Paige was standing on the steps of Degrassi C.S. tapping her foot impatiently, staring at her watch.

"Manny Santos, where are you?" Paige said in a low, angry tone.

"I'm sure she's almost here. She's a new driver, maybe she drives really slow." Hazel offered

"Well whatever the reason, it better be damn good. After the hell she put me through last year over not be committed enough, and then she pulls this. And she just expects me to hand the squad over to her. I thought we had everything worked out this summer, with her being second in command and the pretty much equal thing-" Paige raved

"Um . . . Paige, sorry to interrupt your tangent, but why don't you just call her? Save some time and energy?" Hazel suggested

"Fine." Paige dialed Manny's number and listened to the ringing and Manny's Voice Mail.

"She's not answering. What could be more important then this?" Paige demanded

Paige hung up the phone and slipped it into her purse. She walked over to the rest of the Spirt Squad and handed each of them a stack of papers.

"Okay Ladies, we have many students who will need our help today. Big smiles, be friendly to everyone. Also remember we have tryouts today after school. Make sure to hand out the flyers you each have. Any questions? . . .No? Good" Paige said before pulling out her phone again.

'Manny, someone better be dead for you to miss this'

Christine Nelson was in the kitchen feeding her son Jack when she heard a loud crash come from the basement. She rushed over to the open door that Manny had just disappeared through minutes before.

"Emma . . . Manny, Are you girls okay?" She called down the stairs.

After hearing nothing, she proceeded down the stairs. After rounding the corner she noticed a pair of legs on the floor. She rushed over and saw Manny unconscious on the floor.

"Manny, Manny wake-up." She said to the girl.

Manny began to stir, opened her eyes.

"Manny what happened, are you okay?" She asked pulling Manny into a sitting position.

"Emma . . ." the girl's eyes began to water as she lifted her hand and pointed behind Christine.

Christine turned around and sucked in a deep gasp, bringing her hands up over her mouth as her eyes settled on her daughter.

Christine saw the bluish tint to her skin and her mouth, hanging open slightly.

"Emma?" She walked quickly to her daughter side. She put her hand in front of her daughter's face and waved it in front of her eyes.

There was no response. She put her hand under her nose and felt nothing.

"Oh my god, she's not breathing!" Christine shrieked

"Manny go call an ambulance! Now!' She ordered

J.T. Yorke was sitting with his girlfriend Liberty Van Zandt at The Dot. Across from him sat his two best friends, Liberty's younger brother Danny and Toby Isaacs.

J.T. had his head leaning on his propped up elbows on the table. His eyes were fixated on his girlfriends fingers tapping loudly and impatiently on the table. They had been sitting there for an hour, waiting for Manny to drop Emma off, and J.T. could tell the other two guys were just as hungry as he was.

He sighed and spoke softly as not to upset the flustered girl anymore.

"Maybe Paige called and they had to go straight to school."

Toby brought his head up from the table and looked at J.T. with wide eyes and Danny kicked him from under the table.

Liberty's face twisted into a sneer

"Whatever their excuse is, they still could have used common courtesy and called to let us know that they were going to be late or not show up at all. There is no excuse for improper manners." Her voice raised at the end.

"Can we at least order food, before it's too late and we go to school hungry? Your always telling me how important breakfast is to achieving my potential at school and now you want to risk missing breakfast on the first day?" Danny said trying to guilt trip his sister

"Your right, It's Emma and Manny's own fault if they miss breakfast." Liberty agreed

"Finally! I was about to eat J.T.'s arm." Toby joked

"Not if I got to it first." Liberty said, relaxing finally

"I don't know he probably tastes really bad." Danny pointed out

"Thanks. I feel the love. Now lets order." He said flagging down the waitress.

'Just like old times. Why would Emma want to miss this?'

Manny hugged her knees to her chest and watched as Spike turned around and saw her daughter's form.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she rocked herself back and forth trying to wish it all away. A voice broke through her thoughts.

"Manny go call an ambulance! Now!" She ordered

Manny was brought out of her trance and rushed over to the phone on Emma's desk. Her hands shook as she picked up the phone and her vision was blurred by her tears.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and the numbers became clear. She pushed the buttons and looked over at Spike.

She saw Spike tilt her daughter's head back and start CPR.

Manny watched as she waited for the operator.

"Hello, what is your emergency?"a male voiced asked her

"My friend . . . she . . . she over dosed and she's not . . . breathing. Her m-mom is try-trying CPR" Manny said in between sobs.

"Okay just remain calm. Help is on the way. I want you to stay on the line until the EMT's get there okay?"

"Okay." Manny squeaked out.

Manny continued to watch as Spike attempted to revive her best friend. It was as if the world was running in slow motion.

She heard Spike's voice pleading for Emma to breath. She watched as hands were placed repeatedly on her friend chest and useless compressions made her body twitch with every downward thrust.

The hands moved faster and harder as time went on. Manny dropped the phone when she heard a loud crack echo through the basement.

A/N- Okay there's chapter two. I know the chaptersare a little short, but they will get longer.Please Review