Isn't it strange, how you can be such good friends with someone one day, and be miles away from them the next? I guess I could say that I've been through this sort of thing a lot. First, there was Sean, my first real 'boyfriend,' a relationship that most would've guessed to last forever. Then, there was Manny, who I'd been betrayed by for the lust and desire of a 'popular' life. Even J.T., who had always been the goofy clown that would do anything to make me feel better, even he had changed to make himself look better. Granted, it wasn't like he didn't talk to me anymore, but there was certainly a gap in our friendship – especially after he had started to date Manny.

I guess, in a way, that I had changed too. I'd started hanging out with the well-known upper-classmen, like Jimmy or Paige. I'd even begun to make peace with Alex, a feat that most wouldn't have dared to accomplish. I was certainly very different from my lanky grade-seven self from so long ago. One might assume me to have been oblivious then, blind to my peers' feelings about me. Most found me annoying, obnoxious, and defensive – but what about Toby? I had completely ignored the boy who had daunted on me for so long, oblivious to his emotions. I remember one night when Manny had brought him up, but I'd neglected to listen.

Now that I've found out, I suppose that I might've acted different had I known of his feelings for me at the time. Toby wasn't a bad person at all, and although he wasn't the most attractive guy at Degrassi, he was one of the few that had been there for me – one of the few that hadn't completely ignored me.

I wondered these things quietly as I stepped into the dimly lit kitchen of my house, followed closely by Sean and Toby. The door shut quietly as I took a seat on the sofa, and immediately turned on the television. Toby was practically glued to the screen, but Sean simply shrugged and stood up. "Emma?" He asked quietly, and I noted that he'd abandoned his hat today. I nodded, and turned to him. "Do you want me to get you something from the fridge?"

I shook my head, although my stomach growled precisely at that time. Toby was flipping through the channels every second, until he finally settled on a low-rated reality show called, "Date My Dad!" I'd never much approved of it, but then again, I hadn't watched it either. It had a typical plot for a reality show - a girl begins to date the man of her dreams, only to find out that it was her father after undergoing cosmetic surgery. If the father can keep his mouth shut and continue with the scheme, he receives one thousand dollars at the end of the show.

Disgusting.

"Are you sure?" Sean asked again, having obviously heard my stomach and its pain. "I was going to get some water anyway, so if you want some lunch, it'd be fine…"

"I can get it myself," I muttered rather defensively, but I hadn't really been paying attention to my tense mood at the time as I stood up and walked into the kitchen, before getting out a plate and a glass for Sean. "Okay, we have water, soda, milk, and some old egg-nog. Take your pick."

"Water's fine," Sean replied, joining me in the kitchen. I glanced over at him and shrugged, my eyes turning back to Toby. His glasses were just barely sliding off his nose, but he irritably shoved them back up again, his hazel eyes focused directly on the screen before he shook himself out of the trance and turned to look over at me.

"Are you okay, Em?" Toby asked gently, a worried expression on his narrow face. I'd always been reminded of a horse when I looked at him, but I probably looked like a giraffe to some people, so maybe I shouldn't have been thinking about such things. "You didn't look so good at the funeral."

"I'm fine," I lied, swiping a rough blonde hair in my fingers and tucking it behind my ear. I was clearly hesitating, and as I looked down at the knife with which I was spreading my peanut butter, tears came to my eyes. Weapons. I'd always been against them – even in my environmental protest stage (which I was still partially in). But now, I had other reasons as well. Rick. I'd heard about the incident at Columbine High School in the United States below us, but for some reason, I'd never believed that it could actually happen at Degrassi. We'd never had anything like that happen before, and I still felt like it was partially my fault.

Sean and I exchanged glances, and he hesitated at the tears in my eyes. We took a seat on the sofa and looked down at the ground, and I could only wonder what the other two were thinking about. "So… Does anyone know how long school's out?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

"Two days," Toby replied nonchalantly, but it was at that time that my cell phone started to ring. I held up my hand to signal them to wait a moment, and I went to fetch my purse. Answering the phone, I swallowed and spoke. "Hello?"

"Hi, Emma." I knew the voice well, but I couldn't manage to understand why they'd be calling here. Why, I was half-expecting to answer and hear Mrs. Murray's voice! But this… This confused me.

"Hi…" I answered, hesitating. "Manny."

Manny. We'd spoken, sure, but we were nowhere near friends. Nowhere. Her ego had gotten ahead of her years ago, and I'd just had enough of it, I supposed. I hesitated for a second, noticing my two friends' confusion as to who had been on the telephone. Finishing, I added, "What do you want?"

Maybe it was a bit rude, but what else was I supposed to say?

"I need to talk to you… about J.T.," she said softly, her voice almost at a whisper. "It's important."

I nodded and rolled my eyes, but it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to see those things. "Okay," I reasoned, glancing over my shoulder at the table in our kitchen, where my sandwich lay untouched. "What is it? Make it quick, I don't have much time."

In my head, I continued: …for you.

Manny's voice was scared, timid, and unlike any way I'd ever heard it. She was usually an assertive girl, full of personality, but now she sounded as if she had no idea what to do. I was confused – what could be so wrong that Manny Santos would become so dazed?

"He's… Em, he's here… But he's not breathing." By now, it was clear that Manny's voice had turned to sobs, and I could feel her stares upon his body even through the telephone. "I… I don't know what to do… God, Emma, please…"

I was alert, and I turned to look over at Toby and Sean with worried eyes. "Give me three minutes, Manny. I'll be right over." With that, I hung up and rushed to put my shoes on, not even bothering to grab a jacket. Motioning to my friends, they followed me out the door with no explanation as to where they were going.

A minute later, we arrived at her house – for we'd always lived on the same street, so it wasn't a long walk at all. In fact, we'd ran, so it was even a shorter duration. I tried to open the door only to find it locked, but Manny's footsteps were rushing to the door immediately, and it was opened in a flash.

I'd never seen her like this before. Her eyes were welled with tears that had streamed down her cheeks, and her normally luscious black hair was ratted in knots and tangles down her olive shoulders. Manny was no longer Manny, but a distorted, ruined version of herself. I shook these thoughts out of my head and darted into the house, collapsing in disbelief beside J.T.'s lifeless body.

Toby looked down and stared, and I felt a sting of pity for him. He'd just lost his best friend, Rick Murray, and now… J.T. was unconscious. This was a strange and slightly awkward reunion of our broken friendships – I with Manny and Sean, and Toby with J.T. It didn't make sense.

"What happened?" I said in a panic to Manny, listening for a heartbeat. Good, still there.

Manny looked up at me, and for the first time in years, I was actually glad to see her. One – she wasn't glaring at me. Two – I needed her. "We were just talking about the, well, you know, and he started to breathe really hard, and Em… He just… He just stopped… And fell…"

"Do you know if he has any problems, Toby? Like asthma, or anything like that?" I said to him, swallowing my own saliva in panic. The windows were cracked open just barely, and I could hear someone outside. It was at that time that the door burst open, and Mr. Santos came in through the door.

"What is going on here?!" He yelled in a clear British accent. Manny had lived in the Philippines for three years of her life, where her father – who had been English – had met her mother, native to the area. We were all on the floor, crowded around J.T.'s frail body, and Manny's father looked as if he were on a regal mission in the British Airforce. "Come on, we have to get this boy to the hospital. Manuela, you need to call for an ambulance, now. Go. I'm going to try to figure out the problem."

Eight minutes and fifty-two seconds later, we were in the ambulance, and tears were streaming down my cheeks as I laid my head on Sean's shoulder, not thinking. Manny was staring down at J.T., her hair covering her eyes.

Isn't it strange, how we can be torn apart one day and brought together by destiny the next? Sometimes we have to undergo the deepest tragedies in order to bring us to realize our mistakes, to forgive each other. I guess this was one of those times, and I could only hope that J.T. would make it out alive.