Roxie stomped into her house and ripped off her jacket, hurling it into a chair near the door. She tore off her scarf and hurled it onto the floor. She trooped through the kitchen and into the living room, where her mother and Jake were cuddled on the couch, watching a movie on the television. Roxie marched right into the room and planted herself directly in front of the T.V, and placed her hands on her hips.
"Mother, I'm pregnant," she said. "I'm pregnant, and I'm going to keep the baby, just like you kept Angel and me. I know who the father is, and I told him already. I'm going upstairs to my room." With that, she turned and walked out of the living room, her head held high. She hurried up the staircase to her room.
Roxie walked into her room, and shut the door behind her. She sighed. That went well, she thought. She had decided that she might as well just tell them- they were going to find out anyway. Roxie walked over and sat on her bed with a large sigh. A minute later, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and toward her bedroom. She groaned. Don't tell me Mom is going to try to have a heart-to-heart or something, she thought angrily. I should have known. There was knock on the door.
"Come in," she muttered, just loud enough so her mother could hear her. But when the door opened, it wasn't her mother who walked in. It was Jake. Roxie narrowed her eyes. Great, she thought bitterly.
"Can we talk?" he asked, stepping in hesitantly and glancing around. Roxie shrugged and grabbed a pillow.
"Gee, about what?" she said innocently. Jake smiled crookedly.
"Your mother is pretty upset," he said.
"What- so she sent you up here to talk to me? Shouldn't she be doing this?" Roxie asked. She hadn't really expected her mother to come up and talk to her, or even really acknowledge the fact that she was pregnant. But to send Jake up here-pure laziness.
"No. She doesn't know what to say to you, so I thought I'd come up. You know, having a kid is a big responsibility," he said, walking over and sitting in her desk chair. "Are you sure you're ready for that?"
Roxie snorted. "I'm sixteen. I'm obviously not ready. My mother got pregnant when she was fifteen, and she kept Angel, although I often wish she hadn't. I can't give the baby up, because I'll always regret it as long as I live."
Jake nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good point. But Roxie, sometimes girls who get pregnant young are looking for a family. A real family. Their just calling out for someone to pay attention to them."
Roxie stared at him. "Are you saying that this is some desperate cry for attention?" She shook her head. "You don't know anything. I didn't want this. I didn't want this at all. It was just…a one time thing," she muttered, looking away. Jake nodded again.
"Things have been hard for you lately, Roxie," he said. "You've been through a lot. But your mother and I are going to be there for you through all of this. You don't have to feel alone."
Roxie stared at him, and then laughed out loud. "What the fuck is this?"
Jake looked surprised. "What do you mean?"
"You're not my fucking father, so stop acting like you are. You're just some kid who's sleeping with my mother. You're not a part of this "family", because if you were, you'd know that this isn't a fucking family at all. You don't know anything about anything. You think you know my Mom so well, but you don't know shit about her," she said angrily.
Jake took a deep breath. "I wasn't saying that. But I think that in this situation, that maybe I could-"
"That you could what- be a "father figure" to me?" she spit out. "You're practically saying that I went and got knocked up just so people would feel sorry for me! I hate the fact that you're just butting into our lives like this. Don't think that you're special or anything, though. You're probably going to be around for a few more weeks, and then my Mom is going to ditch you for someone else."
Jake was silent for a long moment, and Roxie could feel the anger boiling up in her. Who the hell does he think he is? She thought angrily, clutching her pillow tightly in her lap. Just coming up here and trying to talk to me like this. Roxie shook her head. He's practically a child, she thought. Why the fuck did my Mom let him live in our house? I fucking hate this. I really do.
"Roxie," Jake said after a minute. "I wanted to tell you that I'm going to ask your mother to marry me. I love her."
Roxie stared at him in amazement. Then she shook her head. "You're a fucking idiot." Then she flipped over onto her side with her back toward him. "I'm tired. Could you please leave, now?" She mumbled. After a minute, she heard him stand up from the chair and walk to the door. Before he left, he turned and glanced at her.
"You can't keep pushing people away, Roxie," he said quietly. Then he left.
Roxie listened as the door closed behind him, and hot tears slid down his cheek. I'm not going to let him be my step-father, she thought angrily. She brushed away a tear and sniffed. I'm not going to let him.
Craig yawned and stared at the open textbook in front of him. Technically, he was supposed to be studying biology, but right now, he had the attention span of a two-year-old. He had been sitting in the library for twenty minutes during his study hall, and he had read the same page about ten times, and still had no idea what the hell it was about. He glanced at the picture in the corner of the page. Whales, he thought distractedly as he began clicking his pen. I don't really care about whales.
Craig glanced around the library and glanced at his watch. He was supposed to be meeting Ashley when this period was over, and he couldn't wait. This is useless, he realized, closing his textbook. Suddenly, he heard something from the table next to him that made his ears perk up.
"…Manny Santos," one boy said to his friend. Craig glanced at them. "Man, she is hott."
Craig looked away, but continued to listen. It wasn't really eavesdropping…after all, they were talking loudly. They were practically asking him to listen. Besides, the two boys were complete stoners, and Craig only vaguely knew one of them from his gym class. Craig kept clicking his pen and trying to look like he wasn't listening to their conversation.
"Bryan said he totally scored with her, but you know that's not true," one boy said, rolling his eyes at his friend. "Didn't she used to date Carter Monroe or something?"
The other boy shrugged. "Yeah, I think so. I don't think they're together anymore. I hear she's a huge drug-addict now."
The other boy punched him in the arm. "No way. She went to rehab, dude."
"So? That doesn't mean anything. The other night, she paid Hayden for some cocaine. She's totally a coke-head, I swear."
"How do you know that's true?" the other boy asked, not looking completely convinced.
"I saw her, dude. She met him in the park, and he hooked her up. She's totally a drug-addict, man. And I hear she's easy as hell."
Craig scooted back his chair suddenly, and the two boys glanced over at him. Craig grabbed his book and stood up. I really don't want to hear this, he thought angrily, shoving the book into his bag. I don't want to hear some losers talk about how drugged up and easy my girlfriend is. Then he stopped. Man, she's not your girlfriend. Ashley is. He had to keep reminding himself of the fact that he and Manny were over.
Craig glared at the two boys as he walked past them and out of the library. He knew he'd been a jerk when she had visited him the other day, but he really hadn't expected Manny Santos to just randomly show up on his doorstep. He'd been totally taken by surprise, and the two hadn't talked since. She looked ok, he thought as he walked through the hallway to his locker. She can't still be doing drugs…can she? He shook his head. He honestly didn't know. Manuella Santos was just full of surprises.
He approached his locker, still lost in thought. Craig and Manny had agreed to be friends, but apparently Manny had been expecting more. He sighed. He hadn't really been a friend to her at all. He had been so preoccupied with Roxie to really worry about Manny.
He made a decision-he was going to try to be friends with Manny. She obviously needed someone to help her, especially if all that shit those guys were saying was true. He nodded slowly. He wanted to be friends with Manny.
But does Manny want to be friends with me? He wondered with a frown.
Roxie walked through the cafeteria the next day, holding her tray in her hands as she looked for a seat. She spotted Ashley waving her over to a table in the corner. Roxie bit her lip. She really didn't want to go over there. She looked at Paige, who was sitting across from Ashley. Roxie wondered if Spin had told her yet. She couldn't tell. Paige was just peeling an orange with a neutral look on her face. Finally, Roxie just shrugged and walked over.
"Hey. Did you totally flunk that English quiz or what?" Ashley asked as soon as Roxie sat down. "My mother is going to murder me. My grades totally suck this year."
Roxie smiled as she opened her carton of milk. "Tell her Mrs. Kwan is an evil Nazi and it's practically impossible to pass that class."
Ashley scrunched up her nose and shrugged. "I don't want to talk about grades. I want to talk about the carnival coming up. Are you and Spin going to do that pie-contest thing again, Paige?"
Paige finished peeling her orange and dropped it onto her plate. "No. Spin and I aren't together anymore," she said, looking directly at Roxie. Roxie stopped in the middle of chewing her French fry and felt her stomach turn. Damn it, Roxie thought. She knows. She has to know. Why else would she be looking at me in the seriously creepy way?
"Oh my God!" Hazel exclaimed, putting a hand on Paige's arm. "Why?"
Paige was silent for a minute, and then she nodded at Roxie. "Why don't you tell them, Roxie?" Ashley, Hazel, and Ellie all turned and stared at Roxie.
Roxie closed her eyes. Please let this be a dream, she thought. Maybe I should just pretend to faint. Collapse onto the floor and start having a seizure or something. Roxie opened her eyes and cleared her throat.
"I…don't…know," she said slowly, and then winced. Wrong answer!
Paige's jaw clenched. "Why don't you just tell them?"
"Paige…please…" Roxie said desperately. But Paige ignored her and glanced around at the table. She had caught the attention of the table next to there's, where Craig, Jimmy, Marco, and Spinner were sitting. Then she glanced back at Roxie.
"Fine. I'll tell them," she snapped. "Spinner broke up with me because he slept with Roxie and got her pregnant. First, her sister steals Spin away from me. And now little, sweet Roxie here went and got pregnant. Pretty convenient, huh?" she said loudly.
Roxie froze, acutely aware that they were all staring at her. She felt hot tears come to her eyes, and she realized she had never been so mortified in her entire life. She glanced at Paige to see is she was enjoying this, but she clearly wasn't. Paige was just ripping at her orange, looking angry and upset.
Roxie didn't know what to say. I have to get the hell out of here, she screamed at herself. So she jumped up and ran through the cafeteria. She pushed through the doors and hurried down the hallway to the girl's bathroom. When she went in, she was relieved to see it was empty. She leaned against the sink as tears slid down her cheeks. A minute later, Paige walked in.
"What? What do you want? Why don't you just put up a billboard on Main Street, so word gets out faster?" Roxie yelled, throwing up her hands. "I bet you're loving this. Did you just come in here to smirk and watch me cry?"
"Cry?" Paige said, shaking her head. "You want to talk about crying? I cried for hours after Spin broke up with me, Roxie. I didn't even want to live anymore. We were in love."
Roxie stared into the mirror and frowned. "Oh, poor Paige. She's sad because her boyfriend broke up with her. He's probably going to go running back to you, just like always. You have so many problems," she snapped sarcastically. Her sadness melted away, and it was replaced by anger. "You think things are so hard for you, don't you? You're not fucking pregnant. You don't know what hard is."
"If you didn't want to get pregnant, then why did you go and screw my boyfriend? It's not my fault you're a slut!"
"You're right. And it's not my fault Spinner broke up with you! I didn't tell him too. If he really loves you, he would stay with you anyway." Roxie snapped back. Paige was quiet, and clearly furious.
"I always knew you were trash," Paige said in a cold, quiet voice. "Look at your family. You're sisters a slut, and everyone knows how fucked up your mother is!"
Roxie whirled around. "Shut up. Just shut up and stay away from me." She brushed past Paige. "No wonder your boyfriend doesn't want to be with you," she said quietly, and she pushed open the bathroom door and stalked out. Paige just watched her go, her arms folded over her chest.
Emma glanced at her watch again, and sighed in frustration. She had been standing at The Dot for nearly an hour, waiting for Sean to meet her, but of course, he had ditched her- again. So she was loitering outside, looking like a complete loser. Emma sighed loudly as she folded her arms over her chest. Sean better have an amazing explanation for not being here, she thought bitterly. I'm leaving, she decided. Then she winced. She had no ride home. Sean had gotten a car, and she had been relying on him for ride. I can walk home! It's like, five miles! I know-I'll walk to Sean's house and bitch slap him. He better not be sitting on his ass while I'm standing outside in the cold.
She was just about to start walking when the front door of the restaurant opened and Jay walked out. Emma frowned when he spotted her.
"You know, they don't serve people outside," he pointed out cockily. "You actually have to go into the restaurant to eat."
Emma kicked at a rock on the sidewalk and frowned. "I know that. But my so-called-boyfriend was supposed to meet me an hour ago, and I don't have a ride."
Jay shrugged. "I'll give you a ride."
Emma looked up. Ok, I wasn't implying I wanted a ride from you. "No…I'll walk."
"It's cold as hell outside," Jay said. "If you want to freeze your ass off, fine." He turned and began heading toward his car, and Emma bit her lip.
"Wait!" she called and he turned slightly. "Fine. I'll take the ride."
Jay rolled his eyes. "You act like your doing me a favor. I don't have to give you a ride, you know." But Emma was already climbing into the passenger seat. Jay walked over and slid into the driver's seat, and turned on the engine. The C.D player clicked on, and a loud rap song began playing. Emma wrinkled her nose and quickly hit the off button.
"Hey! That's my favorite C.D," Jay protested. Emma shrugged.
"It's giving me a headache," she said simply. She fiddled with the radio, until she found a good oldies station. She sat back in satisfaction and nodded. "This is a good song."
"What are you- eighty three?" Jay asked in disgust, pulling away from the curb. "You really are a nerd, Nelson."
"And you really are a bad-ass," Emma retorted, but then she shook her head. "Oh, wait- I forgot. You're not a bad-boy. You're just a huge poser."
Jay kept one hand on the wheel as he casually lit a cigarette. "I immediately regret giving you a ride." Emma just shrugged and stared out the window. They drove in silence for a few minutes.
"Could you put out that cigarette?" Emma asked after a minute. She turned and looked at him. "I kind of care about my lungs."
Jay smirked. "All that crap about second-hand smoke is bullshit, you know."
Emma frowned. "Do your parents know you smoke? Or about anything you do? Don't' they ever try to discipline you or anything?"
Jay looked out the window, and the smirk on his face faded. "My dad's in jail. And my Mom…well, I don't know where the hell she is."
God, you're a jerk, Emma thought to herself as an awkward silence filled the car. She stared down at her nails, wondering if she should just shut up. Did she ever? Emma sighed and glanced at Jay. "Oh. That really sucks." That was really insightful, she told herself sarcastically. Seriously-shut up.
Jay just stared straight ahead at the road. "I don't really care." Emma didn't really believe him.
"Is that why you steal?" she asked quietly, her curiosity getting the better of her. Jay smirked and shook his head.
"Don't think I steal just for attention because Daddy's locked up," he said. "Or because Mom doesn't give a crap about me. I steal because money's basically non-existent in my house." Emma nodded, and Jay glanced at her. "What would you know? You have it easy with Step-Papa Simpson."
"That's your problem. You think you have everything figured out," Emma said, slightly frustrated. "Yeah, Archie is a pretty cool step-dad. But my real dad…he can't live by himself. He fell…and has permanent mental problems. My Mom didn't even tell me. I had to find out on my own," she said bitterly, thinking about how she had found her dad in that institution.
"So…looks like we both have father issues,' Jay finally said, glancing at her and smiling slightly. "Maybe we should form a club." Emma laughed softly and shrugged.
"Why? So we can sit around and feel sorry for ourselves?" she replied. "That's my place, on the right."
A minute later, Emma stepped out of Jay's car. She closed the door and looked at him through the open window. "Thanks for the ride."
Jay shrugged. "Whatever. You should kick Sean's ass, though."
Emma smiled. "I know. Bye." She stepped back as Jay revved the engine and speed off. She watched his car disappear down the street, and then she turned and walked up to her front door. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder as she pushed it open and walked into the foyer. That was weird, she thought, still smiling. Did I just have an actual, semi-deep conversation with Jay? She hung up her coat. It was weird…but Emma felt like she understood Jay a little better. Very interesting, she thought, skipping up the staircase to her room.
"You're kidding! That was the best movie ever," Ellie exclaimed. Sean shook his head and smirked.
"No way. That was lame," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I hate that romantic crap. Action movies are my thing."
Ellie just smiled and rolled her eyes. "That would figure. Ok. Enough about movies. We came here for a reason. We want to film some kids playing in a park, or ask some kid about living in Degrassi." She held up her camera and glanced around the large park.
Sean frowned. "Why? Isn't the documentary about the school?"
Ellie nodded. "But it will make it deeper if we talk about how awesome our city is, too. Here. Go ask that little kid near the swing set what he thinks."
Sean shrugged. "Fine. " He walked over to the playground, and Ellie followed him as she turned on her camera. Sean approached the boy. "Hey. Come here."
Ellie sighed. "Don't scare him, Sean. Be nice," she whispered. Sean rolled his eyes as the kid left his friends and walked over to them.
"What?" the kid asked.
"We're filming a documentary about Degrassi. We were wondering if you could tell us what you like best about this city," Sean said. The boy nodded, folded his arms over his chest, and tipped his head to one side, thinking. Ellie trained the camera on the small boy. The boy was silent as he continued to ponder, and finally Sean sighed.
"Ok. There's a time limit, kid," Sean said. "It's not a math problem. There is no right answer. Just say something."
The boy frowned. "I was thinking. But I have a question for you. Why are you wearing that stupid knit hat?"
Sean frowned. "Why are you wearing that lame plaid shirt? What, does your Mommy dress you?"
"No. Who dresses you- a blind clown? You look like you should be in the circus," the little boy said. He stepped on Sean's foot, and stuck out his thumb. "You suck, poser!"
Sean stepped closer to the boy. "You want to fight? Come on," he said. The little boy turned and ran away. Ellie lowered the camera and sighed loudly. Sean was still staring after the boy, looking pissed. Ellie turned off the camera.
"Well, that went great," she said sarcastically. "I just filmed you getting a fight with a eight-year-old. Why don't you just go and threaten babies, make it really interesting." She rolled her eyes. "Look, let's forget it for today. It's getting cold, anyway, but next time, I'll ask the questions, and you hold the camera." She glanced down at the camera. "Damn…I have to fix this." She walked over and sat down on a swing, and Sean followed her.
Ellie began fiddling with the camera, and Sean sat down and watched her. A minute later, he frowned and nodded at her arm. "What happened?"
Ellie looked up. "What?"
"Your arm. It's bleeding." Ellie glanced down at her arm, and saw that her sleeve had ridden up, revealing a few bruises on her fore-arm. One scab had opened and was bleeding. Ellie blushed and quickly pulled her sleeve down. "Oh. That…I…" she trailed off, glancing down at her camera.
"What happened?" Sean asked again. Ellie swallowed hard.
"I…I cut myself. I cut myself when I get stressed, ok?" she said with a long sigh. She didn't feel like making up lame excused anymore. Sean just stared at her. "I knew it…I scare you."
After a long moment, Sean shrugged. "Why would you?"
"I'm a razor freak or something," Ellie said, gesturing to her arm. "It scares everyone else," she mumbled. Sean scuffled his feet against the mulch.
"That doesn't scare me," he said. "Why do you do it? Does it, like, feel good or something?"
Ellie shrugged. "I don't know. It's…hard to explain." Actually, it wasn't, but she just didn't feel like explaining all of her inner conflicts while she was sitting on a swing in a stupid playground. "Why does anyone do anything, really?"
Sean smirked. "So philosophical." He was quiet. "You know, I steal. And I don't know why I do it, either."
"It's not really the same thing."
"I know. I was just trying to relate," Sean said with a shrug. "Come on. I'll buy you an ice cream."
Ellie smiled and stood up. "Sounds good. Are you actually going to pay for it, or are you just going to steal it?" she joked. Sean smirked and shrugged.
"Nah. I actually brought some money." The two began walking across the park toward the ice cream fender. Sean glanced at Ellie. "Oh, and Ellie?"
"Yeah?"
''I don't think you're a razor freak."
Ellie smiled.
Spinner felt horrible. He totally hadn't expected Paige to act like that. But what did he expect? For Paige to thanks Roxie or something. Of course she was pissed. She had every right to be. Spinner scratched the back of his head. I hope I'm doing the right thing, he thought. Part of him wanted to just forget that Roxie was pregnant, and he could just keep being a normal kid. But he couldn't. He should be there for Roxie…after all, it was partly his…fault. He was thinking about it just when he spotted Roxie walking down the hall toward him. He hurried up to her.
"Hi, Roxie!" he said, smiling. Roxie smiled at him, but kept walking.
"Hi! I wish you were dead," she said cheerfully, and just kept going. Spinner frowned and hurried after her.
"Wait! What did I do?"
Roxie finally stopped. "Hmm…let's see. Where you there in the cafeteria, Spin? Did you see what Paige did!"
Spin frowned. "Yeah…but what did I do?"
Roxie threw up her hands. "I didn't say to break up with her! Now she hates me because you dumped her."
"Well, chances are, she was going to hate you anyway," Spin pointed out.
Roxie sighed. "I know. I'm sorry Spin. Things are just….fucked up, you know?" She ran a hand through hair. "I'm just scared. Really scared."
Spin nodded. "You don't have to be. Look, I want to be there for you and for the baby, you know? This is my responsibility. That's why I broke up with Paige. I want to be in on all that, you know…baby stuff that you do."
Roxie smiled. "Really?"
Spin nodded. "Really. We're in this together." He reached out and took her hand. Roxie smiled softly.
"Wow. I always thought you were kind of an insensitive moron," Roxie said. "But you're not."
Spin looked slightly confused. "Uh..thanks…I guess."
Authors Note- Not alot of excitment in this chapter, but something big is going to happen in the next one, so keep reading! Thanks