At lunch, Blayne somehow found herself in a conversation about make-up and seasons with Paige. Spinner couldn't help but comment.
"You know Blayne, I though new look meant new personality?"
"Shut up. I can still talk about girly stuff with my girly friend." She smiled at Paige and they continued with their conversation. Craig was just about to add a comment like Spinners, but something stopped him. A girl. She had fiery red hair. Bright green eyes. Quite short. Craig's jaw fell open.
"Your drooling, Craigger." Blayne said.
"Heh, Craigger?" Paige asked, slightly interested.
"Whoops.." Blayne said, giving an apologetic look to Craig. But he didn't even know what just happened. Everyone looked where he was looking.
"Her name is Christine." Hazel said, as if Craig had asked.
"She's a senior. And she's not your type." Marco added.
"We'll see about that." Craig told them, rubbing his palms together.
After school, Craig and Blayne went to her house.
"Helloooo?" Blayne called into the empty house. She heard her echo.
"Guess no one's home." Craig said.
"Thanks Craig, stator of the blatantly obvious." She said as she went into the kitchen to look for a note. Sure enough, she found one on the fridge.
Blayne:
Your sister and I went to the Pet Store and then we are going to get groceries. Be home before six. Love, Mom
Craig entered the kitchen.
"So, where's the crew?"
"Shopping and stuff. So, do I get to see the new songs?"
Craig looked dissatisfied.
"What's the problem?"
"Nothing." He pulled some papers out of his pocket and handed them to her. She sat down at the dinner table and read them. There were three. One called "The Losing Fight", another "My Inspiration", and the last "Cocky".
"Wow…these are really good."
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't lie."
"Sometimes I wonder."
Blayne looked up.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"If something were going on, would you tell me?"
She bit her lip and hesitated.
"Of course."
"You hesitated. You never hesitate. Unless you're lying."
"C'mon, Craig. What do you think I'm hiding from you?"
"I don't know, you've been acting kind of weird."
"You're just paranoid."
Craig looked up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, what did we have to work on today?"
"Our video. We need to find wardrobe and stuff."
"Blayne, it's a video. A short one, too. Why do we need to make it perfect?"
"We don't I just want it to be good."
"Whatever you say."
"Come on, let's go pick out my clothes first, and then we will talk about yours and the band's."
They got up and ran up the stairs into Blayne's room. She opened her closet, and then turned to Craig who was sitting on her bed.
"Okay, since it is going to be in black and white, we have to balance out the dark and the light. So for me, I was thinking…white beater and dark jeans?" She held some up.
"Yeah, sure."
Blayne frowned at her friend.
"What? I'm not the best at choosing clothes."
"Which is why I'm going to choose yours. Let's go."
"Already?"
"Yeah! The sooner, the better."
"You sure are calling the shots these days."
"What can I say, I like the power."
They quickly headed out the door and over to Craig's house.
"Hey, how about...I watch TV, and you pick out the clothes!" The fluffy-haired boy said with hope.
"Whatever you lazy bum."
Blayne ran up the stairs and straight into his closet. She started picking up things and then throwing them behind her if they didn't suit her. After awhile, she finally found what she wanted. A white t-shirt with a long-sleeved plaid button shirt over it, which would be un-buttoned, and light colored jeans. She the clothes on Craig's bed and looked at the mess she had made. She unthoughtfully picked it all up and just tossed it back in the closet. Ironically, it looked cleaner. She was just about to head downstairs when something caught her eye. Craig's acoustic guitar. He taught her how to play last year. She picked it up and sat on his bead. She strummed a couple of cords. And then like the wind, words just came to her and she began to sing and play.
Craig heard voices and music coming from upstairs. He figured she had turned on the radio. Being slow on the up-take, it took him a couple of minutes to realize it wasn't the radio. It was Blayne. He got off the couch and walked up to his room. He opened the door slightly to watch and listen.
"…And I know, it's okay, I'm standing right where you are. You, on my crying shoulder, I'll send you pieces of myyy heart. Slide down your future stairca - Craig?" She put down the guitar.
"That was pretty good. Nice lyrics."
She blushed.
"Thanks."
Craig looked over at his bead.
"My clothes?"
"Your clothes."
"Looks good to me."
"Craig, if I had laid a dress out for you, you would say it looked good to you."
"Yeah, I probably would."
They stopped talking then. Kind of just looking around in silence.
"I should go, my mom probably wants me to be home when she gets back."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
As she was walking out of his room, she stopped and handed him a piece of paper.
"Before I forget, this is what I want the guys to wear. Let them know."
Craig looked at it.
"Will do. See ya!"
"Bye." said Blayne, already walking down the stairs.
Right as Blayne was walking up the steps to her porch, her phone rang. She hurried up the steps, dashed to the door, ran in, hopped over a box and dove onto the couch to reach the phone before it stopped ringing.
"Hello?" She said, out of breath.
"Hm, what were you doing that took your breath away?"
"What do you want, Sully?"
"I have an itch I can't scratch."
"Well I seem to have misplaced my backscratcher. Maybe I'll find it tomorrow." She hung up and just laid there for a minute. Then got bored with that. Too bad she fell asleep before she found something else to do.
Craig sat in his room, trying to duplicate the rhythm Blayne had going when she was playing. But something was just off every time he tried. His phone in the shape of a basketball rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Ash."
Craig almost dropped the phone. Ashley was the last person he expected to call.
"Uh….hey."
"Don't be so taken back. Don't be flattered either. I'll make this quick. Me and Ellie are doing a documentary on…well you already know. So we want to interview as many people as possible. Could you meet me at the park on Oak Street in ten minutes?"
"Um, sure."
"Okay, bye."
This was quite the surprise to Craig. He tried not to dwell on it though. He left a note and ran out the door. It was still light out, but Craig could tell it was going to get dark soon. By the time Craig got to the park, Ash was already there, sitting at a picnic table, camera in hand. He walked over and forced a smile as he sat down. She set up the camera so she didn't have to hold it and turned it on record.
"Hey, Ashley Kerwin here with Craig Manning on the secret thoughts of Degrassi students. Craig, before we start, you don't have any restrictions on questions do you?"
Craig knew this would be brutal.
"I guess not."
"Alright. Let's start with a common one. What are your thoughts on sex? Specifically, sex before the legal age."
'Ouch'. Craig thought.
"Well, I think if both people are ready and prepared, and safe, and are well aware of the consequences, it's okay."
"Have you ever taken part in under age sex?" Ashley shot at him.
Craig gulped.
"Yes, I have."
"Why? What was going through your mind?"
"I wasn't really thinking. With my head…anyway."
"Do you regret it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wasn't prepared to handle the outcomes."
"What outcomes?"
"Pregnancy." Craig was getting uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to lie.
"And how did that turn out."
"Not so well. I was overwhelmed. And so was she. It ended in an abortion."
"Like many teen sex experiences. On behalf of Ellie Nash and I, I would like to thank you for coming here today and being part of our project."
"Yeah, no problem."
Ashley turned the camera off. Craig thought he heard her mutter 'thanks' as she got up and left. 'That was mildly weird and really damn uncomfortable', he thought to himself. He sat there for a minute, thinking about what he had said, and headed home. When he got there, Joey and Angie were home.
"CRAAAAIIIIG!" Angie yelled as she ran to him and clutched onto his leg.
"Hey, munchkin. How was school."
"All work and no fun!"
"Angela…"They heard Joey say.
"Okay….it was a little fun. But too much WORK!" She said, mostly directed at Joey. She let go and ran into the kitchen. Craig laughed a little. He headed up stairs to work on his homework.
Blayne was abruptly woken up by the phone.
"uhhh…." She grumbled as she reached for it.
"What do you want?"
"Someone's in a nasty mood."
"Paige? I just woke up. I fell asleep for a little while. So sue me. What's up?"
"Didn't you hear? There is a talent show in three weeks! We should totally dance for it."
"Dance? Thanks, but no thanks."
"Hun, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but standing on the stage isn't really talent."
"Count me out of the dance number Paige."
"sigh fine, we can do it without you. See you tomorrow, hun!"
Blayne hung up the phone and looked around. She saw her mom's purse. Which means that they were home.
"Mooooom?" She called into the….well, into the whole house.
"Yeah?" She heard come from upstairs.
"Nothing, just making sure you were home!" She yelled back.
Just then, Katie came running in to sight holding a ball of fluff.
"Look Bay! Look!"
"What is it?"
"A kitty!"
"Got a name?"
"Ipava. Ipava the Fat."
"Oh? That's….really weird. But whatever blows your goat."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
Blayne got up, momentarily stopping at her sister to pet the ball of fluff. It was extremely small. And didn't look like an Ipava the Fat to her. She went upstairs and sat at her desk, opening her email account. She quickly sent an email to Craig, Jimmy, Spinner, Marco, and Emma, telling them all about the talent show. Not for any particular reason, she just wanted to get to tell someone. With that, she leaned back and wondered if she should join. And if she did, what would she do?
"You know Blayne, I though new look meant new personality?"
"Shut up. I can still talk about girly stuff with my girly friend." She smiled at Paige and they continued with their conversation. Craig was just about to add a comment like Spinners, but something stopped him. A girl. She had fiery red hair. Bright green eyes. Quite short. Craig's jaw fell open.
"Your drooling, Craigger." Blayne said.
"Heh, Craigger?" Paige asked, slightly interested.
"Whoops.." Blayne said, giving an apologetic look to Craig. But he didn't even know what just happened. Everyone looked where he was looking.
"Her name is Christine." Hazel said, as if Craig had asked.
"She's a senior. And she's not your type." Marco added.
"We'll see about that." Craig told them, rubbing his palms together.
After school, Craig and Blayne went to her house.
"Helloooo?" Blayne called into the empty house. She heard her echo.
"Guess no one's home." Craig said.
"Thanks Craig, stator of the blatantly obvious." She said as she went into the kitchen to look for a note. Sure enough, she found one on the fridge.
Blayne:
Your sister and I went to the Pet Store and then we are going to get groceries. Be home before six. Love, Mom
Craig entered the kitchen.
"So, where's the crew?"
"Shopping and stuff. So, do I get to see the new songs?"
Craig looked dissatisfied.
"What's the problem?"
"Nothing." He pulled some papers out of his pocket and handed them to her. She sat down at the dinner table and read them. There were three. One called "The Losing Fight", another "My Inspiration", and the last "Cocky".
"Wow…these are really good."
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't lie."
"Sometimes I wonder."
Blayne looked up.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"If something were going on, would you tell me?"
She bit her lip and hesitated.
"Of course."
"You hesitated. You never hesitate. Unless you're lying."
"C'mon, Craig. What do you think I'm hiding from you?"
"I don't know, you've been acting kind of weird."
"You're just paranoid."
Craig looked up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, I guess so. Anyways, what did we have to work on today?"
"Our video. We need to find wardrobe and stuff."
"Blayne, it's a video. A short one, too. Why do we need to make it perfect?"
"We don't I just want it to be good."
"Whatever you say."
"Come on, let's go pick out my clothes first, and then we will talk about yours and the band's."
They got up and ran up the stairs into Blayne's room. She opened her closet, and then turned to Craig who was sitting on her bed.
"Okay, since it is going to be in black and white, we have to balance out the dark and the light. So for me, I was thinking…white beater and dark jeans?" She held some up.
"Yeah, sure."
Blayne frowned at her friend.
"What? I'm not the best at choosing clothes."
"Which is why I'm going to choose yours. Let's go."
"Already?"
"Yeah! The sooner, the better."
"You sure are calling the shots these days."
"What can I say, I like the power."
They quickly headed out the door and over to Craig's house.
"Hey, how about...I watch TV, and you pick out the clothes!" The fluffy-haired boy said with hope.
"Whatever you lazy bum."
Blayne ran up the stairs and straight into his closet. She started picking up things and then throwing them behind her if they didn't suit her. After awhile, she finally found what she wanted. A white t-shirt with a long-sleeved plaid button shirt over it, which would be un-buttoned, and light colored jeans. She the clothes on Craig's bed and looked at the mess she had made. She unthoughtfully picked it all up and just tossed it back in the closet. Ironically, it looked cleaner. She was just about to head downstairs when something caught her eye. Craig's acoustic guitar. He taught her how to play last year. She picked it up and sat on his bead. She strummed a couple of cords. And then like the wind, words just came to her and she began to sing and play.
Craig heard voices and music coming from upstairs. He figured she had turned on the radio. Being slow on the up-take, it took him a couple of minutes to realize it wasn't the radio. It was Blayne. He got off the couch and walked up to his room. He opened the door slightly to watch and listen.
"…And I know, it's okay, I'm standing right where you are. You, on my crying shoulder, I'll send you pieces of myyy heart. Slide down your future stairca - Craig?" She put down the guitar.
"That was pretty good. Nice lyrics."
She blushed.
"Thanks."
Craig looked over at his bead.
"My clothes?"
"Your clothes."
"Looks good to me."
"Craig, if I had laid a dress out for you, you would say it looked good to you."
"Yeah, I probably would."
They stopped talking then. Kind of just looking around in silence.
"I should go, my mom probably wants me to be home when she gets back."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
As she was walking out of his room, she stopped and handed him a piece of paper.
"Before I forget, this is what I want the guys to wear. Let them know."
Craig looked at it.
"Will do. See ya!"
"Bye." said Blayne, already walking down the stairs.
Right as Blayne was walking up the steps to her porch, her phone rang. She hurried up the steps, dashed to the door, ran in, hopped over a box and dove onto the couch to reach the phone before it stopped ringing.
"Hello?" She said, out of breath.
"Hm, what were you doing that took your breath away?"
"What do you want, Sully?"
"I have an itch I can't scratch."
"Well I seem to have misplaced my backscratcher. Maybe I'll find it tomorrow." She hung up and just laid there for a minute. Then got bored with that. Too bad she fell asleep before she found something else to do.
Craig sat in his room, trying to duplicate the rhythm Blayne had going when she was playing. But something was just off every time he tried. His phone in the shape of a basketball rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's Ash."
Craig almost dropped the phone. Ashley was the last person he expected to call.
"Uh….hey."
"Don't be so taken back. Don't be flattered either. I'll make this quick. Me and Ellie are doing a documentary on…well you already know. So we want to interview as many people as possible. Could you meet me at the park on Oak Street in ten minutes?"
"Um, sure."
"Okay, bye."
This was quite the surprise to Craig. He tried not to dwell on it though. He left a note and ran out the door. It was still light out, but Craig could tell it was going to get dark soon. By the time Craig got to the park, Ash was already there, sitting at a picnic table, camera in hand. He walked over and forced a smile as he sat down. She set up the camera so she didn't have to hold it and turned it on record.
"Hey, Ashley Kerwin here with Craig Manning on the secret thoughts of Degrassi students. Craig, before we start, you don't have any restrictions on questions do you?"
Craig knew this would be brutal.
"I guess not."
"Alright. Let's start with a common one. What are your thoughts on sex? Specifically, sex before the legal age."
'Ouch'. Craig thought.
"Well, I think if both people are ready and prepared, and safe, and are well aware of the consequences, it's okay."
"Have you ever taken part in under age sex?" Ashley shot at him.
Craig gulped.
"Yes, I have."
"Why? What was going through your mind?"
"I wasn't really thinking. With my head…anyway."
"Do you regret it?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wasn't prepared to handle the outcomes."
"What outcomes?"
"Pregnancy." Craig was getting uncomfortable, but he wasn't going to lie.
"And how did that turn out."
"Not so well. I was overwhelmed. And so was she. It ended in an abortion."
"Like many teen sex experiences. On behalf of Ellie Nash and I, I would like to thank you for coming here today and being part of our project."
"Yeah, no problem."
Ashley turned the camera off. Craig thought he heard her mutter 'thanks' as she got up and left. 'That was mildly weird and really damn uncomfortable', he thought to himself. He sat there for a minute, thinking about what he had said, and headed home. When he got there, Joey and Angie were home.
"CRAAAAIIIIG!" Angie yelled as she ran to him and clutched onto his leg.
"Hey, munchkin. How was school."
"All work and no fun!"
"Angela…"They heard Joey say.
"Okay….it was a little fun. But too much WORK!" She said, mostly directed at Joey. She let go and ran into the kitchen. Craig laughed a little. He headed up stairs to work on his homework.
Blayne was abruptly woken up by the phone.
"uhhh…." She grumbled as she reached for it.
"What do you want?"
"Someone's in a nasty mood."
"Paige? I just woke up. I fell asleep for a little while. So sue me. What's up?"
"Didn't you hear? There is a talent show in three weeks! We should totally dance for it."
"Dance? Thanks, but no thanks."
"Hun, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but standing on the stage isn't really talent."
"Count me out of the dance number Paige."
"sigh fine, we can do it without you. See you tomorrow, hun!"
Blayne hung up the phone and looked around. She saw her mom's purse. Which means that they were home.
"Mooooom?" She called into the….well, into the whole house.
"Yeah?" She heard come from upstairs.
"Nothing, just making sure you were home!" She yelled back.
Just then, Katie came running in to sight holding a ball of fluff.
"Look Bay! Look!"
"What is it?"
"A kitty!"
"Got a name?"
"Ipava. Ipava the Fat."
"Oh? That's….really weird. But whatever blows your goat."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
Blayne got up, momentarily stopping at her sister to pet the ball of fluff. It was extremely small. And didn't look like an Ipava the Fat to her. She went upstairs and sat at her desk, opening her email account. She quickly sent an email to Craig, Jimmy, Spinner, Marco, and Emma, telling them all about the talent show. Not for any particular reason, she just wanted to get to tell someone. With that, she leaned back and wondered if she should join. And if she did, what would she do?