Chapter 2: One Thing After Another

Manny woke Emma up at 5:30 the next morning.

"Manny just let me sleep another hour! School doesn't start until 7:30," she complained.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you're not ready to leave when Jason is," Manny replied. She went upstairs, took a shower, straightened her hair, put on all her makeup, and was finally ready around 7. When she went back in her room, Emma was already dressed with her hair done. She was sitting on Manny's bed, reading a magazine. "Did you even take a shower?" Manny asked.

"Of course I did...you do know that there are three bathrooms in this house don't you?"

"Yes, I just didn't hear you come upstairs," Manny stated.

"Well, that's because you were too busy getting ready for the guys at school," Emma teased her. Just then Jason called down from the top of the stairs.

"Girls! Time to go! It's 7:15. Hurry up or you'll be late for your first day," he yelled.

"Coming!" Manny and Emma replied in unison. They rushed up the stairs, eager to make it to school on time.


Manny closed her locker (that was decorated with pictures of Johnny Depp on the inside) just in time to see someone walk by. It was a person she had never seen before at Degrassi. A boy she'd never seen before. "Who was that?" she asked Emma, whose locker was next to hers.

"I dunno. I guess he's new," she replied.

"I would sure like to find out. He's kinda cute…in a dorky way."

"Yeah well remember what happened last time you thought someone was cute in a dorky way," Emma said half joking, half serious.

"Well, that was Craig and this is now…I mean, that was then and this is now," Manny corrected herself. At that moment, a voice came over the intercom.

"Will Manuela Santos please come to the main office immediately," the voice said.

"It's only the first day and you're already in trouble!" Emma joked. "I'll see you in first period. Maybe." She walked away towards her homeroom and Manny made her way to the office.

She arrived at the office to see the new kid standing by the secretary's desk. Mr. Radditch was there too. "Manuela, you have been chosen to show our new student around the school. He's in most of your classes. His name is Christopher Hawkins. Christopher, this is Manuela," Radditch introduced them to each other. "Hurry up now and get going before the bell rings. Here is his locker number," he said as he led the two students out the door.

"You can call me Manny. All my friends do," she told Christopher while extending her hand. He shook it and told her to call him Chris. "Your locker is right here, across the hall from mine and my best friend Emma's. You'll meet her later, we're all in first period together. After I show you around, I'll tell you about all the wonderful people here that you are likely to meet. You'll need to know about all the relationships too."

"Do you have a boyfriend Manny?" Chris asked. "I'm just wondering, that's all."

"Not anymore. I broke up with this boy Craig on the last day of school last year. He's in grade 12," she answered him. Just then, Manny and Chris arrived at their first period class, Chemistry. They walked in and Manny introduced Chris to their teacher Mr. Bauer. The teacher was new in the school and he seemed really nice. Manny sat next to Emma, and Chris sat in the empty seat next to her. He reached over Manny's desk and shook Emma's hand when Manny introduced them to each other.

"Class, it's time for me to assign your lab partners. Now before I met any of you, I put partners together randomly. I want to see how well you all work with each other," Mr. Bauer announced.

Manny tuned her teacher out until she heard him say her name. Good, she thought to herself. Emma and Chris haven't been paired with anyone. Hopefully one of them will be my partner. "Manuela Santos, I have put you with…JT Yorke." Manny let out a sigh.

"Oh great," she muttered. She looked over at JT and he was smiling at her. He did grow up nice though, she thought. But I have feelings for Chris, even if I have only known him for an hour! "And that leaves us with…Emma Nelson and Christopher Hawkins," Mr. Bauer finished. Manny glared at Emma and walked over to the table where JT was waiting for her. "And here is your first assignment." Mr. Bauer began to explain the assignment. It was a simple exercise to allow everyone to get to know each other in the class, even though they mostly knew everyone. Manny walked over to the teacher at the end of class.

"What can I do for you Ms. Santos?" he asked her.

"There's a bit of a problem with my lab partner. It's not your fault though, you're just new around here. Our teachers always pair us with our friends, boyfriends, etc. I just need you to switch my partner with Emma's," she explained hopefully.

"Sorry, no can do Manuela. You will be fine if you don't get to be with Christopher all class period. Besides, you and JT look like you work well together," he told her.

"But…"

"No buts Ms. Santos. I'm not changing my mind. Now you better get going to your next class before you're late." With that, Manny stormed off in the direction of her MI (Media Immersions) class with Mr. Simpson. She walked right by Emma on the way.

"Manny, wait up!" Emma called. Manny didn't even slow down. She was mad that Emma got to be partners with Chris. "Manny! It's not my fault I got partnered with Chris. Come on, I know you like him, I wouldn't do that to you!" she yelled to her best friend. Manny stopped walking and waited for Emma to catch up.

"Stop yelling! If anyone hears you…"

"There's no one in the hallway Manny! We're late for class. I already pointed Chris in the right direction and told him I was going to wait for you."

"You're right Emma, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. But come on, I had to be paired with JT? This is not going to be good."

"You never know, Mr. Bauer might decide to switch partners every now and then. You still have a chance. It's only the first day of school. Things will get better, I promise. Plus, we all have lunch together," Emma reassured her. The two girls finally walked into class and bumped right into Mr. Simpson.

"Sna…I mean Mr. Simpson, sorry," Emma said to her stepfather.

"You girls are both late," he replied, looking angry.

"We are soooooooo sorry Mr. Simpson. I stayed after for a minute to talk to Mr. Bauer, and Emma waited for me. It won't happen again," Manny explained.

"It better not, or I'll be seeing you after school. Now that you're finally here, you can take your seats. Emma you sit over there by Liberty, and the only other seat left is next to Toby, so have at it Manny." Manny groaned and made her way to her seat. She wasn't anywhere near Emma or Chris. Almost as soon as she sat down, an instant message popped up on her screen. She looked around the room and saw JT looking at her. Emma, Chris, and almost everyone else in the class way paying attention to Mr. Simpson.

A/N: Who will the IM be from? Please review guys. I have almost written all of chapter four, but I need to write the third one first. If you have any ideas, let me know. Otherwise, I'll be able to fill it in myself.