Putting on a fake smile is hard, Emma found out the next day. Manny found it equally as hard. Though she would deny it publicly, she blamed herself for Manny's situation. She felt so alone. For Manny, though she saw her friends and family, behind her eyes she saw her nightmare repeating over and over again. She felt so alone. Two friends so close, felt so far...

"Apart her completely bitchy attitude, you mean, Ter?" Ashley asked. She lay on her bed after school. "Maybe she's just sad?" Terri offered. "Why would she be?" Ashley asked. "You know, Manny Sanchez?" "Yeah, so." "She was shot on Sunday." "Oh my gawd!" Ashley was shocked, but she was only partly listening. Craig's lips were still indelibly printed in her brain. "She's all right though?" "Yeah, but she is in the ..."

"...hospital is okay, but I can't wait to leave," Manny answered to Ellie's question "how do you like it hear. An awkward silence followed. "Well I'm going to go get some snacks from the store," said Mrs. Santos. "I'll go to!" volunteered Emma eagerly, "Ellie?" "No, I'll keep Manny company." Mrs. Santos smiled, "Thank-you Ellie. We'll be back as soon as we can." Mrs. Santos and Emma stood up and left the room "So," Ellie said breaking an awkward silence, "What's wrong?" Manny looked like she was choking and she sputtered, "What do you mean?" "I can tell," Ellie said without looking at Manny face, "something's wrong. What is it?" "Well I...it was," Hot tears streamed down Manny's face. "It was so scary," she whimpered, "he had the gun to my head." "WHAT?! HE WAS HERE!!" Ellie was about to get up and alert the hospital when Manny spoke up. "No," she managed to choke out. Ellie turned back to look at her. She waited impatiently for Manny to compose herself enough to say words. "I mean...I was dreaming...I mean...I don't know." At this point she broke into tears. Ellie waked to the bedside. "It's okay, Manny. You had a nightmare. That's understandable. Manny sniffled, "Thanks for staying." "This is hard on Emma too, she feels responsible for this, she cares for you a lot." Now more words were necessary. Ellie wrapped her arms around...

"Manny Santos got shot!" Ashley said to Spinner.
When all she got was silence, she clarified.
"She's one of Toby's friends."
Nothing.
"She's the one you were making fun of at the beginning of last year," Terri helped
"Blonde or brunette?" Spinner asked.
"Brunette," said Ashley sounded exasperated.
"Oh" It took a moment sink in, "Oh! Shit! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she should be back in a day or so."

At that moment Jimmy walked by. He didn't even slow down. "Jimmy?!" Ashley ran after him.
"What's up?" she said. He didn't stop. "I said What's up," She put her hand on his shoulder.
He spun around. "I don't know, why don't you tell me, slut!"
Her hand dropped, "Wha?!"
" I saw you with Craig." Ashley gasped.
"Jimmy, I wasn't...He just..."
"I don't want to hear any of that crap! I saw you! I don't know why I thought you changed!" He turned and left.
"What happened?" asked Terri as she and Spinner caught up with Ashley. So she told them. She told them everything. Starting with detention , why she got it, what she did while she was there. They hung onto every word as she neared the climax. Ashley herself was fight back tears while she explained. Then she told them about Craig, how he helped her with her books and kissed her, how she was caught off guard in the awkward situation, how she thought she'd seen someone by the door of a brief second. Pausing every so often to take short, shallow breaths. "Damn!" Spinner thought out loud,, "the one day I'm not in detention. Terri rolled her eyes and turned back to Ashley, "There's got to be someway to tell him." "He's not going to want to hear it from me." "There's got to be someway to make him believe..."

You couldn't see anything in Manny's room. The lights were off and the blinds and door were closed. The only thing darker was her demeanor. Words barely escaped her lips. You were lucky to get a grunt or "urmph" in reply, but never more than two or three words at a time. No one pushed it because she had just been through a traumatic experience. She had been released from the ward the previous night. They had reset the bone, allowing it to grow it together. And it was in a cast. There was a knock on the door off her room. A small scream escaped it her lips.. Her mother pushed the door open slightly. She had a tray with soup, crackers, and a glass of juice. "Manuela, hunny, are you okay?" Manny nodded. "Are you su..." "Mom!" Manny yelled. "I'm fine!" Her mom nodded. A crystal tear appeared in the corner of her eye. "Mom. I'm..." But the door had closed behind her mother. "I'm..."

"...sorry it happened too, but it's not your fault," Ellie said to Emma. Emma looked at a spill of ketchup on the floor to avoid Ellie's gaze. A tear splashed on the red stain.
"Yes, it is. It was my idea to go to the movies in the first place. She wanted to go to the fair."
"But you could have nev..."
"But I did. That's the point, Ellie, I did. I even chose the time."
"No, it's not your..."
"It is my fault. It is. It is. It is my...

"...fault," Ashley complained.
"Ashley, you didn't kiss him...," Terri reasoned.
"But I didn't stop him," Ashley shot back.
Tears clouded her vision so all she saw was dirty blonde, mixed with the blue of the lockers.
"Terri," she whispered, "I miss him. I miss him so much.
"Talk to him," Terri encouraged.
"He doesn't want to hear it from me!" Ashely whined.
"You're right, but maybe he'll listen to..."

"Spinner, it's bullshit is what it is!" Jimmy yelled as he walked quickly down the hallway. The last bell had rung and he had detention that day, which made his mood even more sour. Spinner was straining
"Dude, just listen to her."
No, Spinner, she's a bitch!"
"It's not her fault."
"Then what? He just kissed her!"
"Duh!"
They walked past Craig who was transporting books from his locker to his backpack "Ashley Kerwin is a slut, Spin, a dirty fuckin' slut. Slam! A science book hit the ground. Spinner and Jimmy spun around.
Craig was staring at the ground. "Watch what you say about Ashley," he said in a controlled tone.
"What'd you say?!" Jimmy asked. "Dude, for get it," said Spinner clapping his hand on Jimmy should. Jimmy shrugged him off. "No, no, Spinner, I wanna hear what Ashley's new "One night stand" has to say!"
"Shut up."
"It's true, you know."
"Shut up."
"By tomorrow she'll have another..."
"Shut up!"
Craig was on Jimmy before he knew what was happening. Craig flung himself at Jimmy slamming him into the row of lockers. "What the fuck!" Jimmy kneed Craig in the chest and released himself from Craig's grip. He got hold of Craig and threw him to the ground. You could hear the smack as Craig hit back collided with the ground. Craig launched his foot into Jimmy's shin.
A crowd was gathering around them as Spinner tried to be the voice of reason, the voice of reason without injury. "Com' on, guys! Stop..."

"...going on over there?" Terri asked changing the subject. She pointed to a huddle of people further down the hall near the entrance to the detention room.
"Huh?" Ashley asked completely negligent to her surroundings. She followed Terri's finger to the point of interest. They walked over. As they got closer, they could hear cheering and yelling.
Terri dug her nails into Spinner's arm and pulled him aside. "What is
going on here?" she hissed. He yanked his arm out of her grasp. "It's
Jimmy and Craig, they're fighting."
"About what?" asked Terri though she knew the answer.
"You," he said pointing his finger at Ashley. She gasped.