Chapter 7

-x-

Emma was too tired to fiddle with opening her window the hard way so she just went through the front door.

Just then the lights of the living room flipped on and her mom stalked into the foyer, looking less than happy.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Emma." Spike said.

Emma glanced at her curiously, "Why?"

"I'm at work you know, and all of a sudden my cell phone goes off and it's Jack's day care center saying that he had never been picked up! So of course I was like, 'Oh, Emma must be doing something' so I called the house to get your attention and nobody answers, so I try your cell phone, it goes straight to answering machine. You had me worried sick, Emma! How could you be so irresponsible! It's the middle of the night and you're just now coming home!"

Emma's mind flew back to before she and Manny had left for the mall and how she had turned off her cell phone-and obviously had forgotten to turn it back on.

"I'm sorry, mom." Emma said.

"And now it looks as if you went off and had sex or something!" Spike exclaimed.

"I went to a party with Manny, she needed me to come with her, Spinner wanted to make up with her and she was nervous to go alone." Emma said, and then some drunk guy hit on me and dragged me into a bedroom where he tried to get me to sleep with him and then I got upset and slapped him and ran off only to practically get stalked by Jay Hogart on the way home being bombarded with questions!

"So you had to dress like that to do so? Look at you, Emma!"

"I know mom, sorry." Emma said.

Spike sighed, "It's alright, at least you're here now."

Emma nodded.

"Now I have to get back to the hospital and check on Archie, will you be okay with Jack for the night?" Spike asked.

Emma nodded, "Yeah sure…"

"Thanks, Em." Spike said with a smile before swinging her purse over her shoulder and walking towards the door, "Jack's asleep right now; he shouldn't cause you any trouble or anything."

Emma nodded, "Okay."

Spike waved at her before heading out the door.

Within a few moments, she heard the car start up and she could see the headlights of her mom's car pulling out of the driveway through the sheer window curtains before driving off down the street.

Emma kicked off her platform sandals and leaned against the wall, sighing.

Just then she saw another pair of headlights pull into the driveway, but they didn't look like her mom's.

Who's that? Emma asked herself.

She glanced out the curtains and saw Manny Santos's familiar white Mustang convertible and she saw her jumping out of it and scurrying towards the door.

Emma's lips pursed, she was very angry at Manny for ditching her, but still, she walked towards the door at the sound of Manny tapping on it.

Emma swung it open, "Manny what's going on?"

"Well I figured it's safer here at your house than it is at the party…"

"What do you mean?" Emma asked, letting Manny walk inside.

"There's a huge fight at Sean's house." Manny stated.

"Between who?" Emma questioned, completely forgetting about how mad she was at Manny for ditching her.

"Jay and some guy in a trench coat."

Emma's mouth formed an "O" and her eyes widened.

Oh my God.

"Maybe we should go over there…" Emma said, sliding her shoes back onto her feet.

"Why? It's just Jay yelling out stuff about treatment to girls, which I'm sure he knows nothing about, and the guy is like 'Shut up! You have no idea what went on you loser!' and then they just keep pushing each other around and slamming into walls.

Oh my God!

"Well how come nobody is calling the police?" Emma questioned.

"I'm surprised Alex hasn't, but nobody there really cares. They all just think of it as entertainment or something. I don't know, it's stupid if you ask me."

"Well maybe we should go over and check on them?" Emma suggested.

Manny stared at her as if she was crazy, "I just saw your mom pulling out of the driveway before I got her so I know that she's off to the hospital, where your dad is, and I doubt Jack's with her. That means that you have the responsibility of your baby brother and you can't take him to a party with cigarettes, and drugs, and alcohol!"

Emma shrugged, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Manny nodded, "Okay."

"So where's Spinner?" Emma asked.

"He left right before I did…but Em, what happened to you?"

Emma gulped, "Nothing, I fell on my way home."

Manny nodded, "Okay sure…but anyways, can I just stay with you tonight? I'm sure my mom won't mind."

Emma shrugged, "Sure."

"Okay, thanks, Em. I'm just going to go call my mom then." Manny said with a grin before walking off towards the kitchen to get the phone.

x-

Jay didn't show up at school the next day, which wasn't really a big surprise to Emma, with the fight he had gotten in and all. He probably had scars.

Alex sent her a death glare anytime during the day that Emma walked by her, which definitely made Emma curious.

Manny and Spinner were walking down the halls together, holding hands and cuddling. Emma would always notice a vicious look on Paige's face anytime she saw the two together.

As soon as the final bell rung, Emma shot up from her seat and bolted out of the classroom, only to get stopped by Ms. Kwan on her trip down the hallway.

"Hi Ms. Kwan." Emma said with a small smile.

"Hello, Emma." Ms. Kwan said, smiling back, "How is the tutoring going?"

"Uh…it's fine. We've met everyday and everything's is going smoothly."

Emma scoffed to herself in her brain.

"That's good to know. You'll be getting paid Friday then." Ms. Kwan said.

Emma nodded, "Okay. Well I'll see you; I have to go get back to tutoring." Emma said with a smile.

Ms. Kwan nodded, "Thanks again, Emma."

"Yeah, no problem." She said before walking off towards her locker and grabbing her messenger bag.

x-

As soon as Manny dropped her off, she noticed a familiar red Civic sitting in her driveway.

"Isn't the Jay's car?" Manny asked suspiciously.

"No, there's some other kid in our neighborhood who comes by here sometimes." Emma lied.

"Oh, okay. Well see you tomorrow Em!" Manny said with a smile as Emma got out of the car.

"Bye." Emma replied.

Manny drove off down the street and Emma watched her car drift out of site before hurrying up her walk and up the porch steps before entering her house.

"Where were you today?" Emma questioned as soon as she entered the house.

She kicked off her white backless sandals before heading into the living room, looking for Jay, but she didn't see him anywhere.

"Jay?" Emma called out, "Don't play dumb, I know you're here. Your car's in my driveway!"

There was still no answer.

Emma walked into the kitchen, the computer room, and Jack's bedroom but didn't see anybody.

That only gave her one other candidate, her bedroom.

She walked back towards the kitchen and opened up the door that led to the basement.

She walked down the stairs, "Jay?"

"In here Nelson." Jay called back.

His voice practically made her heart jump.

I can't believe he's in my bedroom.

I can.

Well you don't matter, shut up.

I matter just as much as you matter.

Why would he be in my bedroom?

Because he likes you.

Well that's crap.

Not really, he fought that dude for you last night.

Well he also snagged Rick off the ground after I tripped him.

Yeah! Because Rick sent you his "I'm going to beat the living shit out of you" glare and Jay came to your defense, you idiot!

That's not why he did that, he just didn't like Rick; hello he tried to KILL HIM!

And how do you know it wasn't all for you?

I just know it wasn't.

I bet it was.

Well he didn't shoot him anyway, Rick shot Jimmy, Rick shot Sean, and Sean shot Rick.

Well Sean jumped a bullet for you, he obviously likes you.

Since when was this about Sean! Quit playing Cupid!

Would you rather have Jay or Sean?

Go away.

Emma walked down the rest of the stairs and entered her bedroom, "Uh, what are you doing in my room?" Emma questioned.

"Working on MI." Jay said, "You're computer is a lot faster than the one upstairs."

Emma nodded before sitting on her bed, "How long have you been here?"

"About an hour or so. Didn't feel like going to school today." Jay said before turning around in the computer chair and facing her.

Emma noticed that he had a cut above his eyebrow, a somewhat busted lip and a black eye.

"Nice shiners." She said with a small smirk.

"Yeah, I got in a little fight." Jay said sheepishly.

"With a guy in something that looked like a trench coat at Sean's house last night." Emma finished for him.

Jay rolled his eyes, "Manny told you?"

"Manny tells me everything." Emma replied with a smirk, "Why did you fight him last night?"

"Well he tried to rape you." Jay said.

"So?"

"Well I wanted to make sure he didn't try any funny stuff on anyone else at the party."

Emma nodded, "Okay, sure. Well let's just get to tutoring okay?"

Jay nodded slightly, "Okay, but first let me finish this thing, I think I may have finally figured out the program." Jay said before turning back to the computer.

Emma closed her eyes and leaned back on the bed, surprisingly the sounds of the mouse clicking and his fingers tapping on each key of the keyboard practically seemed relaxing to her.

Jay finished up about thirty minutes later and then turned back to Emma, "Alright, let's go work on something else now."

Emma's eyes fluttered open and she got up and followed him up the stairs.

x-

"Do you understand this yet?" Emma asked, running a hand through her blonde hair.

Jay groaned and tilted his head back on the couch, "I have no idea why it's really this hard for me to comprehend." Jay said.

"For some people it takes longer than others, no big deal really."

"Well when did you become Miss Sentimental?" Jay asked with a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Emma rolled her eyes at him before tossing a throw pillow at him, "Let's just get back to work."

Jay sighed, "Yeah, fine." He said before sitting up and staring down at the book.

"What does E equal?" Jay asked as they flipped through the math book.

"MC squared, who doesn't know that?" Emma asked with a laugh, "Some people don't even know what those represent but you still know the answer. E equals MC squared."

Jay rolled his eyes, "Well I didn't know the answer thank you very much."

Emma laughed, "You're so sheltered."

"Ha-ha." Jay replied.

"Why do you always wear these hats?" Emma asked.

Jay wriggled his eye brows, "I happen to like my hats."

"Well you're hair looks fine without it." Emma said before reaching up and trying to grab his hat.

Jay caught her arms, "Nope, no can do. The hat stays." He said before pushing it down farther on his head as if to tighten it.

"So any plans for Christmas?" Emma asked.

Jay gave her a blank look, "Christmas? Where the hell did that question come from?"

"Well it is December, I was just wondering."

"Nothing really, probably go to parties, hang out with my friends."

"Make out with Alex…" Emma added in.

Jay grinned, "Yeah, that too."

Emma rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Did you know that it was very dumb of you to wear that outfit to the party last night? It was freezing out."

Emma nodded, "Believe me, I know."

Jay turned back to the books in front of him and continued to work on the math problems that lie ahead.

x-

"Sorry, still don't understand it." Jay said an hour later.

"You're not going to pass if you don't understand it." Emma said with a sigh.

"Maybe I need a different tutor."

"Yeah, maybe…" Emma drifted.

"I was kidding." Jay said, "What I need is a different tutor, not brain."

Emma giggled, "You're not that dumb, Jay. You just don't understand things like everybody, maybe there are different ways we could describe this to you…"

"Okay. 'Alex and Jay is in love'. 'Alex and Jay are in love'. Which one sounds better?" Emma asked him.

Jay shook his head.

Emma's eyes widened, "You're kidding me, this is so easy!" Emma exclaimed.

Jay shook his head again, "Here is the proper sentence: Alex and Jay aren't in love."

Emma stared at him, "But you guys are dating…"

Jay shrugged, "So? I don't love her."

"But I thought…" Emma drifted.

"Well you thought wrong." Jay said.

"You guys have been together since I was in freshmen year, probably longer!"

"So?" Jay questioned, "That doesn't mean anything…we fight all the time, she's not the girl for me."

Emma rolled her eyes, "You're a hard to please guy, aren't you?" she asked with a soft laugh.

Jay shook his head, "No…not really."

"Then who do you like? Amy?"

"Oh God, no." Jay said.

"But you let her give you-"

Jay placed his hands over his ears, "That's in the past!"

Emma giggled, "Do you still have those bracelets?"

Jay nodded, "Yeah, their buried somewhere in my closet, don't worry Nelson, I don't use them anymore."

Emma sighed, "Thank God for that."

Jay stared at her quizzically, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Emma shrugged, "It's a good thing you're not going to the ravine anymore, maybe you're turning into less of an asshole…"

Jay rolled his eyes, "Wouldn't say that."

Emma glanced at him in disbelief.

Jay sighed, "Okay…maybe a little bit. But how would you know that anyway?"

"I know how you used to be, Jay. I remember how much I hated the fact that you practically stole Sean away from me, made him change…I remember how I was attracted to you during tenth grade but refused to do anything, and then in the ravine…and now…"

"What about now?" Jay asked.

Emma shook her head, "Nothing…I just think we're becoming friends, that's all."

Jay stared at her blankly, "You think we're becoming friends?"

Emma nodded.

Jay glanced around the room before looking back at her and smirking, "Yeah, I guess maybe we are. But we're only secret friends."

"Of course, wouldn't expect anything less out of the Mighty Jay Hogart."

Jay rolled his eyes at her.

"So, are you going to break up with Alex?"

"Why?"

Emma stared at him dumbly, "Well you did just ramble on about how you two aren't in love, I just figured maybe you're considering breaking up with her."

Jay shook his head, "I haven't been in love with her for a long time, she's more like a friend than a girlfriend, but I love the company…she never really expects me to do anything, she just loves being with me, she's there for me."

I could be there for you too!

Whoa, where did that come from?

-x-

What'd you think?

R&R and please, no flames!