Manny was strolling down the hallway happily. She entered the girls' washroom and walked over to the mirror. As she began to reapply her lip-gloss, sobs emitted from the stall behind her. With a frown, Manny knocked on the stall door quietly. "Hey, are you okay?" The girl mumbled in response, so Manny quickly dug through her purse and pulled out a tissue. "Sweetie, could you open the door, please?" She heard the door unlatch. It was pulled back to reveal her best friend's tear stained face. Manny instantly pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back soothingly. "Oh Emma, what happened? What's wrong?"
"Jay…he…" Emma stammered in between sniffles.
"He what?" Manny questioned with concern, trying to get her friend to open up.
Emma pulled out of Manny's embrace and took the tissue offered to her, wiping the tears away. She tried to compose herself as best as she could before continuing. "This morning he was kicked out of school."
"What?" Manny asked dramatically. Emma could tell that she was truly shocked at the news. "Why, Em?"
"P-peter h-he forced m-me into the b-boys' washroom yesterday…" Emma looked down at the ground uncomfortably and could feel her eyes begin to fill with tears once again.
"He what?" Manny demanded. "Oh, I can't believe this! He just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" she wondered aloud. "You'd think he'd stay away after that lesson we taught him the other day…"
Emma's ears perked up at that statement. She looked directly into Manny's eyes, silently pleading for an explanation.
"Look, Em, I'm sorry. I should've told you before, but I didn't want to concern you. You were so happy with Jay."
Anger started to rise within her small shell of a body. "What are you talking about, Manny?" Emma asked a bit on edge.
"I knew, well we knew, that Peter wanted to break up you and Jay so that he could have you all to himself. We never thought he was capable of this…" she tried to explain.
"You knew? You knew and you didn't tell me!" Emma took a deep breath and stepped forward angrily. "And who is 'we'?"
Manny nervously ran her hands through her hair. "Alex, she knew, too. I'm so sorry, Em; I really thought we handled him." An uncomfortable silence washed over the girls. Manny was the first to break it. "I'm assuming that he is responsible for Jay's sudden school departure?"
Emma nodded. "In the washroom, Jay was there. He stopped Peter from...whatever he was going to do and gave him a broken nose in the process. Peter told his mom some bogus story, so she kicked Jay out. Mrs. H doesn't believe our side of what happened yesterday."
Manny took a moment to process this information. Suddenly a huge grin overtook her lips. "I can help you."
"Yeah, how?" Emma replied as she wiped away her last tear.
"Come on, I have something to show you…" Manny grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the stall. She took a brief moment to text Alex before leading Emma to the library.
--
Emma couldn't stop grinning. She looked away from the screen, back to Manny and Alex, whose smiles matched her own. "Wow, I can't believe that you guys did that, especially you, Alex. That took some guts."
"So, did you like it?" Alex asked hopefully.
"Honestly, I'm not sure I can say yes. After all, it's a tape condemning my relationship, but I think this is just what we need to get Jay back at Degrassi."
"Damn straight," Alex replied excitedly as she reached over and slapped her palm. She also gave Manny a high five and pulled her in for a hug.
Emma watched the exchange curiously. She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. "Now if only he'd stop being such a butthead…"
"Only a personality change could solve that problem," Manny scoffed sarcastically and then added, "Peter so won't let that happen."
Emma shook her head, "No, not Peter; he's way beyond help. I was referring to Jay."
"What do you mean, Em? He was just kicked out of school!" Manny asked extremely confused.
"He was so angry this morning that he left in a hurry. What if he decides to run from his problems like Sean and I never see him again?"
Alex pulled up a chair and swung it around so she could straddle it and lean her arms across the back. "That won't happen," she replied simply, yet with certainty.
"How do you know?" Emma asked.
"Experience, duh," Manny answered as she rolled her eyes.
"Nice Santos, real smooth," Alex replied to the brunette sarcastically. She leaned closer to the blonde. "Emma, Jay does a lot of things without ever thinking them through. But one thing he won't do is abandon those he cares about. He left this morning in a fit because he was royally pissed off, but I wouldn't say he's gone for good. You see, Jay's a pest: he'll stick around for as long as you'll put up with him. In this case, Blondie, I'd say he's in for the long hull. Give him time, he'll come around."
Emma sent the older girl a genuine smile. "Thanks, Alex, for everything. You too, Manny. I owe you both big time."
"Yeah, you do," Manny teased. "So, we'll have the tape ready to go first thing tomorrow morning. Let's meet in front of Mrs. H's office during homeroom."
"Cutting class? Santos, you're such a rebel," Alex joked with a smirk, causing Manny to blush slightly. Both Emma and Alex laughed at her pink cheeks.
"Shut up! Ladies, I have spirit squad practice in five minutes, so I'll see you in the morning, Alex. Emma, if you decide to actually come home tonight," she paused to wink, "I'll see you at dinner."
It was now Emma's turn to blush. Alex put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I've gotta split, too. No worries, right?"
Emma nodded and watched both girls exit the library. This had better work, because I'm falling, Jay. Hard.