"Are you kidding? They rock," Ashley said, smiling. "I was going to buy their C.D, but I have zero money."

Craig nodded in understanding as the two rounded a corner in the hallway. "I bought it. I'll burn it for you."

Ashley smiled. "Isn't that illegal?" Craig smiled sheepishly.

"If you don't tell, I won't," he said. Ashley nodded in agreement. Craig glanced at her, pleased to see that she was smiling. Craig couldn't believe it.

Craig still couldn't believe that he and Ashley were actually…friends. It was nice. Craig realized how much he had actually missed Ashley. She appreciated good music like he did, she was easy to talk too, and she didn't pull that fake crap that so many other girls pulled. He also hadn't realized how much easier it was to hang out with a girl when they weren't dating.

Craig shrugged his book bag higher up onto his shoulder, when suddenly, someone brushed past him, and a whiff of perfume floated past. Apples. Manny always smelled like apples. She glided by him, gently grazing his shoulder, and giving him a meaningful, piercing look. Craig stopped and turned slightly to watch her go.

"Craig?" he heard after a minute. He turned to see Ashley staring at him.

"Uh…yeah. Right. I'll…I'll burn you that C.D," Craig said quickly, shaking his head. Ashley nodded slowly, giving him an odd look.

"Ok."

Craig swallowed hard and gestured down the hall. "We better hurry. We'll be late."

  Roxie shivered as she hugged her jean jacket tighter around herself. It was getting colder outside, and Roxie desperately missed the warm weather. She hurried to catch up with Craig, who was walking on the sidewalk in front her.

"You walk slow," Craig said, as Roxie hurried up to his side.

"I thought you said you live close," she snapped, shivering again. "I could have been to China by now."

"You can stop complaining now," Craig said, gesturing to a house up ahead. "That's my house."

Roxie nodded and hurried up to the front door. She waited for Craig, and then turned to see he was heading around the side. She sighed and followed him.

"So, you play the guitar?" Craig asked as the headed to the garage. Roxie shrugged.

"Well….is wanting to be able to the play the guitar the same thing?" she asked, and Craig smiled.

"Well, I just got this great new black one. It's awesome," he said, pushing open the garage door. Roxie nodded and followed him in. As she stepped inside, she was surprised to see a dark haired girl sitting on the couch. When the girl spotted them, she jumped up.

"Manny!" Craig said, clearly surprised. "I…uh…I thought," he began, and then he stepped closer to Manny and lowered his voice. "You weren't coming over…today." 

Roxie stared at the girl, glancing her up and down. Who was she? Roxie wondered, vaguely remembering seeing the girl around the halls. She glanced at Craig.

"I didn't know you were…having company," Manny said slowly, staring at Roxie.

"Yeah, well…I didn't know you were going to be here. We just came to check out my new guitar," Craig explained.

Manny nodded. "That's cool."

There was minute of silence, and Roxie loved the fact that Craig totally hadn't introduced her. She nudged Craig in the arm and then smiled at Manny. "HI! I'm Roxie, in case you were wondering."

Manny didn't exactly smile, but she nodded. "I'm Manny. And…I'm going to leave now." She looked at Craig. "Call me," she said, quietly, and then walked out the door. Craig watched her go.

"Well, nice to meet you, too," Roxie said, rolling her eyes. "Bye."

 Craig, who had watched Manny go, turned to Roxie quickly.

"Don't tell anyone about this," he said urgently. Roxie made a face.

"Oh, damn," Roxie said sarcastically. "I was just going to grab the phone book and call everyone to inform them about this little encounter." She thought it was funny, but apparently, Craig didn't.

"I'm serious," he said. "This is just between….us."

Roxie didn't know exactly what was going on, but she shrugged. "What-are you having a passionate, secret affair?" she asked, walking over to the couch. Craig sighed and followed.

"Something like that," he mumbled.

   Manny hurried up her staircase, frowning. The little incident in Craig's garage had left her uneasy. What was Craig doing, inviting Roxie over? Manny frowned harder. She had thought surprising Craig would be a good idea-after all; they had been secretly seeing each other for almost a month. She wasn't really the jealous type, but she had most definitely not expected Craig to walk in with some pretty blonde girls at his heels. She knew Craig wasn't seeing some other girl, because Manny knew he wouldn't make that mistake twice. Still…it bothered her. She should be hanging with Craig right now, not Roxie.

Manny walked to her room, noticing that the sun was just setting. She pushed open the door to her dark room, walked in without turning on the light, and headed straight for her closet. She pulled it open, and began to slip off her jacket. Suddenly, she heard a scuffle behind her, and she froze. Someone was in her room. Manny slowly reached for a shoe. Just pick up the show slowly….and turn. Manny hurled the shoe at the dark figure standing on the other side of her bed.

"Damnit! Did you have to throw a shoe?" she heard the shadowy figure say. Manny hurried over and flipped on the light. Standing next to her bed was Carter, rubbing his forehead and frowning.

"Carter? What are you doing here?" Manny asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, you haven't talked to me in a month, Manny. You have to let me explain. You won't even let me get near you, though. So I thought I'd come over here," he pointed out. Manny thought for a minute. She remembered one time when Carter had spotted her in the hallway, and had headed over to her. Manny had ducked into the nearest bathroom-unfortunately, it had been the boy's bathroom. After a few embarrassed apologies, Manny had ducked out and had hurried down the hall, away from Carter. Manny cringed thinking about it.

"So you could scare the hell out of me?" Manny snapped, shaking her head. "Good plan."

"No! So you'd actually talk to me. I'm not leaving until you let me explain."

"Fine. You have a minute, and then you better get the hell out."

"Ok. You of all people know I'm not really good with words… At the party, you left me in the bedroom, right? Then, all of the sudden, Paige just wanders in, and starts talking to me. I was trying to be polite, you know? So I let her talk, but I wasn't really listening. I was thinking about you. Then, all of the sudden, she kissed me. Then you walked in….You know I don't even like Paige. She kissed me," Carter said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed. "I love you, Manny."

Manny felt her heart melt, and she dropped her hands limply to her side. "You do?"

Carter smiled. "Of course. You're amazing, Manny. This month has been hell without you."

Manny bit her lip, thinking about her month without Carter. Images of kissing Craig flashed through her mind, and she shook her head firmly. Should she tell him? No. Now was definitely not the time.

"So…can u forgive me?" Carter asked, taking a tentative step toward her. Manny nodded slowly and stepped toward him. Carter quickly wrapped his arms around her, and they hugged. Manny buried her face into his shoulder, wondering if he could feel the guilt radiating from her body. She had been angry at Carter for one little kiss with Paige, but all the while she had been doing a lot more with Craig. She was such a hypocrite!

"I love you, Manny," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she murmured, not quite sure if it was true.