A/N: Two chapters in one night! The reason why is because I had most of Chapter 3 done for a little while, and just finished it tonight, and I wrote Chapter 4 too. I hope you like it! I have found that this fiction is going to be really long, because I have chosen 6 characters here to include (guidance counselor and 5 students), and I really want to do everybody justice. The first chapter for each person is basically to set the stage of who the character is and how they ended up in the whole group thing, and where they are at, emotionally, at the start of the story. After that, we'll have REAL tension, because pretty soon, we'll start the first group session, which will be quite interesting. Thanks for reviews! Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thank you! Anyway, enjoy! idontknowanything (aka Shari)

Chapter 4: Next Comes the Screw-up

Spinner Mason knew he was a screw-up. It always seemed like everything he ever tried to do he would somehow screw-up. Everything from schoolwork to friendships to relationships – he somehow managed to screw-up everything in his life. But the worst thing he'd ever done – there was no way he could top that one, and what was killing him was that he understood why everyone hated him. It wasn't like he could say he was sorry and put a Band-Aid on what he did to Jimmy. He screwed up Jimmy's entire life – all of Jimmy's hopes and dreams had gone down the pipe with one little paint and feathers prank. But now he was back, and he really hoped he could get everyone to see how sorry he was about what had happened.

Spinner was currently sitting in a chair in Ms. Hazilakos' office, listening to her repeat all the conditions to his and Jay's return. He saw Jay get a strange look on his face when she said Mr. Simpson would be their mentor teacher and he wondered about that a little bit, because everyone liked Mr. Simpson. But he guessed that you never knew with Jay – Jay was one of those people that kept more secrets than anyone else Spinner had ever met, so it was hard to tell why Jay had got that strange look on his face.

"In addition to those responsibilities, you are both required to be ACTIVE participants in at least one school sanctioned extracurricular involved in community service activities. I gave you a list over the summer, and I hope you have considered which one you want to join." Ms. Hazilakos stated.

Spinner thought about the list they had been given. It consisted of an assortment of "geek" clubs he would never have thought of joining before. He didn't know which one him and Jay were trying to join – he had suggested that they join SITE, which was the least geeky club on the list which didn't involve as much spare time as most of the other clubs, but Jay didn't like that idea, for whatever reason.

"And you are also required to attend and PARTICIPATE in a group counseling session with Ms. Sauve on a once weekly basis. I believe Ms. Sauve has already told you that the sessions will be on Tuesdays, immediately after school, starting tomorrow." She said.

That was the one thing Spinner wasn't looking forward to -- him and Jay being forced to talk about feelings and crap with Ms. Suave, and go over and over how sorry he was for what he had done. Ms. Sauve had said over the summer about trying to get a couple of other students to participate, but he really didn't think that would happen.

"Now, if you boys will follow me, I'll take you to Mr. Simpson's room, so we can discuss a few more things with him." Ms. Hazilakos said, as she got up from her chair and walked around her desk and walked over to open the door. Spinner and Jay got up and followed her, as she led them out the door, out of the office, and down the hallway towards the MI lab.

Spinner could feel the glares from the students that were just beginning to fill the hallways. Luckily, it was still early, and a lot of the students were still on their way to school or congregating in groups outside the school, so Spinner didn't have to face a crowded hallway of glaring students. Finally, they made it there, and walked into the room filled with computers where Mr. Simpson was currently sitting behind his desk, working on his computer. Mr. Simpson looked up from his computer as he heard them walk in.

"Good morning." Ms. Hazilakos said. "I brought these two boys so we can all discuss what is expected of them this year."

"Sure, Ms. Hazilakos." Mr. Simpson said. "I'm glad to see you guys back."

Spinner smiled back at Mr. Simpson. "Glad to be back, Mr. Simpson." He said. Jay said nothing at all, and just stood there silently, watching.

"You guys can take seats." Ms. Hazilakos said, and gestured towards two seats in the very front of the room. The two seats right in front of the teacher's desk, which, as every student knows, are the worst possible seats to have. Spinner usually liked to hide in the back of the room, because he hated to have to answer questions in class. He never knew the answers, and inevitably, everyone ended up laughing at his answers – whether he meant them to be funny or not.

Spinner sat down at the table, and Jay plopped down in the chair beside him.

Ms. Hazilakos put some papers in front of them. She indicated one of them.

"This paper needs to be signed by every teacher in every class you have at the end of class." She said. "And by Mr. Simpson at the end of each week."

She pointed to another one.

"This paper needs to be signed by the president and vice president of the community service club you choose to join at the completion of each community service activity."

She gestured toward the third paper.

"This paper needs to be signed by Ms. Sauve after each group counseling session." She said.

Spinner looked at the papers in front of him. His entire life was now a series of signatures. But it was worth it, to be able to come back to school and be near his friends again.

Spinner heard someone entering the room behind him. Both he and Jay turned around slightly to see who it was, and Spinner noticed the priceless look on Toby Issacs face when he saw them sitting there. Especially when Toby saw JAY sitting there. Spinner remembered how he and Jay had treated Toby – especially the day Jay had pushed Toby's head into the water fountain – and felt bad for what they had done.

Spinner turned back around when he heard Ms. Hazilakos speak again.

"Do either of you have any more questions for me?" she asked.

Jay shook his head "no", and Spinner said "No, Ms. Hazilakos."

"Well, then, I'm going to leave you to your homeroom." She said, and with a nod at Mr. Simpson, she left the room.

More students started filtering in to the room, and as they did, Spinner heard the whispers as the students noticed who was sitting in the front two desks.

"What are you TWO doing back?" J.T. asked as he walked in the room with his arm around Liberty. Leave it to J.T. to ask the question that was on everyone's minds. It wasn't a very friendly question, either.

Spinner figured he would be a better person to answer than Jay, especially since Jay appeared to be ignoring the question completely.

"Ms. Hazilakos let us come back." Spinner said.

J.T. said nothing as he sat down beside Toby in the back of the room, with Liberty taking the seat beside him.

The room was quickly becoming filled up, and now the only two seats left were the ones next to him. He noticed that the room had filled up rather oddly, with all the students taking the seats farthest away from them first.

"I knew we would be treated like we had the plaque." He whispered to Jay, who was sitting quietly next to him.

Jay gave him a small smile. "That's plague, buddy. The plague. And yeah, I knew we would be outcasts still. We were officially voted off the island last year, Spin." Jay said, and gave him a "thanks to you" look.

"Whatever." Spinner said. He looked up as the last student entered the room, right before the bell rang. He saw her pause in shock, as she looked and saw who was sitting in front of the room. He remembered that Emma had almost been shot because of what he and Jay had done, and he felt guilty again. He hoped she was doing ok. He had never thought about her after the shooting, because he had spent all his time feeling guilty about Jimmy. But Jimmy hadn't been the only victim of his prank and bullying, and he felt badly that he had forgotten about her.

He watched as she walked up to the front of the room and sat beside him. He was rather shocked that she had sat right beside him – after all there were two seats left, and she could have taken the one next to the one next to him. But she sat right next to him, for whatever reason.

He listened as Mr. Simpson read the announcement – they never had video announcements the first week of school because of the time it took to set up the system and to get the students to do it – and tried to ignore the dirty looks a lot of the other students were giving him from time to time. Finally, Mr. Simpson was done with the announcements, and the students were allowed free time on the computers or to talk until the first period bell rang.

Spinner was still trying to figure out why Emma had chosen to sit next to him. He finally let curiosity get the better of him.

"Emma." He said quietly. He was surprised when she turned towards him.

"Why did you sit next to me?" Spinner asked.

"Because you were the lesser of two evils." She said. Spinner looked at her, confused, so she clarified.

"Two seats left – right next to you, or right next to him." She indicated Chris Sharpe, who was sitting on the other side of the empty chair. Spinner still looked confused, and she sighed. "It's a lot easier to not hear the stuff he's saying about me when I'm a chair away, rather than right next to him." She said, and turned to look at her schedule. Spinner tried to hear what Chris was saying, but it was hard for him to focus on one person when a lot of people were talking. That was just one of the effects of his ADHD – he couldn't follow more than one conversation at a time in a noisy room.

It was then that Spinner noticed that Jay, on the other side of him, was acting strangely. Jay, for whatever reason, was giving Chris Sharpe a death glare. Spinner guessed he must have heard what Emma had told him, but what he couldn't figure out was why Jay cared that Chris was talking about Emma. Spinner figured it would probably take someone smarter than him to figure it out, and followed Emma's example – he shut up and pretended to be looking at his schedule.

The homeroom bell finally rang, and the students filed out of the classroom. Spinner and Jay held back and waited for the other kids to go. Spinner noticed Jay watch Emma as she hurried out of the room, and again tried to figure out what was going on there. But he had more important things to worry about – his first class was one of the few Grade 12 courses he was able to take this year – and Jay didn't have it with him. So Spinner was left to face his former friends – alone.