I don't own Degrassi. I wish.
Emma Nelson stared at the clock in her physics class. Today had been the worst day in the worst week in the history of the world. Check that. Nothing compared to two years ago with Rick, but if she had been a normal teenager, this would have ranked pretty high up there. Her boyfriend of 5 months, Jeff, had broken up with her on Monday – over the school's intercom system! She had accidentally pushed a book into the "on" button during their fight before morning announcements. Now everyone knew she was still talking to Sean every night and exactly what Jeff thought about that. This incident had led to a week long suspension of her duties as president, which, although a welcome relief, was not exactly going to look good with applications for University due all too soon. The stares and whispers had almost settled down by today, Friday, which must have been what possessed JT to humiliate her further.
In truth, Emma realized JT had just been trying to cheer her up with his "We heart Emma Nelson" demonstration at lunch, but giant pictures of her plastered around the cafeteria with big red hearts was not the best plan. Really the combination of JT's ideas with Liberty's determination and work ethic made them in some respects the couple from hell. The "Emma song" performed by JT on stage was just icing on her embarrassment cake, really. The rest of the day people were singing "Emma, there's no dilemma; she's the flower, not the stemma" at her. The end of the day could not come fast enough. Not that she had plans, but still, not being at school was such an attractive option.
'3 – 2 – 1 – TGIF!' Emma counted down till the bell. She raced to her locker and avoiding everyone, escaped out the doors. As she turned towards Degrassi Street and home, she felt her cell phone vibrating. Her parents had given it to her as a 17th birthday present this past summer.
The number looked familiar, but Emma couldn't place it. "Hello?" she answered cautiously.
"Emma! Thank God you answered!" the voice on the other side was very faint, but recognizable.
"Joey? Where are you?" Emma replied. She didn't even know he had her cell number.
"Caitlin and I are stuck in Hawaii. We were here for our engagement trip and have run into a hurricane! All flights have been cancelled," Joey's voice came in and out.
"That's horrible!" Emma couldn't think of anything else to say. Joey had planned this surprise get away to finally pop the question to Caitlin – again – and Mother Nature was ruining it.
"Em, I can't talk long, it's getting bad here, but can you pick Angela up from school? Craig is coming down from the University, but it will take him a while to get home. Ang has the house keys," Joey rushed.
"I'm retired, Mr. Jeremiah," Emma was only half joking, this week had exhausted her emotionally and she wasn't sure she could handle taking care of herself, let alone a nine year old. On the other hand, Angela was really sweet and it wouldn't be too long till Craig got there. It would good to see Craig again.
"Craig will be there before you know it," Joey said, echoing Emma's thoughts. "I'm sure he'd love to see you."
Emma sighed. "Of course, you can count on me. You and Caitlin just stay safe and find a way home."
"Thank you so much, Emma. You're a . . ." Emma had no chance to find out what she was exactly, because Joey's phone died just then.
Emma switched directions and headed toward the elementary school. 'Well, Emma Nelson, you have another fun and fabulous weekend night ahead of you,' she thought to herself, remembering last Friday night dancing with Jeff and long ago Fridays filled with videos and double cheese with Sean. Not that she had had plans tonight. All her friends had paired up or left Degrassi. It was weird being the oldest class at Degrassi, as the high school had closed Emma's last year of junior high. She couldn't remember a time without Paige and Ashley, Jimmy and Craig. And everyone was taking advantage of "their last year together" to hook up. Manny and Toby were dating, as were JT and Liberty, making Emma feel even lonelier as a single.
She could go home and IM Sean, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that his home was now in WB. They were growing apart, despite the best intentions of both of them. So she was stuck watching Craig's little sister. She hadn't even seen Craig since he had called off his engagement to Ashley.
Emma arrived at Degrassi Elementary School just in time to spot Angela's 4th grade teacher. "Hi, I'm . . ." Emma was interrupted by a giggling mass of curls that attached itself to her waist, screaming "EMMA!"
". . . Emma Nelson, Angie's baby-sitter," Emma finished returning Angela's hug.
"No problem," the teacher said, then turned. "Danielle, your baby-sitter's here!"
A little girl with perfect blonde curls and bright blue eyes stood behind the teacher. "Have a good weekend with Emma, Angela and Danielle," the teacher said, walking away.
"What? No, I'm only here for Angie . . ." Emma protested, but the teacher was gone.
"Danielle comes over every Friday," Angela informed Emma.
"Thanks for conveniently leaving out that detail, Joe," Emma muttered to herself.
"Hey," Angie suddenly realized something, "Where's my daddy and Caitlin?"
"They are stuck in Hawaii, so you're spending the weekend with Craig," Emma explained.
"You're not Craig," Danielle pointed out sourly.
Emma was a little taken aback. "Ang, Craig's driving here and I'm filling in, till then."
The two girls seemed satisfied and the walk home was filled with chatter about bubble gum pop.
"Did your brother really date Ashley Kerwin?" Danielle asked as they walked up the steps to the Jeremiah house. Caitlin had bought it and Joey had finally swallowed his pride and let her.
"Uh-huh. They almost got married," Angela nodded. "I was going to be the flower girl."
"Let's not gossip, girls," Emma said, unlocking the door with the keys from Angie's backpack.
"Can we watch her concert tonight, Emma, please? Dad and Caitlin taped it!" Angela asked, eyes wide.
"Ang, your Dad has a no TV rule after school, you know that," Emma answered. Or at least he did when she baby-sat another lifetime ago. "Plus, you have a friend over. Don't you want to play with her? I'm going to go fix you a snack."
"Okay, Emma," Danielle answered, pulling Angela into the living room.
Well, that had been easy. She hadn't baby-sat since Grade 10, not counting Jack, but she hadn't lost her touch. Emma turned on the radio while she was in the kitchen. "I'm not your princess; I'm not a dream. Sometimes girls aren't what they seem." Ashley's voice blared from the speakers and Emma quickly shut it off. It was crazy how fast her album had taken off after graduation. And how she had sold out even faster. Emma filled three glasses with apple juice and was reaching for the graham crackers on the top shelf when the phone rang.
"Jeremiah-Ryan residence, may I help you?" she asked, switching into her 'mature voice' as she grabbed the wireless from its receiver.
"Em?" Craig's voice answered her.
"Craig, how are you? Where are you?" Emma asked quickly.
"I'm good, but I have a few more things to do before I leave. Do you mind hanging out a bit longer?" Craig asked hopefully.
Emma sighed. "I don't know, Mr. Manning. It'll cost you."
Craig laughed. "You're the best, Em."
"I haven't said 'yes,' yet!" Emma protested.
"I know you well enough to know you just did. You don't joke when you're turning someone down," Craig teased. "Your nose kinda wrinkles and you speak really soft and slowly, like you're physically trying to let that person down gently."
'That was weird,' Emma thought as a warm feeling spread out, but she pushed everything to the side. "Well, take your time. I have a snack ready and Danielle and Angela seem to be having a good time," Emma paused hearing elephant feet tramp down the stairs. "Don't worry about a thing."
"Danielle's there?" Craig asked.
"Yeah, Angie's teacher practically threw her at me, but she seems nice enough," Emma replied, distracted.
"Emma, whatever you do, do not . . ." Craig's voice abruptly cut off.
"I guess it's 'hang up on Emma day,'" she said aloud, going to replace the phone in its cradle. "EEK!"
Danielle had been right there when she turned. "My goodness, you scared me," Emma told her. "Ang, Danielle, there's juice and cookies on the table."
The two dove for the snack, eating quickly. "Emma, can we please watch Ashley's concert?" Angela asked nervously.
"I thought we had settled that," Emma answered surprised.
"Yeah, so did I," Danielle stared Angela down.
She sighed. "Emma, can we give you a make-over after snack?"
Emma looked wary. "Please?" Danielle begged.
"Sure, why not?" Emma shrugged.
"Okay, sit right in this chair, so we can do your hair," Danielle instructed. Emma sat and placed her hands on the sides of the seat of the chair. "Angie, where's that scarf?" Angela handed Danielle a bright piece of cloth and she wound it around her hands. "We just don't want you peeking," she explained, as she approached Emma, taking care to fasten it tightly around Emma's eyes and under her hair.
"I don't know about this, girls," Emma started to protest, lifting her hands to the blindfold.
"Come on, Emma, it will be fun!" Angie, pleaded. "Don't ruin the surprise!"
"Fine," Emma said replacing her hands at her sides. She heard clinking behind her. "No curling iron, Angie, it makes my hair frizz!"
"Okay, Em, I promise," Angie whispered.
"Now!" Danielle shouted and Emma felt something cold fasten around her right wrist.
"What the . . . ?" Emma tried to lift her hands to the blindfold, but only the left one obeyed her. She looked to see her right hand was ensnared by one side of handcuffs that snaked through the chair back and the other side was fastened to the towel rack of the kitchen.
"ANGELA JULIA JEREMIAH! YOU LET ME GO THIS MINUTE!" Emma shouted. She was stuck to the chair and the wall until Angela or the little demon released her.
"Sorry, Emma," Angela whispered.
"Come on, Angela, ignore the stick in the mud. Let's go watch the Ashley Kerwin concert!" Danielle said, pulling Angie with her.
"THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT? ANGELA, GET BACK IN HERE AND LET ME GO!" Emma yelled, pulling on the restraints. All it did was bruise her wrist. Damn it. She had been outsmarted by nine year olds. Emma sat down hard on the chair and put her head on her left hand which rested on her knee. Now what?
"Come on, girls. We can watch the video, just let me go!" Emma loudly pleaded. "I know Ashley, I could tell you lots of stuff about her. Her step-brother's dating my best friend."
Danielle came back into the kitchen and for a minute Emma thought she had made her point. However, Emma didn't see the jump-rope behind the little girl's back and soon was bound tightly to the chair, the scarf that had served as a blindfold now a gag. It was small comfort to see that Angela was now a little freaked out by Danielle.
'Haven't lost my touch, ha! I've left Angela at the mercy of a crazy girl!' Emma thought. When Craig came in and saw her, what would he think? When he came home . . . oh, no! She had told him things were under control, he wouldn't be home for hours! 'Well, Emma Nelson, you do get yourself into the strangest situations,' she told herself.
Fifteen minutes later Ashley's pop hits had Emma contemplating the benefits of breaking her right wrist and ripping out Joey's towel racks when she heard keys in the door.
"CRAIG!" Angela screamed.
"Hey, Ang." Emma could hear his voice now. She tried to call out, before remembering that was, at present, impossible.
"Where's Emma?" He asked. 'In here,' she mentally screamed. 'Like a stupid damsel in distress waiting for Prince Manning to save her.'
"That blonde chick?" She heard Danielle ask. "She picked us up from school then left with some boy." Emma wondered if it was illegal to murder children in all the provinces or just Ontario.
"Then you won't mind if I check the kitchen?" Craig pushed open the sliding glass door and Emma almost toppled the chair over at the sight. Even totally disheveled, he was the best looking thing she had ever seen.
"EM!" He pulled the gag out and she licked her lips.
"I'm retired, Craig," she told him looking straight at him. "And if your step-father ever asks me to come out of retirement, no jury would convict me of murder. It would be self-defense."
"It's good to see you, too, Em," Craig said.
"Wait right, here."
I heard him go back to the living room and threaten grave bodily harm to either girl if they moved from the couch, then ran upstairs. He returned with a handcuff key.
"Thank goodness! Why ever would Joey have handcuffs lying around? Of all the stupid things. I mean, if you didn't know where the key was . . ." Emma rambled.
Craig blushed. "Umm, actually they're mine."
"Oh." Emma let that sink in.
"Not for anything kinky, I swear!" Craig protested, blushing even brighter. "I was a cop for Halloween last year and Angela had all the costume stuff out, since it's October."
Because of her imprisonment, Craig was kneeling in front of Emma, arms around her and the chair, trying to work the key without stressing her wrist, leaving them cheek to cheek as he tried to see past her hair.
"What's taking so long?" Emma asked, annoyed.
"Maybe I like having you at my mercy," Craig teased pulling back so they were almost nose to nose.
"Right," Emma said, looking away. Why did it hurt so much when he said things like that? 'Maybe because I know he's just playing,' Emma thought.
Craig pushed her hair behind one ear and she looked up at him, quickly, so quick, their lips brushed momentarily. Emma felt a jolt run through her, but he jumped back immediately. "Sorry, I just couldn't see with your hair in the way and I . . ." he stammered.
Emma sighed. It was official, she repelled boys. "Why don't you untie the jump-rope and then I can unlock the key myself?"
"Yes! Yes! That is a plan. Even better, I can cut the jump-rope off," Craig said, pulling scissors out of a drawer. Was it Emma's imagination or did he hold the scissors at arm's length to avoid touching her? Whatever, it was soon off and she was free.
"Thank God!" Emma said rubbing her wrist.
"Thank Craig, you mean," Craig restated, leaning back, with a cocky grin.
Emma rolled her eyes, then turned serious. "How did you get here so quickly? I thought you had stuff to do? I thought I'd be stuck there for hours."
"Well, when you told me the she-devil was here I tried to warn you, but the phone cut out. When I called back it just rang and rang and rang, so I hopped in my car and broke every posted speed limit to get here," Craig explained.
"What do you mean, the phone rang and rang and rang? You didn't call back," Emma replied.
Craig and Emma looked at each other, then simultaneously walked to the phone cradle. The wires had been unplugged. "That little witch!" Emma exclaimed as they both leaned over the phone. "What a perfect end to this week!"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Emma found herself telling the whole story, from Jeff to JT to now and Craig tried not to laugh. "Thank you so much, Craig, you really are my hero," she said, suddenly aware of how tall he had gotten and how close they were standing.
"Hero, huh," Craig said, leaning in closer, "I could get used to that."
Emma closed her eyes and waited for his lips to meet hers again when she heard Angie shout "Don't touch me!" and snapped to her senses.
Craig looked annoyed. 'No wonder, when he had to drop everything to deal with a stupid baby-sitter, who then throws herself at him,' Emma thought. 'Stupid, stupid, Emma.'
Craig glanced down at Emma and smiled as if he could read her thoughts. "Listen, you get Angie ready for bed and I'll drive the terror home. Going to bed without supper sounds like punishment, right?"
"Will you be okay?" Emma asked, concerned.
"You're cute when you care," Craig threw over his shoulder as he walked out.
Later, Emma started to make her way downstairs after tucking Angie in. The little girl had apologized almost every second and Emma did believe she hadn't realized how far her friend would take things. As she passed Craig's room, she happened to glance inside. Sure enough, a mounted police costume was strewn on the floor, along with other costumes, including pieces of his Sid Vicious outfit from the 80's dance Craig had snuck Manny and Emma into. No doubt the girl's had thrown everything about in their evil plot. Emma decided it wouldn't hurt to clean it up for Craig.
His room was bare, most of his stuff having gone to University with him when he left that fall. Emma walked over to his beside table where there was a picture of Joey, Caitlin and Angie at her parents wedding. A picture of Craig and his mom sat next to it. The third picture was also at a wedding of a little girl with blond pigtails and a big puffy pink dress and a boy with a tuxedo dancing. The boy looked about Angela's age and the girl a little younger. Emma looked closer and realized the little girl was her.
"My mom didn't make me dance with you, you know," Craig said from the doorway.
Emma jumped about ten feet in the air. "Craig, you scared me." She placed the picture down. "I'm so sorry. The door was open and I . . . What did you say?"
"I said my mom didn't make me dance with you. I wanted to, so I convinced mom to talk to Spike, your mom, and then voilá!" He elaborated.
"Why?" Emma sat down on his bed, confused.
Craig sat next to her, holding the picture. "You looked like you were having so much fun, dancing with your mom, playing with Joey and everyone. You had this spark. Plus, I didn't have many kids over to meet my dad. I didn't have many friends," Craig finished, staring off into space.
Emma felt awkward and tried to think of something to say. "I'm sorry about you and Ashley."
"I'm not." Craig snorted. "The tabloids make it sound like I was jealous of her fame, so I broke it off. The truth is I was angry that Ash sold out. I mean, what's she done is amazing and she's so talented, but she's so much better than songs like 'Princess.'"
"Oh," Emma said. 'Way to be articulate,' she thought to herself. For some reason she couldn't formulate coherent thoughts around Craig lately.
"Plus she wasn't happy with the fact that I was in love with someone else," Craig added, watching her out of the corner of his eye.
For a moment, Emma thought he was talking about her and she almost fell off the bed. "OH!" Then reality sunk in and she realized that she wasn't even good enough for Jeff Reilley, let alone Craig Manning. "Oh." It had to be Manny. For Craig it was always Manny.
But why was he torturing her this way with all these ambiguous statements. 'Torturing? Grow up. He's hardly torturing me. He's just talking to me; we're friends,' Emma thought. Suddenly she realized why it bothered her. She liked Craig. Craig who had come up to her in the library to reacquaint himself with her when he transferred to Degrassi, Craig who snuck her into the 80's dance, Craig who went with her to find her dad and visited with her every month, Craig was the person she wanted more than anyone in this world, even more than Sean Cameron.
"Wow," she whispered.
"Wow, what?" Craig asked. Emma hadn't realized she had spoken out loud.
"Nothing," she said, blushing.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out," he said.
"What?" She looked up sharply to find he had moved closer to her, placing one arm on the bed behind her. She closed her eyes and felt his lips on hers. Instantly all other thoughts left her mind as she lifted her hands to place them on the back of his neck and he used his free arm to pull her closer, so close she was practically on his lap.
"Can you read my mind?" She asked, as he pulled back for air some time later.
Craig laughed. "If I could, I wouldn't have waited so long to take this chance. I would have asked you out at Mom and Joey's wedding."
"I was six!" Emma protested.
"You're right," Craig nodded, "I would have been already too late." Emma laughed, then grew suddenly quiet. "What?" Craig asked. "What's wrong? You do like me don't you?" At Emma's silence he jumped off the bed and started pacing. "Oh my God! How can I be so dumb? You just broke up with your boyfriend. What am I thinking?" He sat back down and took both her hands in his. "Em, I'm so sorry. Can you forget this ever happened? I can't lose you as a frie . . ."
Emma leaned over and kissed him, cutting off further conversation. "Can I say something?"
Craig nodded. "You know shutting me up this way, doesn't encourage me to stay quiet," he teased.
Emma put a finger to his lips. "One question. You said you liked me from the day we danced at Joey and your mom's wedding. I know you can almost always tell what I'm thinking. Why didn't you say anything when I was in Grade 8? I had the world's biggest crush on you!"
"Had?" Craig's eyebrows went up.
"Okay, had, have, am still having," Emma joked.
"You were Cameron's girl" was all Craig would say.
"What?" Emma asked. "Sean and I weren't even speaking at that point. And you danced with MANNY!" 'And did other things,' her mind added.
Craig shrugged. "Sean was my only friend. And you may have been mad at him, but he was still in love with you. Probably still is. Deny it all you want, but you were still in love with him, too. You got together later that year. Why should I lose two friends and still not get the girl?" Craig's reasoning did have some logic, Emma had to admit. She still had been in love with Sean. He waited for that to sink in, then continued, "Didn't you wonder why Sean and I don't hang out anymore? How could we hang when all I could think about is how I wanted to beat him for hurting you? When I thought he was so dumb to let you go? As for Manny, well, when you can't have what you want, I guess you do some crazy things. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt her or you."
Emma still remained silent, thinking things over to herself. Craig once again fidgeted with the edge of his shirt. "So that's it. Everything. I'm sorry for everything; I'll call a taxi to take you home, I don't want you to walk home in the dark."
Emma head snapped up. "You want me to leave?"
Craig met her eyes. "I didn't think you wanted to stay. Listen, I've told you how you felt about Manny, but I know you still talk to Sean. Tell me truthfully, before anything else happens. Em, are you still in love with Sean Cameron?"
Emma's thoughts were all jumbled together and she was surprised she recognized her own name, let alone comprehended Craig's question. Was she still in love with Sean? She had been for so long, it was hard to examine her feelings where he was concerned. Then Emma looked up at Craig, trying so hard to look nonchalant. She could understand why he asked. Many people thought they were destined to be together. In fact, ten minutes ago, if someone had asked her, she would have said that Sean was the only boy she had ever and could ever love. But now . . .
"No, I'm not. I still care for him, but I don't love him. I guess it's just hard to let go of your first love," she said softly.
Craig put his hand on her chin and lifted her eyes to his. "I know. But I don't plan on letting her go."
"Craig," she whispered as he pulled her close.
"Mmmh, hmm?" he responded nuzzling her neck.
"When I said I was retired from baby-sitting earlier, I lied," she said softly. "Let Joey know I'll watch Angie anytime. I owe her."
"So do I," Craig answered as he leaned up to give her another kiss.
THE END
Just a little something I thought up this weekend while baby-sitting. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) nothing like this has ever happened to me. I hope you 1313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313liked it!