Craig walked quickly ahead of Roxie, and Roxie had to run to keep up. "Craig! Wait…what just happened? I thought we were going for pizza?"
Craig sighed and kept walking, but slowed down his pace a little. "Craig, stop!" He did. "Tell me what is going on between you and that Manny girl. We're friends. We shouldn't keep secrets."
Craig sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Fine. You're going to hate me, but I've been seeing Manny for awhile. I didn't tell you. She had just broken up with her boyfriend, but that was him in there. I guess she's been seeing him again, too. Please don't be mad that I was seeing someone and I didn't tell you. But we're…just friends, right?"
Roxie sighed and nodded. "Absolutely. I'm not mad about Manny at all…if you're not mad about me and Spinner." Roxie squeezed her eyes shut and winced. When she opened them, Craig was staring at her, confused.
"You and Spinner? There's a "you and Spinner?"
Roxie nodded slowly. "At the party, we got really drunk. You were there. And we went upstairs, and things got completely out of hand."
"You….and Spinner?" Craig said, sounding hurt. He threw up his hands and shook his head. "Can't girls just be honest and not mess around with everybody?"
"Wait-girls? What about you and Manny? You're not perfect, either, Craig. Ashley told me about how you cheated on her last year, and it looks like you're just doing it-" Roxie said defensively. Craig shook his head angrily and interrupted.
"Ok, you don't have any clue about last year, Roxie. And I'm not even going out with Ashley!" he cried, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Ok, I should have told Ash the truth, but-"
"Then you have no right to be angry at me about Spinner."
"But he's your sister's boyfriend…Don't you feel like a slut?" Craig instantly wished he could take back those words.
Before Roxie knew what was happening, her hand was swinging up, and she slapped Craig across the face. Hard. Craig stared at her in surprise.
"Don't call me that. Don't ever call me that," Roxie said slowly. "That's what my step-father always calls me." Craig stared at her, suddenly feeling horrible.
"Just forget it," Roxie said, holding up her hands. "If you're going to be like this, I'm just going to go back to my house and get a few things, and I'll find somewhere else to stay."
"Maybe you should go," Craig said coldly, before he could stop himself. Roxie shook her head and brushed past him.
Roxie stepped hesitantly into the foyer of her house, and glanced around. The house was dead quiet. Roxie had gone to see how her mother was doing, but she had been unconscious. Then, Craig had kindly offered to take her to get some pizza, but then the whole Manny fiasco had happened, then the damn fight. The worst part was, Roxie didn't even get any pizza! She was starving. But first she needed to grab a few things, and then maybe head over to Ashley's.
She walked into the kitchen, and she suddenly heard a voice. "Slut!"
Roxie whirled around. "Angel!? What are you doing here?"
"I live here. Don't freak out- George and Nick aren't here. Where you have you been?" Angel barked, standing up from her chair. Without waiting for a response, she continued. "Let me guess- one of your boyfriend's houses, you whore?"
"Excuse me? What are you talking about?" Roxie snapped, walking over to the counter and grabbing her book bag, which she had left there.
"I know you slept with Spinner. He told me," Angel said, her voice as cold and threatening as ice. Roxie froze.
"What?"
"He told me. Just a few minutes ago. You're such a slut, screwing my boyfriend."
"Where is he?" Roxie asked. Angel smiled tightly, evilly.
"I sent him somewhere." Roxie didn't like the sound of that.
"Where is he, Angel?" Roxie said, dropping her book bag.
"You remember Andy Grader?"
"The ex-boyfriend that dumped you after he called a "coke-head whore?"
Angel narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Well, Spinner is going to take care of him for me."
"Because he dumped you?" Roxie asked, confused. Angel shrugged.
"I squeezed out a few tears and told him that at the party on Friday, he attacked me and tried to force me to have sex with him. That really pissed Spinner off, and he's going to find him and take care of him."
"Angel, you told Spinner Andy tried to rape you, but all he did was dump you? Are you insane? Spinner could get killed!"
"He cheated on me with you, Roxie. He had to make it up to me," Angel said innocently. "Besides, Andy should never have dumped me. I'm the one who does the dumping. "Roxie stared at her sister in pure amazement. She shook her head and turned to go. "I'm going to find him."
"I'm not done with you!" Angel yelled, grabbing at Roxie's arm. Roxie ducked away and ran through the living room, Angel at her heels. Roxie opened the front door and slammed it behind her. She kept running until she was sure Angel wasn't following her anymore.
Manny sniffed as she wandered down the street. She shivered in the darkness.
After the confrontation with Craig at the pizza restaurant, Manny had returned home, distraught and upset. She had come home to find her parents waiting for her in her bedroom. They had discovered an old stash she had in her closet, and had demanded she get out. They hadn't even let her explain- they had just told her to take some things and leave. Manny had immediately called Emma, and asked if she could come over, not telling her what had really happened. Emma had told her that Spike wouldn't let anyone come over, because Emma's grades were so bad. So Manny had just told her she was going to Groove, a local club.
Now, Manny found herself in front of Groove, a dance club downtown. Manny had gone there before, but she hadn't been there in awhile. Grove was notoriously known for not really caring what age you were. Manny really needed to blow off some steam.
As soon as she walked into the dark, loud club, she heard a voice call her name.
"Manny!" Manny whirled around. It was Sully, her old boyfriend.
"Hey, Sully," she said, still upset. Her walked up and slung his arm around her. Manny smiled weakly, slightly uncomfortable as Sully let his eyes roam over her.
Sometimes she hated it. Sometimes, she didn't want to be Manuella Santos, the girl that all guys dreamed about. She didn't like trying to have a conversation with a guy as they blatantly checked her out. Sometimes, she wished she could just fade into the background. But after all the trouble she had gone to last year to change her image, it had almost become a part of her.
"Manuella. We haven't talked in forever," he said, grinning down at her. "Come on. My friends are over there." He gestured to a small nook with a few couches, occupied with kids that looked like they were Manny's age. Manny smiled and followed Sully over. After a few introductions, Manny sat down next to Sully. He grinned at her.
"We have the good stuff tonight," he said. Manny nodded and saw the assortment of drugs on the table in front of them. "Want?"
Manny bit her lip, and finally nodded. "Of course. I want whatever you have."
Roxie pulled her mother's car into Andy's neighborhood, and glanced around in the darkness. Andy and his crew were always hanging out at the local park, so Roxie decided to try there first. It was a shot in the dark, but Roxie had to find Spinner before he did something stupid. Andy wasn't the guy to mess with.
Roxie hit the brakes in front of the Haven's Park, stopping abruptly. She didn't technically have a license….or her even her temps. But when she had spotted her mother's keys on a table as she had run out, she had snatched them up without really thinking. Roxie knew she would never find Spinner on foot.
Roxie jumped out of the car, and spotted a few shady figures in the distance. Roxie ran toward them, and suddenly, they disappeared, as if they had seen someone coming. Roxie stopped running and sighed, running a hand through her hair. Damn, she thought. I almost-
She stopped when she saw something on the ground- a body. Roxie's mouth fell open, and she slowly stepped toward them. Please don't be Spinner, she begged, hoping someone up there would hear her and answer her silent prayer. But no one heard. The body was Spinner's, bruised and battered, just like her mother had been yesterday. And he was clearly unconscious.
Roxie leaned down to get a closer look, when suddenly someone grabbed her from behind at the waist and dragged her slightly away from Spinner. She gasped.
"Hey, girlie. What are you doing here?" whoever grabbed her said, right into her ear. She struggled, and the two boys laughed.
"Well, well. We better take care of this little one," the other boy said. Roxie scowled.
"Hey. Let her go," another voice said, and after a moment of hesitation, the boy let her go. Roxie whirled around. She grabbed her attacker by the shoulders and delivered a knee right to his crotch. The boy doubled over in pain.
"Roxie? What the hell are you doing here?" Andy asked, walking up. Roxie clenched her jaw and gestured toward Spinner.
"What did you do to him, Andy?!" she snapped. Andy shrugged.
"Look, I don't know who the hell that kid is. All I know was me and my buddies here were just chilling, and this kid came up with another boy and asked which of us was Andy. I said I was, and he just started swinging. The other boy left, but this kid wouldn't leave. I was defending myself," Andy explained. "Who is he, anyway?"
"His name is Spinner. He's Angel's boyfriend."
Andy winced. "Damn. Poor boy. I think I did him a favor."
Roxie shook her head angrily. "Yeah, maybe if he lives." Suddenly, they all heard distant sirens.
"Hey, we got to split," one boy said. "We can't get busted again." With that, the boys hurried off.
"Thanks for your help, jackasses!" Roxie yelled after them. She turned and hurried over to Spinner, and crouched down next to him. At the sight of him, hot tears stung Roxie's eyes.
Please, she thought. Please be ok.