Title: Grad Parties Can Be Interesting

Rating: T

Summary: --Ellie - 'I'm cut off by his lips crashing into mine. Is this really happening, or is it all a dream?'--Emma - "Peter, I just think…maybe we should take…a little break or something."--Features: Craig, Ellie, Emma, Ash, Jimmy...and lets just say this won't stay a Pemma for long...I dislike Pemma. Emma belongs with someone not in the list above.

This fanfiction is slightly AU, in the sense that this story is set the night, right after the first class (Ellie, Craig, Marco, etc) graduated - so right where 'High Fidelity' part 2 left off. That's all you really need to know. I know alot of people write, "Whatever Episode, My way!" but please give this a chance!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or anything related to it.

(Ellie)

"That's so sweet. I'm so glad you and Jimmy are back together." I reply, excited for Ash.

"Well…" She starts, "You won't tell me who you're crushing on…and I SAW your reaction when Craig waved during the ceremony…" Ash jokes.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" I reply, feeling my cheeks blush beyond belief.

"Craig's behind you."

"What?" I reply, slightly smiling automatically at the mention of his name, then turn around, "What are you talking about?" I turn back, to face Ash because Craig isn't behind me...

"I was kidding. …that's who you like, El. That's…that's why you didn't want to tell me. You thought I'd freak out. Well guess what! I'm not freaking out. I'm completely over Craig, AND excited for you."

"But I don't like him." I reply, then notice that I'm smiling just at his name, "Okay…so…so maybe I do. But it's nothing but a tiny crush."

"Whatever you say… -- Craig is behind you." She mutters.

"Not falling for that one again…" I reply, and to my surprise, Craig taps me on the shoulder, "--Craig." I mutter in utter surprise as I turn around.

"El." He replies, smiling, and we hug.

-000-

(Emma)

"I just…I can't believe he dumped me…" Manny mumbles, as she takes a sip of her Sprite.

"Manny, it's okay." I reply, as I watch Craig make his way over to Ellie in the distance.

"No, it's not!" She says, her voice becoming scratchy, about to cry, "The only reason I'm at this stupid party is because of Craig. I normally wouldn'tve come to a graduation party thrown by Marco del Rossi, and you know that."

"You might…" I try to help, "I mean, you guys were sorta friends last year, right?"

She just looks at me with a 'You're-not-helping' look on her face, "Well…at least you and Peter are still together. You guys are still happy," She's saying it, but inside I'm not agreeing, "And…and…uh-oh. What happened?" She asks, noticing my non-agreeing expression.

"Nothing, I just…it's not that I loved sneaking behind your back to date a guy who's guts you hated, but…sneaking around made it fun. And exciting. There was…spice, and…now that you know…now that…it's out in the open, and we've been together for so long…I realize that I don't love him, and I never did. I want to, but I don't." I explain.

"Wow, Em." Manny replies, "But I know what you mean…the only guy I've ever truly loved…just dumped me. Just like the guy you only ever truly loved and will only ever love…dumped you two and a half years ago." Manny notices my confused expression, "He moved away last year…? He's hot...? Him and you were the cutest couple ever to step foot in Degrassi...?" I try to keep my confused look still intact, "Sean Cameron, for crying out loud."

"Whatever. I'm…so over Sean. So over him." I reply, pretending to be pre-occupied with picking a drink on the drink table, where a variety of pop/soda is sprawled out, "Which one? Grape or Root Beer?"

"Take them both for all I care." And she goes back to the Sean topic, "Just so you know, Em, we've been best friends since kindergarten. I can totally tell when you're still in love with a guy. Or…still in love with the same guy that you've always been in love with, rather."

"Manny…just -- I'll never be able to make you believe that I'm over him, so I might as well give up now." I reply, making up an excuse as I go along, "Now - which drink should I take?"

"The root beer, definitely."

-000-

(Ellie)

"I've missed you, Craig…" I start, "We've…we've all missed you. A lot."

"Yeah, well I've missed you guys too -- all of you -- Marco, Jimmy, Joey, Angie, Emma…you." He says.

"What about Manny?" I blurt out, without thinking.

"Oh - we broke up." He replies, not looking too hurt.

"You what?" I ask, confused, "You dumped her?"

"Yeah…" He starts, about to finish, when Marco comes over, and wraps his arms around Craig and I.

"My two best friends." He says, then turns to Craig, "How long are you back for, Craig?"

"The summer. Well, I'm due back to Vancouver on August 20th, but for most of the summer, I'm here."

"Awesome. So you're not going to school in the fall, you're going back to being Rock-star Craig?" He jokes.

"Yep. What schools are you guys going to?" Craig replies.

"U of T. Both of us, actually…" I reply.

"Yep. She's majoring in journalism." Marco says, then squeezes one of my cheeks for effect, "My little Ellie -- growing up so darn fast."

I roll my eyes and smile a bit at Marco's horrible attempt at humor, while brushing his hand off my face.

"That's great, El." Craig replies, "Anyways, I intend on spending this 'last summer', if you will, with my friends. Can you say 'road trip' anyone?" He suggests, "Or atleast one last vacation with all of us?"

"Sounds like fun…" Marco replies, genuinely.

"I agree," I say, "Especially the latter...I've never been fond of road trips."

"Well then...big vacation it is, I guess." Craig says.

"Sounds cool guys," Marco says, "Anyways, I gotta go refill that chip bowl, but I'll see you guys later." He finishes, disappearing into the crowd of people.

"Who do you think we should take with us on our…vacation thing?" Craig asks.

"I don't know…" I reply, "Marco…Ash…Jimmy…Paige…ME…" I joke.

"Of course!" He replies in the same joking manner as I did, "El, it would be nothing without you." He adds…genuinely.

"What do you mean?" I ask, rolling my eyes.

"I mean…you're really important to me, El." He replies, sweetly.

"Yeah…well…you're really…important to m--" I'm cut off by his lips crashing into mine, on my rampage of verbal diarrhea. Is this really happening, or is it all a dream?

-000-

(Emma)

Peter approaches us, "Hey ladies." He greets.

"Hey…" We both reply in unison, not as excited to see him as he sounded to see us.

"I think I'm gonna go chat with the Liberty about...yeah…see you guys later." Manny says, slipping away knowing that nothing good was gonna come of Peter and my conversation.

A slow song comes on, "You wanna dance?" Peter asks with a smile.

"Sure." I force a smile back.

We start swaying to the music, and after a while, he must have noticed a change in me, "What's up, Emma? You seem distant."

"Nothing…" I lie -- horribly.

"C'mon. I can tell when my girlfriend is upset." He replies with a sweet smirk.

"It's just…" Crap, how do I get out of this now? "I don't think we should…necessarily BREAK UP, per se --"

"You wanna break up?" He stops dancing, which causes me to stop, but his hands are still on my waist, and mine still hang around his neck.

"No…no, Peter, I just think…maybe we should take…a little break or something. Not break UP, just…a break." Okay, that didn't come out as…SMOOTHLY as I'd hoped.

"Um…yeah. I agree." He replies, though I don't exactly think that he does.

We break apart of our…dance position, "Peter, I really think it's for the best." I say before giving him a friendly hug, and go off into the crowd. Hopefully it is for the best.

-000-

(Ellie)

We break apart from our kiss, both smiling.

"I've wanted to do that for...a long time…" Craig says.

"Me too…" I admit, not only to him, but to myself as well.

"You wanna go out tomorrow night?" He asks out of nowhere.

"Sure. I mean as long as it's not at a mall carnival like when you and Manny had your first date. I mean, Manny's been bragging about that for years, saying how…romantic it was…while I find it repulsive." I joke.

"Don't tell her I said this, but it was…horrible. Worst date ever." He replies, "Anyways...where do you suggest?"

"Maybe a movie…or I dunno. You decide." I reply.

"Oh…like a surprise…" He observes, "Sure…I'll see you later though, I gotta go say 'hi' to Jimmy." He says, "Do you know where he might be?"

"Probably somewhere with Spinner." I reply.

"Spinner? So I guess we've all...forgiven him?"

"Yep. Marco was first, then Jimmy, so now we've all forgiven him. I haven't though…" I admit. Why? He messed up my life…at the time, I was head over heels in love with Sean, Spinner and Jay messed with Rick, and my boyfriend didn't die, fortunately, but he was definitely affected by it, and moved away. Causing me to despise Spinner for eternity -- even though, I've moved on from Sean. I've met someone new - Craig Manning. And maybe this could end up being good.

Before I know it, Craig is gone, and Ash is by my side, "I saw…all of that. And let me say: It was beautiful." She exclaims excitedly, "So when's the wedding?"

I roll my eyes jokingly, "The first date…is tomorrow." I reply.

"Aww, that's so sweet. Where?" She asks, intrigued.

"Not sure, it'll be a surprise." I reply, "And he's planning a big vacation since it'll probably be the last summer that we're all together." I reply.

"Who's 'we'?" She asks, taking a few salt and vinegar chips out of the bowl on the table to our right.

"I dunno…whoever wants to come -- probably all of us that were once in the same grade." I reply, taking a chip for myself.

"Cool. Your love will blossom on the trip." Ashley says, in a jokingly-dreamy way.

"So will yours and Jimmy's. It'll...re-blossom...which is cute…" I admit.

"I know." Ash says, "This summer is gonna be…the summer of our lives!" She states excitedly.

-000-

(Emma)

An hour and a half later, Manny and I decide to leave, because we're both tired, and we don't have any reason to stay, "Well…tonight was fun." I say, optimistically, as we go into the coat room to get our stuff.

She shoots me a 'You've-GOT-to-be-joking' glare, "Em, it was the most…boring, stupid, horrible, suck-ish party that I've EVER been to. And I've been to a lot of parties, Em." She huffs.

"It only sucked for you 'cause you got dumped, Manny." I smile slightly, "But this summer will be fun. We'll hang by the pool a lot, like last year, we'll…shop. Whatever we want. It's our last summer before we become seniors!" I say, pulling my light denim jacket on.

"Sure, Em. Whatever…" She says.

"I'm serious, Manny." I tell her.

"Sure…" She replies, sub-consciously, checking for messages on her phone, "Oooh! I have 1 message." She replies, a bit excited.

"There ya go." I say, "Something to be happy about, maybe it's that guy, Johnny that sat behind you in math this year. He totally liked you, Man --" The message on speakerphone cuts me off.

"You have…one…new…message from…Spike." The robotic voice says, then my mom's voice comes on, "Could you guys pick up some milk on the way home? We're all out, thanks!" Her voice says.

"Something to get really excited about, right?" Manny replies sarcastically, "Do you have any messages?" She asks, and sounds a tiny bit interested, "Maybe Craig mixed up our numbers and left a message on your phone about wanting to get back together with me. I mean, I wouldn't go back to him…but it would be nice…" I smile at my friend who is being absolutely pathetic right now.

"Let me check." I say, putting the phone up to my ear, as we exit the house, and make our way to Manny's car, "You have…one…new…message from…unknown…caller." The robotic voice says.

Understandable since I just got a new phone two weeks ago, I might not have added all the people that were on my old phone to this one.

"One new message -- Manny. Maybe it's Craig!!" I joke as we get into her car.

She replies with an eyeroll as I go back to listening to the phone, "Hey, Em…it's me, Sean." My heart does a back-flip. What the hell… "I'm gonna be in town for the summer, I'm staying at Jay's. I thought maybe we could…meet up and talk or something, sometime…call me when you get a chance. See ya." Then the robotic voice continues, "To save…press 5…to delete…press 6…to --" I cut off the voice, hit 5, and close my phone, still shocked.

"Who was it, Em?" Manny asks, turning onto the next street.

"Just Peter…" I lie, "He doesn't seem to get it…" I say thoughtfully…while lying.

"He'll get it eventually…" Manny advises, unaware of my lying completely, "Trust me."

A/N: So…I'm still unsure of whether or not I want to continue this story. It was actually supposed to be a one-shot, so I'm not sure...I may, I may not. I have to think about it. I also know that it's kind of late for this kind of fanfic, but I was thinking about what I could write a one-shot about one day, and it hit me. On the show, I'm KIND OF rooting for crellie, and I loved that last scene with Craig waving at Ellie, then Ellie looking down during 'High Fidelity'. Plus, I think Pemma is so flipping BORING, so yeah…if you don't mind, Comment Away, Read&Review. Good or bad, as River Pierce would say, "It's Cake".