The bell rang, dismissing the juniors from Kwan's class. Ashley made her way to Jimmy, somewhat reluctantly. They regarded each other awkwardly.
"Hey," he greeted her.
"Hey… Do you want to meet at my house after school?"
"Yeah, sure. After school," he agreed.
Ashley nodded and walked out of the room. Jimmy watched her leave, wondering about this strange feeling he had about working with her.
Emma and Manny were stretching on the mats in the gym. Every now and then Chris would look over at them and he and Emma would exchange smiles and waves and winks. Manny eyed Emma.
"Em, how long do you plan on keeping up this thing with Chris?"
"I don't know," she said carelessly. "I'll probably break it off soon."
Her voice trailed off as she saw Liberty talking with Chris. She was nudging him a little and saying something that made him smile. He said something back and they both laughed. Emma frowned.
"Let me guess," Manny said. "You'll break up with him when Liberty's out of the picture?"
Emma nodded decisively. She knew Liberty wouldn't make a move while she was dating Chris; it wasn't Liberty's style.
"Emma…" Manny started somewhat tentatively. "Liberty really likes Chris, and you're using him. I mean, did you ever really think about their feelings?"
"Oh, like you can talk, Manny. Did you ever think about Ashley's feelings when you hooked up with Craig?"
"It's not the same thing," Manny said, offended.
Emma rolled her eyes.
"Right. Of course it isn't."
The two girls turned their backs to each other and continued stretching, neither speaking to the other for the rest of the period.
Ellie and Ashley walked side by side through the school hallways on their way to the cafeteria.
"So, Sean and I are renting a bunch of movies to watch tonight with a big bowl of popcorn," Ellie said, smiling at her friend. "Care to join?"
"Sounds like fun, but Jimmy and I are working on our assignment together tonight." She sighed a little.
"You don't sound too excited about it," Ellie noted. "I thought you and Jimmy were cool."
"We are…for short periods, like when we have band rehearsal, but…things are still a little weird. At least, they are for me."
They entered the cafeteria and Ellie watched Ashley look over at Jimmy momentarily, and then avert her gaze. "Did you ever think that you might still like him?"
Ashley laughed.
"No way. It's been a long time since we were together. Trust me, I don't feel that way anymore."
"Okay," Ellie said as they carried their trays over to a table. "If you're sure."
"Positive," Ashley said, but whether she was assuring Ellie or herself, she didn't know.
The school dismissal bell rang and the students started to file out of Degrassi for the day. Emma, bag strapped onto one shoulder, was walking down the hall to leave when she was Liberty walking towards her. She stopped, then realized exactly who Liberty was actually walking to: Chris, as he stood at his locker, oblivious to both girls. Emma frowned, and then quickly started walking to Chris herself. Liberty picked up the pace, but Emma got to him first.
"Hi Chris," she smiled at him.
"Hey, Em—" he started to greet her, before she pressed her lips to his soundly. Vaguely, she heard the sound of whistles and catcalls and she reminded herself that this was something the old Emma, the lame Emma, wouldn't have done. That was good. When she pulled away, Chris looked slightly dazed, but pleased.
"You wanna go grab a milkshake?" she asked him, batting her eyelashes for good measure.
"Sure," he readily agreed, placing a hand on her back as they walked out of the school.
Emma looked over her shoulder at the place Liberty had been. When she saw she was gone, she smiled triumphantly.
Jimmy and Ashley worked for hours on their assignment. Ashley had no idea it would take this long to write a single poem, but they seemed to disagree on some things about the play. Jimmy had to admit, her arguments were very convincing. After she explained her side, he actually began to understand it. And as the time passed, he actually began to understand her.
"Jimmy, they couldn't have fallen in love just because their friends forced them together. That isn't how love works. Obviously, they were already in love with each other and they just needed help from outside forces, their friends, in order to realize it."
"I hadn't thought about it like that, Ash. That really makes sense."
Ashley frowned a little bit.
"You don't have to give in like that, you know."
"I'm not," he assured her. "I really agree with you."
Ashley allowed herself to smile, hearing the sincerity in his voice. He smiled back and the two got back to work.
When they finished, it was dark outside. Ashley had told Jimmy he could stay until one of her parents could drive him home, and he thanked her but said he had to get home soon and he was fine walking. When he got home, he instantly missed the warmth of her house. It was always so welcoming and friendly at her house, much unlike the silence of his empty place. He really missed her house. He really missed her.
With a sigh, he sat on the couch and thought. He thought about Ashley. After their last breakup, he acted like everything was cool. He remained friends with Craig, pushing aside the jealousy he felt while he and Ashley dated. Even when she and Craig broke up for the final time, he didn't do anything, knowing Craig still felt for her and thinking Ashley wasn't completely him either. Plus, there was Hazel. He and Hazel had felt a connection that Saturday in detention. But he couldn't deny the feelings for Ashley.
He wandered into his room and found the old picture of him and Ashley that he used to have in his locker. He gazed at it and found himself wishing it could be that way again. It was like in that play, he realized. He had loved Ashley all along and he just needed an outside force, Kwan's assignment, in order to realize it. He decided, right then and there, that tomorrow he was going to break things off with Hazel and tell Ashley how he felt. And maybe, just maybe, she felt the same way.
End of Part One