A week later, Emma sat in class, glaring at the back of Sean's head. What, now he's the one ignoring me? She wasn't sure why she felt so offended, but she did.

One seat ahead of her, Sean was wondering how much longer he could keep ignoring Emma. He could feel her stare boring holes in the back of his head. Having to not speak to Emma was killing him, but it was all part of his plan. He needed to somehow set things up so that Emma would be hurt as little as possible when the truth about Jay came out. The problem was, he had no idea how to do that. During the past week, he'd realized something. I still love Emma. There. He'd said it. He'd been trying to deny it for weeks now, but there it was, staring him in the face. The realization had done terrible things for his plan. He needed to get Emma away from Jay as soon as possible. Finding out about Jay's part in the shooting would certainly do that. But there was that one selfish part of him that wanted Emma to choose him over Jay freely. Sean sighed. There'd be time for that later. For now, he'd do what he could. Luckily, he still remembered how to push Emma's buttons as well.

The bell rang, dismissing the last class of the day. Emma always marveled at the excitement everyone felt on a Friday afternoon. The air was almost charged with anticipation of the weekend. She sighed as she remembered the days she used to be like that. Running to her locker to meet Manny and plan that night's festivities. Or, she remembered, to meet Sean. Dammit Emma, why don't you quit fooling yourself and realize that you still have feelings for Sean? As always, she pushed the thought out of her mind. How many times does he have to reject you before you realize he doesn't want you Emma? The only person who wants you, is Jay. Even if it's only for one reason.. at least he wants you. She felt like a cartoon character, with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. It was an inner battle she'd been fighting ever since Sean came back. She'd felt a spark of hope when she'd heard Sean & Ellie had broken up, but he'd been ignoring her ever since. Not that she blamed him, she'd said some pretty nasty things to him when he first got back. She sighed again. She couldn't even wonder what she'd be doing tonight. She knew. Like always, she'd go to the ravine, with Jay, and do whatever it is he wanted to do, and she'd get drunk. Because that was really the only time she ever felt ok anymore – because everything was blurred, everything was numbed. It made the intensity of the pain she felt feel a little duller. As long as she could keep Jay from trying to push things too far – she'd be ok. She was amazed she had the self worth left to keep fighting him. She may be an empty shell of what she used to be, but she still had her boundaries. She started the long trek home, feeling so much older than her 15 years.

As Sean walked down the hall, he saw Spinner pacing nervously in the vicinity of his locker. As he neared him, Spinner reached out and dragged him into an empty classroom.

"Dude! You're late! Come on!!! Did you bring it!?!?!"

"Of course!!!" Sean pulled out the paper he'd printed out in MI class when Simpson wasn't looking. "Did you bring your part?" he asked

"Yeah. Yeah I got it right here. So, you still know the combination to Jay's locker, right?" Spinner replied.

"Of course." After checking the hall, they snuck to Jay's locker. Sean quickly spun the lock, and opened the locker. They quickly deposited the items in Jay's locker, shut and locked it, and left the school.

Sean looked at Spinner "That was the easy part. Now let's just stick to the plan."

Spinner nodded "You going to the ravine tonight? Jay's going to get suspicious if you don't."

Sean thought of Emma. "Oh, I'll be there."

Later that night, Emma sat in her usual spot on the picnic table. God, how do these people do this every weekend!? Jay was off talking to some random girl. The girl was blonde, laughing and throwing her hair around, touching Jay's arm unnecessarily. I should probably be jealous. But I could care less. She watched as Jay broke away from the girl

"WELL WELL WELL. Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence!"

Emma drew a sharp intake of breath as Sean entered the ravine. Of course, it only took about 3.5 seconds before they made eye contact. Emma's heart jumped in her chest. Little did she know, so did Sean's. At that point, he knew he had to talk to her. Forget that part of the plan.

"Sean, I've hardly seen you since you got back. You avoiding me or something?"

Sean turned his attention back to Jay "What? Oh… no man, I just had a bunch of stuff to deal with when I got back. Broke up with Ellie, so I needed to find a new place to live, get caught up at school and stuff.. But it's good to be back." I've never told so many lies in one conversation before… "So, what's new with you Jay? I hear your dating Emma. How the hell did that happen?"

"Ah, you know… she wanted a little of the Jay action… she's gotten kinda hot, so I thought why not?" Jay laughed.

It took all Sean's strength not to lose his cool and pretend he was amused by Jay's cocky attitude. He nodded and said "Well, I'll see you around man, I'm gonna go grab a beer."

"Later." Jay replied.

Sean needed to cool down before he tried to talk to Jay again. Or talk to Emma.

He wandered around for a few minutes, saying hello to random people before he took a seat on the lower part of the picnic table Emma was sitting on.

"Hey" he ventured.

"Hey" Emma replied.

Well, she isn't yelling yet.. this is a good start. Sean thought.

"Emma…"

"Sean…." They both spoke at once.

"Sorry, go ahead" Emma said.

"I was just going to say.. can we.. can we talk?"

She sighed "Sean.. I …. I just don't know what we could possibly have to say to each other. But.. Ok, let's go somewhere."