Disclaimer is in the introduction.
Author's Note: Thank you for all your kind words of praise. Keep it comin'! The parts in italics signify something that happened in the past.
The years had ravaged his once youthful face but there was no doubt in her mind that it was him. She was willing to bet the nights pay that heavy drinking and partying had taken their toll as well. Under the thin cotton of his shirt it was obvious that he had let himself go slightly, but still had an athletic build. Jimmy Brooks looked as worn out as she felt. Manuella panicked slightly at the realization that there was no way she would be able to do it, or more accurately him.
Looking at his face again she realized there wasn't even a flicker of recognition in his hazel eyes. "Jimmy?" She asked trying to see if she had identified the man before her correctly. Jimmy's eyebrows rose comically at her one word question, surprised that someone had been able to pick him out after all these years. Manuella swallowed, "Jimmy it's me, Manny." She could see him processing the information; first his eyes were clouded with confusion then anger, and lastly the original weariness. "Looks like the past has come back to haunt us both." The past. Things were much more simple back then, but they were still bad in their own right. They both stood looking equally uncomfortable, and they both knew where their thoughts had traveled. In their minds they were both back in Degrassi.
Their affair had happened lifetimes ago. At least it seemed like it in Manuella's mind. Hazel and Jimmy had still been newlyweds, but that hadn't mattered. They hadn't seen each other since they had both graduated, but time rolls by quickly. It had been their five-year reunion and Manuella had gone with for the sole intention of free food and alcohol. It was pathetic, but where she was in life she wasn't able to afford the necessities. She was getting desperate to the point where she'd do anything for a buck. As long as she no longer had to beg her parent's for cash, it was bad enough that she still lived with them. She had only been there long enough to get reasonably smashed before stumbling right into Jimmy on her way to the bathroom. "He-ey there Manny," it was obvious that he was drunk, the smell of Jack Daniel's on his breath was hitting her in waves. It was a scent she knew well, and had actually come to enjoy. Among other things, America knew whiskey.
Manuella acknowledged him with only a head nod before passing him to go to the bathroom. In her alcohol induced state she accidentally found her way in the men's bathroom. Jimmy was right behind her, God it was like he was stalking her. He spun her around so she was facing him. Manny protested, after all she didn't like being manhandled. "What the hell do you think-" Jimmy cut off her words with a kiss. If you could call it a kiss, it was rough and desperate, but she succumbed. They had needed each other, if only in the physical sense. So they did what any desperate pair would do and had mindless sex against the bathroom wall of their alma mater. Afterwards they did their best to straighten up, waltzing back into the gym separately.
It wasn't a proud moment for either of them. It hardly had any impact on Manny's life but it did start her on an unhealthy habit that she would form as Manuella. Their encounter led to self-destruction on both parts but it was the path they were both headed for. In fact it is was only the beginning of a series of unfortunate incidents that ruined one of the only good things in Jimmy's life.
"Jimmy." Hazel's voice was tired but she was more than serious. Enough was enough and she couldn't take it any more. She was done with the late night parties and the numerous girls that paraded through her house like they were anything other than trashy. Hazel had worked too hard to get to the point where people were taking her seriously. She was a businesswoman and although it was difficult to tell her former classmates that, the truth was that she was becoming well respected. Accepting Jimmy's disrespectful attitude towards her was just a step backward from where she was headed. Jimmy's attempts to change her mind failed miserably and in a matter of minutes Hazel was gone for good. He wasn't sure where she had gone after she stayed with one of their oldest friends, Paige, and her new beau, but he was sure that wherever she was she wasn't thinking of him.