Jimmy was determined.
He wasn't exactly psyched about breaking up with Hazel, but he had never
been so sure about how he was feeling. He was in love with Ashley and he
was going to show her that.
It wasn't long before he encountered Hazel
on his walk to school. He picked up the pace until he was walking beside
her. She smiled up at him and he managed to smile back.
"Hey, Jimmy! It's too
bad we weren't partnered in Kwan's class. Maybe next time, huh?"
"Yeah maybe," he replied,
somewhat distant.
Hazel looked over at him.
"Is everything okay,
Jimmy?"
Jimmy hesitated. If he broke up with Hazel in
order to ask out Ashley, only to find out she doesn't feel that way, where
that leave him? He'd look like a hopeless idiot with no girlfriend.
'But', he reminded himself, 'there's no away
Ash would go out with me if I was still with Hazel. How heartless would
I seem, doing the same thing to Hazel that Craig did to her?'
"Jimmy?" Hazel's worried
voice cut into his thoughts.
"Hazel…I, uh…I think
we should break up," he said finally.
He made himself look at her. She definitely was
not smiling, but she wasn't exactly frowning either.
"Oh. Okay," she said
in a tone Jimmy couldn't describe.
"I'm sorry, Hazel. I
just don't feel the, uh, the chemistry anymore."
"No, it's okay. I understand."
Jimmy was relieved.
"So, we're cool?"
"Yeah." Hazel nodded.
"We're cool."
She smiled at him and received a smile in response,
but when he wasn't looking, her lip gloss-painted smile fell considerably.
"So, Emma," Manny said,
standing with her friend as she got something from her locker. "Movie Night
tonight at my place. You coming?"
"Definitely."
"Great!" Manny smiled.
"How about you, Liberty" she asked as said girl walked by.
Emma closed her locker and didn't even attempt
to give Liberty a friendly glance. Liberty stopped and looked back at them.
"Thanks, but no thanks,
Manny. I've got a date tonight with that cute new guy in grade ten," she
informed them and kept walking.
Emma looked at Manny.
"Did you hear that?
Liberty's got a date! That means she's obviously gotten over Chris."
"Obviously," Manny said,
though she wasn't too sure.
"That means I can break
up with Chris," Emma concluded with a small sigh of relief. "For good this
time."
Manny watched Emma walk off to find him and rolled
her eyes.
Kwan was pleased with
Jimmy and Ashley's work and gave them both an A. Hazel tried not to notice
that the big smile he gave Ashley was the same kind of smile he had given
her just yesterday. When the bell rang, Ashley and Ellie started to walk
out of the room together.
"Ashley, wait up!" Jimmy
called out to her.
The two girls stopped and looked back at him.
He walked up to them, smiling.
"Hey, Ash, could I talk
to you for a sec?"
"Um, sure." Ashley looked
at Ellie, who shrugged and walked on to her next class.
Ashley awkwardly met his eyes.
"So…what's up?"
"Hazel and I broke up,"
he said after a moment.
"I'm sorry, Jimmy,"
she said sympathetically. "What happened?"
"I wasn't really feeling
her anymore. I didn't think we…connected anymore. Actually…I was feeling
a connection with someone else…"
Ashley could tell where this was going. Her heart
was racing, but she wasn't sure this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"And I was wondering
if that someone would like to go out sometime…go catch a movie or something?
What do you think?"
Ashley swallowed. The bell rang again and she
jumped a little. She smiled weakly at him.
"I, uh…I'm gonna be
late for next period. I'll…I'll get back to you, okay?"
She walked around him, focusing all her attention
on the floor so she wouldn't feel the sad and rejected gaze on her back
as she walked away.
End of Part Two
A/N: Thank so so so so so so much to everyone who reviewed! I was not expecting such kind words for my first Degrassi fic! I'm sorry this chapter was so short. The next one will be longer and will finish up the Emma and Chris subplot so the chapter after will start the Marco and Dylan subplot. I hope you keep reading and reviewing!