A/N: A little Halloween story for y'all. I do not own Degrassi or anything else, really.
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!" The words were accompanied by a heavy weight suddenly falling on Emma's body.
"Get off me, Manny," Emma grumbled, shoving off the covers and her best friend in one motion. "I will never be another costumed princess as long as I'm alive. You saw how well the last time turned out."
"Oh, poor me! The last time I was a princess I found out my true love was innocent of the heinous charges against him and fell in love all over. And found out my best friend was light years ahead of me, in knowing the true character of my boyfriend," Manny mocked. "Anyway, you were the one who suggested the first wildly successful masquerade which led to part two tonight."
"I wouldn't say light years," Emma corrected, cracking a smile. "Why are you so cheerful?"
"Other than I love getting in the holiday mood?" Manny asked rhetorically.
"It's Halloween; it's not like it's Christmas or a real holiday," Emma countered.
"You are just grumpy because you get scared waaaay too easily, while I am queen of B horror movie knowledge," Manny smiled, jumping up to inspect her long blue Cinderella gown.
"No arguments here. Now can I go back to sleep?" Emma asked pulling the blankets back over her head.
"Fine, fine," Manny's voice was muffled through the heavy comforter. "I just thought you'd want to be up in time to visit a certain someone before first period. Or did you forget that plan?"
"Manny, you know as well as I do that only on Tuesdays do visiting hours start early and today is . . ." Emma looked over at her calendar before squealing. "Tuesday! I'm going to be late!"
Manny laughed as she watched her friend race around the room trying to find what only yesterday she had picked out as the perfect outfit. "Breakfast will be waiting upstairs when you're ready."
In record time, Emma had joined Manny in the kitchen, hair, makeup and clothing surprisingly immaculate. "I don't have time to eat, Manny, I'll catch something at school." Manny just gave her a look that had Emma scrambling for the cabinet. "Or I could grab a cereal bar."
"Much better. Now have fun," Manny said walking her to the door. "I'll cover for you in homeroom best I can."
Emma opened the door and started down the steps, almost tripping over something lying across the entry way. "What was that? I don't have time for games today."
"You'll want to make time for this," Manny said, picking up a long stemmed red rose. "'Emma, I miss you,'" she read from the small white card attached.
"Aww, how sweet, Sean sent me a Halloween rose!" Emma sighed going back to collect it.
"I thought you hated Halloween. Anyway, it doesn't say it's from Sean," Manny pointed out. "How would he get it here?"
"Who else would it be from?" Emma asked. "Look, he probably asked Jay to help him out. He's trying to scare away my demons and ghosts. It's sweet!"
"Whatever, Em, you gotta go!" Manny gestured, pointing at her watch.
Emma put the rose down to glance at her watch and shouted. "I gotta go!"
Manny laughed as she watched her best friend practically float down the sidewalk before heading back inside to shower and get ready for school, neither noticing that the rose left on the front step was already merely a dry, wrinkled brown shell.
Emma tried to ignore the tight little stress ball that formed in her stomach every time she entered the prison walls. She thought it would be something she would get used to with time, but after a month of visiting Sean it didn't get any easier. In fact, it seemed to grow worse each time she had to leave him behind.
This wasn't about her, though, it was about Sean and so she came every chance she could. Saturdays for an hour, Thursdays after school as well as Tuesday mornings. Sean only was given a few hours for visitors per month, fewer still now that he had been sentenced. Emma tried to save some of that time for Jay, even while secretly hoping Sean preferred her visits. Besides, Sean wouldn't be here for much more than a few months if everything went according to plan. It wasn't ideal, but for now, Emma would take what she could get.
The jail's guards had put up a few sad paper jack'o'lanterns and cotton cobwebs with plastic spiders on it on the outside public areas, but once you passed through a few locked gates, the walls were austere. A reminder that while life went on outside, those inside were locked away and waiting.
Emma tried to hold back a shudder as she was ushered into a small visiting room and asked to wait for Sean to appear. She tugged on her hair and then pulled down her skirt, anything to keep her mind off where she was or what Sean had to suffer through.
His face when he appeared in the doorway lit up as he saw her and made all her other concerns seem to melt away. It was the sweetest thing Emma had ever seen and also the scariest. Emma didn't like feeling she held the key to any one person's happiness. Particularly not someone she loved too much to let go.
"You came!" Sean said embracing her as soon as he was able.
"It's Tuesday," she responded with a little shrug. "Where else would I be?"
"It's Halloween, Emma," Sean answered. "You could be prepping your costume or getting candy to pass out to the kids or doing anything but watching your loser ex-boyfriend sit inside a metal box!"
"Ex?" she whispered taking his hand in hers, hating herself for asking, but needing to know all the same. Was she wasting her time?
He looked up at her. "You know I don't want to have this conversation until I'm free. If that ever happens." Sean looked suddenly away. "I don't want you to put your life on hold for me."
Emma tugged on his hands almost angrily until their foreheads were touching. "I waited two years for my life to begin again while you were in Wasaga. I can wait a bit more."
Sean's eyes started to moisten and he kissed her gently on the lips before the guard rapped angrily on the door and the two sprung apart guiltily.
"Besides which," Emma continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. "How could I not come to visit you when you left me such a sweet present this morning?"
"Present?" Sean's eyebrows knitted together as he looked at her. "What present?"
Emma swatted at him playfully. "Don't play dumb, of course it was you. 'Emma, I miss you.' So how'd you do it? Get Jay to drop it off early? How did you motivate him into getting him out of bed, though?"
Sean pulled away. "Emma, I have no idea what you are talking about?"
It was Emma's turn to look concerned. "So you didn't send the rose?"
"What rose?" Sean stood up almost pacing the room. "Emma, if that creep Peter is coming near you, I will find a way to protect you. Unless . . ." Sean stopped moving and looked at her, so defeated Emma thought she could feel her heart breaking. "Unless of course it's what you want."
"Sean Hope Cameron, stop that right now!" she admonished. "Do you really have to ask me that when I'm here skipping homeroom? If it's Peter, I can handle him. Don't worry about me, okay?"
"What do you mean if it's Peter? Who else has been bothering you?" Sean stopped pacing to look at her, but relented at the look she gave him. "I just hate being trapped here, you know?" he explained.
"I know."
Sean looked at the clock over the doorway above Emma's head. "Emma, you need to go. If you skip first period every Tuesday, you're going to end up in some serious trouble before long."
"Look who's lecturing me on serious trouble," Emma smiled slightly, before sighing. "Fine, I'm leaving. I'll see you this Saturday, okay?"
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading for the door, stopping only at his voice calling her name. "Emma? Take care of yourself, okay?"
She nodded and slipped out the side door, trying not to cry at the thought of once again having to leave him here.
Emma raced to her locker just as the bell rang signaling the end of homeroom and students poured into the hallway around her.
"Emma, about time you made it. Snake can only be the understanding father figure for so long if you keep skipping," Manny said, reaching her own locker.
"I know, Manny, but you should see him. He's just so sad and pathetic and scarily enough, he needs me right now," Emma explained, fiddling with her combination.
"But he also needs you to take care of yourself. If you flunk out of Degrassi I don't think Sean will be too happy with either one of you. In fact, I can probably hear the lecture now – I told you . . ." Manny's voice trailed off as she caught sight of Emma's face. "Em, what's wrong?"
"He's gone too far this time, Manny," Emma said pulling a rose out from her locker. "'Emma, I still love you,'" she read.
Manny recognized the look on Emma's face as one of unmitigated anger and tried to talk her best friend out of doing something stupid. "Come on, Em, we have first period. You don't know that it's Peter. In fact this morning you thought the roses were from Sean."
"Who else would it be? In my locker, Manny? What kind of an idiot thinks that would be the way to butter me up after what he did to Sean?" Emma fumed.
"Look, let's get to class and confront Peter later, when we've calmed down," Manny rationalized.
"You go to class. I'm ending this," Emma declared determined.
"EM!" Manny called but it was too late. With a sigh, she trudged through the sea of people in Emma's wake, both of them leaving behind a suddenly withered rose.
Emma had one thought on her mind and it was to find Peter. She wasn't not sure why she was so angry with him. Was it the reminder of the fact that she had believed him over Sean about the drugs in the locker? Or was it the fact that she had attributed his roses to those of Sean? Either way, she knew she had to stop it now.
He was leaned up against Liberty's locker, chatting up some new girl, Nina or Mia or something. "Could you please take this somewhere else? I'd like to get my books," Liberty sighed, rolling her eyes at Emma over the pair.
"Peter, do you have a minute?" Emma asked grabbing him roughly without waiting for an answer.
"Does this happen a lot?" Mia asked Liberty as the two disappeared around the corner.
"Only if you are interested in that loser pervert," Manny said, finally catching up. "Liberty, as Emma seems to have ditched me, care to walk with me to first period?"
"I'd love to, but you have English and I have Spanish, so rain check," Liberty said, grabbing her books and following the direction Emma had taken Peter towards her first class.
"I have English first period, too!" Liberty heard the new girl squeal behind her and couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for Manny.
She heard angry voices coming from an empty classroom and couldn't help peeking in the window to make sure everything was okay.
"I didn't send you the rose! What more do you want me to say?" Peter shouted at Emma who looked somewhat contrite.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, moving back towards the door. "I just thought . . . never mind."
"Emma," Peter said stepping between her and the exit. "I do still love you. Did you come to see me because maybe you want those notes to be from me? If you've realized your mistake, I'm ready to forgive you." Without waiting for a response, he leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss.
Emma pulled back, shoving him away. "No! What I want is for you to stay away from me!"
"You approached me, Em. There had to be a reason," Peter smirked raising his hands in the air in mock surrender. "Your jailbird can't satisfy all your needs?"
Emma looked at him, disgusted. "The only thing I can't figure out is how it took me so long to see the real you. Stay away from me."
Emma pushed open the door angrily and was surprised when it only opened just a bit, crashing into someone outside. "Liberty! I'm so sorry!"
"Don't be," Liberty smiled, rubbing her shoulder where the door had crashed into her. "I was the one eavesdropping."
"You heard that?" Emma blushed, moving away from the doorway and Peter.
"What's this all about, Emma?" Liberty asked, following her.
Emma was saved by the bell. "Look we're both late. I'll tell you all about it later. Shakes at the Dot after dance set up? We can celebrate being done with last minute preparations."
Liberty smiled, almost as happy of the idea of an afternoon with friends at the prospect of Emma volunteering to consume a calorie-laden ice cream treat. "Sounds like a plan. And I expect a good story."
Emma frowned a bit, wrinkling her nose. "I'm not quite so sure good is the word I'd use to describe it, but I'll tell you all about it after school!"
"So you have a Halloween secret admirer?" Liberty gushed after hearing the whole story.
"I don't know if I'd say if it's a Halloween secret admirer," Emma clarified.
"Oh, come on, Em, two notes on the same day? It has interesting timing. I mean, wouldn't most admirers just wait for you to get the first one. If they're too chicken to admit that they like you, why are they so forceful with the gifts?" Liberty reasoned.
Manny slid into the booth, re-claiming the last of her chocolate shake. "I still say it's Peter. It was in your locker, after all. The guy's just an ass that can't handle being told 'no.'"
"Well, he better get used to it." Emma smiled. "There's no way that's happening again."
"I still think there's something . . . I don't know. Something we're missing," Liberty shrugged. "But I have to go get ready for the dance. You guys ready?"
"You two go on ahead, I'll go pay at the counter," Emma said, motioning them ahead.
"You sure?" Manny asked. "We can wait?"
"Nah," Emma insisted, "you go on. The fewer amount of people that have to deal with the help today, the better."
Manny shot a look in Jay's direction before agreeing. "Good point. See you at home."
Emma gathered her bag and walked to the counter slowly. Fortunately, Jay was no longer in sight and a very pleasant girl accepted her money. Emma put her wallet back in her purse, realizing with a start she had left her cell phone back at the booth. She went back for it and saw a single red rose lying next to her phone where she had just been sitting.
She looked to her left and her right quickly, but the Dot was deserted save for an elderly couple in the corner. Everyone was getting ready to celebrate for the holiday it seemed. "Emma, I've waited two years for you," the note read.
Emma bit back a shudder. She'd only known Peter for a little over a year. This wasn't him. Sean had already denied sending the flowers and he was too angry at the prospect it was Peter to be teasing her. The only two other guys from Grade 10 were Rick and Jay. Jay had never seemed to want to bring their . . . incident up again and Rick was not really an option. 'It is Halloween,' a small voice inside her whispered.
Emma couldn't control her shaking now. She really hated this holiday and Liberty for suggesting that something supernatural could be happening. She called Manny and quickly explained what had happened, refusing Manny's offer to come back and get her. She hung up the phone and stood, bumping right into the last person she wanted to see right now.
"Watch it, Green Peace. Some of us work for a living you know," Jay announced, slamming the rubber bucket of dirty dishes down on her table.
"I'm . . . I'm sorry. I was just leaving; I'll get out of your way," Emma murmured trying to slip by him.
"Hold on a minute!" Jay stopped her, pushing her back onto the bench. "Emma, you're white as a sheet. And you're shaking! What's going on?"
Emma stared at the discarded rose on the table, indicating it with a nod of her head. "Emma, I've waited two years for you," Jay read aloud. "What poor sucker have you been stringing along for two years?"
"No one!" Emma insisted, gaining a little color in her cheeks as she argued with him. "It's not from . . . well, you is it?"
Jay laughed. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Princess, but our little time together wasn't quite enough to have me pining and writing love sonnets ever since. Not to mention, Cameron would have my head."
He looked at her sharply as if seeing her for the first time, before he slid in next to her and whispered harshly. "You didn't tell him about that did you?"
"No!" Emma whispered back, backing away. "I'm not stupid. That's the last thing he needs right now. I mean, I know I'll have to tell him someday. But right now . . . not while he's stuck in that place. We're all he has!"
Jay nodded. "Just making sure. You didn't always seem as devoted to the 'Save Sean Cameron' cause, you know?"
"I know; I was an idiot about Peter. Still am apparently," Emma said, fiddling with the petals of the flower in front of her.
"What does that mean?" Jay asked.
Emma debated not telling him about this morning's accusations and Peter's revelation before realizing it was too late. "I accused him of sending the flowers this morning, after Sean denied it was him."
"This morning, eh? You make quite an impression, apparently, Miss Nelson," Jay teased.
"One said, I miss you and I thought that was Sean. Then after he denied it, there was one in my locker that said 'I still love you,' so I went after Peter and told him off," Emma backtracked.
"And? The guy's a creep and if you want, I can handle him the way we should have before Sean got into this mess, by kicking his ass," Jay replied.
"He hasn't known me two years and he couldn't have set foot in the Dot while under house arrest. Or my front step for that matter," Emma reasoned. "Plus, he said he hadn't been sending the notes, but he did still love me and then attempted to stage a reunion right then and there."
Jay whistled. "That boy really does have a death wish. When Cameron finds out what he's doing . . ." Shaking his head he stood and went back to his work clearing the girls' milkshake glasses.
"Jay!" Emma grabbed at him. "You can't tell Sean about this. There's nothing he could do except worry and that's not going to help anyone right now."
"Emma, as much as I wish you weren't, Cameron seems to find you fairly important. I think he'd want to know," Jay shrugged.
"There's a lot he should know," Emma agreed quietly.
Jay didn't miss the implication of her words. "Are you threatening me? Into not telling him about Peter?"
"No," Emma sighed. "Do what you will. I just think this is nothing to worry about. Look, I've gotta get ready for the dance. Thanks for listening and you know . . . not being your usual asshole self, okay?"
"Thanks, I think," Jay muttered as she walked out. He went to grab her glass when he saw her cell phone still sitting on the table. He ran to the door and called her back. "Emma! Forget something?"
She flushed red and ran back. "Thanks for that, too."
Jay couldn't help but admit to himself that as much of a headcase as the girl was, she was awfully hot when she blushed. He wandered back to where he was and started putting the dishes in the bucket. When he got to the rose he stopped. It made no logical sense whatsoever, but what had only moments before been a healthy red rose was now withered and dead.
"Hey, George," he called across the deserted café to his manager. "Can you cover the rest of my shift? There's someone I gotta see." His apron was off and he was out the door before he heard a reply.
Jay eyed the pitiful pumpkin cut outs with distain as he once again was patted down by the guard on duty. He somehow doubted when perfect prissy Emma came to visit her prisoner she was treated this way, but he was used to being treated by a thug by everyone around him. It made sense that inside a jail would follow those rules as well.
"He's clean," Baldie finally proclaimed and he was ushered into a small room with a metal table and two chairs.
Sean looked confused as he was once again summoned into the visiting room, but said nothing until his cuffs were off and the guard had left. When Jay made no move to explain his visit, Sean started.
"It must be a holiday. Two visitors in the span of twelve hours," he joked. Jay still said nothing, but took his hat off, seemingly inspecting the interlocking S and F.
Sean tried again. "I know you and Emma don't like each other, but I had thought you were coordinating visits so I wasn't too lonely for too long."
At Emma's name, Jay seemed to visibly tense and Sean knew whatever had brought Jay here, it wasn't something he would like.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying not to let the worry creep into his voice.
Jay looked right up at him. "Look, man, Emma asked me not to say anything and maybe I shouldn't have come. But I'm here now, wasting your hours, so I just thought you should know."
"Know what?" Sean asked desperate for information. "Is Emma okay?"
"I don't know," Jay admitted. "Some weird shit's going down today." He explained to Sean what Emma had told Jay about the flowers from this morning and her meeting with Peter, then what he himself had seen at the Dot.
"I'll kill him," Sean said quietly, hardly able to control the tremor in his voice.
"I'm not so sure it's Poindexter. I would have seen him at the Dot changing the flowers the red one for the dead one – if anyone could have had time, which I doubt," Jay said slowly.
"So what, you think it's a ghost? The ghost of Rick Murray making sure that this time, I'm out of the way so that he can get to Emma?" Sean scoffed.
Jay said nothing. It sounded crazy out loud, but there was just too much about this situation that didn't make sense otherwise.
"Jay, man, don't be stupid, this has Peter Stone all over it. The guy's good. I mean, with the roses . . . this morning when they don't get Emma to take him back, he responds the way he always does to rejection and sets out to hurt her." Sean stopped walking around the room to come back to Jay. "Don't you see he wants her to think about Rick? He's trying to stress her out and push her right back into that hospital. With me stuck in here, he can jump in and hold her hand through it all over again."
"Maybe . . ." Jay responded, sounding unconvinced.
"No maybes about it." Sean's voice was forceful. "Jay, I don't like to ask for help, but right now I need it. I need you to keep an eye on Emma the next few days. Tonight especially. I get the feeling that Peter won't let this Halloween opportunity pass them by."
"You realize you're asking me to go to a Degrassi school dance? I didn't do that when I was enrolled there. And I doubt they'll want me there now," Jay tried to talk Sean out of the plan.
"Just go to the dance, get Emma and make sure she's away from that slime ball. Watch a movie, buy her dinner, take her home and sit outside her front porch if she won't let you in, I don't care, just don't leave her alone tonight," Sean pleaded.
Jay sighed. "This was probably why Emma didn't want me to tell you."
"And this is exactly why you did."
Jay couldn't back down from the intensity in Sean's eyes. He was right; Sean wasn't one to ask for favors. And he knew that asking Jay to spend time with Emma was asking a lot even if he didn't know the exact details of their relationship.
"Tonight, man. Just tonight. After the spooks and spirits have gone back into hiding, we come up with a plan that doesn't involve me personally baby-sitting your once and future girlfriend," Jay finally relented.
"Deal," Sean said clapping him on the back.
"Em, Liberty's outside with Toby; I'm leaving!" Manny called through the bathroom door.
Emma dragged herself out of her bubble bath and into a towel before replying. "Okay, see you at the dance!"
She heard Manny's glass slippered footsteps stomp up the stairs and the door slam before she sunk back on the toilet, towel still clutched tightly around her. For all her bravado, she was having more than a little trouble getting the roses out of her mind. Manny had convinced her that if Ms. H did let Peter out on bail tonight they would put up a guard and she wouldn't have to see him. And it probably was just some dorky grade 10 who remembered something kind she had done when he was a freshman and still had a little crush.
But she couldn't stop the dread feeling that this was something . . . different. There was no point in dwelling on it, though, she had to go to the dance. Snake and Spike were trick or treating with Jack then watching scary movies with Joey and Diane and the idea of being in an empty house was quite a bit freakier than a Degrassi dance. A dance, even on Halloween was just about the least threatening setting Emma could think about.
She stepped into the floaty white dress she and Manny had found two weeks ago and zipped it up tight and fastened her wings on securely before strapping on the ridiculously perfect heels. She went about blow-drying and styling her hair and touching up a bit of heavenly make up before realizing she had misplaced her halo. She emerged from the bathroom ready to scour her room for it when she saw the rose on her bed, lying on top of her haloed headband. Attached securely to the stem of the rose was a shiny penny.
Without wasting a moment, Emma grabbed the halo and raced up the stairs, praying her keys and phone were in the bag she grabbed as she ran out the door, slamming it behind her.
Penny for your thoughts, his voice echoed through her mind. It was one of the last conversations they'd had. I thought you liked me but that . . . that was something else.
She wished with all her heart she hadn't been so stupid about Peter so that Sean would be here now. She had to find Manny, so they could what? Exorcise the demon? How exactly do you stop a ghostly admirer? She didn't know; she just knew she had to get around other people.
She raced up the steps of Degrassi in record time only to bump out of breath into Ms. Hatzilakos.
"Emma, so glad you could make it," Ms. H smiled at her, steadying her slightly. "Peter will be so happy to see you."
"Peter's . . . here?" she gasped. It had been her last hope that maybe it was a coincidence and that Peter really had slipped her the roses. In her locker, at the Dot, through her bedroom window that still didn't latch properly.
"Yes, I let him have a little time off for good behavior," Ms. H continued beaming that stupid grin. "He's even helped set up for the past hour or so."
"The past hour," Emma repeated weakly as her last hope for a normal explanation slipped away.
"Emma, are you alright? You look pale," Ms. Hatzilakos was suddenly all concern.
"I'm fine," Emma repeated methodically. "Is Manny here?"
"You just missed her," she responded. "She went to get some last minute things with Liberty. Are you sure you're fine? Did you eat something?"
"I ate a while ago," Emma admitted. "That's probably it. Dad makes me keep some protein bars in my locker; maybe I should grab one."
"That's probably a good idea," Ms. H nodded, watching as Emma walked down the deserted hallway.
Emma couldn't help the tears that sprung up from pure terror. It wasn't Peter. It couldn't have been. There was only one explanation.
Her body seemed to follow its own internal map as she passed her locker and turned into the hallway she had avoided so steadfastly the past two years. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as she found it deserted.
'An overactive imagination,' she told herself, turning to go back to the dance. 'Might as well salvage some of the night.'
"I knew you would come," a voice stopped her whispering from further down the hallway. Emma felt her knees start to give way. She knew that voice. She looked up and standing in the exact spot she had last seen him, was Rick Murray, still covered in yellow paint and feathers, holding a red rose.
Jay raced toward Degrassi, cursing every moment that Sean's current street racing arrest was making him more cautious than he otherwise would be. Sean had to be right. It had to be Peter that was doing this. The other theory was too insane, too out there. But Jay couldn't help but feel that maybe this was his chance to redeem himself. Last time he had pushed Rick over the edge. Maybe this was his chance to right that wrong.
Not to mention Cameron would kill him either way if anything happened to his girl.
Jay tried not to think about Sean going right back to jail the moment he was released as he pulled into the crowded Degrassi parking lot. Short skirted witches, cheerleaders and assorted tempting fairies wandered outside the front steps and Jay had to sharply remind himself why he had come.
He strode into the glass doors, looking for the tall blonde. What had Sean said was her costume again? Angel. He tried not to snort as he searched the hallway.
"What are you doing here?" an annoying voice registered from his left. "You don't even go to Degrassi anymore."
Jay looked to see Toby Isaacs glaring at him from where he was selling tickets. It was a sad life indeed when he was getting looked down upon by geekwads such as this. But Jay somehow knew he didn't have time to wait around. "I'm looking for Emma," he admitted.
"Stay away from her, you lowlife," Toby retorted, apparently feeling braver with the principal standing two feet away.
Jay took two steps toward him, menacingly, when a hand pulled sharply on his elbow. "Social reject's not really a stretch of a costume for you, Jason," Manny said, turning him abruptly. He took a minute to take in her rather low cut Cinderella costume before remembering why he had shown up.
"Listen, as much fun as it is to spend one of my favorite holidays being insulted by the golden school's class of 2007, I don't really have time. Sean sent me." Jay watched her soften slightly at Sean's name. Maybe there was some hope here. "Where's Emma?"
Manny shook her head. "I don't know. I came early to help set up and Emma was going to meet me. She's been getting some weird notes from a secret admirer lately and needed a few minutes."
"I know," Jay said. "Emma told me all about them at the Dot yesterday. Where's Peter?"
"You think Peter's doing this?" Manny asked, raising an eyebrow trying to ignore her own suspicions. "He loves Emma. He's crushed over their break up."
"I don't know, Manuella, it's not like Peter's ever tried to hurt someone that rejected him, now is it?" Jay leaned in close to her and whispered. "Have you visited YouTube lately?"
Manny shuddered. "Point taken. But Peter's inside there. He's been helping set up for hours, as well as slobbering all over the new girl. As long as Emma's not here she's safe."
Just then a piercing scream echoed through the empty lobby. The revelers inside the dance seemed not to hear it over the pulsing music, but it chilled the three left outside to the core.
"Emma," Manny whispered and Jay tore off down the hallway, Toby at his heels. Manny followed slightly behind, cursing her glass slippers as she ran.
She turned a corner and bumped right into the backs of Toby and Jay. "What?" she asked before her voice trailed off.
Emma was slumped on the floor in a puddle of white fabric, her halo lying discarded next to her. Kneeling over her was either the ghost of Rick Murray or the sickest idea of a joke Manny had ever seen.
"What do we do?" she whispered in Jay's ear, taking his hand from behind. At any other time, it would seem ridiculous, but staring at the image in the hallway, Jay seemed the safer choice.
Jay shook his head. "I planned on it being Peter."
Rick apparently heard their voices and stood, placing his ethereal form between Emma and where they stood.
"What are you doing here? You won't ruin this!" He screeched seeming to glide towards them.
Jay and Manny couldn't help but take a step back, reflexively, but surprisingly Toby stood his ground. "Rick. Is that really you?" His voice was shaky, but held. "It's been too long, man. I thought . . . we thought . . . what are you doing here?"
Rick seemed to relax. "I could always count on you, Toby. It's Halloween – my day. Don't you get it? My day to walk the earth and finish up any unfinished business. Last year I was too weak, but this year," He glanced at Emma's prone form behind him. "This year I can get what I came here for."
Manny shivered and Jay squeezed her hand reassuringly. He had no idea what the rules were regarding brides of the undead and he was more than a little freaked out himself, but somehow he didn't think a panicking female would help the situation any.
"But Emma?" Toby replied quickly, trying to bring Rick's focus away from his helpless friend. "Emma was just a friend." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully afraid to anger the ghost any more than their presence already had. "She never meant to give you the wrong idea. That she liked you … like that, you know?"
"Oh, but Toby, haven't you seen her in the past two years?" Rick said, turning back to Emma and kneeling down beside her once again. "She has suffered so much from guilt. From denying her true feelings for me. The acting out, that awful STD, the eating disorder, dating that criminal before dumping him for a bigger one . . . every choice she's made screams out from regret." Rick moved a hair out of Emma's face. "Trust me, she will not miss this life."
"Move away from my best friend, you undead loser!" Manny suddenly shouted, moving in front of Jay suddenly.
Jay tried to caution her that it was unwise to shout at a potentially evil spirit, but it was too late. The ghostly figure had risen to twice the size Rick had been when alive and his glowing red eyes blazed down at them. "She is mine, now! MINE! And not you, who gave her that filthy disease or you who have hurt her again and again will stop me!"
"We'll just see about that." Toby turned to see Liberty suddenly standing next to him, holding a piece of paper. "Read it, Toby!"
Rick's ghost was still approaching Manny and Jay ominously as Toby stared at the paper Liberty had handed him. "How to banish an unwelcome entity?" he read.
"Not that part, the bold part!" She hissed in his ear.
"It is time to leave this place; all is well," Toby started softly turned toward Rick's spirit. Rick stopped moving towards the others to turn to him.
"No, Toby. Not you too," he said slowly.
Toby tried to ignore the small feelings of guilt that were re-sprouting. Rick was dead. Whatever this thing was it was not the friend he had lost. He continued, more loudly this time. "There is nothing here for you now. You must leave."
"NO!" Rick's voice was a banshee wail now as he changed direction and started back for Emma.
"GO!" Toby was shouted now. "GO NOW! BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE AND DO NOT RETURN!"
As Toby chanted the last words, Rick's ghostly figure stopped and then suddenly dissipated into smoke and then nothing at all.
Toby slumped against the door jam exhausted. Manny let out a choked sob before rushing forward, Jay still gripping one of her hands tightly.
"How did you know?" Toby asked, turning to Liberty.
She shrugged. "I overheard Emma accusing Peter of being her admirer this morning and after talking to her at the Dot I thought I'd look into more . . . uncommon perpetrators, just in case. Then when I came out and saw that no one was selling tickets, I decided to look for you."
Toby smiled before, reaching up to kiss her on the cheek. "I think I may love you right now, Liberty Van Zandt."
She blushed deeply, before moving down the hall murmuring something about checking on Emma.
"Em, Em, wake up," Manny was calling softly, gently shaking her best friend.
"Cameron's gonna kill me," Jay muttered, trying to hide his own worried expression. He had never faced a situation he couldn't handle with intimidation and fists and was more than a little shaken up by what had just happened.
"Sean?" Emma said, stirring slightly at the name. "Sean?"
"He's not here right now, Em, it's me," Manny said, helping her sit up. "And . . . well, Jay," she added.
"Thanks for that, Santos," Jay muttered, supporting Emma's other side.
Emma clutched her head with one hand and looked around, trying to get her bearings. When she realized where she was, she started to panic slightly. "Manny, we have to get out of here. I know it sounds crazy, but Rick is here. He's been sending me those roses and we have to get out of this hallway!" She tried to stand up, but Jay held her firmly in place.
"We know," he said. "Geekbo- I mean, Toby, took care of that for you."
"I saw him and screamed. And then I can't remember anything else," Emma murmured, staring at where she had last seen Rick's figure.
"You must have passed out," Liberty spoke up approaching.
"Well, luckily for all of us, Liberty's a nerd," Toby replied. She smacked him on the shoulder, hard. "Ow! I didn't mean the only nerd. I just meant . . . Anyway, she found a way to get rid of him forever."
"I hope so," Manny said, shuddering again. "This is so not a Halloween tradition I'd care to repeat."
Emma nodded. "Anyone still want to go to the dance?" Everyone looked at each other surprised before she let out a nervous laugh. "Good. Cause I so need to get home."
"I . . ." Jay started. "My cars outside; I'll drive you and Manny home."
Emma looked surprised, but stood up, using the locker for support.
"Meanwhile, as fun as it sounds, the student council treasurer and president need to stick around," Liberty said pulling Toby back towards the dance.
"Toby!" Emma shakily followed him, stopping only to pull him into a giant hug. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You lost your friend twice and it's all my fault."
Toby pulled back, his face looking surprised. "That thing tonight was not my friend. And as for last time, you have to know I never blamed you right? Rick made his own choices. We all have to live with our choices. He couldn't."
Emma nodded and gave him one last hug before watching him walk back to the dance. She glanced over her shoulder to see Jay and Manny still talking softly. Now that was spooky.
They jumped apart when they saw her staring at them and headed back to the Degrassi lobby. "As if I didn't already avoid that hallway," Emma muttered, glancing behind her.
"Well, cheer up, Em, only seven more months and you never have to see any of this again," Manny responded cheerfully, handing Emma the discarded halo.
"Some costume, huh?" Emma smirked, trying to fit the headband back on.
Jay scoffed. "You're no angel, that's for sure."
Emma felt a momentary panic at those words, but Jay seemed to mean nothing by it. He opened the passenger side door and let Manny in, before turning back to Emma. "Sean would have moved heaven and earth to be here, you know that right?"
She nodded, trying not to cry. "I miss him, you know? I need him." She took a deep breath. "Which is why you can never tell him-"
Jay cut her off abruptly. "Do you think I have a death wish? I would never say anything about the ravine. I thought we covered that earlier today."
Emma looked up at him quickly. "I meant about tonight. Tell him it was some freaky Grade 8 or something. You can't tell him about what really happened, not until he's out of that horrible place. The other thing . . . well, we'll figure something out."
Jay started to move to the driver's side, when Emma's voice stopped him. "Jay?" He looked up over the roof of the civic to see her staring at him. "Thank you."
"Em-ma, let's go!" Manny shouted impatiently from inside.
"Get in the car, Green Peace, before your short friend blows my ear drums," he retorted, climbing into the front seat.
Emma glanced up at the school once before climbing in, listening to Manny and Jay bicker. It was nice to know that even on a day as bizarre as this, some things never changed.
"So you're telling me that a ghost came after you? And that Toby banished it?" Sean asked, looking at Emma with a look that could only be construed as concern for her sanity.
Emma nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but you can ask Jay or Manny or Toby or Liberty," she added.
"That's quite an odd group." Sean smiled at the mental image of Jay hanging out with the old geek squad.
"You're telling me," Emma smiled back. "It almost made the whole ghost thing seem . . . normal." Sean laughed and Emma searched his eyes quickly looking for some sign that he believed her. "I'm not crazy. You know that right?"
Sean stopped smiling suddenly and leaned over until he was staring her right in the eye. Emma felt her breath catch as she caught the intensity of his sight. "Emma, I believe you. After all if there was anyone on this earth that would bring me back from the dead? It would be you."
Emma shuddered at the memory of Rick's undead form and Sean stood up, mentally shaking himself. "That came out wrong."
Emma pulled him back until he was once again seated across from her. "It was sweet," she lied before she thought better of it, wrinkling her nose distastefully. "Who am I kidding? That's creepy. But ummm, Sean?" Her eyes peered into his completely open and vulnerable. "Let's not test that theory anytime soon."
"I'm not going anywhere," he reassured her taking a hand in his. "That's sort of the point of a jail, you know?" he joked, nodding at the thick door behind him.
"Sean!" Emma chastised. She opened her mouth to threaten him against joking about his situation, but he caught her lips in a quick kiss.
Emma shuddered as they pulled apart, a chill running down her spine.
"You alright?" Sean asked, concerned.
Unfortunately, Emma didn't get a chance to answer, as the guard had seen the forbidden contact. He entered the room, declaring the visit over and, after a few whispered good-byes, pulling Sean back towards his cell. Emma held Sean's stare until the metal door closed with a loud 'clank.' Then, taking a deep breath, she left again, reminding herself that no matter how hard it seemed now, unlike death, this was only a temporary separation.
She was too caught up in her own thoughts to notice the red rose that had appeared on the metal table of the visiting room during her visit with Sean.
A few moments later, it was dumped unceremoniously into the trash by a guard, the note attached to its now withered, brown stem going unread.