small grin and replied, "oh, that's good. For a second there, I thought you were jealous of Ashley A or something."

At the mention of her name, I tightened my fists. It's not that I don't like Ashley A, but I really don't like Ashley A. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous. I'm not jealous.

"What do those kids think they're doing?" I heard someone yell.

I looked up to see old man Kelso running from the back room, toward the front of the building. I uncrossed my arms and got up from my seat.

"Where are you going Spinelli?" Mikey asked.

While keeping my eyes on the area Mr. Kelso ran, I replied, "I'm going to see what all the comotion is about. I'll be back in a minute." I caught up with Mr. Kelso when he got to the counter. "Hey, Mr. Kelso, what's going on?" I asked.

Without stopping, he yelled, "some kids are fighting in front of my store again!"

After coming here for so long, you kinda get use to these things. There's a fight outside at least once a week now, but why people fight here of all places, I'll never know.

"Okay, if you need me to help, you know where to find me!" I called back. Why do I volunteer my help to him? Easy, I work here in summer, and if Mr. Kelso needs help, of course I'll help him. After all, he's not as young as he use to be.

I walked back over to our booth. "So, what's going on?" Gus asked as I sat down.

I shrugged. "Turns out he was running outside to breakup a fight."

Mikey gasped and asked, "who is fighting on such a peaceful day?"

I shrugged again. "Didn't ask." I lifted my soda can and took a sip.

"Isn't that your brother?" Gus asked.

I jumped and spat my soda across the table. "What!" I poked my head out of the booth. Sure enough, there was a guy outside wearing ripped blue jeans, a white shirt, a brown leather jacket, and black sneakers. His black hair was slicked back, and his brown eyes looked furious. Only one thought came to mind. "What the hell is Joey doing here?"

TJ's POV.

I turned around, only to come face-to-face with the last person I wanted to see. Joey Spinelli. His arms were crossed over his chest, and him being half a foot taller than me made him much more intimidating as he glared at me. "Uh, hi Joey. What uh... what brings you here?" I stuttered.

Joey shook his head. "No, no, no. The question is what are you," he poked me in the chest, "doing here?"

I backed up a bit. "Oh, you know, the usual. Get a shake, talk, just hang out."

Joey's glare intensified. "You conveniently left out the part where you decided to date this 'Ashley A' when you claim you're in love with my baby sister." I looked down at my feet. The way he said it made me sound like an awful person. "As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't even be around her if you're just going to break her fragile little heart," he stated.

I looked back up to him. "Break her fragile little heart?" I repeated. "Spin is the toughest girl I've ever known. I highly doubt that me dating Ashley A will hurt her that much." I glared at him.

"Um, actually TJ, that might be why Spinelli was in one of her bad moods after you told us about Ashley," Gretchen spoke up.

I pulled the cap off my head. "She's mad?" I asked. Gretchen and Vince nodded.

Joey grabbed me by the shoulders. "If you think she's mad, you're greatly mistaking. She may seem like she's made of stone, but she isn't. She is just a little girl underneath. The last time you did something that hurt her, she acted all angry and tough until she got home and locked herself in her room." I gulped, and Joey continued. "She locked herself in for twelve hours, and I had to hear my little sister cry."

"You're lying," I said to him.

"If you don't believe me, ignore her the rest of the day, then go to her window tonight and see for yourself."

My eyes widened. "How did you know about that?" I asked. No one was supposed to know about that except me and Spinelli.

"How do you think TJ? Last time you hurt her feelings, after she finally came out of her room, she came crying to me! She was asking me to trade rooms with her so she wouldn't need to see you!"

I felt horrible. Here I thought I knew everything about her. I thought I could protect her, but I couldn't. I was the one who hurt her.

"See TJ? She's better off with me." I looked over to glare at Vince, who was smirking.

"And you," Joey pointed at Vince, "you're no better." Vince's smirk fell. "Ash told me about you taking some memory card that had an embarrassing picture of her on it. She said that she asked you for it, but you sold it to some girls who hate her. I heard you say that you love her as well. That isn't love, it's hate. No wonder she beat the shit out of you, I'd do the same if given the chance."

No wonder Spinelli always talks about her brother. He protects her more than I ever could.

"Joey, what brings you here?" I turned around to see Mr. Kelso.

"Hey, Mr. K. I saw these two fighting, and I thought I would help break it up." Joey moved to smack me and Vince in the back of the head.

"Ouch." I rubbed the sore spot on my head.

"Apologize to Mr. Kelso for fighting in front of his establishment," Joey commanded us.

Vince and I both nodded and replied, "sorry Mr. Kleso."

Joey returned his glare to me. "And you had better apologize to Ash."

"Joey!" Spinelli ran out of the building, and punched her brother in the arm. "I thought you were in jail again!" she yelled.

Joey rubbed his arm and replied, "what, no 'nice to see you again Joey?'"

Spinelli rolled her eyes. "Hi Joey, nice to see you again. I thought you were in jail again!" she rushed her words.

"Cool it Ash. I got out this morning for good behavior."

Spinelli jumped on her brother and hugged him. "Don't go back there! I need you at home, and you need to go with mom and dad to Italy for Christmas! Nonna e il Nonno non sarebbe piaciuto se si fosse andati tornare in prigione durante le vacanze!" (1)

Me, Vince, Gretchen, and Mr. Kelso all stared at Spinelli. I knew she spoke Italian, but I never heard her use it before.

"Does anyone else here speak Italian?" I asked. Everyone shook their heads.

"I honestly don't plan on going back to jail. Why aren't you coming with us again?" Joey asked her.

Spinelli sighed. "Non posso lasciare i miei amici alle spalle. E non posso assolutamente lasciarlo. Vorrei andare se non avevo bisogno di preoccuparsi per lui, ma non posso fare a meno di fare proprio questo. Se me ne vado, c'è la possibilità che lui sarà con qualcuno quando torniamo, e non posso rischiare di perderlo." (2)

"Ah, I see. Oh yeah, before I forget," Joey grabbed me by the collar of my shirt as he continued, "call this idiot tonight. He has something to apologize for."

Spinelli scratched her head as she replied, "um, okay... why?"

"Ash, everyone out here has already put two and two together. Except him." Joey lifted a finger and pointed at me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

Joey shook his head. "Damn you two are dense. Ash knows what I'm talking about, right sis?"

Vince cleared his throat. "Um, TJ, Spinelli?"

Spinelli and I both looked at him expectantly. "There's something I need to tell you guys."

Gretchen slapped her hands over his mouth. "No, Vince not now!"

Vince pushed her hand away. "Gretch, they have a right to know."

Gretchen sighed and nodded for him to continue.

"You remember the first day of school right?"

My face heated up, but I nodded.

"Okay, well, you see the reason that I took those pictures, was so that I could make a bet with other people in town. I knew that if I sold the memory card to the Ashley's, the picture would circulate, and get more people involved. The bet was that you and Spinelli would speak to each other about repressed feelings, and get together by Christmas."

I looked over to Spinelli. Her eyes narrowed, and her face was beet red. If I wasn't so dumbstruck and shocked, I'd be laughing at her expression right now, although, she did look like she was about to faint.

"Anyway, I had bet that you would get together, but since I told you about it, I get nothing. Which is fine, because I was going to switch sides anyway."

Spinelli slowly approached him. "Why were you going to switch?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Vince looked her in the eye. I've got a bad feeling about this. "I fell in love with you." He bent over and kissed Spinelli on the lips. I walked back over to him, and swung at his head.

Spinelli's POV.

That jack-assed prick! I pushed Vince away just in time for TJ to miss his head. I stood there, dumbstruck. I felt my left eye twitch.

"Spinelli, are you okay?" Vince asked.

Vince just... I stared wide-eyed at the ground. How could he do that? He took that picture just to start a bet that he just lost, and then he has the nerve to kiss me?

"Spinelli?" he asked again.

I don't think so. He. Is. Fucking. Dead. I glared at him.

"Spinelli, your eye is twitching," Vince said.

I slapped a hand over my left eye, and yelled, "no it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"No. It. Isn't!" I punched him in the face. I pushed past Vince, Gretchen, Joey, and TJ, and ran home.

Stupid jerks! 'Everyone out here has already put two and two together.' 'I fell in love with you.' 'Spinelli, your eye is twitching.' I kept hearing those voices over and over. Why won't they stop?

"Wait, Ash!" I heard Joey call.

I couldn't. I couldn't stop running. I ran as fast as I could until I reached my house. I opened the door, and ran straight to my room. I felt sick to my stomach, and tears streamed down my face. Vince loves me, but I love TJ. Why is this happening to me? I slid down my door, and pulled my knees to my chest. Why would he do that to me? I heard the sound of gun shots rang through my ears. I jumped up and ran toward my window. In the street was my brother, laying there, in pool of blood.

A/N: Finished, this is the end of this fic. Thank-you to all of my readers, I love you all! I know, this ends abruptly, but it's necessary for the sequel. (If enough people want to read it, I will start writing it a.s.a.p.) Translations: (1) Grandma and grandpa wouldn't like it if you went back to jail during the holidays. (2) I can't leave my friends behind. And I definitely can't leave him. I would go if I didn't need to worry about him, but I can't help but to do just that. If I leave, there's a chance that he will be with someone when we get back, and I can't risk losing him.