Disclaimer: I own nothing but my story, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Degrassi: The Next Generation- Season One on DVD. Okay, okay, I only the my story, The Day After Tomorrow, and Degrassi: THe Next Generation- Season One on DVD. Don't sue me... I just love the show. Oh, and I stole a line from Ann Brashar's Second Summer of the Sisterhood. Still, don't sue.

Recap: We reviewed most of what we already knew, through Ashley, who is directly involved in most of this story.

Here comes part 2...

(Ashley's POV)

Ellie and I talked about... about the party, tonight I mean. She said she could probably go, so that's totally awesome.

But, I still couldn't get over the fact that my little outburst in the hall caused Paige to be hurt, sure, she's not my best friend, but she certainly doesn't deserve that, especially now, after just losing the case against Dean. I feel horrible and no party was going to stop that fact. I held my head high, pretending, pretending everything was cool, pretending I wasn't hurt, pretending I don't love Craig, still, pretending I didn't feel like a bitch, pretending... that seems to be all high school is. You have to pretend to fit in, you have to pretend to be skinny, you have to pretend to have lots of friends, pretend your a slut, pretend to be okay with that cheating ex-boyfriend.

But, oh, well... when I thought about the party it made me feel a little better knowing that in a matter of a few hours I could drink away all the problems, well not drink them away, but atleast get them off my mind for awhile.

School, as always when something fun is happening later, went by very slowly today. I sat there, not learning, nor taking in anything Mrs. Kwan or any of the other teachers were saying. But finally the last bell rang.

What a relief.

I walked with Ellie to her house. We watched TV for a while and finally at 6:00 we started getting ready. I just basically touched up my make up and fixed up my hair, but when I turned around I was facing a completely different Ellie. She looked drastically different, but at the same time, still kinda the same, you know? She had on this... well, "showy" outfit. And by showy I mean, there wasn't much to it. Not typical Ellie- wear. I didn't say anything... I didn't want to hurt her anymore then she already has been.

"How is it?" she asked.

I looked the outfit over once more... it was a short, short black skirt with safety pins down both sides and this top, it was red and it didn't cover more then half of her upper half.

"It's really... cute," I lied.

"Wow, I didn't know if you'd like it. I was going to wear it on Sean and I's next date... but..." she trailed off.

"Stop right there. Don't think about him. Okay?"

"Okay, Ash."

We finished getting ready. Once we were done we headed downstairs and out the door, Ellie not even bothering to leave a note or even tell her mom where we were going.

AT THE PARTY

Ellie immediately ran off to get us some drinks, but after she didn't come back after about 20 minutes I figured she'd probably found a rebound guy or something, so I went off in search of my own drink. I finally found my way to the kitchen. There I found a bunch of plastic cups filled with beer and half sober people grabbing at them. I took one and found my way back into the living room and sat down on the couch. I listened to the loud music that was thumping from the speaker next to me. I sat there, the lyrics puring into my head. Then I felt the couch sink in next to me, distracting me from my thoughts. I looked over. It was Craig. I wanted to plant my feet firmly on the ground and walk away, but I couldn't move.

"What do you want, Craig?" I asked, snottily.

"Who says I want something?" he shot back, innocently enough, but I still didn't believe him.

"Well, if you didn't want something how come you could have sat in that seat right over there?" I questioned, pointing to a empty seat on a sofa across the room.

"Um... Ash, I didn't really want to sit next to those people," he said, pointing to the left side of the couch, where two random people I'd never seen before were making out.

"Oh."

"Okay, that's a lie. Well, I mean I really wouldn't want to sit by them, but the reason I sat here was because I wanted to be next to you... again," he said, making my heart beat faster.

"Well, I don't think your little pregnant, slut of a girlfriend would like that," I told him, my voice harsh.

"Ash, please listen, number one, she's not a slut. Number two, she's not pregnant. Number three, she's not my girlfriend."

What the hell?! Since when?!

"Huh, since when?" I asked, coldly.

"I don't know, about seven o' clock," he stated matter-of-factly.

"That's too bad, but don't think I'm going to comfort you," I said, my voice getting sharper with each word.

"Okay, Ashley, look, I know you might never forgive me, but I'm sorry. I regret every minute of what I did to you, every second I made you suffer. Trust me, loosing you has hurt me so bad, I can't even imagine how bad it hurt you. I'm sorry," he apologized.

It's okay.

"Gee, Craig, you say that, but that doesn't mean it takes away the pain. It doesn't do anything," I replied, trying to sound as smartass-y as I could.

"Ash, will you please listen for a sec?" he begged.

"Fine," I said.

"I just have to get this out," he told me. Then do you know what he did?! He kissed me. ANd you know what I did. I kissed him back.

"Ash, I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Don't be, please, don't be," I ordered.

"Ok, 'cause honestly I didn't want to be," he assured me.

"I love you, Craig," I said.

I held my breath and waited for his reply. Did I really just say that?!

"I love you," he paused, "I never stopped."

Hey guys,
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know for Secret Keepers (Craig/ Manny) fans, that probably sucked, but I am a total shipper of the Angsty Artists (Craig/ Ashley). Sorry, if you hate it. Please R/R. Thanks,
Shelby

A note to the reviewers...
The Vampire Illiana: Wow, thank you so much, I am honored to be your favorite Degrassi author. Shelby prays you're not a Secret Keeper fan ;)
XxXCocoPuffXxX: I'm not sure on what exactly I'm going to do with this Sean/ Emma/ Ellie mess I've gotten myself into, but I have to tell you I'm personally a Heartbreaker (Sean/ Emma) fan, but I don't hate Sean/ Ellie stories, so they may get back together.
lilginger5138: I'm glad you like it. When I first started it I thought the different POV's would be kinda interesting.
Thanks to all of you. Please, keep up the reviews.