Chapter 10: The Awakening

Manny arrived at DCS on Monday morning fifteen minutes early. She was grinning ear to ear, still so happy about Saturday night. She was surprised to find Emma already at her locker. "Oh Manny I'm so glad that you're here! I came early, hoping you'd be at school today," she squealed, hugging her best friend. "I have so much to tell you. But I don't want to talk here, let's go to the washroom," she suggested. Manny got her books out of her locker and followed Emma to the washroom.

"I have something to tell you too," Manny confessed.

"Okay, you go first, but hurry up or I think I'll explode!"

"On Saturday night, Chris came over. Heather and Jason and all the kids were gone until late. And, well, one thing led to another and…" she trailed off.

"Manuela Santos did you have sex with him?" Emma asked excitedly.

"Emma, keep it down. Yes, actually. We had sex. But it's only because I love him. And I don't want you to go telling people okay. We both promised each other that we'd tell our best friends but that's it."

"Of course I won't tell anyone. Who is his best friend that he's telling?" Emma asked.

"Marco. You know they're best friends right? I know Marco won't tell anyone," Manny said. "So what is your news?"

"Well, you beat me to it, but on Sunday night I had sex with Craig," she blurted out. "But, we didn't use a condom…"

At this moment, all the images of Manny's rape came rushing back to her. She backed up into the wall and let herself slide down to the floor. She put her head in her hands and began to cry. The horrible things that Mr. O and Craig did to her resurfaced in her mind. She knew it would come back to her, but didn't think it would happen this soon.

"Manny? What's wrong; why are you crying? Don't tell me you're jealous because Craig is your ex-boyfriend and you never had sex with him. You didn't tell me I couldn't be with him you know," Emma said.

"I'm not jealous," Manny snapped. "I just had a very overwhelming weekend. Your news just surprised me, that's all."

"It surprised you enough to make you cry? What's going on with you Manny?"

"Nothing, just forget it okay? Why didn't you use a condom?" she asked, now concerned about her friend.

"We just forgot. It's no big deal," Emma brushed off Manny's concern. "Did you use one?"

"Of course. And it is a big deal Emma. You could get pregnant or an STD or something. You know what, I'm not gonna act like I'm your mom or anything. If you're happy then I'm happy for you," Manny said.

"Don't worry Manny, Craig is clean," she reassured her. Just then, the bell rang for homeroom. Manny and Emma went their separate ways. On her way to Mr. Simpson's room, Manny passed Marco in the hallway. He winked at her and gave her two thumbs up. She rolled her eyes and went to class.


Later that day, JT passed Manny a note in reading class. It her last class of the day. She opened up the note and looked around before reading it. Emma and Chris were both paying attention to Mrs. Kwan. It said: Manny can I talk to you after class? It will only take a minute, I promise. But I need to talk to you alone. Manny rolled her eyes and wrote on the paper: Yeah I guess, but make it quick, she replied and handed it back to him. After class, JT waited outside the room to talk to Manny.

"Hey guys, I'll catch up to you at our lockers, I just need to talk to JT really quick," she told Emma and Chris. They walked away and she went over to JT. "What do you want James?" she asked him.

"I'm just a little worried about you Manny," he told her.

"Why would you be worried?" she asked suspiciously.

"Okay, well, you've just been acting kinda weird lately. One minute you're all happy and making sappy faces at Chris, and then the next minute you are staring at your desk sadly, and look like you are about to cry," he said. She opened her mouth to respond and he didn't let her. "Wait, there's more. I was talking to Emma the other day. You know on Tuesday when you helped me in the library? Well we weren't there for very long and Emma said you didn't show up at home to meet her. Then you didn't come to school for the rest of the week. What happened?"

"JT why don't you mind your own business," she snapped, choking back tears.

"I'm just being a concerned friend. I'm worried that something bad happened and I just wanted to let you know that you can talk to me if you need to," he explained.

"Well, if you really must know, I was with Mr. Oleander," she said, only telling half the truth; something she was getting good at.

"Manny...were you in his classroom you mean? Or were you with him?" he questioned.

"JT, you're sick. Of course I wasn't. What do you think I'm a slut or something?" she asked angrily.

"No, Manny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. I was only worried…"

"Don't bother JT," she interrupted. "Just leave me alone," she said as she stormed off. She wasn't really mad at him; it wasn't his fault that it happened to her. She just needed to leave before he saw her cry and suspected something further.

She managed to stop crying by the time she reached her locker. Manny, Chris, and Emma walked home together. Halfway there, Craig pulled up in his car and Emma hopped in, leaving Manny and Chris to walk alone. They held hands and walked in silence. They didn't need to speak; they both knew that all they needed was to be with each other.

A/N: I know it's short; it's only 2 1/3 pages in word…Chapter 11 takes places two weeks later. Review, review, and review!