Part Six: Amends

"So much for the glow," Manny says. They're in her room, and Emma's lying on her bed, staring glumly at the ceiling. It's the weekend again. Oh joy. She and Jay have spent the whole week avoiding each other, but the weekend isn't providing any relief, because she's only been able to stave off Manny's questions with the promise that at the end of the week, she'd tell her everything. What will her best friend think of her when she finds out?

"Manny, the last thing I need to hear right now is 'I told you so,' so just please, don't say it."

"I wasn't going to. But Emma – I just – I knew he'd break your heart."

Emma laughs, a harsh bitter sound. "That would require me having given him my heart to break in the first place."

"So you're not in love with him?" Emma stiffens and sits up.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because you're acting the same why I did when I lost Craig, and I was in love with him."

"Yeah, but you have Spinner now."

"Yes, I do." Manny smiles. "And I love him, really, but – Emma, don't change the subject. Whatever happened – I'm not going to judge you. It can't be any worse than what I've done."

"It's just …" Emma pauses, searching for the right words. "He wasn't what I expected, Manny. He was … kind to me. No one's ever made me feel that good. At least physically," she adds hastily, and Manny nods, swallowing. Emma doesn't exactly come out and say they had sex, but Manny understands.

"When we at his place … his mom came home drunk. Manny, the way she treated him, it was horrible."

"Like Craig's dad?"

"I guess," Emma says, feeling a brief surge of annoyance. For a girl who claims to be in love with someone else, she still gets the feeling that, with Manny, all roads lead to Craig.

"What about his dad?"

"He said he never met him, that he doesn't know who he is."

"Well, that explains a lot. An alcoholic/abusive mother and an absent father, no wonder he turned out so scummy."

"He's not scummy, Manny!"

"Emma, he took your virginity and then ditched you. That's pretty much the definition of scummy! I just hope you guys were safe is all. That you weren't stupid, like I was." Emma sighs.

"No, we were safe. You know what the worst part is?"

"What?"

"I enjoyed it. A lot." Emma shakes her head. "He held me, after. He made me feel safe. I thought … when I got his car on Monday … he couldn't even say that he cared about me. And that's really all I wanted to hear. It's not like I expected him to pledge his undying devotion, for god's sake! It just would have been nice to know I lost it to someone who gave a damn."

"Maybe he does. Maybe he was just scared."

Emma blinks. "I didn't expect you to say that."

"Well, I just hope for your sake that he does care."

"Why?"

"Because you're hurting, Em. Because you care about him. I just wish he was worthy of it."

A few stray tears fall, and Emma wipes them away. "Me too."

"You gonna order, or what?" Ask Spinner.

"Stop bugging me and get back to work."

"Man, you have been so weird lately. What are you, pining for Alex, or something? I thought you said you were glad it was over."

"Pining? I don't pine. And who uses that word outside of English class?"

"What, you don't miss her?"

"Alex was never into me."

"Really? Is that why she went out with you for like, forever, dude?"

Suddenly, he just blurts it out. "Alex likes girls."

"Whoa. Wait. You mean …"

"I mean like your little friend, Del Rossi, likes guys? Alex likes girls."

"Wow."

"She asked me not to tell anyone, so you can't –"

"I won't. But hey dude, that's gotta be tough. Bit of a blow to the ego, heh?" He claps a scowling Jay on the shoulder. But then he thinks of something, and smiles.

"Wanna know who she's hot for?"

Spinner grins. But his smile fades as Jay continues: "A certain little blonde bombshell from Spirit Squad with a thing for teachers."

"Wait. Paige?" Jay nods, relishing Spinner's reaction. "Well, well – she's not gonna get anywhere! Paige is straight."

"Yeah, well, I thought Alex was too." Spinner looks like he's going to be sick. "Hey man, what do you care, you're with Manny now."

Spinner sighs. "I wish I was with her right now, instead of here, with you," he snaps. Jay rolls his eyes.

"What? So you have to meet her after work. Big deal. At least you got a girl who's not a lezbo."

"Actually, I don't get to meet her after work. She's spending the night at Emma's. Some big, girly crisis thing. She says Emma needs her. Which kinda sucks for me, but I can't blame her for being a good friend … what?" Jay's whole face has changed.

"Nothing." Jay gets up. "I just remembered, there's something I need to do. Later, Spin."

Walking towards his car, Jay pulls out his cell, dialing the number of Sean's parents at Wesega Beach.

"Hey man, what's up?" He won't admit it to himself, but it's good to hear Sean's voice.

"Not much. Hey, remember how before you left, you said you wanted to make things up to Emma? To her dad?"

There's a pause on the other end of the line, and then, "Yeah."

"Well, I got an idea."

"Emma?" It's Monday morning again. Why does the weekend always have to go by so fast? She hears her father's – step-father's – voice, and immediately braces herself for a lecture. But when she's finally turns to face him, he's grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on, you gotta see this!"

Emma can't believe her eyes. It's Snake's computer. The one her mom got him, when he was going through the chemo. The one that Sean stole, with Jay.

"I don't believe it."

"Sean must've - I thought he sold it. I don't know how he got it back, or even got it here, considering he's all the way in Wesaga. Did you know anything about this?"

"No," Emma says truthfully. But she has a good idea who might.

Later that day, she finds Jay at his locker. "It was you."

Jay doesn't look at her. "Whatever it was, I'm sure I've got an alibi."

"My dad's computer, Jay. It was you, wasn't it?"

"It was me and Sean. I got sick of him saying how he wanted to make things right, so I helped him do something about it. I owed him one. Not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me," Emma says softly, and Jay finally turns and looks at her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Emma looks at him thoughtfully. "There's this thing tonight, you know. A coming-home party for Jimmy. Practically the whole school's invited."

"I'm not."

"You're Spinner's friend, and Spinner is Jimmy's best friend."

"So that makes me … what? Invited by association?"

"I'm going, Jay. I wouldn't mind seeing you there, that's all."

Jay tries hard to make a great show of indifference, but Emma's not buying it. "Okay, maybe I'll make an appearance."

Emma smiles at him and walks away. Maybe it'll be a good week, after all.