Chapter Five: Collision Course

I somehow find, you and I collide

Jimmy

"Jimmy, wait up!" Hazel called after me. It was my first day back at school. I was in the hospital for six weeks before they let me go with the same diagnosis I had been dreading: I was paralyzed. Permanently.

Hazel and I hadn't spoken since the break up, which was a month ago. She stopped visiting me, and so did Ashley–which was a plus.

I did not feel like talking to her.

"Sorry Hazel, I'm late for class," I said, placing my books in lap and closing my locker that was near the floor.

"Here, let me help you," she said, reaching for them. I turned the wheelchair just in time for her to grab nothing but air.

"I don't need your help!" I snapped. She instantly backed off, and I wheeled past her. I went as quickly as I could…a little too quickly around the corner. I collided with something…or should I say someone, and my books slid off my lap.

"Sorry," I said to the girl who was now on the floor, her books and mine scattered all around her.

"It's okay," she said, rubbing her left leg and looking up at me. It was Manny. "I was in a hurry too…I didn't see you either." She began picking the books off the floor.

"I'd help, but I can't reach," I said lamely, scratching my head.

"It's fine…I can do it on my own," she said, handing me my books before gathering up her own.

"What were you in such a hurry for?" I asked, curious.

"I was trying to get away from Craig," she said, biting her bottom lip. It was cute when she did that. I raised my eyebrows, snapping out of it.

"Manny Santos…trying to get away from Craig. I never thought I'd see the day," I joked.

"Very funny," she said, smirking. "Actually, he broke up with Ashley for hanging around you so much. That was awhile ago though. He started hanging around the ravine for a few weeks…then he just decided, out of the blue, that he wanted to be with me," she explained.

"So you're running away from him?" I asked, confused.

"For the longest time, all I ever wanted was Craig. But last night, when he told me he wanted to be with me, I said no. I've realized that he's not the one for me. I don't want to be with someone who bounces from girl to girl. And now he's trying to change my mind." She rolled her eyes, another girly gesture that I usually find annoying, but when Manny did it, I couldn't help but stare a little.

"He's always been so persistent," I said.

"So…what exactly were you trying to get away from? Or who?" she asked me. I turned away for a moment, but then faced her. She was casually leaning against the wall, looking into my eyes.

She was the first person who looked at me, and not my wheelchair.

Ellie

This can't be right. I flipped through my mini-calendar on my locker door. Maybe it isn't anything serious. Maybe it's just delayed.

But…that night…at the ravine. It was a month ago today. Oh no.

I raced off to find Emma. Her and I had been hanging out ever since Sean left, and even more since the ravine incident. She hasn't been back there since, but I wonder why. I still think she didn't tell me something.

I found her sitting in her dad's class for homeroom. I frantically waved through the window to get her attention. She finally saw me, grabbed the bathroom pass, and slipped out of the room.

"What's up?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be in homeroom?

"Yeah…but I had to check something, and then I was late anyway." We headed toward the washroom. "I just wanted to ask you a favor," I told her.

"Sure, anything," she replied, pushing open the door.

"Will you go to the clinic with me today after school?" I asked. She stopped abruptly and turned to face me.

"Have you been hanging around the ravine?" she asked. "Did you get and STD or something? Because I heard that Sully gave one to Amy and she gave it to someone else…" she trailed off.

Before answering her, I locked the door and checked all the stalls. It was empty.

"No, I haven't been there. Not since the night we brought you home…"

"Then what is it?"

"Emma…I think I'm pregnant."

Manny

"I was getting away from Hazel," he sighed after a long pause.

"Oh. I'm sorry about your breakup. Practically everyone knows. We were all surprised," I told him.

"Leave it to Hazel to tell the whole school," Jimmy said. He looked really upset.

"Well excuse me for telling my friends that my heart was broken!" Hazel spat, suddenly appearing.

"Manny, let's get out of here," Jimmy said suddenly. I was a little shocked, but I couldn't object.

"Okay." I walked alongside Jimmy at a slow pace. Hazel didn't try to follow us. We went right out of the school without anyone noticing that we were leaving.

Emma

"Wow…um, that's just…wow. Ellie, are you sure?" I asked, concerned. Being pregnant was something I was afraid of ever since…I can't even think about that now.

"Well, I'm late," she said, sighing and sinking to the floor.

"How late? Because sometimes this is normal," I said, sitting down next to her.

"Almost three weeks late. I've just been so preoccupied that I didn't even notice…" she trailed off, hanging her head in her hands.

"Do you want to go now? And get it over with?" I asked. She looked up, hopeful.

"Are you sure you don't mind missing class?" she asked me.

"It's fine. We might as well miss the whole day. There's nothing worth staying here for," I said, standing up and holding my hand out. I helped her up and we easily snuck out of the school, with no one watching.

Spinner

"Jimmy! Manny! Hey, I'm glad I saw you here," I said as I walked up to my ex-girlfriend and probably soon to be ex-best friend. I decided to tell Jimmy the truth. He needed to know.

I was walking through the park, trying to think of what to say, when I saw Jimmy in his wheelchair and Manny sitting on a bench across from him. From what I could see, they were just talking.

"Why aren't you in school?" Jimmy asked me.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I just couldn't take sitting in that school. Maybe I should wait a few more days to start back," he explained.

"Uh, Manny, can I talk to Jimmy alone for a minute?" I asked her.

"Fine," she said, making a face. "Jimmy, I'll be on the swings. Let me know when you're finished." With that, she walked of, leaving us alone.

My heart instantly started beating faster and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"What's up Spin?" Jimmy asked, staring at me. I sat down on the bench, trying not to look directly at him. My gaze kept moving to the wheelchair. It was all my fault. "There's more to me than my chair you know," he commented in an angry tone.

"Sorry man, I was just thinking…"

"About what?" he asked.

"I have to tell you something. And I'm pretty sure you're gonna hate me for it. I won't blame you though. I just have to get this off my chest and then I'll leave you alone for as long as you want," I said quickly.

"What is it Spinner? You can tell me. We're best friends," Jimmy said, waiting for an answer.

"Not for long," I sighed, hanging my head.

"Just tell me."

"It's my fault you're in that wheelchair," I said finally.

"What? No, of course it isn't. Rick is the one who shot me, not you," Jimmy protested.

"I helped Jay set the prank up. And in the bathroom, Jay saw Rick's shoes under the stall door. He started talking about how you set the whole thing up…" I had to stop; tears were running down my face. "And I know you hate me know," I choked out.

Jimmy had a blank look on his face.

"You let Rick believe that I set it up? That's why he thought I was pretending to be his friend?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. I know it's not enough, and it never will be, but I'm sorry. If I could take it all back I would. If I could go back in time, I would have stood in front of you. I would have gotten shot," I explained, holding back more tears.

"But you weren't shot. I was. And now I'll never walk again." He said all of it calmly. He was taking it better than I thought he would. I saw a tear spill out of his left eye but he quickly wiped it away. "MANNY!" he yelled. Manny was instantly at his side, making sure that she could help him.

"What is it?" she asked, looking from him to me, and back to him again.

"Let's go," he told her. She immediately grabbed the handles of the chair, and pushed him along as quickly as he could. Jimmy just slunk down as far as possible, looking completely defeated.

I have no friends anymore. Unless you can count Jay. I know that Jimmy will probably never speak to me again, but in a way, I'm glad that I had enough courage to tell him the truth. He'll go back to school and tell everyone. Then they'll all hate me.

This is where my life ends.

A/N: The lyrics at the beginning are from "Collide" by Howie Day and he owns them. Hope you liked this chapter. Mostly everything that happened on the show will happen in here, only differently…like Hazel and Jimmy breaking up, and Spinner telling Jimmy, etc. But there'll obviously be different couples. Let me know if you like it.

So I'm going to update on this every Wednesday, at least until I have a lot more chapters written. I won't abandon this story, don't worry!