Chapter 9: Sick Of All This Pain

The next morning Manny could not get up for school. She felt so disgusting and she was also very upset because Emma blew her off to be with one of the people who made her feel that way. When it was about 7:15, fifteen minutes before school started, Manny went upstairs into the kitchen, still in her pajamas.

"Manny why aren't you ready for school yet? We have to leave in a few minutes," Jason said.

"Can I stay home today? I don't feel so well," she said. She wasn't lying, she didn't feel well at all, but it was more of an emotional than a physical sickness.

"You don't look sick," he commented. He walked toward her and felt her forehead. "You don't feel sick either," he added.

"It's more like a headache. And my throat hurts. I don't want to pass anything on to the kids at school," she lied.

"Okay, you can stay home if you don't feel well. But Jayden is sick too and since you are staying home, he's gonna stay with you. That way, Heather doesn't have to stay home from work. I'll go tell her," Jason said. When Jason went upstairs to tell Heather, Manny returned to her room. A few minutes later, Heather came down to her room with Jayden, who was also still in his pajamas.

"Well my two little sick ones, I'll be home from work around four and Jason won't be home until six. We're all leaving now, we have to bring the kids to daycare," she said.

"You can leave them all here with me if you want. I wouldn't mind watching them," Manny offered.

"I don't want you to get them sick but thanks for offering. Jayden's stomach hurts so I brought a bucket down, it's over there," she said, motioning towards the couch.

"Bye, I'll see you at four then," Manny said to Heather.

"Bye guys." She gave Jayden a kiss on the head before going upstairs to leave for work.

"Bye mommy," Jayden said as he waved to Heather. He was lying on Manny's bed, all curled up next to her.

"Manny, how come you're staying home with me? Don't you hafta go to school?" he asked.

"I'm sick, just like you," she answered.

"But you don't look sick. Did you throw up like me?"

"No, I didn't. Someone made me very sad and it makes me feel sick. I think my heart is sick," she told him.

"Oh," he said. He slowly fell asleep and in a few minutes, Manny felt herself getting tired too. She had stayed up the whole night crying. She fell asleep within seconds.

The sound of Manny's phone ringing woke her up. She looked up at her clock; it was 3:00! Jayden was sitting on the couch watching cartoons. "It's Emma," he said, without looking over at Manny.

"How do you know?" she asked, the phone ringing again.

"She called a lot. Since school was over. I told her you were sick but she keeps calling," he replied, turning back to the television.

"Hello?" Manny said into the phone

"Manny! Where have you been? Jayden told me you were sick but why haven't you been answering your phone?" her best friend asked.

"I was sleeping Em. There's no crime in that is there?"

"Sorry, but what's wrong with you? You sound more upset than sick," Emma stated. "Do you want me to come over so we can talk?"

"No thanks, I'm fine. Jayden stayed home from school today too because he's been throwing up. I wouldn't want you to get sick too," Manny said.

"Well, okay, but I better see you in school tomorrow?"

"Yep, see ya," Manny said as she hung up. She went into the kitchen and made Jayden a snack. After he ate, they went back downstairs and she played video games with him until Heather came home. Manny was getting more miserable each minute. By the time dinner rolled around, she was back to sulking in her room. She told Jason and Heather that she ate a late lunch and wasn't hungry.

The next day, Jayden went to school, but Manny didn't. This time she said that she thought she may have caught whatever Jayden had, and felt like she was going to throw up. Her day was the same as the one before, sleeping, not eating, and Emma calling. This time, Emma told Manny that she was really worried about her. She never missed school. Manny lied and said she had a stomach bug and maybe the flu.

All of Manny's friends, as well as Heather and Jason, were getting worried when she didn't go to school on Friday either. She just didn't think she could face Craig and Mr. Oleander. She knew she would burst into tears if she saw either of them. She had to go to school sometime, she knew that too. But somehow Manny thought that if she hid from everyone in her room, things would eventually get better and all these problems and thoughts would go away. She was wrong.

It was now Saturday night. Manny had ignored Emma's calls because she didn't want to talk about it. She knew Emma would ask her all kinds of questions and ask to come over. But Manny couldn't deal with the fact that she'd have to tell sometime. She thought Emma would think she was a nasty slut. Luckily for Manny, Emma hadn't tried to come over at all. Jason and Heather hadn't even bothered her that much. Now they were at a friend's house with all the kids and wouldn't be home until late that night.

Manny was listening to her Tyler Hilton CD when she heard the doorbell ring. She paused the CD and went upstairs to see who it was. She opened the door to find Chris standing there. "What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I came to see if you were feeling better," he said. Manny invited him inside and she led him downstairs to her room.

"What's behind your back?" she asked curiously.

"It's a get well present," he answered, pulling a bouquet of roses from behind him.

"Aww they're beautiful! Thank you so much," she said, kissing him on the lips. She saw a get well card attached to the flowers. It made her feel bad for lying to him. "Um, Chris, I have a little confession to make," Manny said.

"What? Are you allergic to flowers or something?" he asked.

"No. It's just that…well, I lied to everyone these past couple days. I haven't been sick at all," she told him.

"So why didn't you go to school? Were you avoiding me? Do you want to break up with me or something?" Chris asked frantically.

"No! It's not like that at all. I just," she paused. I just didn't feel like going okay?" Manny said, only half lying. She hadn't felt like going to school, but there was an actual reason and she couldn't tell Chris. "I love you," she blurted out. For a minute, Chris didn't say anything and Manny began to get worried.

"I love you too," he replied, smiling. "Since you're not sick, we can do this…" Chris said as he kissed her on the lips. In seconds, they were making out. Manny pressed play on her remote and the music came back on. It was on number seven.

Starting now I will never see my kitchen counter
Quite the same babe after we drank the final hour
I never knew you had it somewhere deep inside you
Another chance to go wild.

You whispered to me, I'd be stupid not to follow
Where you'd be taking me tonight until tomorrow
I make predictions from the gifts my dreams have given
And never once have they lied.

So don't you worry who you're kissin' on at midnight
The way I see it, I've got you and I both covered
The world's to bed, and you and I instead
Will secretly enjoy our time
So kiss on me tonight…

After the second verse started, Manny lay down on the bed and pulled Chris on top of her. They continued to make out and he slowly slipped his hand up her shirt, rubbing her back. All of a sudden, an image flashed in Manny's mind. It was Mr. Oleander putting his hand up her skirt. "Chris, wait," she said.

"I'm sorry Manny. If you don't want to do this it's fine with me. I'll wait as long as you want to," he told her.

"No, it's okay. Keep going, I'm fine." When she said this, she pulled off her t-shirt and took his off as well. They continued kissing and Chris pulled Manny's pajama pants off and unzipped his own jeans. Manny closed her eyes and when she opened them, she saw Mr. O unzipping his jeans. She cried out and Chris stopped.

"Are you sure about this Manny? Really, I'm not going to be mad or anything. I'd wait forever for you," he reassured her.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm positive," she said. Chris then pulled his pants off all the way and Manny playfully pulled down his boxers.

"Wait a minute," Chris said. He reached over into his pants pocket and took his wallet out. He pulled a condom out of his wallet and put it on. While he was doing this, Manny took her own underwear off and her bra too. When Chris was done, he noticed that his girlfriend was completely naked. "You're so beautiful," he whispered in her ear and kissed her lightly on the lips. He put himself inside her and they began to have sex. After a few minutes, Manny began to cry softly. Chris stopped once again. "Are you okay Manny?"

"Yes, I'm more than okay, I'm great," she lied. "I'm only crying because I'm so happy to be with you." She forced a smile. Manny wasn't lying about that. She was happy to be with Chris. She just kept having flashbacks of her rape. This time she saw Craig coming into the classroom. Pull yourself together Manny, she thought to herself. This is supposed to be special. They continued again, and in a minute or so, Manny managed to forget about Mr. Oleander and Craig. She got caught up in the moment and was truly happy to be making love with the man she loved. She knew he loved her too, which made it so much better.

When they were finished, Chris rolled over next to Manny. He kissed her one more time. She pulled her blankets up over them and wrapped her arms around his waist. They both laid there for a long time. Manny wanted this moment to last forever. The only problem was: it didn't. Neither Manny nor Chris even heard Jason and Heather coming home. It was late, and they put the kids to bed before even checking on Manny.

Heather knocked on the basement door, but there was no answer. She could hear music playing so she decided to go downstairs. At that same time, Manny and Chris began to make out again. She was on top of him when Heather made it down the stairs.

"Manny, we're ho…"

"Oh my gosh Heather!" Manny exclaimed. She pushed herself off of Chris and pulled the blankets up to her neck.

"Sorry, I didn't realize…" Heather began but quickly went back upstairs before finishing her sentence.

"Oh man," Chris stated. He was so embarrassed. He was also worried that Manny was going to be in trouble now, but thankful that Jason hadn't walked in on them instead of Heather. At the same time, however, he was so happy to have shared that time with Manny. He really did love her. "I better go now," Chris said as he quickly put all his clothes back on. "Heather is probably telling Jason right now," he said and groaned.

"Yeah, why don't you go through that door to avoid more embarrassment," Manny suggested as she pointed at the door that led outside from the basement.

"Good idea," Chris said. Manny had her underwear and t-shirt back on. "Bye," he said and he kissed her one last time on the lips.

"Bye," Manny said as she watched Chris leave through the door. When he was gone, she pulled her pants back on and slowly made her way upstairs.

After a discussion with Heather and Jason, in which they both told her she was too young to be having sex, Manny agreed to wait before it happened again. They also told her that she couldn't have Chris over unless she asked first. They knew that they couldn't stop anything; after all, they had gotten married at a very young age. They just wanted to know when he would be over. Heather also suggested that Chris and Manny go out more (to the movies, mall, etc.) instead of spending so much time in her bedroom with him. Manny agreed.

On Sunday, Manny and Chris went to the mall and then out to dinner. She had managed to put the issue of her rape to the back of her mind and concentrate on Chris. Little did she know, the issue would resurface all too soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tyler Hilton's music/lyrics; he does.

A/N: Please review guys! Chapter 10 is in progress!