I wish I could remember anything she'd said before she'd kissed me. I still don't understand how both of us yelling led up to that. It wasn't a big deal; hell, it wasn't even on the lips. It was probably a girl apology thing. Not that I'd know. The only kissing Alex and I did was on the basis that it would lead to something else. Yet, I somehow doubted the World's Biggest Prude was about to get in bed with me. God, was I really thinking about sex with Emma Nelson? I didn't even like her. In fact, I couldn't stand her.

I was going to leave, but that would require passing by Nazi Kwan's classroom. I figured it'd be best if I just went in to class late, and hope for the best.

The class was in groups, and I slipped into the desk next to Towerz, hoping that I'd go unnoticed.

"Jay, You comin' to my party tonight?"

"What party?"

Typical Towerz, trying to set-up a party when all everyone else wants to do is mope.

"Well man, I figured there'd been enough depressing shit going on, time to have some fun. My place at eight, if you're interested."

"Yeah, I'll try to stop by."

The rest of class went by, and to be honest, I have no idea what happened. All I could think was Emma. I stole a couple of candy bars from the Dot last year and she turned into a mental case over it. This year she finds out I was the one responsible for humiliating Rick on "Whack Your Brain", and she doesn't think twice. In fact, she kisses me. Alex had her moments, but I had never been this confused by a girl before.

The bell rang and I went out to my locker. I'd been avoiding it all this week, because it wasn't just my locker, I shared it with Alex. I knew all her stuff would be in there, and I knew the closer I got to it, the more of a chance we had to run into each other. That was the last thing I needed, seeing Alex. I opened the locker and took out anything that resembled my stuff. It was mostly full of her books and some stuff I'd taken from auto shop. Half of it I didn't need anymore, but it'd be too risky to give it back. That's when a criminal gets caught, you know, when he returns to the scene of the crime. I'm sure returning to the scene of the crime with the stolen goods would be like the final nail in the coffin.

That's when my phone rang. At this point, I was looking for any and every excuse to get myself out of that building. I walked out to the front steps of the school and looked at the number on the screen. It was nothing I recognized.

"Hey."

"Jay, man, it's Sean. What's up? You in class?"

"Am I ever?"

"Good point. I was just calling to see how things were, with you, and Ellie, you know? She's not answering any of my calls. I'm worried."

"Yeah...well, I can't say I know too much on that front. I know you told me to make sure she was okay, but she's not talking to anyone except that rocker chick. I stopped by the other day, and she wouldn't even answer the door."

"Jay...you have to try harder. I know she wants nothing to do with me, but I don't want to see her hurt herself. And what about Emma, is she okay?"

For some reason I didn't think "perfectly fine, in fact, she just kissed me" would be an appropriate response. I figured if I hadn't done my job looking out for Ellie, I should at least tell him I broke Emma out of this hell hole yesterday.

"It's hard to tell. She's been acting real weird lately, man. She ditched with me yesterday, can you believe that? Today she seemed a little bit upset, but then, uh, just kind of had a mood change."

A mood change and possibly a personality transplant. The Emma he knew wouldn't even voluntarily talk to me, let alone kiss me. It didn't feel right telling him, and not even for the fact that they used to date. He still seemed caught up on her. It's like he asked about Ellie first because he was supposed to, not because it was who he cared about the most.

"She ditched with you? I'm sure Alex was real happy about that."

"She doesn't know about it. And even if she did, I don't think she'd care all that much. She dumped me the night I came back from Wasaga. Over everything that happened with Rick. I wasn't being "sensitive" enough. Chicks, I just don't understand them."

"Shit dude, I'm sorry. I should have asked about that first. But wait, out with the Alex, in with the Emma? You aren't into her, are you?"

"Into Cause Girl? Are you sure you didn't injure your head on that Sea-Doo?"

"No, it's just that last year you two could barely look at each other without getting in a fight. It doesn't matter, if you guys are getting along, it's probably good for the both of you. You know, I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I love Ellie and all, but it's like Emma is the one who understands me. And now that Ellie wants nothing to do with me, it's kind of making it easier for me to see who really matters."

"I'm going to make it easier on the both of us and pretend you didn't just say any of that."

"Very funny, Jay. I have to go. Talk to Ellie for me, if you get a chance."

And with that, the conversation was done. I didn't tell the full truth, but it's not like I lied to him. I wasn't into Emma. We weren't the enemies we used to be, but that didn't make us friends either. The stupid kiss meant nothing.

In all honesty, I thought she was getting up to slap me. Alex's done it a million times, so by now I've figured out when I have or when I haven't crossed the line. The things I said to Emma were miles past that line. Yet the look on her face wasn't angry. It wasn't the look of desperation that had plagued her all week. It was more like she had finally understood.

I'll stick by what I said; she's stupid if she thought what happened with Rick was her fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. Granted, the paint and feathers was probably the breaking point, but I'd never admit that to anyone. It didn't really matter though, because whatever I said seemed cure of the looks of angst she'd been shooting me all week. Now she'd go back to saving trees and protesting against school lunches. No more awkward run-ins, no more yelling, and definitely no more kisses. Things were headed back to normal.