Love without Complications
Chapter Three: Love me like I want you to
Manny walked fast down the street. Her breath came out in clouds of smoke and her hands were numb. It was absolutely freezing out and it didn't help that she was having a panic attack. All she wanted to do was get home before the tears in her eyes began to freeze. That would suck – ice in her eyes. Ouch.
She picked up the pace and began to run. She needed to get home, she needed to get away from the cold. And she needed to get away from Degrassi. Why did she ever let herself fall for Craig Manning? She ruined a perfect relationship for Ashley, something she really needed. Hah! She didn't deserve it, the ungrateful bitch, Manny thought bitterly. She broke the hearts of quite a few boys already – Jimmy, Sean, who knows who else. And she was after Craig, her Craig. Manny wasn't going to stand for that. Craig was hers and hers alone, not Ashley's, not anyone's. Hers.
But now that everything was done and over with - relationships lost, friendships broken, reputations gained – there was nothing left to do. Except, try to get over it. From the way Ashley was taking it, it wasn't that easy. Actually, it seemed too difficult to even think about it. And the sad thing is Manny was feeling ten times as worse. She was depressed beyond anything and she was feeling so hopeless. What was she to do – run to her friends? What friends, they all left her after they realized she was a skank. Why be friends with someone who sleeps around, when you can be friends with Emma Nelson, Degrassi's star student. Straight A's, perfect daughter, activist in training, caring friend. Everything Manny wasn't. Great. More competition, just the thing she needed.
It seemed like every day after school she'd trudge home to an empty house – mother out somewhere, father hardly ever home, older sister at boyfriend's. She had nothing to really look forward to, except maybe seeing Craig's face in the hallways at school. Just the thought of him still sent shivers down her spine. She loved him, she loved him.
"But why can't he love me!?" she cried into her pillow every night.
It just wasn't fair.