a/n: Sorry this took so long; last minute I decided to change the direction of this one so I had to rewrite it. The next chapter should be up in a couple hours, we'll see.

Again, thanks for your reviews!

Chapter 6: Jealous Guy

Jimmy Brooks was not used to begging. In fact, Jimmy could barely remember a time he had to ask for something more than once. Not counting the shooting, he was used to getting what he wanted – that's just his personality. He was incredibly persuasive.

Then this year came – he got dumped by his girlfriend, got rejected by his crush, and failed to graduate due to a technicality. He was hoping that the bet would signal a change back to the way it was, when things went his way. He missed being lucky. Not only that, but he really needed the $140 to get Ellie her new cymbal, the one he helped dent, as a peace offering.

And of course, he did genuinely care about Paige and Alex.

Having known Paige since they were in elementary, he couldn't help but have the brotherly urge to protect her, much like how he felt for Marco. After her and Alex went public, he couldn't count the number of times he almost got into fights defending them. It's like for every person who was fine with it, there were ten more who judged and hated.

The amount of crass and salacious comments shocked him. He expected it to be like when Marco came out; there would always be rude comments here and there, but general acceptance. With Paige and Alex though – the former being the most popular girl, the latter being the most feared – their relationship brought out the worst in people. There was something about those two girls specifically – when Heather Sinclair hooked up with some girl from Bardell, people barely cared. Maybe it was Paige's immensely high social status. Maybe it was the fact that Alex could knock you out in a second. Whatever it was, the guys turned them into an ongoing perverted joke, while the girls gossiped about how 'slutty' they were or how 'trashy' they acted.

He had to hand it to them though; they were more resilient then he could ever be. Every insensitive remark was met by Paige's biting quick wit. Every judgemental stare was matched by Alex's threatening scowl. And when they weren't around to defend themselves, Jimmy did what he did to shut the haters up.

Right now he was trying to convince his friend Natalie to help him win. He heard about Hazel's disastrous attempt to set them up on a semi-date (apparently Alex caught on and threw a Paige-like tantrum), so he decided to be even more clever. The athlete in him made him think outside the box. Learn from your opponents, learn all their strengths and weaknesses to attain your goal. Then he realized it – what was the most powerful motivator? What could smack sense into someone, more influential than money, more foolish then love?

Jealousy. The realization that you lost what you could've had.

Money in the bank, baby.

"Come on, Natalie. Please?" he pleaded, using his best puppy-dog eyes.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "What if Rachel finds out you've been pseudo-setting me up with someone?" she asked, referring to her girlfriend. Natalie was an old friend of Jimmy's, a former next door neighbour. She had known Jimmy forever, and he knew that she'd do anything for him.

"Then tell her it's fake. Tell her it was my idea. People find it extremely hard to get angry at a guy in a wheelchair."

"Well, people – Rachel – find it extremely easy to get angry at me."

"Please? I'll owe you big."

"What if I like her? Your 'big plan' fails."

"Very few people like Paige when they first meet her. Come on, she'll be here any minute."

"What if she likes me?"

"Very few people like you when they first meet you," Jimmy joked. Natalie glowered. "Seriously Natalie, she won't. She's way too into Alex; she won't even give you a second look."

"How sweet."

"So is that a yes?"

Natalie shook her head angrily before sighing. "Only because you're in a chair," she groaned.

"Ah, you rule! Okay, go over to the counter and I'll signal you to come over. Work your magic. Just don't go overboard. Keep it clean, okay?"

She rolled her eyes again before dragging her feet over to the stools.

Seconds later, Paige walked through the door.

"Just you and me?" she asked, giving Jimmy a hug.

"For now – Alex called and said she'd be late, Ashley, Ellie and Marco are gonna meet us there."

"Mmkay."

"What have you been up to today?" he asked. She took a seat across from him.

"Not much. Pathetic, really."

"No, not pathetic. I've been the same. Actually, I was thinking about you this morning."

"How romantic," Paige joked.

"Nah, not that way," Jimmy laughed. "Remember when we were kids and you always talked about your 'knight in shining armour'?"

Paige grinned. "Yeah – I distinctly remember saying that he'd look a lot like Jimmy Brooks. That made Ash so angry. She wouldn't speak to me for like two weeks after that."

"Look at you now though; you've found your knight – but he just turned out being a really fine girl who cusses, smokes, and looks nothing like me."

Paige shook her head, still smiling. "Alex doesn't smoke."

"What, you're not getting all defensive over what I said?"

Paige shrugged. Jimmy looked over at Natalie, and motioned her to come over.

"Hey Jimmy, who's your friend?" Natalie said, smiling at Paige. Jimmy introduced the two, silently praying that Natalie wouldn't make things too awkward for him.

"Hi, Natalie," Paige said, slightly confused.

"So you're Paige. You know, Jimmy's told me a lot about you," she said, taking a seat next to Paige and leaning in slightly. Paige reflexively leaned backward, surprised by Natalie's forwardness, but seemed flattered by the attention.

"Really? Well…Jimmy…likes to talk…" she said awkwardly, as Natalie placed her hand on Paige's arm.

"But he failed to mention how cute you were," Natalie continued, tracing her finger up and down Paige's forearm.

"Oh, well, Jimmy's quite the character." Paige blushed slightly, but still looked uncomfortable. Jimmy grinned as she shot him a dirty look. "So, uh, how do you know Jimmy?"

"We go way back. But what about you? What's your story?"

"My story…not too interesting," she said vaguely, eyeing the exits.

"I heard you graduated from Degrassi this year," Natalie said, smiling seductively. Paige had never looked more terrified. "Jim told me that you're going over to Banting? Maybe I'll go to Kingston too, if that's where all the cute girls are headed."

"Um, hun, you're kind of in my personal space," she said, finally allowing her impatience to show. She gently, but vehemently, removed Natalie's hand.

The bells on The Dot's door chimed, and Jimmy looked up to see Alex come in. She sized Natalie up before stiffening, and cautiously walked up. Paige must've noticed Alex's behaviour too, because she soon had her mischievous smile on.

"Alex!" Paige said, acting surprised. Jimmy suppressed his laughter as Paige suddenly seemed really interested in Natalie. "This is Natalie, a friend of Jimmy's. We were just getting to know each other," she said, grinning at Natalie.

This seemed to have her desired affect, as Alex became visibly jealous. Paige took Natalie's hand and placed it back on hers, doing it slyly so Alex could see everything.

Jimmy just sat back and let them do all the work.

"So Natalie, where are you from, what do you do?" Paige asked, leaning forward. This time Natalie moved back a little.

"Um…"

"You said you might move down to Kingston? We should meet up some time…"

"Uh…"

"They're probably waiting for us, we should get going," Alex said loudly. She stared down at Natalie, as if daring her to speak.

"Aww, well, I guess we should. It was great meeting you, Natalie," Paige said, giving her hand a squeeze. She could hardly hide her shock, not expecting Paige's behaviour.

Paige smiled brightly at Alex, as Alex continued to glare. "Jim, are you coming?" Alex asked, her eyes not leaving Natalie's.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna say goodbye to Nat. I'll meet you guys outside?"

They nodded, and with one final wave goodbye from Paige, they left.

"What the hell," Natalie said, exhaling deeply. "I thought that Alex chick was going to kill me."

Jimmy laughed. "That was perfect!" he cheered, giving Natalie a hug.

"I barely did anything," she said, still shocked. "I mean, I had my best pick up lines all set up, ready to come, then Alex came in…then she looked at me with those eyes and I thought she was going to strangle me…"

"Are you going to be okay?"

She stared at her hands for a moment before standing behind him, ready to help wheel him out.

"If those two don't work out, can you give me Alex's number?"

"I'll never understand girls," he muttered. Thank God he was a guy. At least bad luck couldn't take that away from him.