Chapter Five: Secretly She Wanted Him As Well

"So are you going to stop running and get out the water?" Hazel yelled, teasing Jimmy from the sidelines. She had convinced Ashley to drop out of the Homecoming thing if and only if she could find out what was going on with Jimmy ... and get them a date.

"Why are you stalking me girl?"

"I'm not a girl." Hazel rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"I've got nothing to say!" Jimmy turned his back to Hazel, swimming farther and farther away. If she didn't hurry up and do something, she'd lose this opportunity.

"You just missed a call!" She yelled as loud as she could. "I think it might've been Reagan." Jimmy's body stiffened up as he reluctantly returned to shore.

"Did you answer it?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Hazel walked away with Jimmy tagging along behind her.

"This is not a game. If you answered the phone ... she could think ..."

"So you do care 'playa playa.'" Hazel smirked, catching him red-handed.

"What do you want from me?"

"Reagan still loves you, yet you're out here pretending like you hate her. What's your deal? Are you hung up on Ashley?"

"Hell no. Once I got rid of her, I realized that ... I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, we don't have to." Hazel stopped pushing noticing that this was really serious. "I just need you to do something for me. I have a plan that'll get rid of Ash for good and maybe give you a second chance with Reagan."

"So then there was this..." Marco's voiced trailed off as Manuela tried to pretend like she hated having him there. He was actually pretty charming and even Paige would be eating out of his palm ... if she was there.

"What made you think you could bring him here?" Ashley wondered, a little tipsy. Jimmy had completely been hanging out with Hazel the whole time ... who he "hated" and she wasn't handling the rejection well.

"Well I said I'm going to hang out with my friends. He asked if he could come. I said yeah. It's not that complicated."

"Before you know it, he'll have all the skater people here."

"No. This is temporary. He'll be cool with us until our project is over. I'll dump his ass after that." Manuela said as snotty as she could, trying not to feel bad about what she was going to have to do.

"You haven't talked to me all night. Is something wrong?" Marco asked Manuela who took a small sip of some barely-aged wine. For some reason, it just wasn't having the same affect that it would normally have on her.

"I'm fine." She lied. "Shouldn't you be heading back home?"

"I came with you."

"So." Manuela tried not to look at him. He looked so confused and like he expected so much out of her ...

"I know you don't want me here Manny, but ... I'm glad you brought me here." He thanked Manuela as she chugged the rest of her alcohol.

"You've got to be kidding me. Since when did this turn into a date. Are you completely delusional? No one here gives a shit about you, so just go home. Stop embarrassing yourself."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to leave me alone ... and stop calling me Manny like you know me or something. You don't. And in case you wanted to know, I have a boyfriend." Marco hung his head, feeling like a complete jerk.

"Oh." He walked away briskly, trying not to show that he was hurt. But he was. Now he was embarrassed.

"Reagan." Hazel whispered, trying to hurry up before anyone noticed that she was gone.

"Who is this? Haze." Hazel muttered under her breathe. She was never good at impersonating other people, and Reagan had completely seen through it.

"I just want you to know that Jimmy has been miserable without you."

"And? Don't you have something better to do with your time then meddle in other people's personal business?"

"He wants you to meet him at eight o-clock..." Hazel lied. She felt that she owed Jimmy this much. After all, once their plan began Reagan and Jimmy would be completely over. Done.

Manuela woke up after a perfect dream. She had been on a romantic dinner with her boyfriend ... no. Wait. It had been someone else. Marco. How could she have forgotten how mean she had been to him.

"But I had to do it." She convinced herself, trying not to focus on the voice that told her that she had once been in the situation. With Craig. Manuela shuddered, happy that he just seemed to disappear from her thoughts altogether.

"But I have Enrique now." She smiled to herself. A college boyfriend, one that she hadn't seen in a long time. "It's about time that I paid you a visit baby." Manuela gathered up her things, not bothering to think about leaving a note or letting Marco know that she wouldn't be able to work today.