Michelle spent extra time getting ready this morning. Took twenty more minutes doing her hair and make-up, and changed her outfit six times! But for what? Or...for who rather?

"Craig, hi!"

"Hi Craig!"

"Craig…what's shakin'?"

She was practicing ways to say hello to Craig. In her mind, she thought she was crazy, but she ran over various ways of introducing herself this morning. I've has only known him for one day, she thought, but yesterday…he was so nice! And then when I saw him walking home…that was an intense moment. I saw him. I REALLY saw him. Shields down. And I swear he was crying. I know he was crying. Michelle's mom yelled up the stairs.

"Michelle! Breakfast is getting cold!"

Michelle looked in the mirror. No breakfast today.

"Not hungry mom! Be down in a few minutes!"

Alex poked his head in her room.

"Ya know loser, no matter what you do, nothing is going to hide how hideous you are."

Michelle threw a shoe at him and he went away. She looked in the mirror one last time. As good as it gets, she decided. She grabbed her coat and headed downstairs.

"Hey mom, is it time to go yet?"

"Just about! Go get in the car."

"Oh, by the way ma, I'm going to the library after school, I made a friend that can help me catch up in my math class."

"Good for you hunny! Now let's go!"

As Michelle stepped out of the car and stood in front of Degrassi High, she was ready. For real, this time. As she started to climb the steps, she saw Craig, he waved. She smiled. And she started heading in that direction. Until someone grabbed her shoulder and twirled her around.

Craig's eyes got big. Oh no! Ash and Ellie are going to make her HATE ME!! Nooooo!!!! He thought.

"I wouldn't hang out with him, if I were you." Ellie said.

"Hey Ellie. Who? You mean Craig?"

"Yeah, Craig." Piped in the girl standing next to Ellie.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry…do I know you? I'm knew, my name is Michelle."

"Yeah, I know. I'm Ashley. And Ellie's SO right. Don't hang with him."

"Why?"

"Because-"

Ashley never got finish her sentence, because Craig ran up to the three, grabbed Michelle, and pulled her away. He ran a hand through his curly black hair as soon as they got to their lockers. That was a close one! He thought to himself.

"Craig. What. The Heck."

"I'm…sorry? I just uh….wanted to say hey before the bell rang."

"okay, one, the bell doesn't ring for ten more minutes, two, you could say hi to me in homeroom. What's going on?"

Craig looked a bit uneasy, as if he didn't want to say what he knew he had to. He took a deep breath, and attempted to relax.

"Michelle, can we go sit down somewhere?"

"Um, sure."

They went into the Zen Garden where they were the only ones there, and sat on the bench.

"Okay, so the reason I pulled you away from Ash and Ellie was because I didn't want them to tell you anything bad about me."

"Why would they have something bad to say about you? Why would anyone?"

"Michelle, you just met me yesterday. You don't know me very well. Let's just say that…I hurt Ashley last year. Pretty bad."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…"

The bell rings and Craig and Michelle jump.

"Oh my gosh Craig, it is going to take us forever to get to Mr. Simpson's room!"

"We run."

They jumped up and burst through the Zen Garden doors. Racing down the hallway, they were kind of being rude and shoving people out of their way. Turning a corner, Michelle ran into the water fountain and the girl at it. Hard.

"Uh! What's the big idea?" The girl said.

"Sorry!" Michelle yelled as she got up and ran to catch up with Craig.

There were less and less students in the hallway, which meant the bell was going to ring very very soon. Just as it was beginning to ring, Craig could see the door.

"Speed up Michelle!!" He yelled frantically.

Just as they reached the door, Mr. Simpson was about to shut it.

"You guys are late, I shouldn't let you in."

"C'mon Mr. Simpson, the girl is new, it isn't her fault." Someone inside the class said.

"Alright, alright. But not again, okay?"

Michelle and Craig came into the classroom huffing and puffing. Michelle sat down next to Ellie.

"Hey Ellie. You going to be around for lunch?"

"Definitely. I can introduce to um…GOOD people to hang out with. Like I was trying to say earlier, why were you hanging with Craig?"

"Well, his locker is next to mine and he's been really nice to me."

"You don't want to get close to him, Michelle."

"…okay. Then I won't."

Michelle was about to say something else, but Mr. Simpson looked there way as if he were to tell them to stop talking. The bell rang, meaning homeroom was officially over. Ellie went to Michelle's locker with her. While they were talking, Craig pulled Michelle's locker all the way open once again so he could say something.

"Hey Michel-"

He didn't get to finish what he was going to say before Michelle shut her locker and went off with Ellie. Craig' face fell. This sucks. They got to her! He thought to himself. When he got to Ms. Kwan's class, Michelle was already there. Craig went and sat next to her.

"So what was that all about?"

Michelle looked behind her, to make sure Ashley wasn't looking at her.

"I'll tell you after school, okay?"

At lunch, Michelle found Ellie right away. Ellie brought her over to a table full of girls.

"Okay. Everyone. This is Michelle. Michelle, this is Ashley, Paige, and Hazel. Not only are we friends, but we are also in a band together."

"Awesome."

Michelle just remembered something. The one called Paige is the girl she ran into while running through the halls. At lunch, all the girls were really nice to Michelle, and really funny too. They all got along great. But every now and then Michelle would look over at Craig, and see him looking at her. She would mouth the word "sorry" and continue talking with the girls.

"So Michelle," Hazel said, "I'm having a party next Friday. You should definitely come!"

"Alright! I'll be there." Michelle said with a smile.

After school Craig met Michelle at her locker. They both got there homework without saying a word. Michelle was done first, so she waited for Craig. When he was finished they went to the library and found a table off to the back in the corner.

"Craig. I'm sorry. You must think I'm horrible. You have been so nice to me these first few days, and I completely blew you off."

"Michelle, no offense, but it's okay, and I don't care, because we aren't so tight, you and I. I just met you yesterday."

"Right."

"anyways, after this, do you wanna come to my house and meet my band? They wanna meet you."

"Sure. Now let's get to this geometry!"

"Craig, I can't believe we got kicked out of the library for making too much noise!" Michelle said with a laugh.

"I know, crazy isn't it? Oh hey, this is my house."

They went into the garage and Spinner, Jimmy, and Marco were already there.

"Hey dude you're late and- -…Oh, you brought a lady friend."

"Shut up, Spinner. Guys, this is Michelle. Michelle, that's Spinner back there on the drums," Spinner waved, "Marco on the bass," Marco said hey quietly, "And that's Jimmy."

"Nice to meet you guys." She turned to Craig. "Thanks for helping me, but I gotta get home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. See ya!"

When Michelle left, the guys started talking. Spinner first.

"Whoa. She is a hot one. You sure know how to pick them."

Marco laughed. "Yeah Craig, if I wasn't gay….well…never mind. She's hot."

"She should watch her back, Ash and Manny are going to kill her." Jimmy said.

Och, don't give Craig those bad thoughts. Ash. Manny./ Baby. Gone. Taken. It was mine. No one asked. I hate them. I hate myself.

"You guys, calm down. She's a friend, I've known her for like…two days!"

"uh-huh."

Once the guys left, Craig went inside.

"Hey! Joey, Angie, I'm home!"

"Craig, dinner's ready!" Joey yelled.

Craig sat down and ate quickly. He talked briefly about school, mentioned a new girl, gave Angie a hug, and ran upstairs. He layed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, talking to himself.

"What are you doing, Craig? You've known the girl for two days, don't get pissed off because she mad other friends. She can't be taken away from you because she isn't yours! But she will be, because everything gets taken away from you, you worthless piece of shit. You aren't good enough to keep around."

He yelled in frustration and squeezed out some tears before yelling at himself again.

"Don't cry! You always do that! Stop it! No wonder everyone leaves! They don't get taken away! THEY LEAVE!!!" He collapsed onto his bed in sobs and curled up into a ball. He was breaking. Destroying himself. Punishing himself. But it wasn't good enough. This was not a good enough punishment to him. No, something had to be done. Permanently.