Till I Get Over You

By: Nicole Lopez

Chapter One: Do You Wanna Run Away

The ride to Horizon was long, and full of chatter. Manny's "mother" busied herself by talking with anyone she could but her own daughter. Meanwhile, Manny opened and closed her cell phone, hoping to drown out her mother's continuous laughter, as if laughing would hide the fact that Manny had had yet another suicide attempt. Her mother just didn't get it. She was the only person she had left and all she could think about what herself—

"Dadabring." Manny's phone began. "Incoming message."

"Finally." Manny sighed to herself, checking to see who the message was from. Craig.

Manny,

I came by, but I guess you were already on your way to Horizon. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I can't tell you how I really feel about … last night. I can only say that I hope you get better and that I will see you soon.

Craig

"What are you staring at? Get out of the car!" Ms. Santos yelled, snatching the phone away from Manny before she could check the other message … also from Craig.

As Ms. Santos yanked Manny's body out of the car, she couldn't help but think about Craig. She had spent her last night locked up in her bedroom, crying and wishing that someone would call or even care. And her prayers had been heard. Craig was there.

It was kind of surreal when she heard scratching on her window and had looked up to see Craig Manning. Her Craig, standing, there and waiting for her to come out. At first, she contemplated whether or not this was the right thing to do. After all, being with Craig had lead her astray twice; once when she was sent to the asylum and when she had attacked Jimmy. But, it all seemed so far away when she saw him there.

Carefully, she climbed out of the window, barely noticing the cool breeze on her bare legs and arms. As she climbed out of the window, Craig was there, softly holding her waist. "Are you okay?" He wondered as Manny nodded shyly.

"I didn't expect to see you here … with Ashley and all."

"I heard you were leaving." Craig held her tightly. "I just … come with me." Craig took Manny's hand, leading her to his car and later along the dark beach where only their two figures remained. In silence, she held onto him, "for dear life" trying to prolong the time when they would have to part.

Softly, she kissed him, until they both fell into the sand, their hands heavily exploring one another's body, but having explored it enough to know every crevice. At that moment, Manny didn't care that Craig hadn't completely been there or that he was marrying Ashley. In that moment, he was all hers.

"Wake up!" Ms. Santos yelled, slapping Manny's across her head and yelling about how pitiful she was as a daughter.

"What more do you want from me?" Rose asked Jennifer who was following her to the steps where Shelby and Scott were waiting for her.

"I don't want you to say anything. Let me handle it." Jennifer demanded.

"Jenni, come on. We both know that you aren't going to handle it because you want this guy to want you. He hates liars and we lied." Rose shrugged.

"But I thought you had just as much to lose as I did." Jennifer began.

"I thought so too … until I told Augie."

"You told him? Rose."

"I had to. I can't be a single teenage mom. My sister did it and I know how much it sucks Jenni. I just want to have a family for my baby." Rose smiled, looking down.

"And I bet he thinks that it's someone else's. Don't let them get to you Rose. They've had good times in their lives, but we haven't had any. This is our time." Jennifer insisted as Shelby and Scott came into view.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on?" Scott wondered as Jennifer rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his body. She turned cold, as Rose started to reveal the entire story and as Scott pushed her away.

(A/N: This isn't much of anything. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am writing more to this story as a sequel, but I'll keep it as one story on I hope you'll tune in for my first real chapter and please, please, please give me some ideas. I haven't written this in so long that I don't even know what's going on! Lol –NL)