X. Step Inside Love

Step inside love and stay,
Step inside love.
Step inside love.
Step inside love.
I want you to stay.
You look tired, love,
let me turn down the light.
Come in out of the cold,
rest your head on my shoulder
and kiss me tonight.
We are together now
and forever, come my way.
Step inside love and stay,
step inside love,
step inside love,
step inside love,
I want you to stay.

The room is brighter when we enter again, and I can see Snake and Ms. Hatzilakos shuffle through some small slips of paper. Craig's not hard to find. He's staring forlornly down at the punch bowl, and I hurry through the crowd to get to him.

"Crisis averted," I say, giving him an apologetic smile.

"This punch is so spiked," comments Craig, returning the smile.

I laugh. "My guess is Peter," I say.

"Nope," says a voice behind me. "It was me."

We both turn and see Danny. He and Peter exchange a handshake, Emma and Liberty looking on, none too pleased.

"Gin from my dad's private stock," explains Peter. "Just schooling Danny on the ways of the rebel before I leave."

"You are so grounded," scolds Liberty. "I'm going to..."

"Yeah, and I'll just tell Dad about your little trip to the boys' locker room with J.T. earlier tonight," retorts Danny.

Liberty purses her lips, folds her arms, and walks away. Danny guffaws, while Emma hits Peter upside the head. Meanwhile, Craig hands me something..

"Toby's cell phone," he says.

I put it in my purse. "No more interruptions. I promise," I say.

Craig's face lights up and he leads me out onto the dance floor again. But the music stops, and Snake taps the microphone a couple times. This action is met with a chorus of groans and boos. I'm tempted to boo myself, though I've never done it before.

"Trust me, trust me," says Snake, light-heartedly. "You'll want to stop for this. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to announce this year's King and Queen of Hollywood."

Everyone cheers loudly, while Craig and I just politely clap. Ms. Hatzilakos hands one sheet of paper to Snake, and Snake opens it. I notice a few girls grasping each other's arms excitedly, two of which include Darcy and Manny. I might be imagining it, but even Liberty looks a bit hopeful. Well, I guess if any of the guys fit the "King of Hollywood" title, J.T. did.

"And the King is Spinner Mason," yells Snake.

Darcy jumps up and down, the rustles on her cute black dress swinging to and fro. Jimmy whoops in the corner as Spinner strides to the stage.

"Who da man," yells Spinner. "Who is da man!"

Ms. Hatzilakos fits the crown on Spinner's head and hands him a pair of sunglasses. Then, she hands Snake another piece of paper. Spinner puts on the sunglasses and stares at Darcy. Darcy steps forward, wringing her hands in anticipation.

"And our Queen of Hollywood is...Emma Nelson," says Snake, his eyebrows arching up high.

"Emma Nelson?" repeated Liberty in disbelief.

"Emma Nelson," says Emma, looking around flabbergasted. "I...am Emma. I'm Emma Nelson, Manny!"

Manny squeals. "Get up there, Emma Nelson!"

Peter pushes her towards the stage, getting the audience to clap for her. Darcy stares at Emma, her mouth agape. Toby pats Emma on the back, while Manny gives her a sideways hug. Spinner shrugs at Darcy as Emma's tiara is perched atop her head, and she gets her own cute pair of sunglasses..

"Yay Emma!" yells a voice from the crowd and she receives a couple cat calls from the audience.

Snake kisses Emma on the forehead, and ushers Spinner and Emma out onto the floor.

"Now, we'll have the royal dance, which will also be our last dance. So find that special person and cut a rug."

Spinner and Emma look at each other awkwardly as he puts a hand on her waist. Darcy has a fixed gaze on the two of them, her lips curling a little. Peter doesn't seem to like it either, and downs a cup of the tainted punch. The music begins, and Craig gives me a knowing glance.

Through the mud and the dirt, through the tears and the hurt, it seared and it burned and I died, through the mud and the dirt, through the tears and the hurt, it seared and it burned and I died...

"You...are...so devious," I say, slapping him on the back.

"I had Ellie tape it while we were performing for Kevin Smith," confesses Craig, chuckling. "I listened to it that whole summer. Snake liked it so much he must've got a copy."

There was nothing at all, no, nothing at all, there was only a dream of you...(only a dream of you)...

"The counterpoint still sounds sharp," I comment, dragging Craig to the floor.

"I like the lead singer," says Craig, starting to dance and winking at me.

"Our very own bootleg," I say.

He twirls me around, and I bump into his chest. Our noses touch. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Emma doing the cabbage patch in front of an impressed Spinner. Then, my eyes focus solely on Craig, his soulful eyes, then his lips moving closer to mine. Our lips come together, and the chords of the song and the feel of his body flow through my body. My hands find the sides of his face and our kiss grows deeper, and for the first time today, I don't feel shy. His arms wrap around my back, then we pull away and smile, him looking down at me.

"Let's hear it for our two musicians," yells Snake, pointing to us.

Suddenly, everyone's around us in a circle, clapping to the music, even Spinner and Emma who broke out of their dance.

"There was nothing at all...only a dream of you," sings Manny, clapping to the beat, getting Toby and J.T. to sing along.

"Only a dream of you," sings Spinner to Darcy, way off-key, but in a way that gets Darcy to giggle and stare at him warmly.

So embarrassed. I hide my head in Craig's chest. Craig laughs and strokes my hair. As off-key and random as it is, I can't help but smile. It was such a far cry from our first semi-formal, when I felt so alone and Craig had to make me limbo in my goth luau skirt. Now, I feel the warmth radiating across the gym, the encouragement of everyone. I had friends wishing me well, friends I never thought would be friends, and for that moment, I'm with Craig, someone I never thought would give me another chance.

"Am I turning red?" I whisper to Craig.

"Not yet," replies Craig.

"Woooo!" yells Spinner. "Looks like Kerwin and Manning are going to have their own little after party!"

I drop my eyes.

"Okay, now you are," says Craig.

Craig fetches a key from under the doormat and slips it into the door of his house. He puts his finger to his lips, then we both slide into the foyer. Earlier that day, I had been crying, regretting, wishing I knew what to say. Now, I can't stop smiling. It's dark, and I almost trip over a step. Craig flicks on a lamp, and we see a bundled up Angie sleeping on the couch.

"Turn off the light," murmurs Angie, trying to pull the blanket over her face.

"Why aren't you upstairs?" questions Craig.

Hearing Craig's voice, Angie instantly sits up and rubs her eyes. She sees me, then rushes over and gives me a hug.

"Ash!"exclaims Angie. "You said yes. I knew you would say yes. Craig said he was going to the dance, and I knew he would find you, and I knew you guys would end up together, and I knew..."

"Ang," interrupts Craig. "Um...do you happen to know where Joey and Caitlin are?"

"Yeah...they're watching a movie upstairs,"answers Angie. "Are you guys going to start necking and stuff?"

Craig rolls his eyes. "Angie, why don't you go upstairs?"

"I wanted to hear about the dance," complains Angie. "I don't get to go to one for awhile."

"I'll tell you tomorrow," promises Craig.

"And you'll tell everything?" she says, grinning at me.

"I'll tell you what I feel like," answers Craig, guiding her up the steps. "Go to bed."

Angie grumbles, and runs up the stairs.

"She's so cute," I say, taking a seat on the couch and instinctively folding her blanket.

Craig takes the blanket from my hands and throws it on the floor.

"She's an obstacle that had to be gotten rid of," says Craig, heading over to a desk with several books on it.

He sits down on the couch next to me and hands me a large book with a green cover. He doesn't say anything, but I open it, and leaf through a couple pages. I see a wide variety of pictures, Craig posing with guys in suits who I guess are music producers or executives, signing autographs for kids our age, being presented with a plaque. I stop at the plaque picture.

"You won an award?" I ask.

"Yeah, just some thing for Best New Artist from an indie label," explains Craig. "They had a cake for me. I like cake."

"I remember," I say, giggling. "I really wish I was there."

"For the cake?" says Craig.

"No, for you," I say, kissing his cheek.

The light flickers suddenly, but then remains off. I turn to see Joey in the doorway.

"Sorry, guys...I didn't...hey, Ashley," says Joey, an amused look on his face.

"I so need my own apartment," whispers Craig.

Joey pats Craig on the back. "What a pleasant surprise to see you here...Ashley," he says, giving Craig a sly grin.

"Joey, weren't you watching one of your lame eighties movies...you know, the ones with the guys with mullets and bad acne," says Craig, closing the scrapbook.

"Is he out here showing you those pictures, trying to worm your way back into his affections?" asks Joey, shaking his head at me.

"He doesn't have to worm," I say, patting Craig's knee. "His affections are very much welcome."

"I used to show girls my car," reminisces Joey. "But that's small potatoes when you're recording an album, I guess."

"You can leave now," says Craig persistently.

Joey laughs. "Alright, I know the deal. Nice to see you, Ashley. And Craig, this was on the kitchen table. Watch where you put it."

He hands Craig a beeper, then gives a very fake yawn before heading upstairs.

"Beeper from my manager," says Craig. "It's so annoying. I don't want to worry about that stuff when there's so much going on here."

I frown. "So...you're heading back after the wedding?"

"Well...yeah. I mean, I only have three weeks off."

Rising from the couch, I cross my arms. I didn't want him to leave so soon.

"I'd love for you to come visit me," says Craig. "And maybe...come to the wedding? No pressure, though."

I turn back around. "Really?"

"Definitely."

Craig gets up from the couch, and kisses me again. He starts to kiss my neck, and I let my arms fall to the side. Suddenly, I hear a piercing beep and we break apart. Sighing, Craig looks down at the beeper.

"I hate technology," moans Craig. "Oh!"

I see Craig take a deep breath, a worried expression frozen on his face.

"Your manager?" I ask.

"No...Ellie."

Looking down, I see that, yes, it's indeed Ellie's number. There's also small text: Plz come quick.

"Ash...it doesn't look good. I mean, Ellie usually doesn't use this number."

I can't help but think, well, what number does she use and how often? But this wasn't the time to be selfish. I'd been selfish before, and I couldn't bare the thought of Ellie being stuck somewhere without help.

"Call her," I say.

"But..."

"Call her, Craig," I insist.

Craig gives me a small peck on the lips and disappears into the kitchen. For a few minutes, I go back to folding Angie's blanket, then straightening the books on the table, then picking at a loose seam on my dress. I try to think of happy things—Craig coming to my window, the kiss on the dance floor, everyone jamming to our song. I remember saying that there was no place like Degrassi last year, and that was so true. Nowhere else felt as safe and warm; no one but Craig made me feel the exact same way.

Flicking on the light switch, Craig comes back into the room. I notice that he has his car keys out.

"Is she okay?" I ask.

Craig looks down. "No."

"Should I...should I come?"

Craig won't look me in the eye. "It's complicated...I just have to go."

"Oh."

I pull at my skirt and pick up my purse. Craig walks over, and gives me a hug. I have no idea what's going on, but return the hug with both arms. I don't know why, but it feels really strange, like I won't see him for awhile. Grasping him tighter, tears start to line my eyes.

"Are you okay?" he says, staring at my face.

"Yeah...it's just glitter."

"I'll be gone for a couple days...I gotta call Joey...I just have to leave. Um, do you think your Mom could pick you up?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'll call her. Just...go."

Craig kisses my forehead, grabs his leather jacket, and races out of the door.

"Goodbye," I say, as the door slams shut.