Just Between You and Me

Paige: Gimme a S!!!!

All: S, we got that spirit, that spirit!!!!

Paige: Gimme a P!!!

All: P, we got that punch, that punch!

Paige: Gimme an I !!!!!

All: I, we got that itchy motivation!!!!!!

Paige: Gimme a R!!!!!!

All: R, we got that, respect!!!!!

Paige: Gimme an I !!!!!

All: I, we got that itchy motivation!!!

Paige: Gimme a T!!!!!!!

All: T, because we're totally the best!!!!

All: Go panthers!!!!!!!

Manny finished the cheer with a toe-touch.

"Paige, that was torture! It's like a billion degrees out!!!" She complained. Paige rolled her eyes.

"Here," She handed Manny a bottle of water. "Now stop acting like such a baby, Manny, besides, you need to work off a few of those pounds." Manny ignored Paige's comment and looked around. A few feet away she saw a figure walking across the field, with a camera around his neck. Craig!

"I am so over. I'll see you Friday, Paige." With that Manny rushed off near Craig. Act like you don't notice him. Wait for him to say hi, act cool, act mature, don't mention being WiltedRose.

"Manny, hey!" Manny turned her head to find Craig running towards her.

Mature, mature, mature. She chanted to herself.

"Hey Craig, what's up?"

"Nothing, I just, wanted to say, hi."

"Oh, hi. I got your email by the way."

Don't mention the Internet! Especially email!

"Oh, yeah. Um, are you okay?"

"What? Okay, yeah. We're friends, right?" Before he could answer she ran towards the school and to the locker room.

"Hey, mom." Manny said cheerfully entering the kitchen to find her mother flipping through one of her cookbooks.

"Hey, baby, how was practice?"

"All right, it was super hot though, so I quit early."

"Good, I don't want my Manuella passing out because of the heat. Now, go wash you hands, you can help me with dinner."

"Yes, mom." Even helping her mother with dinner couldn't dampen her mood. She'd talked to Craig, not as WiltedRose, but as herself! And she hadn't acted immature!

Her room was right across the hall from the bathroom. Checking my email won't take too long. Mom can wait. She logged onto her Smileygurl account. 2 new messages

Sparklespaz- Hey best friend

Advertisement- Love put a spell on you?

Manny clicked on Emma's email.

Manny,

Hey, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right now, but I really miss having you around. You've been my best friend for like ever, and I really want to know what's up.

Emma

You can't ignore your best friend forever. She thought clicking the reply button.

Em,

Hey Emma. I'm sorry about how I've been acting. Listen, I hope you're online right now. If you can, meet me tomorrow at my locker around 7:30. I know you're an early bird, so this won't be too hard 4 u. See ya!

Manny

She reread her message then sent it.

"Manuella Santos! You've been up there for twenty minutes! Get down here and help me with dinner!"

"Oops!" Manny signed off and went downstairs.

[x]

"Emma!" Manny walked quickly to her locker to find her best friend waiting impatiently next to it.

"You're 6 minutes late."

"Only, six minutes. So, what's up?"

"Nothing, but I'd like to know what's up with you?" Manny sighed.

"I know, I've been acting kinda distant lately, and I'm really sorry, it's just, Craig really hurt me, and pushing everybody I cared for out of my life for a while helped me deal. I'm really sorry for hurting you. Best friends?"

"Like I'd ever find a better one. Come on, let's got to the school store, they just got some new pens in with a different endangered animal on them. I was checking on the Internet last night, I found this site on...."

Manny tuned out. Everything's back to normal. Kind of.