Chapter 6: Don't Regret

Manny finally pulled back after what seemed like 2 minutes of kissing him. She had finally done what Paige & Hazel accused her of doing. She blushed as she rolled her eyes.

"What? Did I bite your lip or something?" Jimmy asked as he tiled his head a bit. She pulled up a chair & sat in it as she looked at him.

"No…but about what Paige said--" Manny started, but he put his finger up to her lips.

"I don't give a damn about what she said." Jimmy smiled as Manny laughed at him. She never knew that he had a side that was so…real. He was finally true to himself & to others, & that's the way Manny liked him. Short, sweet, to the point.

"I guess. It's not she's like my mom or anything." Manny said as she turned on the stereo in the kitchen. She got out some pots & pans.

"What are you doing?" Jimmy said laughing as Manny started to dance while she took out some meat, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, flour, sugar, & chocolate.

"I'm gonna cook for us tonight. You can help if ya like." Manny smiled as Alex came into the kitchen.

"I bought some food, but since you got out some cake ingredients…" Alex came beside Manny & took the bowl from her. "I'm going to make a cake so good you'd wanna slap someone."

"How about we slap Paige?" Manny said as they all started to laugh.

"Okay…the food's almost done." Manny said from the kitchen as Alex & Jimmy looked up from the TV. They both looked at each other & headed towards the kitchen.

"Mmm…looks good…" Jimmy started as he sniffed the air & smiled widely.

"…And smells good too." Alex finished as she got her place at the table.

"Well, I hope you like it." Manny said as she put a plate in front of everyone. She sat down in her own spot, & they started to eat.

"Please…just give me the tape!" Manny screamed as Peter laughed viscously.

"Sorry princess…gotta start selling tickets for our little show." Peter said as the room went dark.

Random voices came from nowhere, crowding a now feeble positioned Manny. Tears were streaming from her face as she relived memories that she desperately wished that she could forget.

"I promise by next term, everything will work out." Craig's voice was ringing in her ears, but she couldn't see his face, not that she wanted to.

"…these idiots are pregnant!" Ashley's voice rang through the dark room, Manny shut her eyes & tried to block the voices, but couldn't.

"You're just a big, fat, attention whore!" Peter's voice was the loudest, & most toxic. Manny couldn't take it. She kept crying until she ran out of breath, & fell into darkness.

"NO!" Manny woke up from her nightmare, cold sweat on her forehead, hot tears streaming down her face. She looked around & saw Alex sleeping on the couch. She sighed as she got up from the couch & walked down the hall towards Jimmy's room. She opened it, & saw him watching TV, flipping through the channels. But there was something about the expression on his face, something that told her that he had the same horrible dream as she did.

"You okay?" Jimmy said as Manny flopped on the bed beside him.

"No…I had a nightmare. Too many memories…" Manny said as tears rolled slowly down her face. "…Too many bad memories."

"I know…" Jimmy said silently as he wrapped an arm around Manny, & she silently cried into his shoulder.

"I felt so…alone. My life was so perfect…& I screwed up so badly!" Manny said between sobs as Jimmy started to tear up a bit as well.

"You did NOT screw up. Craig screwed up…he messed you up badly by what he did…but I will never, EVER break your heart. I promise you." Jimmy said as Manny looked up at him. "I'm not Craig, or Spinner, or Peter. I will never break your heart."

"Thank you…so much." Manny kissed his neck & they started to watch TV again.