Chapter 2: Seventy Times 7

NOTE: I do not own the song by Brand New or the Degrassi characters.

Back in school they never taught us what we needed to know,
Like how to deal with despair, or someone breaking your heart.
For twelve years I've held it all together but a night like this is begging to pull me apart.

Spinner gripped the steering wheel tighter, glaring out in front of him. He wondered what was wrong with him. He knew he shouldn't have expected anything from Darcy, but why did he?

Suddenly, it came to him. He was just looking for someone to accept him, and Darcy was there. After the rest of the school rejected him, Darcy accepted him. They all turned their backs on him for something that wasn't really his fault, and there she was welcoming him with open arms.

What is he supposed to do now that the only person who accepted him gone?

Sure, Jimmy forgave him, but things definitely won't go back to how they were before. Just because Jimmy forgave him doesn't mean they could hang out together like they always used to. Spinner felt that things with Jimmy were awkward now. Sure, he did see Jimmy once over the summer, and they tried to make things go back to normal, but it just didn't work. Jimmy and Spinner were both on the defense the whole time, as if they were expecting each other to lash out.

Sometimes, Spinner wished that Jimmy was still mad at him. He really didn't enjoy the awkward tension they seemed to have between each other lately.

He then realized who he could turn to. Jay. Sure, Jay wasn't the most dependable of people, but Jay always provided fun things for Spinner to do. With Jay, Spinner was never bored. Jay was terrible emotional support, but he always provided temporary satisfaction.

Spinner needed that temporary satisfaction. Even if he knew in the long run, it would hurt him, he needed that temporary high. Since he's lost Darcy, the only person who he thought would always be there, he needed to feel numb. He needed to just forget the world for awhile.

He pulled his car up to the place he figured Jay would be, the ravine behind the school. Sure enough, there he was, looking as smug as Spinner could ever remember Jay to look. Jay had his arm around two fake looking blonde girls. They were practically Barbie clones. Spinner shuddered thinking about how that kind of thing used to be so much fun for him. He wondered whether coming here was the best idea for him after all.

It was too late to turn back now. "Mason!" Spinner heard Jay exclaim as he looked directly at Spinner in the car. Yep, it was way too late to turn back now.

Spinner stepped out of the car and walked over to Jay. "Hogart." Spinner replied, slapping his hand and then shaking it - their old handshake.

"I see bible girl finally let you off your leash, eh?" Jay joked, softly punching Spinner on the shoulder. Spinner rolled his eyes. Sure, Darcy had him whipped, but he didn't really mind it. During the school year he'd do anything for her since she risked her reputation by reaching out to him. He wondered why she was just able to drop him like a hot potato.

Then again, maybe it was easy for girls to do that. Manny instantly dumped him after the whole shooting incident, in fact she didn't even tell him that she broke up with him, he just had to assume. Paige dropped him in a second as well. He really wanted to get back with her, but she didn't want to at all. She just told him it was a great way to end the school year. Just a great way to end the school year? He knew she could have come up with a better excuse than that.

"Uhh maybe you're still on your leash.." Jay said, raising, moving his sunglasses down so the tops of his eyes were showing. Spinner must have been a little dazed out because he saw Barbies one and two giggling at him.

"No, I'm not. Darcy and I aren't together." Spinner stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

Jay was so shocked that his sunglasses fell off. "No Way!" He exclaimed. "You finally broke it off, huh? I'm proud of you man."

"Yeah, of course I did." Spinner lied. Jay wasn't really paying attention to his response though. Barbie number one bent down to get Jay's sunglasses and Jay was busy checking the girl out. Her arm was covered with different colored cheap bracelets from her wrist to just above her elbow. Spinner was disgusted, he knew exactly what they meant, but he never actually took part in that himself. The Spinner of a year ago would have thought that was the coolest thing in the world, but it seemed so gross to him now.

"Okay, whatever, man." Jay said, not taking his eyes off of the blonde girl. "Hey, Melinda, wanna go in the van?" Jay asked the blonde girl named Melinda, winking at her and waving a cheap, red bracelet in front of her face. Spinner rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Jay never ceased to amaze him. Jay turned back around quickly facing Spinner, as Melinda strutted to the van, making sure to kiss some guy on the cheek before entering it.

"You can always have Maude." Jay nodded towards Barbie number two. Maude! Spinner gave Jay a really confused look. He wondered who in their right mind would name their child Maude.

"Who cares if her name's odd Maude, Mason? She's smokin'!" Jay exclaimed looking towards Maude. Jay was right, Spinner thought that Maude was attractive. Maude waved and winked at Spinner, he just gave a nervous smile back. He wasn't sure if he wanted to even go near her looking at all of the bracelets on her arm. Not as many as Melinda had, but enough to be a walking STD.

Last summer he would have taken Maude's offer up in a heartbeat. Sure he's never been in the van, but he had other 'experiences' with girls around the ravine. Even when he was totally uncontrollable this summer, he still never had the guts to go in the actual van. He knew it didn't make him much better than the next ravine guy, it was just something he never wanted to do.

But this summer, because of Darcy and his whole junior year, he wasn't sure if he felt like hooking up with Maude. Now that Darcy's gone though, what does he have to lose? Maybe he should let this past year go. Maybe he wasn't meant to be the innocent virgin that Darcy really wanted him to be.

"Oh, and there's some booze in that cooler. It'll make you loosen up a bit, 'cause you're kinda uptight now, man." Jay said, slapping Spinner on the shoulder.

"Unless Bible Girl has still got you whipped of course." Jay spat, looking as smug as anyone could ever look. That angered Spinner. Darcy did NOT still have him whipped. He knew that back when he was dating her, sure, he was a little whipped. But he was actually a good boyfriend! Treating a girl right was something that Jay was totally clueless about.

"She does not have me whipped, she never had me whipped." Spinner retorted, trying to remain calm.

"Maybe she didn't, but I bet the 'big guy' did." Jay said pointing towards the sky and moving his hands into a mock praying position. Jay was right. Spinner knew he randomly took up religion after meeting Darcy this year. Since he didn't want Darcy to abandon him like everyone else did, he pretended like he was really into it at first. He eventually started to get caught up in the authority he held in Friendship Club more than the actual religion itself. When he realized that it was more of a Friendship Cult run by Linus than a club, he knew that maybe it wasn't right for him. He wasn't into religion as much as he thought, he was just into having friends that he knew wouldn't leave him.

Spinner snapped out of his thoughts suddenly. "Hogart. You coming! I could have had ten of these by now." Melinda complained to Jay, sticking her head out of the van.

"Okay, 'Linda." Jay stated, annoyed. Turning back to Spinner he added, "The chick is waiting," before walking back to the van. Spinner watched as Jay scoped around outside the van before closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Hotshot." A voice called out from behind him. He turned around to find Maude posing like she was in Playboy on the top of Jay's orange civic. "Wanna go for a ride?" She yelled seductively. Spinner looked at her directly for the first time since he'd got there. She really wasn't as attractive as he'd initally thought.

"I need a drink." Spinner stated, trying to duck away from her. He walked over to the cooler and placed his hand on it, feeling the damp, coolness of it. He'd rather drink a little than be with Maude now anyways. Jay was probably right, he needed to loosen up a little, he needed to feel numb, forget about Darcy, the Friendship Cult, everything that has happened the past to years.

He opened the cooler and winced, feeling the cool mist hit his face. "Whoa," he whispered to himself, glancing down at the selection of bottles in the cooler. There were bottles of beer, rum, and even vodkas that Spinner couldn't pronounce if he tried! Spinner was right before, Jay never did cease to amaze him.

Spinner grabbed a bottle, he didn't even look at the label to see what he was drinking. He popped the cap off of it, and took a sip. The bitterness flooding his mouth made him recognize that he was drinking some sort of beer. He cringed feeling the burning liquid slide down his throat. It's been awhile since he drank alcohol at all, when he was with Darcy, he wouldn't dare drink. Now, he could do whatever he pleased. Suddenly, he realized that maybe he was better off without her after all. He took another sip, this one being more pleasant than the first, and drowned himself in his sorrows.

Have another drink and drive yourself home.
I hope there's ice on all of the roads.