"Ugh. This salad is disgusting," Roxie said, making a face and pushing the salad away from her. She sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "It looks like it's been regurgitated. It resembles throw-up or something."

"That's why you always pack your lunch," Ashley pointed out, gesturing to her own brown paper bag that was lying on the table in front of her.

"I think the food is great here!" Spinner exclaimed, staring down at his own plate, which had a Sloppy Joe, French fries, an ice cream cup, and a large soda on it. Paige, who was sitting next to him, smirked and nodded.

"You would say that," she said, biting into her apple.

"Hey, Craig, tell Ash about the song you wrote for her!" Spinner said, dipping his French fry into ketchup and nodding at Craig. "It was really awesome. The best song you've ever written."

Craig smiled sheepishly and rolled his eyes at Spinner. "Spin, we agreed it was a surprise. Do you know what that is?" He sighed and turned to his girlfriend. "Well, I kind…of wrote this song for you."

"You did!" Ashley said happily. She set down her banana and gave Craig a kiss on her cheek.

Roxie, who was sitting across the table from them, rested her chin in her hands as she violently stabbed her salad with her fork. Why is Ashley flaunting her stupid relationship with Craig in my face? She wondered bitterly. It's disgusting. It's revolting. I hate them,she thought angrily, even if she knew that it wasn't true at all.

"You two are too cute," Paige said, grinning at them. Ashley just shrugged and went back to her lunch.

"So, Roxie, tell us about this boy you're dating?" Ashley asked, glancing at Roxie. Roxie picked at a tomato in her salad, and frowned. What the hell is she smoking? Roxie wondered distractedly, no idea what she is talking about.

"What boy?"

"The boy…back in your Aunt's city…." Ashley said, trailing off. Roxie cleared her throat and smiled, nodding.

"Oh. That boy." If you're going to make up stories, Roxie, at least try to remember them, she reminded herself.

"What boy?" Craig asked lightly, but he clearly seemed interested…and a little hurt. Roxie just shrugged and stared down at her salad.

"I was seeing this boy for awhile," she said, glancing up and staring straight into Craig's eyes. He swallowed hard and looked away.

"What's his name?" Paige asked.

Roxie bit her lip. Uh….why did you make up this stupid lie? Ok, this shouldn't be that hard. Just pick a random name, and say it.

"Ryan," she blurted out. "He was a soccer player," she said quickly. "And he played…the flute."

"The flute?" Craig asked, looking slightly amused. Roxie frowned at him.

"Yeah. What, does he have to strum on some stupid piece of wood to be cool?" she said testily. Craig frowned and shook his head.

"No…the flute can be cool," he replied, shrugging.

A few minutes later, the group cleared their trays and headed out of the cafeteria, and parted ways to their locker. Roxie and Craig walked in silence to their own lockers. When they got there, Craig opened up his locker, glanced at Roxie hesitantly, and then pulled something out of his locker.

"Roxie," he said, and she turned from her locker to face him. He held out the jacket that she had forgotten the day she had left a little over a month ago. "You left this when you left. I tried to catch you before you left, but I was too late…." He trailed off as she took the jacket from him. She smiled softly at him.

"Thanks. I knew I left it somewhere," she said, glancing at it. She glanced up at him slowly. "Um…I was wondering…remember what you said that day. About wanting to be…more than friends…" she said quietly. Then she shook her head and smiled sheepishly. "Forget it. Never mind."

"Look…we might as well get this out in the open," Craig said after a minute. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and finally looked at her. "I'm not going to lie. I…I definitely had feelings for you, Roxie. And I know you're probably confused about the whole Ashley thing…but we kind of had a history. Well, you know about that…" he said, trailing off and glancing around. "Um….how are you feeling about this?"

"Honestly, I hate the fact that you're dating Ashley. I hate it so much, I want to lean over and slap both of you every time I see you kiss, or hold hands, or even just talk. Oh, and I adore the fact that you made me think you liked me before I left, but when I came back, you were practically married to my best friend." Roxie blurted out.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and Craig just stared at her. Finally, Roxie forced herself to laugh weakly and nudge him playfully in the arm.

"I was kidding," she said. Craig finally smiled after a minute. "I'm totally fine with you and Ashley. I mean, there was a little something between us awhile ago, but it's totally over. I had a boyfriend back in Chester, and you had Ashley here. The only thing I'm worried about is you and I still being friends."

Craig nodded quickly and grinned. "Roxie, of course we are going to be friends! You're one of the most awesome girls I've ever met. You're like one of the guys," he said. Then he reached over and punched her in the arm. Roxie put on a fake smile and rubbed her arm tenderly. Great. I'm "one-of-the-guys." Which basically means "I' like hanging out with you, but I'm not attracted to you-at all."

Roxie sighed. "Great. Um, Craig. There's something I need to tell you-" she began, but the bell cut her off. She sighed. "Never mind. I'll tell you later."

Ellie walked into the library the following afternoon, holding a notebook in one hand and her video-camera in the other. She stopped and glanced around the large room, and finally spotted Sean sitting at a corner table, his head in his hands. It looked like he had fallen asleep. Ellie sighed and walked over. Lucky bastard, she thought. She had spent the last two days in the hospital with her mother, and had gotten about two hours of sleep. She had finally decided to go back to school this afternoon, and now she was meeting Sean to work on the project. She sat down and tapped Sean on the shoulder. Sean woke up with a start.

"Hey," he mumbled, glancing at her. He noticed the large bags under her eyes, and even though her skin was pale to begin with, she looked chalky and ghostly white. "You look…."

"Like hell?" Ellie interrupted, opening her notebook. She reached over and began fiddling with her camera. "Thanks. I just spent two days in the hospital. My mom was in a car accident," she muttered, concentrating intently on the camera. Sean frowned and sat up.

"Is she ok?"

"They said she's going to be ok," Ellie replied, reaching over and opening up her notebook that she had written down their ideas in.

"Oh…well, I'm really sorry," Sean said. Ellie glanced over at him briefly, and then went back to focusing on the notebook in front of her.

"Thanks, but I'm not. Maybe she'll think twice next time before she goes and gets wasted at a bar and decides to drive home drunk," she said bitterly. She glanced over at Sean and sighed. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

"Actually…I would," Sean said slowly. "My parent's were…are…alcoholics. That's why I lived with my brother before he moved out. I haven't seen my parents in a few years."

"Oh. I just….god, I wish she'd just stop drinking," Ellie said without really thinking. She smirked slightly and shook her head. She glanced over at Sean. This is Sean Cameron, Ellie, she told herself. You haven't even been able to talk to Marco about your Mom, and he's your best friend! Why are you suddenly willing to talk to some relative stranger about it? Just shut up and focus on the project.

"Um…anyway," she said quickly, gesturing to the notebook. "I brought my camera, so we could start filming. I think we could start interviewing some of our friends."

Sean nodded, and they were both quiet for a minute. "You know, something you could do is get all the alcohol out of your house. That's what I did," Sean said. "She'll be mad, but at least it will stop her from drinking….temporarily."

Ellie sighed. Gee, I don't remember asking for your advice, she thought bitterly. And she definitely wanted to be discussing her mother's drinking problem with a guy who'd she's barely ever talked too.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," Ellie said quickly. "I just... think we should work on the project right now."

Sean stared at Ellie silently for awhile, and then nodded slowly. "Ok. That's cool. But if you ever do need to talk, that's cool, too. I understand what it's like."

Ellie nodded and smiled at him slowly. Well, it looks like Sean Cameron has a heart after all.

"Roxie, can I walk you home?"

Roxie turned and saw Craig walking toward her. School had let out about an hour ago, but Roxie had had to stay after to catch up on some work. She was surprised to see that Craig was still there.

"Um….what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I had photography club," he said, holding up the camera around his neck. Roxie nodded silently. "Come on. It's cold."

"You don't have to walk me home," Roxie said quickly. Craig shrugged.

"No…I'm going that way," he said lightly. He saw the hesitation on her face, and he smiled and nudged her. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Don't make me follow you."

Roxie was quiet for a minute, and then finally sighed. "Ok. If you insist…but I'm going to stop at The Dot. You can buy me something.' Then she turned and began walking away. Craig just shrugged and hurried to follow her.

Fifteen minutes later, Craig pulled open the door and ushered Roxie in. Roxie walked in and glanced around hesitantly. Craig followed her. "Ok, should I get us a table?" he asked. Roxie sighed and ran her hands over her face. She turned and stared at Craig, and Craig frowned. Ok, I'm not getting the welcome-vibe here, he thought. She's acting really weird.

"Ok. Let's sit here," Roxie said, gesturing to a table. Craig nodded and walked over and sat down, but Roxie just slowly laid her jacket on the back of a chair and rested her purse on the table. Then she glanced around again. "Craig. I'll be back….just order whatever, ok?" And before Craig could say anything, she hurried off.

Roxie wandered around the restaurant for a minute, and then finally spotted who she was looking for. She walked over slowly to Spinner, who was wiping off a table. He spotted her coming toward him, and smiled as he picked up an empty plate from the table.

"Hey, Roxie. You want a table?" he asked, glancing at her as he cleared off the table. "I'm just a dish pig, but you can have this table when I'm done with it. Then I'm taking my break."

Roxie shook her head. "No. I don't need a table…I need to talk to you. It's really important."

Spinner turned to her, looking confused, but he shrugged and nodded. "Um…ok. Sure. Just let me put this stuff away and we can go out back." Roxie nodded and watched as he walked through the swinging doors to the kitchen. A minute later he reappeared, and gestured for her to follow him outside. The two walked to the back of the restaurant and out into the small alley behind the building.

"Ok. What's up?" Spinner asked, folding his arms across his chest. Roxie stared down at her feet and wrung her hands together. Finally, she looked up at him and took a deep breath.

"Ok, I know this is probably a horrible place to talk to you about this, but I thought I would lose the nerve if I didn't do this right now. Ok…I'm kind of losing the nerve right now…" Roxie said, trailing off and biting her lip nervously. Spinner frowned.

"Uh…Roxie, you're kind of freaking me out right now," he said slowly. Roxie nodded and smiled weakly. "Roxie…is this about Angel?" he said, frowning harder. Roxie looked up and shook her head quickly.

"No! This isn't about Angel…this is about me. Spin, I'm…pregnant," Roxie said slowly. "You're the father…"

There was a long moment of silence, and Spinner just stared at her. He hardly moved or reacted at all. He just stared at Roxie. Roxie bit her lip.

"I've decided to keep the baby," Roxie continued. "I thought I'd tell you just so you know. You don't have to be a part of the baby's life or anything, if you don't want…" She trailed off, staring up at Spinner. He finally blinked, and ran his hands over his face.

"Oh…wow," he muttered. "Um…"

Roxie took a deep breath, and looked away. What were you thinking? She asked herself. Maybe you shouldn't have told him at all. "I'm…I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I shouldn't…I'm sorry," she stumbled out, and then turned and ran back into the restaurant.

Craig tapped his fingers again the table, and craned his neck to the back of the restaurant. Roxie had disappeared awhile ago, and he had spotted her talking briefly with Spinner, and then suddenly disappearing out the back with him. Craig frowned, remembering that Roxie had told him that she had slept with Spinner. Does she still have feelings for him? He wondered. Is there something going on between them?

He took a deep breath. Don't jump to conclusions, he thought.

Just then, Craig saw the back door open, and Roxie came running through. She walked quickly through the restaurant, and as soon as she reached their table, she grabbed her jacket and purse. Craig stared at her in confusion.

"Roxie….what happened?" he asked, standing up. She just shook her head.

"You can stay," she said shakily. "I…I have to go." Then she turned and hurried out of the restaurant. Craig winced, but followed her out of The Dot and down the sidewalk.

"Roxie! Please…are you ok?" he asked, hurrying up to her. She kept walking fast, and didn't bother looking at him.

"No. I'm not fine," she said. "Nothing's fine. God, I'm so stupid!"

Craig hurried to keep up with her. "No, you're not. Roxie, would you slow down and tell me what's going on?" Finally, Roxie stopped and turned to face him. He saw that there were tears in her eyes. What's wrong? He wondered, genuinely concerned.

"I've ruined everything, Craig," she said, a sob escaping her throat. She put a hand to her mouth and looked away, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I've ruined everything for me, and for Spinner."

Craig reached out and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "It's ok, Roxie. I'm sure it's going to be fine," he said into her hair. She shook her head firmly and pulled back to stare at him.

"No…Craig…I'm pregnant," she said.

Craig stared at her in amazement. "What?"

She stepped away from him. "I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant…"

"And Spinner's the father," Craig finished slowly, realizing what she meant about ruining everything for him. He swallowed hard, not sure what to say or do. What can I say? He wondered, still surprised. She's pregnant. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be ok, but he didn't know that for sure. He couldn't imagine Roxie giving birth, having a baby, being a mother.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Roxie said, throwing up her hands. "I just want to be like everyone else, Craig! Nothing in my life had ever been normal. And now this…" she trailed off, and turned to look at him. "I can't have an abortion. I can't give it away. But I can't be a mother, either."

Craig nodded slowly, and stepped out and hugged her. It was the only thing he could do.

Paige opened the door, and smiled when she saw her boyfriend standing on her front porch.

"Hey, baby," she said. "What are you doing here?"

Spinner stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground. "Um…we have to talk."

Paige frowned. Spinner wasn't acting like….Spinner. This must be serious, she thought. I've never seen Spinner like this. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and shrugged. "Ok. Come in," she said, stepping inside and gesturing him in, but Spinner shook his head.

"No. Let's…sit on the porch swing, ok?" he suggested. Paige nodded and followed him out and to the swing at the back of the porch. They both sat down, and it was followed by silence. Paige rolled her eyes and smiled.

"This isn't talking, Spin," she pointed out. "Talking usually involves speaking, you know?"

Spin didn't say anything. Paige shook her head. "Spinner, say something or I'm going to ring your neck, I swear!"

Spin nodded quickly. He rubbed his hands on his jeans nervously and glanced at his girlfriend. "I think we should break up."

Paige felt her blood run cold, and she sat back, stunned. She totally wasn't expecting that. Things between her and Spinner had been going perfectly, and she had honestly thought they were going to be together for…well, forever. Spinner and Paige. Paige and Spinner. It just went together. And now he wanted to break up? Why?

"Spinner…why?"

He looked off into the yard. "It's complicated, Paige. But we just can't be together anymore."

Paige made a face. "Complicated? Things are never complicated with you, Spinner. So tell me why. Tell me why you're doing this!"

Spinner shook his head, looking anguished. Paige was getting angry. "Spinner, you're not leaving until you tell me why you're breaking up with me! Do you even know? I thought things were fine between us. Did I do something-"

"No!" Spinner interrupted, looking frustrated. He turned to Paige and stared at her. "No. You want to know why? Fine. I got Roxie pregnant, ok? And I think that I need to be with Roxie, since it's my kid."

There was a long silence, and it took Paige a minute to process what he had just said. "You…you got Roxie pregnant?" she said slowly.

"Yeah. But…it's not what you think. It was mistake. We both knew it, and-"Spinner tried to explain, but Paige just shook her head and cut him off.

"Leave," she said coldly, staring straight ahead. "Just get out of here." She stood up and quickly walked across the porch, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come. Spinner jumped up and followed her.

"Paige, please, you have-"he began, grabbing her arm to stop her. She whirled around and slapped him hard across the face. Spin stopped and let her go, and Paige pulled open the front door and went running inside, on the brink of tears. Spin watched her go, a red handprint on his check.