Angela was released from the hospital four days later. When she arrived home Joey and Craig had a 'welcome home' banner and a plethora of new stuffed animals waiting for her.
Craig spent nearly every waking moment by her side. She still didn't really know what had happened but was thrilled by all the attention. Joey made sure she got plenty of rest but seemed to be back to her old self.
The next week, Craig returned to school. His friends were happy to see him and to hear that his sister was doing so well. Even his teachers were lenient on him making up missed assignments.
When he walked into his first period class, nearly everyone rushed at him, welcoming him back and hugging him. He felt a little overwhelmed but glad at the same time.
"Hey, Craig," Ashley said warmly, hugging him quickly. "Welcome back."
"Thanks."
Ashley returned to her seat when Mrs. Kwan entered the room and told everyone to quiet down. As she talked to Craig, Ellie leaned over to Ashley.
"What was that about? Don't you want his head on a stick?"
Ashley laughed and shook her head. "Not anymore."
"Don't tell me that letter made you change your mind," Ellie replied, raising her eyebrows. "I can't believe you would be taken in by that."
Ashley shook her head. "It was more than that, El. The letter did kinda trigger something though. Everyone makes mistakes. I'm not condoning what he did but."
"Yeah some mistake. He just tripped and fell on Manny, right?"
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Well, remember what I told you about a couple of years ago? When I took E? It kinda got me thinking about that. I had done something completely idiotic and hurt people I cared about. All I wanted was forgiveness and it took forever to get it. I-I guess I just don't want someone else to go through what I went through."
Ellie shrugged. "I guess if that's the way you feel. You don't mind that I still think he's scum, do you?"
Ashley smiled. "Go ahead."

+++

Manny was especially excited to see Craig. Not wanting to horn in on his time with his family, she had only called him once and spoken to him for a few minutes.
As she got dressed that morning, she dug to the bottom of her closet and found a box of clothing. She pulled out her old favorite jeans, well worn and broken-in. Then she put on a tanktop. Hesitating for a second she grabbed a blue button down blouse and put it on over the tanktop, letting it hang open. Letting her hair fall naturally, she put on no makeup and headed downstairs. It was the first day in a long time that she could go downstairs without wearing a long sweat jacket or carrying her makeup in her backpack.
As Manny entered the school, she noticed that she got many less stares than she usually did. The ones that did notice her did double takes, obviously surprised by her new attire.
She tried her best to ignore the whispers as she reached her locker. On the way, she passed by Emma. She continued walking, noting out of the corner of her eye that Emma was staring at her. She went on a few more feet then stopped and turned around.
"Hey, Emma."
"Uh, hey." Emma paused as she was removing a book from her locker.
"Listen, I know you're probably still mad about everything that happened but I've been doing a lot of thinking and I want to talk to you." Manny took a breath, giving Emma a chance to respond.
The blond girl was silent for a long time. "Okay. Meet me after school out at the Dot."
"Great, thanks." Manny continued on her way to her locker, feeling a little better.
The rest of the day went by slowly until she was finally headed to art class. She nearly ran there, and was one of the first students to arrive. She sat in her seat and stared at the door until finally Craig arrived. She saw him scan the room and when his eyes rested on her, a smile lit up his face. He hurried to his seat beside her.
"Hey there."
"Hey, Craig. How are you doing?" Manny couldn't help but think of how cute he looked that day, with his messy brown hair and a blue button down shirt that reflected his eyes.
"Great. Really great."
Suddenly Manny didn't know what to say. She just sat there, awkwardly, hoping something would pop into her head.
"So, um," Craig started, "new look? Well, actually, old look. Actually in between look."
Manny pulled at her shirt self-consciously. "Yeah, well, uh, I thought it was time for a change."
Craig draped his arm on the back of her chair, scooting himself closer to her. "Well I love all your looks." He smiled at her the same way he had done the other day when he told her she was beautiful.
Manny smiled back, relieved. She had always had a small fear in the back of her mind that Craig's affections for her had been superficial. Now she felt confident that they weren't. "So how's Ange?"
Craig's grin widened. "She's doing great. The doctors said that her recovery is going faster than they expected."
They spent the rest of the period chatting about everything they had done over the vacation. The period went by quickly for Manny and she and Craig left the room as slowly as possible.
"I'll talk to you later," Craig said with a slight question in his voice.
"Yeah. Give me a call tonight." Manny watched him go then went off to the rest of her classes with a slight smile on her face for the rest of the day.
After school, she headed straight to the Dot. She found a small table in the back and ordered two vanilla cokes. And then she waited.
After a half an hour, she was ready to give up and leave when Emma finally came through the door. She scanned the restaurant then spotted Manny and hurried over.
"Sorry, I forgot I had a meeting with the coach."
"It's okay. I'm just glad you came."
Both girls were silent for a few minutes, uncomfortable. Then they both began to speak at once.
"Emma I was-"
"Manny, I-"
They both stopped.
"You go," Manny said quickly, curious to hear what Emma had to say.
"Okay, well, I was gonna say that I think that the fact that you made this gesture alone, means a lot to me." Emma played with her straw, looking down into her glass. "The main reason I was so angry with you wasn't because of Craig or anything like that. I-I just thought that you didn't care about our friendship anymore. I felt like what I said or did didn't matter to you."
"Oh Em, that's really not true. You were right. I was getting an ego because of all the attention I was getting. I thought what you said didn't matter at the time, but it does. You are.were my best friend. I guess it just hurt because I knew deep down that what you said was true."
Emma was silent, obviously thinking over what Manny had just said. "So what brought about the change?"
"Huh?"
Emma motioned to Manny's attire. "Your change in style, wanting to talk to me."

Manny wasn't sure if she should tell her, but felt that it was the right thing to do. "Well, to be honest, I realized that that wasn't who I am. I mean, the old me wasn't quite me either. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Still trying to figure it out. But, um, Craig kinda helped me realize that stuff too."
Emma raised an eyebrow and said warily, "Craig?"
Manny couldn't help but smile thinking about him. "Yeah. He-he told me I was beautiful and I dunno, I could tell he meant it as more than what I was wearing."
Emma stared at her. "Are you guys together again?"
"I'm not sure. I think so. I think it's different this time. Besides the fact that he's not with Ash anymore. He makes me feel like.I'm just me and that's okay." Manny paused, waiting for a reaction from Emma.
A smile slowly began to play on Emma's lips. "You love him."
Manny looked away, trying to hold back a giggle. "I don't know."
"Yes you do! You love him!"
Both girls were laughing by now and Manny felt better than she had in months. "Alright, alright I do." Manny was serious again. "But I don't know how he feels about me yet so don't say anything okay?"
Emma nodded. "Of course."
"So.what's our status?"
Emma took a deep breath. "I don't know. It'll take a while to get over everything that's happened." Then she smiled. "But I think we'll get there."
Manny smiled back. It felt good to have her friend again.