Note: Sorry if there are typos, I have a case of Uber-Death-Flu and it's affecting my cognition.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The weekend of Valentine's day was just a few days away, and Alex sighed heavily as she carried a stack of red fliers around the halls of Degrassi. She turned the corner and was relieved by the dazzling face that she saw. Smiling and taking a breath of relief, she walked up next to Manny and Emma as they rummaged through their lockers.

"Hey baby girl," Alex addressed Manny warmly, conveniently ignoring Emma.

Manny smiled excitedly when she noticed Alex. "Hey mama. You ready to walk to the caf?"

Alex rolled her eyes and sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm stuck with Vice Presidential duties during lunch period today." She handed Manny a flier from the top of the stack. "The good works I'm able to do through student government is just never-ending. Think of all the student lives that will be changed for the better by this hokey Valentine's Day dance!"

Manny laughed, gazing over the information on the flier. It was actually exactly the kind of thing Manny drooled over, but she decided not to share that with Alex. "Well bummers, lunch is going to be a complete drag without you."

Emma, feeling a little awkward standing on the outside of the conversation, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you'll be left with no one to talk to but your oldest friend in the world…" she said.

The expression on Alex's face made no acknowledgement of Emma whatsoever. She kept smiling at Manny and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Well hey, I'll holler at you in between sixth and seventh, okay? See ya, boo." She extended her fist, which was bumped by Manny's, and left the two girls to continue plastering fliers to the walls and lockers.

As Manny continued to place her books inside her locker, Emma stared at her in bewilderment. "Well that was… charming," she said, shaking her head. "You and Girl-Crush are getting a little out of hand these days. You're like, attached at the hip. Do you guys ever go more than a few hours without seeing each other?"

Manny giggled and shook her head. "Girl-Crush? I'd say that's a tad dramatic."

"She called you baby girl… and you called her mama."

Manny shrugged. "I think it's cute. You know, Alex is so, like… gangsta. It's super adorable. You'd really like her, Em, if you gave her a chance. She's so cool, and funny… Maybe you should hang out with us sometime."

Emma's eyes widened and she shook her head definitively. "Yeah, I don't think I'm really the person Alex wants to be around. You saw how she just ignored me completely. I'm guessing she has something against people who've gotten STDs from her ex-boyfriend… which isn't totally unreasonable, I guess."

Manny frowned and placed a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder as they shut their lockers and started walking towards the cafeteria. "I don't know, Em, maybe she doesn't even know about that."

Emma eyed Manny incredulously. "Manny, everyone knows. But… you know what, I think I'm moving on. Screw the haters."

Manny smiled. "See, that sounds like something Alex would say."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Riiiight. Well anyway, how do you feel about hanging out after school today? We could go to the mall."

Manny bit her lip. "Ooh, I… I can't. I already promised… Alex. I promised Alex we could hang out today."

Emma sighed. "See what I mean? Girl-crush. I rest my case."

Manny smiled weakly, but couldn't think of anything else to say. Although she did spend a lot of her free time with Alex these days, that wasn't actually the person Manny had made plans with that day. Manny had promised her afternoon to Spinner, who was beginning to get tired of being blown off all the time. But she couldn't tell Emma that. She couldn't let anyone know that she and Spinner were actually dating again. She figured it would be best for everyone if they just kept it a secret.

o o o o o o o o

The biggest flaw in Manny's secrecy plan, of course, was that Spinner wasn't in on it. As far as he was concerned, getting back together with Manny was the biggest breaking news of 2005. He would have broadcast it over a pirate radio station if he knew how. How could he not be beaming with pride? He'd gotten the girl, and this time for good. He smiled at the thought as he had her pinned beneath him on the couch in his apartment, braiding his fingers in her long hair as they made out passionately.

The smoldering bundle of groping teenage skin that was Spinner and Manny was something of a shock to Ellie, who had innocently come home into her own apartment to come face to face with some serious face-eating. She blushed, and tried to walk past them to the kitchen without looking again.

"Um, sorry guys," she said, although she herself was far more embarrassed by the scene that Spinner and Manny ever would have been.

The two dislodged their mouths from one another, taking the disruption as an opportunity to breathe. Manny exhaled and straightened out her hair. Spinner looked at his watch and frowned.

"Wow, time flies I guess," he said with disappointment. "I'd better head out or I'll be late for work." He climbed off the couch and picked up his dirty work shirt from the floor. Casually, he pulled off his shirt to put on his black Dot shirt. It barely fazed Manny, who had pulled her mirror out of her purse to gloss over her post-make-out appearance. Ellie, looking even though she was trying not to look, found herself blushing even harder.

Spinner leaned over Manny and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, baby. You wanna rent a movie tomorrow?"

Manny smiled. "Sure, sweetie."

Spinner grabbed his hoodie from the floor, which in his and Ellie's apartment tended to serve more as shelf-space, and scurried out the apartment door. Manny closed her compact and looked over at Ellie, who was making a sandwich in the kitchen. "So Spin told me you've been working on some songs for the band," she mentioned. "That sounds awesome. I can't wait to start practicing again."

Ellie nodded and joined Manny in the living room. "Yeah, I've got three or four finished already. We could probably start having rehearsals again next week to start learning them…. We'll have a full set by summer time."

Manny squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly. "That's great. This is so much fun."

Ellie tried to match Manny's enthusiasm with her own smile, but something was holding her back. She wasn't as thrilled as she thought she would be about having the whole band working together again. It wasn't that she didn't like Manny, but there was something unappealing about the thought of having to be around her all the time. Having to be around her and Spinner, together. Ellie liked it better when there had been no romance in the air. Just a group of friends, making music. No complications.

Without knocking, the apartment door swung open and Alex walked casually inside. "Free at last!" she announced to the girls, slamming her bookbag on the floor. "I'm pretty sure I put up about two hundred fliers today. I'll be seeing red for weeks. But I brought those CDs you wanted, El." She unzipped her bag and pulled out a stack of CDs for Ellie, and then took notice of Manny on the couch, who she hadn't really expected to see around sans Spinner. "Well hey girl, long time no see."

Manny laughed softly. "Hey."

Alex continued rambling as she took a seat next to Manny. "And you know, I thought the fliers and the planning would be the worst of it, but as it turns out, Marco actually wants me to go to this ridiculous dance to help everything run smoothly. And clean up afterwards. I thought I was in student council, not a party-planning business." She glanced at Manny. "So that means I'm counting on you to make my night not totally suck, baby girl."

Manny frowned. "I don't know. I was thinking I might skip out. I mean, Spinner obviously isn't going to be allowed in, and it's kind of depressing to go to a Valentine's dance without a date."

Alex raised her eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? It's going to be depressing no matter what; it's a school dance. You can't leave me hanging. I'll be your date. It'll be bitchin'."

Manny felt her spirits slowly drift upward. "Okay… sure. It can be a girls night." She looked over at Ellie as well and smiled. "We can all come here and get ready together and do a little pre-gaming and eat chocolates and junk. It'll be awesome. The Uber-Anti-Valentine's Day. No boys allowed."

Ellie winced. "Yeah, no thanks, I'll pass. I mean, you guys are welcome to come over here and get ready, and I'm sure I will hit up those chocolates… but school dances aren't really my thing. Especially ones themed after my least favorite holiday."

Manny pouted. "Aw, come on, it'll be fun. I totally have like, this super-sexy dress that you can borrow. You'll be smokin!"

Alex shook her head in disapproval. "Yeah, come on, El, you know you can't miss Marco's big dance. He'll be heartbroken."

Ellie paused for a moment as she took a bite of her sandwich. "I'm going to be dragged there against my will no matter what, aren't I?"

"Yup," Alex and Manny cooed in unison.

Ellie sighed and nodded. As miserable as it made her to think about spending the entire Friday night at a school dance, she felt even worse thinking about Spinner being left alone.