Economics Notes
Too Hot To Handle
Ch. 2
"See ya, Angie," Craig said as he gave his little sister an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he followed Joey out to the car. It was the start of the second week of school, and already Craig was ready for summer. As he hopped into the driver's side of the car, he replayed the events of yesterday in his mind, remembering over and over again the hopeful look in Ashley's eyes when she had told him she loved him. Why was it so hard for him to say it back? He certainly cared about her and thought about her a lot. Why did he suddenly feel uneasy around her?
"We're picking up Sean, right?" Joey's inquiry jerked him out of his thoughts.
"Right," he murmured, still lost in a haze. When Sean climbed in the back seat, Craig gave his friend the usual manly fist-touching-fist greeting, feeling a little more relaxed now that he had someone to take his mind off these disturbing thoughts. "Hey man, how was your weekend?"
"It was cool," Sean replied nonchalantly. "Hung out at Emma's house with her and Manny on Friday." Craig nearly groaned at the mention of the latter's name. Ever since he had seen Manny on the first day of school the past week, he had been having trouble getting images of her out of his head. The picture of her in that teeny blue tube top had been practically burned into his brain, as were the feelings of lust that went right along with it. He had always thought Manny was pretty, but this new Manny was something else. Something a little scary and exciting at the same time. As always, Craig began to feel guilty at the thought of Manny. How would Ash feel if she knew he was thinking about another girl, like how soft her skin was, how sexy her smile was, how."Damnit", Craig muttered under his breath, earning an odd look from Sean.
When they arrived at Degrassi Community School, Craig and Sean grabbed their things, slung them over their shoulders, and headed inside. The first thing Craig saw was Paige and Spinner making out by the water fountain, and rolled his eyes, hating PDA's. Pretty soon, he spotted Ash making small talk with Terri and Ellie, and she caught his eye and waved. He returned the wave casually, ignoring the feelings of dread in his stomach.
"Sean, there you are," Emma greeted her brooding beau with a soft peck on the lips. "I missed you Saturday." Sean couldn't help but smile as he slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
"Of course you did," he replied jokingly. "Did you stay at home and think about me all night?"
"Yeah, up until about 2 A.M. when Manny and I met some bikers and went for a ride." Craig snapped to attention as he heard Manny's name, and he leaned nonchalantly against the lockers behind him.
"So where is Manny, anyway? I thought you two were attached at the hip or something." Emma poked him in the shoulder in mock disgust.
"I'll have you know that we happen to have lives of our own, thank you. Besides, it looks like Manny is doing okay without me, don't you think?" Craig turned in the direction that Emma was pointing, to find Manny standing by the door to Media Immersion, tucking her hair flirtatiously behind her ear and conversing with two 11th grade boys. One of the guys, a beefy athlete-type, had his hand on her arm and appeared to be rubbing his thumb in circles over her skin. The other guy leaned in and whispered something in her ear, to which she giggled loudly and poked him in the stomach.
At that moment, Manny seemed to sense someone watching her and she looked past the beefy guy's head and directly into Craig's eyes. Craig was so startled that he became momentarily frozen, unable to look away. Since things went down the year before, Manny had scarcely talked to him, save at Spike and Snake's wedding. But at that moment it seemed that a form of silent communication had traveled between them, and though Craig had not meant to tell her anything, Manny had definitely gotten the message. Suddenly, she pushed through the two boys and headed in the opposite direction from where Craig, Sean, and Emma were standing, leaving Craig to watch her walk away with feelings he couldn't identify washing over him. Suddenly, an arm looped through his, and he heard a very familiar voice in his ear.
"Hey babe. Ready for English?" Ashley asked, leaning against his shoulder.
"Uh, yeah, right," he muttered, turning back to say bye to Sean and Emma. But then he noticed the looks on their faces, the identical smirks and raised eyebrows, and he knew that they had witnessed the entire scene.
"Designing your own websites is a very complicated process, so I want you to follow the instructions carefully and try not to get frustrated." Mr. Simpson was explaining the day's assignment to the class while Emma and Manny sized up J.T.'s new look in low whispers.
"I think he looks cute," Manny murmured, noting the shaggy hair that had replaced the previous super-short cut.
"Yeah, it's not bad. I never thought I'd see the day when J.T. would be, dare I say it, mildly appealing?" Manny laughed and turned back to her computer, but something outside the classroom window caught her attention. It was Craig and Ashley, and they were standing by his locker, holding hands. If it had been Emma that had seen them, she probably would have wondered why they weren't in class, but Manny was more interested in the holding-hands part than the minor details. She felt her heart drop as Ashley leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the cheek, earning a small smile from her boyfriend. Even after being dissed and dismissed by Craig last year, a large part of Manny still hoped that he would see the error of his ways and beg her to forgive him. She sighed, a little too loudly, because Emma noticed her sound of dismay and turned in the direction that her friend was looking.
"Craig looks pretty good this year, huh?" she asked casually, and Manny responded with a nod, looking down at her keyboard. "Too bad he's taken, though." Manny couldn't help but throw another glance Craig's way, and she was relieved to see that he was now alone. He did look good, very good in fact. His jeans fit him just right, and his curly brown hair was adorably tousled. Manny had dreamed over and over about running a hand through that hair, but it looked like Ashley had a claim over the whole package now, and Manny thought it better to put Craig out of her mind before she got hurt all over again.
"Sure, Craig's cute. But wait till I show you Eric, the junior I was telling you about. Paige introduced us and he called me last night." but even as Manny launched into detail about Eric's huge biceps and beautiful green eyes, she knew that the only arms and eyes she wanted to think about were Craig's.
Too Hot To Handle
Ch. 2
"See ya, Angie," Craig said as he gave his little sister an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he followed Joey out to the car. It was the start of the second week of school, and already Craig was ready for summer. As he hopped into the driver's side of the car, he replayed the events of yesterday in his mind, remembering over and over again the hopeful look in Ashley's eyes when she had told him she loved him. Why was it so hard for him to say it back? He certainly cared about her and thought about her a lot. Why did he suddenly feel uneasy around her?
"We're picking up Sean, right?" Joey's inquiry jerked him out of his thoughts.
"Right," he murmured, still lost in a haze. When Sean climbed in the back seat, Craig gave his friend the usual manly fist-touching-fist greeting, feeling a little more relaxed now that he had someone to take his mind off these disturbing thoughts. "Hey man, how was your weekend?"
"It was cool," Sean replied nonchalantly. "Hung out at Emma's house with her and Manny on Friday." Craig nearly groaned at the mention of the latter's name. Ever since he had seen Manny on the first day of school the past week, he had been having trouble getting images of her out of his head. The picture of her in that teeny blue tube top had been practically burned into his brain, as were the feelings of lust that went right along with it. He had always thought Manny was pretty, but this new Manny was something else. Something a little scary and exciting at the same time. As always, Craig began to feel guilty at the thought of Manny. How would Ash feel if she knew he was thinking about another girl, like how soft her skin was, how sexy her smile was, how."Damnit", Craig muttered under his breath, earning an odd look from Sean.
When they arrived at Degrassi Community School, Craig and Sean grabbed their things, slung them over their shoulders, and headed inside. The first thing Craig saw was Paige and Spinner making out by the water fountain, and rolled his eyes, hating PDA's. Pretty soon, he spotted Ash making small talk with Terri and Ellie, and she caught his eye and waved. He returned the wave casually, ignoring the feelings of dread in his stomach.
"Sean, there you are," Emma greeted her brooding beau with a soft peck on the lips. "I missed you Saturday." Sean couldn't help but smile as he slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
"Of course you did," he replied jokingly. "Did you stay at home and think about me all night?"
"Yeah, up until about 2 A.M. when Manny and I met some bikers and went for a ride." Craig snapped to attention as he heard Manny's name, and he leaned nonchalantly against the lockers behind him.
"So where is Manny, anyway? I thought you two were attached at the hip or something." Emma poked him in the shoulder in mock disgust.
"I'll have you know that we happen to have lives of our own, thank you. Besides, it looks like Manny is doing okay without me, don't you think?" Craig turned in the direction that Emma was pointing, to find Manny standing by the door to Media Immersion, tucking her hair flirtatiously behind her ear and conversing with two 11th grade boys. One of the guys, a beefy athlete-type, had his hand on her arm and appeared to be rubbing his thumb in circles over her skin. The other guy leaned in and whispered something in her ear, to which she giggled loudly and poked him in the stomach.
At that moment, Manny seemed to sense someone watching her and she looked past the beefy guy's head and directly into Craig's eyes. Craig was so startled that he became momentarily frozen, unable to look away. Since things went down the year before, Manny had scarcely talked to him, save at Spike and Snake's wedding. But at that moment it seemed that a form of silent communication had traveled between them, and though Craig had not meant to tell her anything, Manny had definitely gotten the message. Suddenly, she pushed through the two boys and headed in the opposite direction from where Craig, Sean, and Emma were standing, leaving Craig to watch her walk away with feelings he couldn't identify washing over him. Suddenly, an arm looped through his, and he heard a very familiar voice in his ear.
"Hey babe. Ready for English?" Ashley asked, leaning against his shoulder.
"Uh, yeah, right," he muttered, turning back to say bye to Sean and Emma. But then he noticed the looks on their faces, the identical smirks and raised eyebrows, and he knew that they had witnessed the entire scene.
"Designing your own websites is a very complicated process, so I want you to follow the instructions carefully and try not to get frustrated." Mr. Simpson was explaining the day's assignment to the class while Emma and Manny sized up J.T.'s new look in low whispers.
"I think he looks cute," Manny murmured, noting the shaggy hair that had replaced the previous super-short cut.
"Yeah, it's not bad. I never thought I'd see the day when J.T. would be, dare I say it, mildly appealing?" Manny laughed and turned back to her computer, but something outside the classroom window caught her attention. It was Craig and Ashley, and they were standing by his locker, holding hands. If it had been Emma that had seen them, she probably would have wondered why they weren't in class, but Manny was more interested in the holding-hands part than the minor details. She felt her heart drop as Ashley leaned in and kissed him sweetly on the cheek, earning a small smile from her boyfriend. Even after being dissed and dismissed by Craig last year, a large part of Manny still hoped that he would see the error of his ways and beg her to forgive him. She sighed, a little too loudly, because Emma noticed her sound of dismay and turned in the direction that her friend was looking.
"Craig looks pretty good this year, huh?" she asked casually, and Manny responded with a nod, looking down at her keyboard. "Too bad he's taken, though." Manny couldn't help but throw another glance Craig's way, and she was relieved to see that he was now alone. He did look good, very good in fact. His jeans fit him just right, and his curly brown hair was adorably tousled. Manny had dreamed over and over about running a hand through that hair, but it looked like Ashley had a claim over the whole package now, and Manny thought it better to put Craig out of her mind before she got hurt all over again.
"Sure, Craig's cute. But wait till I show you Eric, the junior I was telling you about. Paige introduced us and he called me last night." but even as Manny launched into detail about Eric's huge biceps and beautiful green eyes, she knew that the only arms and eyes she wanted to think about were Craig's.