Chapter Six: Waiting for You to Come Along

"I'm telling you, it was probably just a cooking fire." Evan explained as Mandy kept looking around.

"No, I don't think so. We can't go on probablys here and from the looks of the body--" Mandy began to counter.

"What body? It was practically demolished and all the evidence gone with it." Evan retorted, getting tired of Mandy's paranoid nature.

"What has the lab found out?" She asked still looking around the barely standing house.

"They've only had the body for three days now."

"That's almost a week. Do you remember what I first said when we saw it … about the blow to the head, and even where he was found. There is no way that he accidentally set the house on fire, and hit himself on the back of the head before almost escaping. Something is going on here and I'm going to find out what." Mandy debated looking back on the footprints they had found earlier. They led to Kendra Mason and she was unable to help them now. Their last hope was probably that vomit they had found near Kendra's dumpsite because she didn't look like she was going to make it.

"If you want real answers, why don't you just pray for that girl to come to? She's the only one who can tell us what's going on." Evan suggested as they walked out towards their car. Emma, who had been watching from a neighbor's bush, moved slowly s she wouldn't be seen.

"But what if she doesn't make it? What if whoever did this comes to finish the job …" Mandy's voice trailed off as both detectives got into the car and Emma sighed with relief. That detective was a genius. All they had to do was finish what they started and get rid of Kendra once and for all.


"Hey, I went to Sean's house today." Emma admitted, waiting at Craig Manning's house until Ellie had come out, and instantly bringing her friend down from cloud nine.

"What are you doing here? And what where you doing there … didn't you listen to anything I said? We don't know each other and you've had little contact with Sean since he came back. Why would you be at his house like that?" Ellie scolded, pushing Emma behind a tree where they couldn't be seen.

"I'm always left in the dark about everything. If you had just taken care of Kendra in the first place, we wouldn't be here sweating it out." Emma shot back, coming here and going to Sean's house to provoke emotion and attention from Ellie more than anything else. She hated to be ignored.

"Well, the fire nearly destroyed everything else, so what do we have to worry about? There is no way Kendra's going to come out of it and remember. She was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head." Ellie backed away and started walking home. "I know these things."

"Why are you walking? We can take my car." Emma suggested as Ellie shrugged.

"We don't know each other, remember?" Ellie finished, still walking away.

"Ellie … Jay spoke to me today." Emma began.

"And?"

"I'm in a bind." She looked down, feeling vulnerable.

"Why don't you just pay him? Your parents will get over it." Ellie responded.

"Because he'll think he's won and they'll give me crap about it. We already have enough to worry about."

"But he is winning." Ellie threw up her hands, continuing to walk home. Emma looked down, feeling rejected. She remembered when Ellie used to care and used to hug her and treat her like—

"Hey!" Craig yelled, evidently watching them from his front door.

"What?" She growled defensively as Craig shrugged, shutting the door behind him.


"Do you have my money?" Jay questioned as soon as Emma answered the door.

"You're the one with the genius IQ. You tell me." Emma tossed her hair behind her, walking into his house. "Your parents home?"

"Are they ever?" Jay placed his hands in Emma's back pockets as she looked down. "You don't have to look so depressed about it. I mean all you have to do is pay me."

"Don't you get it Jay? I'm not interested in you. I never was and never will be." She shot back, her words stinging.

"Yeah, I forgot you swing the other way. Tell me, has Ellie bitten yet?" Jay snickered as Emma went to slap him in response, but he caught her hand instead.

"Look, let's just handle this right now. Take me." Emma offered, thinking about how a few months earlier, she would love this opportunity, to be on top and to have control again. But sense she and Ellie started talking about this plan … and since everything with Sean and Kendra had happened, she wasn't feeling this lifestyle anymore, especially since it meant that she was becoming more and more estranged from the only true friend she had.

"I don't want you." Jay sighed. "It's not worth it if you're going to sit there like a vegetable and not feel anything."

"Do you want me to pretend because I can. Look Jay, I really can't pay you back right now, so either take me or wait for the money." Emma opened her legs, unfazed by the fact that she was wearing a really short skirt.

"I'll wait. Go home." Jay turned away, rolling up some marijuana as she began to make her way to the door.

"You sure?" Emma asked, sounding like a little girl with tears in her eyes.

"Go!" He yelled. She didn't get it. Jay wanted more from Emma than just the physical, but she couldn't give that to him. She was only willing to open up to Ellie, and he would wait until Emma came to her senses and changed her mind.


Some weeks later

Ellie and Craig just sat beside each other smiling and blushing, in Ellie's case, as thoughthey shared a secret that no one else could ever know. Although in the middle of art class, one of Ellie's favorites, she couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was how this thing with Craig was turning into something big, something more than she ever expected.

Ellie felt alive again and felt a reason to get up earlier in the mornings and dress up. She actually cared what she looked like in the morning, which never happened before. Craig took her hand in his suddenly as she rested her head on his shoulder. It was so perfect, so comfortable, so—

"Ms. Nash and Mr. Manning. We are on school property and this is a learning environment." Their art teacher commented as everyone stopped and turned around, including Emma. Ellie blushed, giving Craig a quick kiss before going to her assigned seat. Even that brief moment of her lips touching his was enough to send electricity through her body and Ellie couldn't wait until she could see him again.


"Come on Kendra, we know you can make it through this." Spinner pleaded, holding onto his sister's hand. Her vital signs were good and she was getting better, but still hadn't gotten out of her coma yet.

"I don't think she's coming out of it anytime soon." Emma walked in, instantly feeling out of place.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled, reiterating her early feelings of misplacement.

"I skipped class since I hadn't been here to see Kendra yet." Emma started to explain as Spinner looked at her oddly. "What? She was my friend too."

"Yeah, but you haven't cared about her since Sean left." Spinner shot back.

"That's not true … it's …" Emma stopped realizing that it was true. The last thing she remembered doing with Kendra as a 'friend' was taking her to a key party and getting her drunk. "Well, people change. I'd like to think that if I were in the hospital, almost dead, she'd be there too you know?"

"She's not dead!" Spinner yelled suddenly, revealing red-rimmed eyes.

"Of course not." Emma sighed. She had originally come here to finish the job, to inject Kendra with a seemingly neutral chemical that would eventually kill her, but seeing Spinner like this actually got to her. Ellie always told her what to do and when to do it, leaving Emma behind to do the hard stuff while she fiddled around with Craig. That was who this was really about and she was going to end it. Tonight. "I've gotta go." Emma placed some flowers near Kendra's bed and walked away, making sure to toss the vile on her way out.


"Hey." Craig greeted Ellie hugging her and kissing her immediately. He had waited all day for that, to show her how much he cared about her.

"What's that for?" She wondered as he handed her a flower. "We're going out to lunch."

"But it's already three." Ellie smiled. "Lunch is over."

"Dinner?" He corrected.

"Too early." Ellie grinned again, smelling the rose that was in her hands.

"Brunch?" Craig wrapped his arm around Ellie's back, kissing her again.

"Yeah." She whispered detachedly, suddenly only concerned around kissing Craig back and how good it felt. To have no worries, to—

"Looks like the freak is finally getting some!" Emma yelled, as a bunch of the "popular crew" jeered and made lewd comments behind her. "Looks like she's not a dyke after all!" Emma continued, secretly wishing that she was in Craig's shoes right now … at least then, she'd matter to Ellie.

Flicking them off, Ellie and Craig engaged in a tongue battle, partially to give them a show and partially because Ellie wanted to and she'd never kissed him like that before. "Let's go." She whispered after a while. All of the other "popular kids" had gone on about their business—either leaving or talking about something else. Only Emma's eyes were left watching, drilling a hole into Ellie's back.


Two hours later…

"I brought you here because I know it's your favorite." Craig admitted as the waiter brought out some paella.

"How did you know?" Elli forced herself to smile, trying not to think about the last time she had eaten paella. It hadn't been since … since she'd murdered Sean.

"Are you okay?" Craig asked, noticing that Ellie was hardly touching her food.

"I'm good." Ellie nodded, forcing some food into her mouth, but immediately running to the bathroom, retching. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Ellie noticed that she looked sickly pale and was breathing hard. Flashbacks of that night still plagued her and the room starting spinning. "I've got to get out of here." She said and repeated to herself, walking past Craig, who was left confused.


Ding dong Emma rang the bell to Craig's house. "What are you doing here?" He answered in response.

"If you let me in, I'll tell you." She offered as Craig began to close the door. "It's about Ellie." Emma added just before he closed the door.

"Come in." He moved aside for her as Emma touched his chest softly. This wasn't going to be too hard. She knew why she was doing this and it was going to make everything better.

Sitting down, Emma wondered, "Don't I get anything to drink?" Craig nodded, heading to the kitchen as Emma added, to Craig's drink, a substance that would get him intoxicated.

"Thanks." Emma smiled warmly.

"So what do you have to tell me about Ellie?" Craig wondered, suspiciously, trying not to look at Emma's halter dress with it's plunging neckline.

"She's doing better … a little disoriented, but she'll be fine tomorrow. Geez, what did you do to her Manning?" Emma joked, as Craig took a sip from his drink.

"We're not here to chit-chat. Tell me what's going on." He demanded.

"She has a present for you … an apology letter for you." Emma admitted, standing up.

"Okay, so where is it?"

"At my house." She smiled, trying to be platonic, yet flirty, but a subtle platonic flirty.

"Yeah right." Craig shot back.

"Fine." Emma shrugged. "Later.

"Wait." Craig scribbled down a note for Joey, grabbed his jacket and followed Emma.

"So, where it is?" Craig asked again.

"In my bedroom." Emma joked as Craig reached for the door. "No. Please." She begged. "Just stay a while."

"Where are you parents?" He wondered, looking around.

"Who knows? When you can hand your daughter thousands of dollars, who needs to be there to actually watch her, to care?" Emma shrugged. They sat in silence as Craig realized how similar his situation was to hers. His father was like that too. "I'm getting that letter now." Emma ran up the stairs, not expecting Craig to follow her, but starting the recording just in case.

"Here you go." She handed the letter to him as he nodded. Standing there for a while, Emma wondered, "Why are you still here?"

"I know what it's like to be alone, t-to not have anyone be there. I want you to know that … I'll always be there for you." Craig whispered, noticing the gun sitting on her drawer.

"Oh no. I'm not—" Her words were shushed by Craig's lips on hers. "Do you want to?" Emma wondered as he nodded, being led to her bed.


"Are you feeling better?" Emma wondered, running a cool cloth over Ellie's head. They were back at their secret hideout and things were back to normal. Almost. There was still a chance that Ellie would go back to Craig, but Emma had taken care of it. She smiled at the disk recording in her hands.

"It's just that … I'm …" Ellie finished talking in circles. Emma almost felt bad for her, but what was done was done. She needed to know that Craig was no good, that he was doing Emma on the side.

"I'm going to go." Emma got up slowly. "Want me to take you home?" Ellie nodded as Emma hugged her friend taking in all of her scents. "Don't forget this." She handed her the disk.

"What is it?" Ellie asked, still feeling nauseated from earlier.

"A gift."


"We've got good news." Evan began as soon as Mandy answered the phone, not even giving her a chance to say hello.

"What?"

"That puke we found was from partially digested paella and Kendra Mason has come out of her coma."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's solve this." Mandy replied, excitedly.


Emma picked up her diary. It was falling apart, yet she couldn't bare to throw it away. After all these years at Degrassi of not having anything to write every single day, she had something that was worth writing about. Stopping where she left off, Emma continued writing about how much she hated seeing Ellie and Craig together, how it tore at her heart. She almost cried, recounting the scene with Jay before smiling to herself about her physical encounter with Craig. Now, her life would definitely be on track, and she'd have this to remind her of all the stupid shit she had overcome.

(A/N: I know it was a lot, but it'll be over in three chapters, and I don't want to string you guys along more than I have to. Anyway, just keep reviewing and you'll keep getting more. And in case you didn't notice, this story is highly inspired by the movie Murder By Numbers, so go rent it! Much love. –NL)