Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, I'm glad people are liking the story. One small note – for the sake of the story, Spinner's part in the whole prank is a secret as of now. He and Paige are still together, and he and Jimmy are still friends.

Sympathy

I get scared, but I'm not crawling on my knees

Manny had always been the very picture of perfect health. Other than an intense bout of the flu in fifth grade that had left her forever turned off of chicken noodle soup, she hadn't been sick a day in her life. And she hadn't been too anxious to ever repeat the experience.

Now here she was again, back in the position she'd managed to avoid for so long. Brought to her knees by the painful wrenching of her internal organs, head bent over the toilet in a mixture of exhaustion, illness, and shame.

Too bad she wasn't eleven anymore, Manny reflected, pushing her hair off her sweat-beaded forehead. Too bad her mother couldn't soothe her with a soft lullaby and a kiss to the cheek. Her mother couldn't even know she was sick. And no one else could, either.

She was completely, miserably, alone. Hidden away in the girl's bathroom, trying to stifle her own gagging every time someone else entered.

It was supposed to be morning sickness, she thought bitterly. Not fourth period, middle-of-math-class, most-inconvenient-time-possible sickness. And with that thought, bile rose in her throat and she began to heave again.

Which was why she didn't hear the door open or the approaching footsteps. What she did hear was the soft rap on the stall door and a familiar, concerned voice saying, "Manny? Is that you?"

"Oh, God." Dragging herself to her feet, she flushed and tried to remain calm. "Yeah, it's me."

"Well … are you okay?"

Not even close. "I'm fine," she called. "Just a little … under the weather."

She paused and heard Emma's long-suffering sigh clear as day. "Well, will you come out here, then? You know I'm not just gonna leave."

It was true, she knew Emma wouldn't give her a moment's peace until she showed her face. Because it was perhaps the most comforting thing Manny had encountered in days, she hesitated only an instant before unlocking the door and stepping out.

Emma gasped. "Manny! You look terrible!"

"Thanks, Em, it's good to see you, too."

Her oldest friend rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. You're more than just a little sick. You shouldn't even be at school! What was your mom thinking?"

"My mom doesn't know," Manny spat out, then realized her mistake.

"Manny, your mom always knows everything that's going on with you, why wouldn't she …" Emma trailed off as realization dawned. "Oh, my God. Manny … are you …?"

Manny brushed past her to go to the sink, splashing her face with cool water. "Say it," she challenged, meeting Emma's eyes in the mirror.

"You're pregnant," Emma stated. "You had sex with Craig and now you're pregnant. Am I right?"

"As always," Manny sighed. "And please don't say 'I told you so'. Or talk about how much I deserve it for being so stupid in the first place. 'Cause I know, okay, and I really don't think I can stand hearing you lecture me on –"

"Manny," Emma interrupted, and laid her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "I'm not gonna say any of that. I wasn't even thinking it."

Manny held up her hand. "You swear?"

"Cross my heart," Emma replied, and they hooked pinkies. "I know we haven't been on the best terms lately, and that's both of our faults, Manny. But … I'm not gonna let you go through this alone, okay? I'm just not."

They had been friends long enough for Manny to know that Emma wouldn't take no for an answer. They had been friends long enough for all the old hurts between them to flicker and fade at the first sign of real trouble. They had been friends … forever, Manny thought as Emma produced a brush from her bag and began to comb through Manny's tangled hair. And they always would be.

XXX

"A-ha. Thought I'd find you here."

Jimmy looked up quickly, surprised to find himself not quite as alone as he'd thought. He was spending his lunch period in the gym again, for the third day in a row. If he was going to be honest with himself, he would admit he was hiding from the rest of the world.

A plan which had worked just fine until now. Spinner was framed in the doorway, arms crossed firmly at his chest, blocking the exit. The smirk on his face said that there was no way Jimmy was getting past him without some serious work.

Jimmy attempted to be casual. "Hey, Spin, what's up, man?"

"Good question," his friend replied. "What is up?"

"Uh … I don't know, man, I asked you first."

Spinner rubbed his hands together. "Well, let me rephrase, then. What's up with you avoiding your friends all the time? What's up with you dumping Hazel and not even telling any of us, so that we had to suffer a severely awkward lunch period when Paige started talking about the party she's throwing you and Hazel mentioned that you wouldn't be attending? What's up with all that, huh?"

Jimmy sighed. "Look, Spin, I'm sorry I haven't hung out with you guys in a while, I've been really busy –"

"Feeling sorry for yourself?" Spinner supplied.

"Shut up, man," he warned. "You have no idea what this is like."

"You're right. I don't." Spinner took a few steps forward and picked a stray basketball off the floor, bouncing it to his friend. "Because you won't talk to me, Jimmy. Or to anyone. Not even Hazel."

"'Cause you guys won't get it," he insisted, and threw the ball back with more force than he'd intended. "I'm not gonna sit around and moan about how bad I have it to a bunch of kids who can still get up and walk around anytime they feel like it."

"You have to talk to someone, Jimmy. You have to tell someone how you're feeling." Spinner knew from personal experience that keeping pain private was an enormous strain. "What about your therapist, huh? Can't you at least go to the appointments?"

Jimmy stared at him. "You talked to my Dad, huh?"

"He called me house," Spinner admitted. "Wanted to know how I thought you were handling things. He called Hazel, too, and Paige and Craig."

"Craig," Jimmy said in disgust, the memory of Manny crying still fresh. "Like he's got it so together."

"None of us are perfect, Jimmy," Spinner tried, unaware of what Manny had shared with Jimmy during her moment of weakness. "But we're all your friends and we all just want you to get better."

"Well, it's gonna be awhile," Jimmy snapped. "So in the meantime, I'd appreciate it if everyone would just back off. I can't stand talking to people and realizing, halfway through the conversation, that they haven't met my eyes once. That they keep staring at my legs, at my … useless … broken … legs. I can't. All right? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Spinner nodded, absorbing the new information. "Okay. Fine, Jimmy, if that's the way you wanna play it, that's how we'll play it. But I'm not just gonna let you sit around in here and waste away. No one is. If you won't come to Paige's party tonight, and you don't have to, that's fine … will you at least come eat lunch with us? Please?" He waited a beat. "I can absolutely promise I won't be checking out your legs."

Despite himself, Jimmy laughed at that. "If you did, Paige would probably see to it that you had a matching one of these," he pointed out, indicating his wheelchair.

"She is a tad possessive," Spinner agreed, smiling. "I dare you to say that to her face, though."

"No, thanks, I've got enough on my plate at the moment." As they exited the gym, Jimmy paused and grew serious. "You know, Spin … you're a good friend."

Spinner looked vaguely uncomfortable with the praise. "Yeah, well, someone had to come down here and kick your ass into gear. I drew the short straw, that's all."

Jimmy laughed again and decided that maybe, just maybe, his life could be a little closer to normal than he'd thought.

XXX

The party was in full swing by the time Jimmy arrived. He'd had his father drop him off a block away from the Michalcuk's residence to make his arrival slightly less dramatic, but he'd stalled about halfway down the sidewalk once his father had disappeared down the road.

Every light in the house was blazing and he could hear the obnoxiously loud bump-and-grind beat even from this distance. He recognized the song as one by his favorite artist and grinned at Hazel's obvious influence in the party-planning. Paige was empathetic, sure, but she didn't pay that much attention to detail.

Tonight was their tribute to him. He knew that, as much as he knew that he should be grateful to have such good friends. He should appreciate all the trouble they'd gone to and let them know how much he loved each and every one of them.

But he couldn't. He just … couldn't. He didn't want to spend his night listening to music he'd once danced to and trying to hold a normal conversation with every person who approached him. It would remind him too much of old times, of simpler times, with the exception being … him.

He would be out of place where he'd once fit perfectly, and he couldn't stand to subject himself to that.

Giving up, Jimmy wheeled around and found himself about to run over a familiar face. He put on the brakes quickly enough to avoid a collision, but she still jumped back to a safer plane, gasping.

"Manny!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you there! … Actually, what are you doing here?"

She indicated the Michalchuk's, just a few houses down from where they stood beneath a blinking streetlight. "I heard there was a party in your honor. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing, but seeing as you're already leaving …"

"I actually haven't gone in yet," he told her, "And I'm not going to."

"Oh." Manny looked at him, hard, the kind of probing look Claire always gave him when he was quiet for too long. "Why not?"

"I don't know. All those people … just waiting to tell me how sorry they are, how good I look, how lucky I was. I can't … I don't want to hear any of that crap. I don't need their pity." He shifted in his seat and added defensively, "Or yours."

"Good, 'cause I wasn't coming to offer any," she replied with a small smile. "I just wanted to thank you .. again … for listening the other day. You didn't have to, and God knows you probably had about a bazillion other things on your mind, but … the fact that you stayed made me feel better. I just wanted you to know that."

He was silent after her confession. He didn't know quite what to say. To hear that he'd had a positive affect on her, that he could still do something good for someone else … it made him happy, happier than he'd been in a while.

Just as she turned to go, he found his voice and stopped her in her tracks. "Manny. Do you want to … go somewhere? And talk, or something? I mean, don't have anything better to do."

"What about your party?" she asked.

"I don't have anything better to do," he repeated, smiling at her in the semi-darkness that enveloped them.

She shrugged and smiled shyly back. "Well, then … what are we waiting for?"