Somewhere Out There
Chapter 3: Perfect
"She's perfect," Ashley muttered to Ellie. "Absolutely undeniably perfect. She's everything I can't be. If she says one more sickeningly sweet thing or does one more unselfish act, I swear I'll hit her. There is no way a person can be like that. It's so wrong." Katie was sitting at Spinner's desk helping him with his Geometry homework in the middle of Armstrong's classroom.
"Whoa, Jealous much?" Ellie asked.
"You're completely wrong. I'm actually quite worried about her. There's no way a person can be so perfect to everyone and still be in good health."
"Ash, look, now you have competition. It's only in school. People can be friends with more than one brainiac, you know."
"Really, El? Because that looks like Jimmy trying to hit on Katie. My ex-boyfriend, if you've forgotten."
"So she's feeding off of your table scraps. It's not like you're into Jimmy, anyway."
"Not the point, El. Maybe I don't want to see Hazel get hurt."
"Hazel's living her wonderful life with Sully. Listen, Ash, come back to me when she actually does something wrong."
"Her whole life is wrong," Ashley sneered under her breath as Ellie walked away.
Scene: Craig's homecoming
Everything about this place felt different to Craig Manning. He was about to break free, and go live with his uncle in beautiful Syracuse. He could get famous. He loved saying that. He ran to tell Joey about the offer, and that he had made up his mind about staying, and that he was buying the guitar. After a long talk, where Craig agreed to live without a car for a little while and just bum rides from his friends and Nick, Joey agreed to even help Craig with the guitar and called it a belated birthday present.
Craig sat down at the table, scaring Marco. "Hey guys, miss me?"
"Hey, welcome back," Jimmy said.
"Yea, how was the funeral?" Marco asked.
"As well as funeral's go. Hey, who's this?" he asked the guys, but stared at the girl sitting at the table.
"New girl, Katie Watson," Jimmy said. "Giving Ashley a real run for her money." Craig laughed at the joke, but everyone could tell it made him uncomfortable. Katie took it as her cue to leave.
"I forgot, Paige wanted me to help her with a book report during lunch. Sorry," Katie said as she gathered a few things and left.
"Tell my honeybee I miss her!" Spinner said.
"You are so whipped," Marco joked.
"Shut up. So, what's new with you?" Spinner asked Craig. "You look like you're about to burst."
"I am. This is kind of a sucky time to tell all of you, but you'd kill me if I put it off another second." He looked around to see who would all hear the announcement.
"What is it, Manning?" Jimmy asked.
"I'm moving."
"What?" Marco cried, as Jimmy and Spinner sat with confused looks on their faces.
"I'm leaving. I'm moving to Syracuse. And keep it hush hush, please? I don't want Manny, and especially Ash, to feel like they owe me something now that I'm leaving. I'm moving in with my uncle and I'm going to stay there for this year, and maybe next. Depends on how things go."
"Are you insane, Craig?" Spinner asked. "You can't just leave us. It's, no, no you can't. What about the band? What about, everything?"
"Everything is why I'm leaving. And the band, well, this you're really going to kill me about. I met a few guys, and they asked me to join their band. They're actually popular down there."
"Oh, we were popular," Spinner said. "These two clowns just never wanted to play."
"Spin, we were horrible," Marco said and they all started to laugh.
The bell rang and everyone stood up. "I'm serious, though, do not tell anyone. That goes double for you, Spin, do not tell Paige." Spinner's face distorted a little. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay, I won't," he agreed.
Scene: Ms. Kwan's class
Craig took a seat near the back of the room, seeing as how he was early and the only other people in the room were Ms. Kwan and Liberty, who was at the front of the room asking about the report they had due by the end of the week. Soon, the new girl, Katie he thought he remembered someone saying, came in with Ashley right behind her. Ashley saw Craig, and was about to go talk to him, when she saw that Katie was already there. "Jimmy and Spinner don't have English now," she started, "and Marco isn't here yet. Do you mind if I...?"
"It's not taken," he said, friendly enough.
"Thanks," she said. After a few moments pause, she started again. "Everyone at Degrassi seems really nice. The teachers especially! I think I might fit in here alright."
"Where are you from again?" Craig asked, trying to keep polite conversation, although his internal monologue was running a thousand words a minute and it was hard to keep attention.
"Georgia," she answered.
"You're a peach, then?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" she said startled. "Oh," she said remembering the nickname 'Georgia Peach.' "Yup, sure am."
"You hardly have an accent," he remarked.
"I was born in Canada. We left here when I was about 7 or 8, I imagine. Mom could never get used to America the way she had hoped. So we moved back."
The bell rang, interrupting their simple conversation, and saving Craig. He started to think about that. What if he couldn't get used to America? How different could it be?
Scene: Simpson's class
A message popped up on Emma's screen interrupting her research. "We should talk," the message read. She half expected it to be an apology from Sean, God knows she deserved one, but when she checked she saw that the name was Manny's. "About time," she almost said out loud. She turned around. JT was busy watching Toby with Sean. She was hoping Toby wasn't teaching Sean how to hack into a computer, but she wouldn't put it past them. Toby was really striving for attention lately, and Sean would give him that much for easy access to Raditch's computer.
Emma made her way to the back of the room and plopped down next to Manny in an open chair. "Emma, I can't believe the way I acted last year. That's not who I am, you know that. I mean, I was just looking for love, in all the wrong places. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. And you were right."
"Really? You're not just setting me up for something?" Em asked.
Manny giggled a little. "No. I'm over all the drama. I have JT now, and I guess I could hang out with Paige and Hazel, if I really wanted to, but I miss having that friendship with someone. When Jt wants to hang out with the guys, I don't have anything to do. When we're fighting, I don't have anyone to confide in. I guess what I'm saying is, I hope you can take back what you said last year. I know I do."
"Of course I do, Manny. I'm sorry, too. I guess I shouldn't have waited for you to speak up first, but that's just how I am. I'm so glad you did, though. This past summer has been rough on all of us, and I think, as a grade, we should start over. Agreed?"
"Yes. Agreed."
Chapter 3: Perfect
"She's perfect," Ashley muttered to Ellie. "Absolutely undeniably perfect. She's everything I can't be. If she says one more sickeningly sweet thing or does one more unselfish act, I swear I'll hit her. There is no way a person can be like that. It's so wrong." Katie was sitting at Spinner's desk helping him with his Geometry homework in the middle of Armstrong's classroom.
"Whoa, Jealous much?" Ellie asked.
"You're completely wrong. I'm actually quite worried about her. There's no way a person can be so perfect to everyone and still be in good health."
"Ash, look, now you have competition. It's only in school. People can be friends with more than one brainiac, you know."
"Really, El? Because that looks like Jimmy trying to hit on Katie. My ex-boyfriend, if you've forgotten."
"So she's feeding off of your table scraps. It's not like you're into Jimmy, anyway."
"Not the point, El. Maybe I don't want to see Hazel get hurt."
"Hazel's living her wonderful life with Sully. Listen, Ash, come back to me when she actually does something wrong."
"Her whole life is wrong," Ashley sneered under her breath as Ellie walked away.
Scene: Craig's homecoming
Everything about this place felt different to Craig Manning. He was about to break free, and go live with his uncle in beautiful Syracuse. He could get famous. He loved saying that. He ran to tell Joey about the offer, and that he had made up his mind about staying, and that he was buying the guitar. After a long talk, where Craig agreed to live without a car for a little while and just bum rides from his friends and Nick, Joey agreed to even help Craig with the guitar and called it a belated birthday present.
Craig sat down at the table, scaring Marco. "Hey guys, miss me?"
"Hey, welcome back," Jimmy said.
"Yea, how was the funeral?" Marco asked.
"As well as funeral's go. Hey, who's this?" he asked the guys, but stared at the girl sitting at the table.
"New girl, Katie Watson," Jimmy said. "Giving Ashley a real run for her money." Craig laughed at the joke, but everyone could tell it made him uncomfortable. Katie took it as her cue to leave.
"I forgot, Paige wanted me to help her with a book report during lunch. Sorry," Katie said as she gathered a few things and left.
"Tell my honeybee I miss her!" Spinner said.
"You are so whipped," Marco joked.
"Shut up. So, what's new with you?" Spinner asked Craig. "You look like you're about to burst."
"I am. This is kind of a sucky time to tell all of you, but you'd kill me if I put it off another second." He looked around to see who would all hear the announcement.
"What is it, Manning?" Jimmy asked.
"I'm moving."
"What?" Marco cried, as Jimmy and Spinner sat with confused looks on their faces.
"I'm leaving. I'm moving to Syracuse. And keep it hush hush, please? I don't want Manny, and especially Ash, to feel like they owe me something now that I'm leaving. I'm moving in with my uncle and I'm going to stay there for this year, and maybe next. Depends on how things go."
"Are you insane, Craig?" Spinner asked. "You can't just leave us. It's, no, no you can't. What about the band? What about, everything?"
"Everything is why I'm leaving. And the band, well, this you're really going to kill me about. I met a few guys, and they asked me to join their band. They're actually popular down there."
"Oh, we were popular," Spinner said. "These two clowns just never wanted to play."
"Spin, we were horrible," Marco said and they all started to laugh.
The bell rang and everyone stood up. "I'm serious, though, do not tell anyone. That goes double for you, Spin, do not tell Paige." Spinner's face distorted a little. "I'm serious!"
"Okay, okay, I won't," he agreed.
Scene: Ms. Kwan's class
Craig took a seat near the back of the room, seeing as how he was early and the only other people in the room were Ms. Kwan and Liberty, who was at the front of the room asking about the report they had due by the end of the week. Soon, the new girl, Katie he thought he remembered someone saying, came in with Ashley right behind her. Ashley saw Craig, and was about to go talk to him, when she saw that Katie was already there. "Jimmy and Spinner don't have English now," she started, "and Marco isn't here yet. Do you mind if I...?"
"It's not taken," he said, friendly enough.
"Thanks," she said. After a few moments pause, she started again. "Everyone at Degrassi seems really nice. The teachers especially! I think I might fit in here alright."
"Where are you from again?" Craig asked, trying to keep polite conversation, although his internal monologue was running a thousand words a minute and it was hard to keep attention.
"Georgia," she answered.
"You're a peach, then?" he asked.
"Excuse me?" she said startled. "Oh," she said remembering the nickname 'Georgia Peach.' "Yup, sure am."
"You hardly have an accent," he remarked.
"I was born in Canada. We left here when I was about 7 or 8, I imagine. Mom could never get used to America the way she had hoped. So we moved back."
The bell rang, interrupting their simple conversation, and saving Craig. He started to think about that. What if he couldn't get used to America? How different could it be?
Scene: Simpson's class
A message popped up on Emma's screen interrupting her research. "We should talk," the message read. She half expected it to be an apology from Sean, God knows she deserved one, but when she checked she saw that the name was Manny's. "About time," she almost said out loud. She turned around. JT was busy watching Toby with Sean. She was hoping Toby wasn't teaching Sean how to hack into a computer, but she wouldn't put it past them. Toby was really striving for attention lately, and Sean would give him that much for easy access to Raditch's computer.
Emma made her way to the back of the room and plopped down next to Manny in an open chair. "Emma, I can't believe the way I acted last year. That's not who I am, you know that. I mean, I was just looking for love, in all the wrong places. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. And you were right."
"Really? You're not just setting me up for something?" Em asked.
Manny giggled a little. "No. I'm over all the drama. I have JT now, and I guess I could hang out with Paige and Hazel, if I really wanted to, but I miss having that friendship with someone. When Jt wants to hang out with the guys, I don't have anything to do. When we're fighting, I don't have anyone to confide in. I guess what I'm saying is, I hope you can take back what you said last year. I know I do."
"Of course I do, Manny. I'm sorry, too. I guess I shouldn't have waited for you to speak up first, but that's just how I am. I'm so glad you did, though. This past summer has been rough on all of us, and I think, as a grade, we should start over. Agreed?"
"Yes. Agreed."