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Sean had recently become addicted to orange juice. It was like coffee -- he couldn't go a day without some. Innocently enough, it had started when he heard that it was enriched with plenty of vitamins, and although he wasn't a health freak, the idea was appealing, so he bought some and remembered to drink one glass every day. From there, it just grew.

Emma had phoned him not an hour ago, asking if she could come over. The answer was obviously yes. He enjoyed having her over, it was always nice. So, stumbling out into his backyard to wait, he cleared his throat and gruffly sat on the stairs, taking a swig from the quart. Without hesiation, he spat it from his mouth, coughing ferociously.

"Eww -- pulp."

He threw he container down, watching it run down the driveway, then come at Emma's feet. She had arrived.

"Are you alright?" she asked, picking the juice up. "Is it expired?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Sean answered in his usual manly way. He glanced past her for a second, then back. "Tracker's supposed to be coming so I was gonna clean up... but whatever, I'll do it later."

Taking a seat on the picnic table, Emma repeated, "Trackers coming. At least you won't be alone."

"Em, I'm not alone."

"I mean in the house," she quickly corrected herself, "I mean, you won't be the only one here."

She always worried about that -- him living by himself. She hated the fact he lived alone, and he loved that she cared so much.

"So you left with Craig?" he asked. "He took you home?"

Emma noticably stiffened. "Who told you that?"

Raising his eyebrows, Sean shrugged. "Manny. She was acting all strange and said Craig took you home."

"Well, he did. He made sure I was okay, and he left."

Gazing off in another direction, Sean leaned back on his elbows. He knew he had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it, but sitting was peaceful, and cleaning... well, cleaning was not. Nevertheless, he knew it had to be done. Groaning, he pulled himself to a standing position, offering his hand to Emma and pulling her up, too.

"I've gotta finish. I thought you'd say longer, but Tracker's gonna be here in, like, half an hour, so... I'll call you later, okay?"

He gave her a goodbye kiss and watched as she fleed down the sidewalk. Yes, seeing Emma was always nice. Seeing her go was a different story.

Let's see... he would have to do the outside first. It was in the neediest condition. He could skip his room and go straight to the kitchen, then the living room. With the plans laid out, he was ready to tackle them, but the abrupt ringing ot the phone stopped him. He let out a moan of anger. What did they want?

Stomping inside, he snatched up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Sean?"

"Who is this?"

"Alex, it's Alex. Listen, don't get all mad or anything. I just thought you wanted to know what I heard about Emma."

After a long mopey walk home, Craig stumbled his way into his dimly lit house where Joey and Angela were messing around in the kitchen. He dragged out a chair, causing a disturbing creaking sound, then sorrowfully mounted himself atop of it. His throbbing head... would someone please pity him now?

No... it was that karma boomerang. People didn't pity people like him, people who've done unspeakable things.

"So, Craig," Joey said, popping a jalepeno into his mouth. "Emma Nelson. Nelson, Emma. The fiasco, how'd it go?"

Typical upbeat Joey. Did Craig reallyhave to deal with someone like this when he was in the mood he was in?

Leaning on his elbows, he responded, "Yeah, well... wait, how'd you know?"

"Spike told me, what's the matter with you?" Joey laughed, taking the top off a steaming pot.

Angela was scribbling frantically over at the side, thankfully being quiet. Craig teetered over the edge of his seat.

"Nothing's wrong with me, Joey, just... just what kind of food are you trying to make?"

"Mexican." Joey answered simplistically.

"Joey, adding a bunch of hot food doesn't make it mexican!"

"I know that, Craig." Joey said as he threw in more salsa.

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Sean nodded his head, as if someone could actually see him. Normally, he would not listen to Alex, but she had clued him in the last time, so -- maybe what she had to say would be worthwhile.

"Why, what do you have to say?" Sean said, his body temperature rising. The answer was going to be bad... the answer was going to be bad...

"Her - and - Jay. Pregnant."

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It was a quarter past three. Craig had suffled into school as always, keeping his head down and social ventures as minimal as possible. He needed to talk to Emma. He needed to talk... right now. A sense of urgency and panic -- looking around at everybody else, knowing they were all innocent -- it was inexplicable. He just needed to find the one person who could help. Emma.

He had decided he would get a job at the Dot, serve food with Spinner, and the additional money would go to supporting the baby. Spinner would jsut put in a good word for him and --

"Craig."

Halting smack dab in the middle of the hallway, Craig paused. Ashley was standing before him with her big blue eyes, probably looking for him to say something. She was always looking for him to say something.

"I called you, did you not get the message?"

"Well... what would you be calling me for?"

Ashley grinned slightly. "Umm, after what happened yesterday? You running off for Emma?"

Oh, that's right. He had completely forgotten everything about the breakup.

"Umm, yeah, but see, I'm kind of in the middle of something." He took a breath, fabricating a good lie. "We've only for, like five minutes before the bell and Spin told me to meet him in his homeroom."

Oh, that was toogood. Spinner and Emma were in the same homeroom. That was it -- God wantedCraig to be happy.

"Oh, okay. Just don't forget to call me after school, okay? I'll see you in Kwan's."

Smacking her lips together, she clung to Craig's hand as long as she could, then let it slip as she continued to walk.