People stared at Emma as she walked lethargically down the hallway. Their eyes pierced her ever so sharply as they ruthless interrogated her. Had they known about the way she had been spending her days lately? Which of course was getting stoned beyond belief with Spinner and Sully.

Did they know that the marijuana was her personal pain killer? Did they know anything at all? Of course they didn't. They were too busy gallivanting around in designer clothing and talking profusely about only themselves. However, there were instances when they spread the plague of gossip. Her two new found friends weren't like that. Well, Sully had the tendency to revert back to his high school boy shenanigans. Hence why she didn't hang out with him as much. She often spent her free time in Spinner's garage, letting those peculiar smelling particles of pot relax her senses. It became their own little slice of heaven. There they chatted about various topics, anything from childhood pets to the smell of grass to the design of fingerprints.

Much to Emma's surprise, Spinner wasn't a complete brain dead moron like she had often thought in the past. Sure, he wasn't too keen in the academic sense, but he was a human sponge. He observed the simplest things that had the tendency to completely faze people. It was as if he spent his whole life just smelling the roses, which was monstrously different compared to Emma's past life. It had been a long time since she had been on one of her little environmental crusades to save some miscellaneous river or endangered animal. She hadn't even bothered going to that pointless environmental marathon to represent Degrassi. Besides, Ashley was the alternate and she had brought home the trophy anyway. Why did they need Emma?

The bell sounded the beginning of the last period of the day. However, there seemed to be no point in going to art class. Did she plan on being some kind of sculptor? That was a negative. Besides, there was other business that had to be attended to. This business was now rather important for Emma's psychological well being.

After the last stragglers ran with celerity to their next class, Emma played a game of hide and go seek with herself and school administration. She began walking stealthily down an empty long corridor that led to the outside world. After pushing open the doors and risking a horrid mark on her permanent record, she was met by a wave of warm air. It was humid air that had met her acquaintance and it wasn't particularly a pleasant meeting. However, there was someone else she was looking to meet. And that particular someone was sitting on the vacant bleachers of the football field.

"Hey," She stated before sitting next to Spinner. "Feel like being generous?"

"Dude, generous is my middle name," He stated with a smirk before handing her the joint he had been taking a hit from. "Besides, sharing is caring."

She put the white blunt to her lips and took a long drag from it before attempting to recline on the scalding hot metal bleachers. It was rather uncomfortable getting her legs burnt to a crisp like the marijuana cigarette she was holding. "So, what class did you escape from," She questioned before glancing over at him casually. "I got out of art myself. We're making clay pots right now and mine looks like a walrus sat on it. Oh well, I was really planning on becoming a sculptor anyway."

"Well, I don't see you as a sculptor or anything," Spinner noted while looking over at her, trying to get an image of Emma in her future career. It didn't really work, because his eyes weren't employers desperately seeking workers at some job fair being held in a hotel. "Yet, I don't know what I see you as. You should be a pastry chef."

"Why would I be a pastry chef," Emma asked with a laugh while Spinner took the joint from between her fingers. "Besides, I can't cook for shit, unless it's something you just add water to and stick into the microwave. That I can possibly do without screwing up."

"If you were a pastry chef, then I could get free pastries from you," Spinner explained simply. She cast him a look that asked the question of what in the world was he thinking, considering she did not possess the ability of reading minds. "What? I like pastries!"

"You can have all of the ones I mess up on making," Emma laughed. "That'll probably be a good majority of them. But you'll get some pastries, don't worry, I'll get you some pastries. That is, before I get fired."

It was bliss, how she could have such moronic conversations with Spinner. There was no worry when she was around him, just contentment and the sounds of hysterical laughter. There was no frantic seeking for signatures on a petition. It was as if she was living another life and had abandoned her old one, leaving it in specks of dust. There was no emotional pain that she had to endure. There was just complete and utter fun.

"Ah, well, at least I have a steady income," Spinner mused before leaning back further on the bleachers. "That will increase considerably after tonight, if I do say so myself. Except for the fact that I totally need to pay Sully back. That sucks a big one."

Emma's curiosity peaked, "And why would this be? Unless you told me and I completely forgot about it. And in that case, why would this be?"

"Shit," Spinner sighed before realizing that he hadn't told Emma. Oh well, things like that with old age combined with a cornucopia of drugs. "There's this party tonight, it's supposed to be huge. I swear I'll make the hugest profit that I have in my life. However, Sully's going to be a complete leech and try to get all that he can."

"Tell him to get his money's worth and then you'll pay him back," Emma advised in a rather know-it-all tone that she had retained from her old life. "If he really wants his money, then he has to work for it. Its common sense, Spin."

Spinner rolled his very blood shot eyes, "Yeah, sure is. Anyway, you want to come? We'll show you a good time, we really will. It's at Heather Sinclair's place. So, you in?"

Truth be told, Emma wasn't exactly a party person. She had often had bad experiences at parties, hence why the dislike for them came about. However, it could prove to be an interesting experience. The only thing that could rain on her parade was the fact that it seemed as though Manny had been keeping an eye on her. It seemed as though every time either Sully or Spinner would make a guest star appearance at her locker, all of Manny's attention was focused on that very moment. It was so surreal, that Manny was concentrating all of her attention on their interaction. How did it possibly affect her in the least?

"I'll be there," Emma replied with a nod. "I just have to check in with the insane head case taking up residence in my house."

"Your mom is not a head case," Spinner countered with a laugh. "Sure, she's a bit bizarre, but she's not exactly a head case."

Emma sighed, "I'm not talking about my mom. She's barely around anymore. She's attempting to be wonder woman by dedicating a massive amount of time at the salon so we can eat and live like normal people."

Spinner nodded, "I see. Well, there's no point in hanging around here, unless we want to become human fried eggs. Normally, I think we should crash at Sully's, but since he has a foot up his ass, it's either your house or my house."

Emma had opened the window that had helped Spinner peer in and observe her home life. She let him know how it was deteriorating and he didn't seem fazed by it at all. But there was still something that led her to become so ashamed of how she was living. She always had this yearning of being the absolute best. She needed that satisfaction as if it were pure and unpolluted oxygen. Even though her personality had been morphed into something completely different than it previously had been, some traits still lingered. Emma wanted these fragments of her old self to be broken so many times that they would just float into oblivion. She just wanted an escape from everything. She wanted to keep running and just never look back ever again.

"My house, I guess," Emma shrugged. "We have a well stocked fridge after Jackie went to the store yesterday." She sighed while rubbing her temples. "Christ, I haven't been feeling anything lately."

Spinner rolled his eyes, "Maybe it's because you only took one hit, smart ass." He smirked while Emma turned to him and glared. "I have to agree with you, man. Frank's inventory lately has sucked. But wait a minute, who the hell is Jackie?"

"My mom's younger cousin," Emma explained before snatching the joint away from Spinner with much celerity. "She's been living with us and is our own personal babysitter for Jack. She also works midnights at some bar where she's trying to save up to buy a motorcycle."

"So, she's a tough chick," Spinner questioned while chuckling. "Nice, very nice. I could see myself with someone like that; I haven't ventured into the field of older women yet." Emma handed the joint over to him before he brought it to his lips and took a hit from it.

"Frank seriously needs to get some good stuff in, damn it." He extinguished the joint before tossing its remains onto the grassy and freshly cut football field off in the distance. He stood up from the bleacher and held his hand out for Emma, which she accepted. He pulled her off of the steaming hot bleacher and they climbed down onto the football field.

They walked off of the school grounds and into a rather desolate neighborhood. It was naked of the luxuries that their neighborhoods contained. There were cars, but not ones you would find in a middle class suburban setting. Instead the cars were rusty and their origins were probably that of fifteen to twenty years ago. The houses looked as though they had escaped the required building codes and their inspectors. It was quite obvious that they weren't anywhere near Emma's house.

"And where would we be," Emma asked curiously but with a touch of annoyance in her tone.

"Well, we both agree that Frank's supply is rather shitty," Spinner explained in a know-it-all tone that was usual indigenous to Emma. "Frank says that the customer is always right, or so he says to the customers at his pretzel stand in the mall. Anyway, I need to stock up for tonight as well, so why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"Because in the literal sense, that's impossible," Emma countered. He glanced at her while shooting her a peculiar look. "But why am I being dragged along? That I don't really get."

Spinner shrugged, "Hell if I know, man. You'll like Frank though. Sure, he's a bit...creepy but he's a good man."

"Um, right," Emma rolled her eyes as they continued to stroll down the sidewalks to their destination. They passed a few miscellaneous stores as well as a piercing parlor as they continued their journey. After a few moments, they arrived at a one floor brick house between a Chinese restaurant and locksmith. The lawn wasn't kept well as shoots of grass shot up towards the sky and weeds choked all of the life that could possibly live in such a habitat. It amazed Emma, how one could not be bothered by having such a disaster for a house. However, Spinner was completely unfazed by the grungy setting.

"And let's hope Frank is actually awake right now," Spinner stated before pressing his finger against the doorbell. "I mean, it's like three in the afternoon. Wait a minute, he actually could be sleeping. Damn it."

Emma stood there, looking down at the ground while a shuffling of footsteps and other random noises could be heard from within the house. A cat screeched loudly and the sound of porcelain shattering escaped from the house and filled Emma and Spinner's ears. They exchanged looks of confusion before the door knob turned and the door opened to reveal a rather portly looking man. He eyed the two teenagers for a moment before recognizing Spinner causing a light bulb to flicker within his head covered with long brown hair.

"Spinner," He greeted him with a jolly tone to his deep voice. "Am I here to approve your activities for the night? Personally, I think you could have done better, like with that chick that lives two streets over, the one with the agent."

"Excuse me," Emma replied in a rather offended tone. "I'm not his activity for the night."

"Be calm, my child," Frank replied in a soothing tone in an attempt to calm down a slightly hostile Emma. "Frank does not mean to be offensive. So I'll apologize if you can get this muffin out of its package."

Emma glanced fearfully at Spinner, who just nodded which subliminally conveyed the message that she should just help Frank with his dilemma involving getting the much desired muffin. The atmosphere of their current location sent waves that flew up and down Emma's spine. She felt uncomfortable, which was a feeling that she hadn't felt in some time. It almost seemed like they had been thrust into an alternate universe, or just the other side of town where Emma had rarely ventured. Sure, her house had become a disaster zone, but she was often found locked up in her room in an attempt to block it out. That was also in combination with her habitual routine that she had created recently.

"Hey, it's hot as hell out," Spinner noted while running a hand through his hair. "Can you let us in, Frank? I'm sure you have a fan in there, so let us in. Plus, I have to talk to you about something."

Frank sighed, "You kids are so impatient, but since I dig you, Spinner, you can come in."

The twenty something man led Spinner and Emma into his house, which was adorned with household objects that were in their wrongful places. A stack of broken porcelain lined the rug and contrasted against the dark green color of it. A black cat leaped over the pile before scampering off into a darkened region of the house. Everything was so still yet so chaotic at the same time. There was no order, the only thing that was in its rightful place was a fan positioned a few feet away from the tattered white couch. Spinner made himself at home on the white couch and patted the seat next to him for Emma to sit there. Meanwhile, Frank plopped on the other side of Spinner before reclining back on the couch and letting the cold air send relief to all of them.

"Blondie, your mission awaits," Frank told Emma as he handed her a muffin which was contained in a sealed plastic prison. She opened up the package before handing it back to Frank, who graciously accepted the muffin before taking a large bite of it.

"What kind is that," Spinner asked curiously as he hungrily eyed the muffin.

"Banana nut," Frank replied incoherently while gobbling up each individual morsel of the muffin and savored each one. Spinner's happy expression dropped as Frank licked his fingers clean of all muffin traces. "So, I'm curious, are you two involved?"

Emma wondered the same thing herself. The only incident where that back up saying "yes" to that statement was at the party. She wasn't sure if becoming closely knit with Spinner was becoming involved with him. There was no clear definition of either and no one took the time to come up with one. Labels didn't matter with them, which was something Emma treasured. They weren't pickle jars, they were people. Adjectives couldn't be permanently assigned to them, because over time people changed. Change was inevitable.

"Nah," Spinner replied casually while he reclined back on the couch. "That's not important though, man. What's important is the quality of your stuff lately. I'm not at all impressed with it."

Frank groaned, "Man, that's what you get when that kid you hang around with demands free packets of frosting. I only do that for you and for the family members. Oh, and of course that girl with the agent, though she hasn't been to the stand lately."

"Sully is being an ass lately though," Spinner retorted. "Emma knows what I'm talking about, man. Yeah, so I need to get some supplies for tonight. I'm going to a party and I should cash out pretty well, if I do say so myself." Emma rolled her eyes at Spinner, who bragged about how successful he was going to be tonight earlier. Spinner amused her, he sparked her curiosity.

"Ah, I wish you luck," Frank nodded. "Is this the party across the street from my boss?"

"No, this would be the one across the street from the guy who works at Dairy Queen," Spinner explained while Emma's eyes examined the drug paraphernalia that was carelessly scattered in a suitcase that sat still on the coffee table. Everything glittered in front of her eyes, there was just so much there. "See anything you like?"

Emma was jolted out of her state of observation as she glanced at Spinner who was looking at her curiously. She smiled vaguely before continuing to examine the contents of the suitcase. She had never seen anything of the sort before, except in her health class textbooks. In those books, everything looked so frightening, as if it was going to morph into a dragon and breathe heavy fire which would burn you to the core. However, up close everything looked so magical and inviting. It was apparent that marijuana no longer left her feeling satisfied. It could have been the kind she had smoked today and it probably was. Emma was impatient though. She needed a quick rush of pleasure and bliss that would come when she demanded it.

"I'm going to probably need some of your essential club drugs, my good man," Spinner replied while continuing to examine the inventory. "As well as some of your finest pot, which I expect to be the finest." "You're demanding," Frank noted while giving Spinner his requested items out of the suitcase. "However, you demand drugs and I demand money. It's a cycle, child. But first, it seems as though blondie here has a bit of a craving for some pretty potent stuff. Lady, you're dancing with danger there. You really are."

Emma was thrown out of her trance, "What? Its okay, I was just...window shopping or something. You know, looking at everything but not actually buying anything." She glanced downward for a moment, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Damn it," Frank muttered as he slurped the last saccharine tasting drops from his slurpie. "Children, I have to run up to the seven-eleven and get some more slurpies for the house. I'll be back, children. Oh, I have to tell you about a very good deal you'll make tonight, Spinner"

Frank departed from the house, leaving Spinner and Emma in front of the suitcase. Spinner was busy flipping through the comic section of a paper from five weeks ago while Emma just continued to stare, her eyes boring into the contents of a Ziploc baggie filled with white powder. It looked as if it were fairy dust, incredibly magical and could transform anything into anything.

She recalled a time where she was about six years old; her mom had brought her to the mall Santa Claus. At the time, she asked him for fairy dust so she could make her doll her best friend. She remembered the man just laughing at her, saying how fairy dust wasn't real. She thought then that if she had her fairy dust, she could turn him into a frog. That would show him. That would show him that she was invincible. No one would even think about bring Emma Nelson down. She stood on her pedestal, smiling and waving to everyone, being the epitome of perfection and goodness. No one would dare push her off in her moment of glory.

"Are you sure you're not interested in it," Spinner asked smirking, as if he were cosmetics salesmen, begging her to try the new rouge lipstick. "Can't say I haven't tried that before. Mostly because I haven't had the balls to do so. But hey man, first time for everything. You can't play safe your entire life and expect to truly live." To Spinner, this was the most profound statement he ever made. However, to Emma it was thought provoking. His words entranced her as she waited for an epiphany to come and strike her with knowledge.

"And what would that be," Emma asked as she plucked the Ziploc bag from its home. It looked so angelic and beautiful just laying there in the bag. Each white speck was an individual speck of beauty. It captivated her. She didn't know what it was; she didn't know what it did. This curiosity was overtaking her and seizing her.

"That would be heroin," Spinner identified the substance in the clear bag gazing back at them. She glanced at him with a needy expression painted on her face. She needed to do it. It looked so beautiful. She wanted to be beautiful. She wanted to be everything that she wasn't. She just wanted and wanted so much that it frustrated her when she didn't get what she wanted.

"You want to do some," Spinner questioned while Emma's eyes bored into his. "Do you want me to join you or something?"

"That would be nice," Emma continued to attempt to persuade him while still staring into his eyes. She wanted to pierce him and get him to go along with her. Sure, there was the looming choice of doing it alone. But that's what bothered her, being alone. She craved human interaction. She had been abandoned many times before and hated every solo second afterwards.

"Why," Spinner asked. "I mean, if you want to do it, then just do it."

"Have you ever gotten high alone, Spinner," Emma asked him as her eyes continued to stare into his. Her eyes were politicians, persuading his to vote her way. She wanted to win the election, she desperately wanted to. All he had to do was cast the winning vote. "I've wanted to. I didn't want to be lonely though, it didn't seem fun to be lonely. Just try this once, for me. It's the only favor I'll ask of you." She attempted to make the election a done deal as she pouted. Sure, she was acting juvenile, but she was creeping around on Spinner's front now. Though she respected him more than she had in grade eight, she still knew that she had to bring herself to his level to get what she wanted.

"Dude, just this once," Spinner finally broke into bite size pieces for Emma to gobble up. "It can be like the free samples of cheese at the deli." With that, he slowly grabbed the bag that was entangled in Emma's fingers. He examined it meticulously for a rather drawn out moment before finally uttering something. "I...think you snort it, man."

"It's heroin," Emma stated before clawing the bag and snatching it from Spinner's loose grip. "You can smoke it, inject it, or snort it." He glanced at her with a look of confusion and surprise, which was caused by the fact that he didn't know that she, knew about how you could possibly possess that information. "What? I had to do a health project on it in eighth grade."

"Well, you seem to be the expert here," Spinner noted while reclining back. "So, what are we going to do with it?"

"You're the more experienced one," Emma countered. "The longer we debate about this, the sooner Frank will come back."

"Well, there's a straw over there," Spinner observed while spotting a wrapper enwrapped straw on the table near an empty cup that once contained the sugary substance known as a slurpee. His fingers crawled over to the straw before wrapping around the long and skinny object. While Spinner meticulously unwrapped it, Emma still held onto the bag, not sure what to do with its contents being held in their flimsy plastic prison.

"What am I supposed to do with this," Emma questioned unsurely.

Spinner groaned, "You know what, I'll do it. But for future experience, you do it in lines, like the coke head known as Sully was doing yesterday. Now, watch and learn." He took a piece of flimsy cardboard that had been part of a box of cheese crackers and started making slender lines of sparkling white dust. Each one of them seemed to glow in contrast to the black coffee table. He glanced over to her before giving her the straw. "Here you go, milady."

The straw that was now shaking hands with her nose cautiously met the line of pure white heroin. She wasn't sure how much to snort, she wasn't sure about anything. It wasn't true to Emma's character to be unsure about something. Normally, she just dove right into everything after knowing extensively about what she was diving into. But the white substance sprinkled on the table looked so beautiful. It was just screaming to her and begging her to let it filter throughout her body.

Emma felt her body splash into the water as the heroin was pulled up and into the straw before entering her nasal cavity. The straw continued to ride along the road of white as it disappeared into oblivion. After the line had ceased to exist, she did another one before she slowly inhaled once more. She waited for something similar to a humongous epiphany to come down and strike her.

"Do you feel anything," Spinner questioned curiously as Emma started to sink into a sea of corduroy.

"I feel...so tired," Emma remarked sleepily while staring straight at the ceiling. "I feel so nice though. I feel really nice. You should try some." She felt herself slipping into a comfortable haze. The corduroy was slowly engulfing her as her eye lids started to pull a set of blinds over her eyes. However, the blinds weren't effective because her eyes couldn't stay shut. She hazily watched as Spinner imitated what she had done while smiling contently.

Spinner plunged into the corduroy as Emma glanced over at him. He was lying on his side while she was sitting yet sinking into the couch. To Emma, he looked so much more content than she did. She lay down in front of him while feeling the haze continuing to overwhelm her.

"Man, this is awesome," Spinner stated slowly while breathing each one of his words. His chin fit into the curve of Emma's shoulder as the feeling of extreme content grazed over them. He caught a whiff of a fruity smell being emitted from Emma's hair. "You smell like a peach."

"I like peaches," Emma stated sleepily while feeling the most relaxed she had in ages. Her nerves weren't meant to be felt anymore as she couldn't feel Spinner's chin digging into her shoulder blade. The marijuana lacked this quality of being able to drift off into a land where only you and the person you were with at the moment existed. "Spinner?"

"Huh," He stated drowsily.

"We need more of this."