*Crash Into You*
Chapter 5: When Friendships Emerge
Manny sat at the edge of her bed and held her pillow close to her. She slowly let her head fall on it as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Her parents had been arguing again, this time about her. Saying that they had failed her and that she was headed down the road to nowhere if she kept it up. She was so sick of them trying to blame their need to denigrate each other on her, trying to use her as an excuse. She laid down on her bed and began to cry even harder. Then the phone rang. Who could that be? she thought. She didn't have many friends anymore, well that is, except for Craig now.
"Hello." she said into the phone.
"Hey." said a bright voice.
"Hey Craig, what's up?" Manny said sounding sad.
"Nothing. What's wrong Manny?" Craig asked suddenly losing the cheer in his voice.
"Nothing... It's just… home." Manny said.
"Oh, that. Do you wanna talk about it now?" Craig asked cautiously.
Manny paused, "Yeah… I think so."
"Alright. Do you want me to come over? It's better in you can actually see me, you know." Craig said and he started to put on his socks.
"My parents are home." Manny said with a sigh.
"Well… I could sneak in. I mean, you did it right?" Craig said as he started putting on his shoes.
Manny laughed, "Ok cool, I'll be waiting at my window. Be careful ok."
"I will. Bye." Craig said smiling widely to himself.
"Bye."
~*~
"Ouch, wait my pants are caught." Craig said as he struggled to climb into Manny's room.
Manny giggled, "What? Where are they caught?"
"On the, the tree, the branch!" Craig said as he pulled at his leg.
Manny began to crack up as she helped tug at it.
"Manny!" Craig said to her as he hug half inside and half outside.
"I'm sorry Craig." Manny said still smiling.
Then finally his leg got free and Craig stumbled into her room and sat down on the floor to examine his pants. Manny sat down beside him and fingered the fabric, "Aww it ripped." she said sincerely.
"It's ok, at least I didn't" Craig said smiling.
Manny smiled back at him, feeling a rush of emotions, and a second later threw her arms around him, "Man, I'm glad you're here."
"I am too." Craig hugging her back.
~*~
"…They always expect me to be perfect!" Manny said to Craig as they lay side by side on her bed, "They think that the stuff I do is bad, but it's not. It's normal! I'm not some wind-up doll."
"Nobody's perfect." Craig added.
"Exactly. But what's even worse than that is that they are always arguing! They never stop, and then they try to use me as their excuse to rip each others heads off. They don't know what it's like to hear them fighting like that. Cause there's no way they can ever do it quietly. With them it's go big or don't go at all, and trust me when they go big they go huge!" Manny said.
"That's not fair to you." Craig said not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah, that's my life." Manny said as she turned over and laid down on her side facing Craig. Her eyes began to water.
Craig smiled at her, he wanted to kiss her so badly. Manny smiled back, then he put his arms around her and held her. "I hope things get better with your parents Manny."
"Thanks Craig." she said as new tears came, "Thanks for listening."
Craig held her tighter, not wanting to ever let go, "No problem. Thanks for telling me."