Craig Drama!

by EMOSAURUS

FINALLY UPDATED! Part 21: The news of Ashley's baby stresses Craig to the point where he breaks down, but the help of his old friend might just be enough.

13. Part 9: Things I'll Never Say

Part 9: Things I'll Never Say

A/N: Okay. Craig and Joey make up in this one. That's around the beginning. It's a very, very long beginning. BUT YOU MUST READ IT! Hellogoodbye123, I'll put that idea into Part 10…mmkay? Craig starts sneaking around and Ash is suspicious and thinks that he's cheating on her. Will she find out that Craig is cheating on her again? Or will she, Spinner, Sean, Marco, and Jay find out something else? READ IT AND YOU'LL KNOW! DUH! WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD I BE IF I JUST TOLD YOU THE ANSWER IN AN AUTHOR'S NOTE? DUH! Okay, the first part is kind of off of the subject of this entire chapter, BUT that's not the point. That's just how this story goes along. This is SO long. You probably won't be able to read it all in one sitting. And if you are able to, you're probably the type that has no life at all. Kidding. If this was made into an episode, it would actually have to be more like a movie. Holy crap. So...yeah. This Author's Note is long enough to make a movie out of. Kidding. Anway...

Craig was a little disappointed when Ashley left his garage at around seven. They'd spent about three-and-a-half hours in there, talking, among other things. It wasn't so much that she'd left, but the fact that now he had to go in the house itself and face Joey. The night before, Craig admitted, he'd gotten a little weirded out, but that gave Joey no excuse to hit him. It wasn't because it hurt, which it did, but the fact that he'd done it at all. Especially when Joey knew about Craig's past, there was not much warning when he pulled back and punched him right under his eye.

His cheekbone was still in pain. He slowly walked up to the house, but decided to sit on the single step that was about four inches from the ground. He sat there, staring out into nothing. He heard the click of the doorknob as it turned. He turned around. To his dismay, it was Joey. He stood up, about ready to go to the garage.

"Craig," Joey said quickly. Craig ignored him and went to the garage. Joey followed him. "Craig!" he shouted.

Craig sat down on the old couch. Joey ran into the garage, and Craig turned onto his other side, keeping his arms close to himself. He curled up into a ball and sat in silence. Joey sat down next to him. He rolled off the couch and stood up straight before retreating to the house.

He ran up to his room and slammed the door behind him. He locked it and jumped onto his bed. Someone came up and started knocking on his door. He picked up his guitar and laid it on his bed. He plugged it back into the mini-amp that was lying on its side on the floor. He turned it up as far as it would go and slammed his hand across the strings.

The sound alone was enough to calm him down a little bit. He sat against the back of his bed on a pile of pillows and laid the guitar on his lap. He used his thumb to strum lightly on all six open strings. He missed being able to play it with both hands. He carefully set it back down on the stand.

"This sucks," he muttered to himself.

"Craig?" came Caitlin's voice from the door. Craig stood up and unlocked the door. He opened it.

"Yeah?" he said, bored.

"Um…how have you been doing lately?" Caitlin asked softly. Craig leaned up against the door frame. "Depends," he answered. "Who're you gonna tell?"

"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," she said. Craig looked up at her, and could tell that she was looking into his eyes, hoping for some kind of trust from him. Craig sighed, opened the door wider, and let her in.

"Close the door," he said quietly, sitting on the bed. Caitlin sat down next to him. He was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I've been bad lately. If that's what you really wanted to know." Caitlin put a cold hand on his back.

"I didn't come in here to make sure that your life sucks. What happened yesterday…"

"Caitlin, I don't want to talk about what happened yesterday," Craig said quickly.

"I understand. But I talked to Joey, and—"

"You're on Joey's side, now, aren't you?"

"No! I'm not on anyone's side, especially not his! He shouldn't have done what he did!"

"But he did! And there's nothing that you can say or do or he can say that's gonna make me feel better about yesterday!"

"I didn't even want to talk about Joey! I don't want to talk about Joey! I want to talk to you about you!"

"What do you want to talk about, then?" Craig shouted. Caitlin gave a calm sigh.

"Craig," she said. "Yesterday, you trashed this room, and you came downstairs, you were fine, and then you just went off about how you think the world's mad at you!"

"Yeah? So? Is there a point to all this pointless rambling of yours?" Craig said coldly.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because—" Craig started. Caitlin stared at him expectantly.

"Okay, you know about me, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, you have like, seizures or something…" Craig mumbled, standing up and opening the window. He rested his elbows on the windowsill and stared out into the darkness.

"Exactly. And…we know about you."

"Yeah, we do," Craig hissed. "Everyone knows about crazy Craig!"

"You're not crazy, Craig."

"Oh, that's right---I'm not crazy. I'm 'ill'."

"Yes, you are! But it's like with me—I'll have seizures without medications."

"You have a weird 'illness' that you can get brain damage from."

"You have an illness that makes you lose control of yourself."

"I don't lose control of myself! I have perfect control of myself! And that's not the only thing this stupid crap can do to me! I could drive myself even more insane than I am already just from thinking about it! And I wish that everyone would stop talking about it! I'm sick of all this…this…bullshit!" Craig shouted. Caitlin stared at him. She sighed and walked out of the room silently.

He watched as she left and then pulled his arm back and punched the window. The glass shattered and fell onto the floor and the area outside. He pulled his hand back into the room, accidentally running his hand on the glass that was still around the frame of the window. Joey stormed into the room a few seconds later. "What's your problem?" he demanded.

Craig looked up. He was staring at his wrist, which was oozing out blood. Joey ran over to him. His hand was badly cut.

"Joey, help me," he pleaded.

"Okay, okay," Joey muttered. He ran into the bathroom and looked for a towel. He ran back to Craig and put it around the long, wide slit in his arm. The blood drenched it. Craig was starting to feel faint, and he leaned up against the wall. The carpet was stained with blood, as were Craig's clothes.

"God, it's not helping," he whispered. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die." Tears of panic and fear ran down his face as he slid down the wall.

"You're not gonna die!" Joey shouted. "You'll be okay! Calm down!" He shouted for Caitlin, who trotted down the hall.

"Call for help!" he said quickly, still trying to stop Craig's bleeding. Caitlin ran downstairs and picked up the phone. She called an ambulance.

Several minutes later, the ambulance got to the front of the house. Craig had already passed out from blood loss. Joey wondered how long he would be in the hospital this time. One week? Two? A month? He climbed into the ambulance with Craig.

The paramedic somehow stopped the bleeding, which had slowed down a lot since he first got cut. "Is he going to be okay?" Joey asked the paramedic.

"It's hard to tell," he answered. "He's lost a lot of blood." Joey buried his face in his hands. He wasn't going to lose him now. He couldn't.

When they arrived at the hospital, Craig was rushed to the ER, where he was given a blood transfusion. He was then put into a room for himself.

Joey was talking to a doctor, who said Craig would be fine with a little bit of rest. He would be out in a week. It wasn't normal that they released patients of 'his condition' that early, but he didn't seem to have anymore problems other than the blood loss. "He'll probably sleep for a while," the doctor added. "How're you related to him again?"

"I'm his…uh…step dad," Joey answered uncertainly.

"Married to his mother?"

"I was. She died a few years ago."

The doctor nodded. "How'd he cut himself, anyway?"

"That's a good question. I think it was from when he punched his window."

"What'd he punch his window for?"

"I don't know," Joey said calmly. "He likes punching things."

"Well, if you want, you can stay with him, or you can go home and I can have a nurse stay with him until her shift is over or he wakes up."

"No, no, it's okay. You don't have to do that. He'll be fine." The doctor nodded again, and Joey said goodbye to the sleeping Craig and left.

He called Caitlin and she came and picked him up. The drive home was silent. Joey went upstairs to Craig's room. Randomly, he started picking up Craig's belongings and putting them in their proper spots. He made the bed and took all of his clothes downstairs to be washed. He organized his shoes and CDs. He picked the lamp up and put the lampshade back on it, setting it back on the nightstand. He vacuumed the glass from the mirror and the window. He got stain remover and cleaned the blood stains out from the carpet.

He wasn't quite sure what to do about the window, but he carefully removed the large shards that still remained in the pane. He threw them in the garbage. He went into the bathroom and found a small, soft towel. He brought it back into Craig's room, picked up a bottle of guitar cleaner from the table, and made the guitar clean, smooth, and shiny. He held the neck of the guitar with the towel and set it back onto the stand. He heard a buzz come from downstairs, signaling that the dryer was done. He ran downstairs and put the load of Craig's clothes into the basket, rushing them back upstairs. He hung each article of clothing on a separate hanger, then put them in the closet.

He ran the vacuum over the carpet again, then looked over at the two holes that Craig had left in the wall. He got an idea.

He rushed to the garage and got the poster of guitar chords that Craig had on the wall. He carefully rolled it up and went back up to Craig's room. He covered the holes with the poster, pinned it on the wall, and smiled to himself.

He backed up into the door frame, looking around the clean, organized room. Joey smiled softly and went down the hall. It was 1:38 in the morning now, but he felt happy that he'd helped Craig by cleaning his room.

The Next Day, the Hospital

Joey Jeremiah watched as his step son slept. About nineteen stitches were visible along his right arm, and scars that had been bleeding the night before all over the back of his hand. Joey couldn't help but feel a little bit responsible for Craig's being in the hospital. If he hadn't hit him, he probably wouldn't have gotten mad at Caitlin, punched the window, and sliced his arm. Same with him being in the short coma. If he hadn't let him take the car, he wouldn't have gotten hurt. And with him getting shot; he lied to him. He felt like everything was his fault.

He fell asleep with his head in his hands, sleeping until he heard a loud moan. He sat up immediately and looked up. Craig was rolling around in his bed, moaning and, oddly, crying.

"Craig! Craig!" Joey shouted, trying to grab his shoulders. He finally did, and he held him as well as he could. Craig eventually stopped rolling around. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked down at his arm, then up at Joey. He ran his hand across his cheekbone. He stared at Joey with the same look he had when Julia died. The look that said, "Tell me this isn't happening."

He looked at Joey for another half-minute, and then he wrapped his arms around him. He let out a long breath that he'd been subconsciously holding in. "Why is this happening to me?" he whispered. "Why?"

"I don't know," Joey answered, holding him. "I don't know." He laid Craig back down on the bed. "You need to rest," he said. Craig frowned.

"I'm cold and I'm bored and I don't want to rest," he muttered.

"I'll get you another blanket. I don't know what else you want me to do, but I can get the blanket."

"Fine," Craig said angrily. "I hate you, too." Joey turned around.

"I never said I hated you," he said.

"You don't have to," Craig retorted.

"If I hated you, I wouldn't have had Caitlin call an ambulance and you would've bled to death!"

"Good! You should've let me!" Joey stared at Craig in awe. How could he think that he hated him? None of this made any sense to him. He sighed heavily as the words tore into his heart.

"I wouldn't let you die!" he shouted.

"Why not? It's what I want! There's nothing left! Obviously, getting drunk didn't help me, and I can't even bleed to death! Sean didn't let me die! I hate Sean for it! He should've just let me stand there! There's a lot that could've happened without me. There's a lot that could've been prevented without me! Ash would probably live in London with her dad; Spinner and Paige would probably still be together, and Jimmy wouldn't be in a wheelchair, and my parents would still be alive!" Joey stared at Craig for a second, then turned and left the room. He realized that the subject of his parents was hard on everyone. Especially he and Joey.

He sighed and leaned back on the bed. Tears fell freely once again as he brought his knees to his chest. He thought about everything. Everything being his parents, Joey, Ashley, Caitlin, his arm, and his problems…his problems. Everything seemed to be his problems. Joey and Caitlin were a problem; they were his stand-in parents. He didn't have real parents anymore; they divorced and died. And Ashley…she wasn't as much of a problem as she was a support system. His arms…he shuddered at the thought of what other kinds of hell he could put them through. He wanted to die. He didn't get drunk at the party with that thought, or punch the window or the mirror…he was…he would say mad at himself, but he couldn't say as much.

He didn't know how he felt or what he was feeling. He didn't know what he wanted. He wanted to make everyone happy, but that wasn't going to happen. He worried more about what he was going to do with his life. Should he just live with it? Graduate from school, get married, go to college…? Or should he demand that Joey put him in a mental hospital? Or…maybe he could just prevent any of that from happening…and die. His options were few, but he knew that someway, he'd have to make a decision. It was hard.

He couldn't leave Ashley alone…depressed. She could kill herself in the angst of it all. He would be safe in the mental hospital. He wouldn't hurt himself or anyone else. He could sit in a straight jacket in a padded room, and he wouldn't have to take the stupid pills anymore. Never again.

Joey came back a few minutes later. He sat down on the bed next to Craig, who was still sobbing, holding his knees to his chest. He put a hand on Craig's back, rubbing it slowly. He put his other arm around his neck, pulling him closer to him.

"Shhh…" he whispered. "It's okay. It's okay. It'll be okay someday." He tried to block out the sobs that were coming from his step son, overwhelmed by the subject of his family. He couldn't. Even though Craig was seventeen, and he was a senior in high school, he needed this. He had been starved for actual love and attention most of his life. And he felt guilty for contributing to it. And he was the one who said Craig needed to stay with his father after Julia divorced him. He knew that Craig used to hate him. Every time he would come to see his mom, he would ignore everything Joey said, glared at him…and now he knew why. He'd left the nine-year-old with his abusive father.

After a few minutes, the sobbing stopped, and Craig looked up. His eyes and face were red, and he gave a small, sad smile. His eyes told him what his mouth didn't need to. Joey nodded, hugged him once more, and sat back on the chair next to the bed.

Four Days Later

Craig slept peacefully on the white hospital bed of room 294. It looked exactly like the one he'd been in just two weeks before. He felt someone stroking his hair smoothly. He sighed softly and slowly opened his eyes. He looked up into the eyes of his girlfriend, Ashley Kerwin.

"Hey, Craig, how are you doing?" she asked quietly, covering his hand in hers. Craig smiled and said,

"I'm okay. What're you doing here? What time is it?"

"I'm here to see you, and it's during school hours, so don't tell anyone I was here." Craig laughed.

"Hey, don't stop," he whispered. Ashley sat closer to Craig and ran her fingers through his hair. Craig closed his eyes and sighed.

Ashley leaned in and kissed him. Craig kept his eyes closed.

"I love you, too," he said. She wanted to ask him exactly what happened to his arm, but he seemed so happy and content right now, she couldn't. She stood up from the chair and took her shoes off. She slowly climbed into the hospital bed with Craig. She faced him and he smiled. He put an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. It hurt his elbow to lay on his cast, but he didn't mind because he was with her. He turned over onto his back, and Ashley rested her head on his chest. Craig covered her with the blankets. She started to fall asleep, but thought about the consequences; she could fall asleep, sleep in there for hours, not wake up until the middle of the night. Her mom would have the police out looking for her. The school could call her mom, and she would, again, try to stop her from seeing Craig again.

'She can go to hell. He needs me,' she thought. She kissed him again, and rested her hand on his chest.

She slid her hand under his shirt, running her fingers across his stomach and chest. This lulled both of them to sleep.

Craig woke up hours later. He opened his eyes extremely slowly, still tired. He saw Ashley, and softly ran his fingers along her side. He sighed contently, and looked to his right.

"Joey!" he whispered. Joey looked up from whatever he was doing. Joey gave him a small smile.

"Hey, Craig," he muttered.

"What time is it?" Craig asked.

"It's 9:30," Joey answered. Craig stared at him, and then glanced over at the window. It was dark outside, and rain beat against the glass. He gently shook Ashley's shoulder.

"Ash, come on, you've gotta get up. Your mom's gonna call the cops and we'll both be in trouble." Ashley raised her head slowly, then looked at Craig.

"My mom can go to hell," she said quietly. "You need someone right now."

"Ash, I understand what you're saying. But right now, you need to go to bed so you can go to school tomorrow. Joey's gonna stay with me tonight. You'll come back tomorrow, right?" Ashley sighed, annoyed.

"Fine," she said. "I see that I'm not welcome here." A smile crept up on her lips as she put her shoes back on. She leaned down and kissed Craig for the last time that night. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I'll come back tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Ash," Craig said, watching her as she left. He looked over at Joey.

"So," he said. "What's up, Joey?"

"Nothing; I was just coming to make sure you were still alive." He smiled as he said this.

"I'm fine right now," Craig said calmly. "For now."

"You're getting another blood transfusion tomorrow," said Joey.

"Great. Blood transfusions! Great…" Craig murmured sarcastically.

"You need the blood. You lost a lot of it when you got…hurt."

"I always get hurt. Why do I need blood all of a sudden? I can be weak whenever I feel like it. Hell, Marco made me weak. That should tell you something."

"Craig, you're not weak."

"Yeah, I am."

"You're stronger than most people."

"Prove it." That was the end of the conversation that they'd gone through time and time again.

Wednesday Night

Craig had just gotten home to Joey's about ten minutes ago. He'd talked to Caitlin while he was at the hospital, and they talked about…everything. Caitlin had made him the turkey sandwich that he adored. He ate it happily as he leaned on Joey's shoulder, eating the sandwich and watching TV. When he was done with the sandwich, he hugged Joey quickly and walked toward the stairs.

He trotted up them and went to his room. He opened the door and found what Joey had done to it. Clean. Organized. Really clean. Really organized. He went to his closet where all of his shirts, jeans, and shoes were. He jumped onto his bed, lying on his back.

"Thanks, Joey!" he shouted from his bed.

"You're welcome!" Joey shouted back. He rolled over onto his side and found a small piece of paper on his dresser. It said, 'People that called—Spinner, Emma, Manny, Marco, Jimmy, Sean". He wondered why Sean would call. They were supposed to hate each other now. Whatever. He'd just talk to them all at school. Except Sean. Sean…Sean could just…go away.

When he got up for school the next morning, and after his shower, he rummaged around through all the hangers in his closet until he found the sweatshirt that his dad had bought him. Not that one he'd been shot in, of course, but the other one. He made sure that he'd be able to cover up his arm where the stitches were. He was getting them taken out after school, but the wound itself…Joey had told everyone that called that he was 'visiting his cousins in B.C.'. He didn't want everyone to know that he'd been dumb enough to slice his arm open on a window.

He pulled on a clean pair of jeans, socks, and shoes. He sighed. He went downstairs, into the kitchen, where Joey, Caitlin, and Angie were all sitting and eating breakfast.

"Hi, Craig," Caitlin said coolly.

"Hi," Craig muttered.

"Tired?" Joey asked.

"Hella tired," Craig answered, closing his eyes. He opened them back up and yawned. He sat down at the table, across from Angie. "Hi, Angie," he added. Angie looked up from her cereal.

"Hi, Craig!" she said happily. She continued eating the cereal. Craig got himself a bowl of cereal and ate it in silence. When he was finished, he went over to the sink, washed the bowl and spoon, and put it in the drain board. He sighed. He looked out the window to find that it was, again, raining outside. He rolled his eyes.

"Joey, could you give me a ride to school?" he asked, turning to face him. Joey looked up.

"Sure, Craig," he answered.

"Then we better leave soon or I'll be late." Joey shrugged, nodded, and stood.

"Let's go," he said, coffee cup in hand. The two got in the car and Craig put his seatbelt on. He sat back on the tan leather seats. He was quiet the entire ride to school. He yawned again. He stared out at the roads, coated in rain water. Joey pulled up in front of the school. Craig thanked him for the ride and got out. He ran into the school building and to his locker. Spinner and Jimmy came up to him.

"How was B.C.?" Spinner asked. He seemed to be mocking him for some stupid reason.

"It was…okay, I guess."

"Okay? It was raining all week in B.C."

"Shut up, Spinner," Craig snapped. "I don't need your crap right now."

"Why are you wearing your sweatshirt inside? Don't you know it doesn't rain indoors?"

"Spinner!"

"Dude, I'm just asking," Spinner said defensively.

"Well, stop asking stupid questions."

"That was only one question."

"It was two, Spinner! Don't act like I'm stupid."

"I never said you were!"

"You're being stupid, Spinner!"

"Spinner, shut up," Jimmy said quickly.

"You shut up," Spinner retorted. Jimmy rolled forward and ran over Spinner's foot.

"Ow!" Spinner cried. He glared at Jimmy.

"Dude, where were you?" Jimmy asked quietly.

"I told you; B.C."

"Whatever, man," Jimmy muttered, turning to leave.

"Wait! Jimmy. I'm not lying to you. I swear." Jimmy stared at him.

"Dude, what's on your hand?" Spinner asked, pulling Craig's sleeve down, revealing the scars and long row of stitches down his arm. The two boys stared at him. Craig slammed his locker shut. "We have another Ellie in our midst!" Spinner shouted, pointing at Craig. Craig pushed his sleeve back down and walked away.

"Craig!" came a familiar voice from behind him. He stopped and turned.

"Hey, Ash," he whispered.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Ashley asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Spinner's just being stupid," Craig answered. He stared into Ashley's eyes.

"Craig. Tell me the truth. What happened?" she demanded.

"I'm telling you the truth! Spinner saw my arm. He told everyone I'm…he told everyone I cut myself." Craig turned and was about to walk away.

"But you don't cut yourself! What happened was an accident!" Ashley cried from behind him.

"It doesn't matter to him! Everything's funny to him!" Craig shouted.

"Spinner's just stupid! He doesn't even know what he's talking about!"

"When does he?" Craig said, turning to go into Mr. Simpson's class.

"Craig!" Ashley cried. She ran into the classroom. She touched Craig's shoulder. "Don't be like this." Craig kissed Ashley quickly and told her to go to her own homeroom. She nodded and left. Craig sat down at an empty computer.

"Good to see you, Craig," Mr. Simpson said, walking around the room. The room filled with students a few seconds later. "Where've you been?" Craig looked up.

"I don't know. Why don't you just ask Spinner? He seems to know everything," he said coldly. Mr. Simpson looked over at Spinner.

"Spinner doesn't know everything," he said simply. Craig scoffed and leaned back in his seat. He had to listen to Mr. Simpson talk about everything that didn't matter. Mr. Simpson pulled a chair up to him and told him that in order to get a passing grade in his class, he would have to take a test on the computer. He nodded and Mr. Simpson pulled a screen up, and Craig took about fifteen seconds to think about each question. He kept getting side tracked because of everyone staring over at him and whispering. "Mr. Simpson," Craig said in the middle of the test.

Mr. Simpson came over to Craig. "Can I finish this later? I can't concentrate right now." Mr. Simpson looked around the room, which had gone silent. "Yeah," he said quietly. Craig thanked him, stood, and left. Mr. Simpson watched as Craig slid down his locker and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed what was probably Joey and put the phone up to his ear. He brought his knees into his chest and talked as he ran his hand through his hair. Mr. Simpson opened the door of his classroom slowly and quietly and walked toward him.

"Joey, Spinner's being a jerk…no…yeah, but…yeah…okay…I will…yes…I didn't…I tried to…uh…yeah…bye, Joey………..I love you, too…okay, here." Craig stood up and handed Mr. Simpson the cell phone. "He wants to talk to you," Craig said quietly. Mr. Simpson took the cell phone from Craig and said, "Hello?"

"Craig's fine. He was in the middle of a test and he said he couldn't concentrate, so he's going to finish it later…yeah, he was doing good today…I don't know what's going on with him and Spinner…yeah, okay...okay, later, Jeremiah." Mr. Simpson pressed "End" and handed Craig the phone. He put it back in his pocket.

"What'd he say?" he asked tonelessly.

"He wanted to know how you were doing in school and what was going on today," Mr. Simpson answered. "What was going on today?" Craig looked at his teacher for a second and sighed.

"Spinner told everyone that I cut myself," he said.

"Do you?" Mr. Simpson asked.

"No," Craig answered truthfully. "I accidentally cut my arm on my window."

"I see," Mr. Simpson said. "So Spinner told everyone that you cut yourself because he saw your arm?"

"Yeah." Craig pulled up his sleeve, showing him all the small cuts that were all over his arm from the mirror and the window. The long, four-inch cut was visible due to the black stitches that were coating it.

"I was talking to Caitlin when I went up to the window. I yelled at her and then she left. I got pissed off at myself and punched the window. I passed out and woke up in the hospital a day later. Joey was there when I woke up, as always. I got mad at Joey, too. I was kind of already mad at Joey, but then I yelled at him, too. But I didn't have any windows to break, so I was okay." He left out the part about Ashley coming to visit him because he didn't want her to get in trouble.

"I'll talk to Spinner," Mr. Simpson said. "If you want, you can go to the library until after third period." Craig nodded and took a few things out of his locker before turning and leaving. He went to the library and sat down at a table and read.

He heard the bell ring but he was too into the book he was reading to care. He was only taken out of his trance when someone said his name and sat down next to him. He looked up. It was Ellie. "Just the person I wanted to see," Craig muttered, setting down the book.

"Craig," Ellie began, tucking her red hair behind her ear. "I need to know what's going on."

"Ellie, it's not what everyone's saying," Craig said quickly, shoving a piece of paper into his book.

"I wouldn't believe what Spinner said if my life depended on it," Ellie assured him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on. I'm not cutting myself. Okay?" Craig said, irritated.

"Craig, I never said you were cutting yourself."

"I know, Ellie. But Spinner told everyone that I was...that I was...that I'm a cutter."

"Are you? I mean, I don't believe Spinner. If you were, I'd want to hear it from you, not him."

"No, I'm not. I get pissed off sometimes and I punched my window. When I was about to bring my arm back inside the window, I cut it on the glass that was still on it." He lifted his sleeve to show her the long scar, along with all the little ones from punching the window and mirror at all. He looked down at the table, then up at Ellie. He looked back down at the table and quickly slid his sleeve back down.

"Did you feel better after you punched the window?" Ellie asked. Craig shook his head, still not looking up at her. "Then you're not a cutter. People cut themselves to make the pain go away. If you didn't feel better, you're not a cutter. Okay? Don't worry about Spinner." Craig nodded and thanked Ellie.

"When you see Ash, could you tell her I'll see her at lunch?" Ellie nodded. "Thanks, Ellie." Ellie smiled, stood, and left. Craig picked up his book and kept reading. The bell rang again an hour later. He sighed. One more hour. Spinner walked into the library about ten minutes after the bell rang. He was followed by Sean and Marco. "Hey, Marco," Craig said casually, ignoring the other two.

"Hi, Craig," Marco said happily.

"What's up? Why aren't you in class?" Craig asked, setting his book down.

"I could ask you the same thing," Marco answered. Craig shrugged as Marco, Sean and Spinner sat down in front of him.

"Craig," said Sean. Craig turned his head and looked at Sean.

"What?" he said angrily.

"I need to talk to you about what happened last week."

"Ah, but there is nothing to talk about," Craig said, picking his book up.

"I'm sorry for what I did. It was stupid. Really stupid. Incredibly stupid. So stupid that I can't even start to explain how stupid it is."

A smile began to creep up on Craig's face. "I think that the words 'really' and 'incredibly' began to explain the word 'stupid'," he said. The two laughed.

"Now, Spinner, don't you have something you'd like to say to Craig?" Marco said, patting Spinner's shoulder.

"Uh...I'm sorry for telling everyone your secret," Spinner said. Marco smacked his arm.

"Spinner!" he hissed.

"I mean, I'm sorry for telling everyone that you cut yourself because I know you don't and I just thought it was funny at the time." Spinner looked up from his hands. Craig stared at him, the smile gone off his face. Spinner felt as though this was taking forever. Craig was obviously making a decision: forgive him and be friends again or forget him and drop him like he had last year?

About five minutes later, Craig stuck his hand out on the table. Spinner reached his own hand out, not breaking eye contact with Craig. They shook hands. The expression on Craig's face softened as he smiled. Sean turned to Spinner and said, "If you ever make a reference about my girlfriend like that in front of everyone again or if I hear about you making references like that, I'll make sure that you don't make it to school the next day, okay?"

Spinner nodded, realizing that Sean was a serious hard-ass. "What're you doing after school today?" Marco asked everyone.

"Nothing," Spinner and Sean said at the same time.

"Craig?" Marco said.

"I'm busy after school," Craig answered. "Stitches."

"Are you busy after you get your stitches out?" asked Marco.

"Yeah, I...I've got stuff to do. I have to see someone."

"Who?" the three boys asked.

"Just...someone," Craig muttered, returning to his book.

"Is it a chick?" Spinner asked.

"You could say that, but that's not what I'd call her," said Craig.

"Who is it? What's her name?" Spinner persisted.

"It's none of your damn business, Spin, shut up."

"Whatever," Spinner said, leaning back in his chair.

"We should probably all go back to class," Marco said.

"Yeah, we should," Craig added. "This library is mucho boring." He stood up and went to class with Spinner and Marco. Sean went down a different hallway to go to his own class.
At lunch, Spinner, Marco, Ellie, Ashley, Sean, Jimmy, and Craig all sat together.

"Craig, what're you doing after school?" Ashley asked casually, turning to face him.

"Uh...I'm getting some of the stitches out," he answered.

"I know that," Ashley said. "I mean afterward."
"I'm babysitting Angie," he said quickly.

"Isn't she a little old to be babysat?" asked Ashley.

"No. She's only like...nine."

"Well...when's Joey getting home?"

"It's not a matter of Joey getting home; it's a matter of Caitlin getting home."

"Craig, that's not what you told us," Spinner said. Craig stared at Spinner, begging him not to say anything else. "You said you were going to see some chick after you got your stitches out."

Craig dared to turn his head toward Ashley, who was staring at him. "It's not a 'chick'. It's...it's...someone else."

"Like who?" Ashley demanded.

"Someone else. It's not something that I feel like talking about," Craig muttered.

"Of course not, Craig," Ashley said. "You never feel like talking about cheating on me!" Ashley pulled her arm back and slapped Craig across the face. Craig glared at Spinner.

"You just love to ruin everything, don't you?" he said coldly. He stood up and slammed the cafeteria door as he left.

He thought about following Ashley. But he didn't. He went to the principal's office. "Ms. Hatzilakos?" he said carefully, opening the door. Ms. Hatzilakos looked up as he entered the office.

"I'm not feeling too well...can I go home?" he asked.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Craig sat down in front of her.

"Today sucks," he answered. "I'm not feeling well, and my head hurts. I need to go home. You can call my step dad if you want. I just don't want to get in trouble for leaving school again."

Ms. Hatzilakos nodded. "I'll give him a call and let him know that you're going to spend the rest of today at home. Okay?" Craig stood up.

"Thanks," Craig said. He left her office and put his book in his locker. He waited for the bus and got almost all the way home. He was about three blocks from home when he got off, and walked the rest of the way. He was about ten feet from the house when he slipped on the sidewalk and fell off of the curb. He was right next to a sewer drain, that was thankfully (that word oozing with sarcasm) flowing with large amounts of water. He was too weak to get up right away. He rolled on his side and used his arm to get up off the ground. He limped into the house, soaking wet. Caitlin was there. At around the same time that he was supposed to get out of the doctor for getting his stitches out, she was supposed to be going in for a job interview somewhere.

"Craig! What happened?" she asked, standing up from the kitchen table, where she was reading the newspaper.

"I fell," Craig answered.

"Are you okay?" Caitlin asked.

"For the most part," Craig said. "I'm gonna go upstairs and take a shower and go to bed. Wake me up at around three so I can go get my stitches taken out, and then I'll go and pick up Angie. Okay?"

Caitlin nodded. Craig walked slowly upstairs and flopped on his bed. He stared at the clock. It was almost noon.

He was ready to kill Spinner right now. Ashley was mad at him because Spinner couldn't keep his mouth shut, and Craig wasn't about to say what he was doing after school. But he wasn't cheating on her, not again.

He went into the bathroom, got undressed, and left his clothes in a large, wet pile next to the door. He turned on the hot water in the shower. Right now, he felt like drowning himself. The hot water burned on the icy surface of his skin. He stood in the hot water for what seemed like forever. He sort of hoped that he burned to death, but he realized that poor chances of it and was thrown back into the reality of it all and stepped out. He found a towel and wrapped it around himself. He shook his head, getting the water out of his hair. He stared at his face. Then, he went to his room.

Craig found some dry clothes hung up in his closet. He found some boxers in there, too, which he found kind of odd. Oh, well. He put the boxers on, then jeans, then the shirt, then socks and shoes, just in case he had to go somewhere. Then he remembered he was too tired to think about going anywhere. He took his shoes off and turned off the light. He crawled into bed and fell asleep.

Caitlin woke him up about two hours later. "Come on, Craig," she said. "It's time to get up." Craig opened his eyes and rolled over.

"I like sleeping," he mumbled before Caitlin helped him up from the bed. He stood up, using Caitlin as leverage as he swayed slightly.

"I like sleeping, too, but you need to go to the hospital and get some of the stitches out."

"I need Emma," Craig said quietly.

"Why?" Caitlin asked.

"So that she can come and baby sit Angie while I sleep more." Caitlin smiled softly and handed Craig his shoes. He stepped into them and went into the bathroom. He combed his hair and picked up his clothes. He took them downstairs and put them in the laundry pile. Caitlin waited for Craig to finish the water he'd just gotten from the sink, and then they both got into her car and drove off. Caitlin dropped Craig off at the hospital. Craig walked through the front doors and went up to the receptionist.

"I'm here to get my stitches removed," he mumbled, leaning his elbow on the desk.

"What's your name?" the woman asked.

"Craig Manning," he answered. The woman nodded and mumbled the name to herself several times, typed about 200 words a minute on her computer and smiled.

"Okay," she said. "Please take a seat over there and the doctor will be with you soon." She indicated a small waiting area in the corner. He nodded and sat over in the farthest corner of the room. He picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. He didn't even look at the pictures or read the headlines. He just kept flipping through pages.

Several minutes later, a woman in a white lab coat with curly red hair that went down to her shoulders and dark green eyes appeared and said, "Craig? The doctor will see you now." Craig stood and followed her down several halls until he reached a room with a sterile-looking white bed. He sat down on it. A person who was obviously the doctor came in. He had short hair that reminded Craig of Marco's, and brown eyes.

"Hello, Craig," he said casually. "How've you been?"

"Bad," Craig answered.

"Why?" the doctor asked.

"Because my so-called friend Spinner told my girlfriend that I'm seeing some girl after school and now she thinks I'm cheating on her," Craig said.

"That sucks," the doctor said. "That happened to me in high school, too." Craig looked up at him. His name tag said "Dr. Rennips".

"Dr. Rennips," Craig muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Rennips said blankly.

"I was reading your name," Craig said calmly.

"Oh," Rennips said, laughing slightly. "I think it's time to get down to business." He took a small tray off the table and brought it over to Craig. He set it down next to him. He picked up a sterile, alcohol pad from a small pile of them and dabbed it over his hand, where the stitches were getting removed. Craig silently wished that he was getting the nineteen stitches on his arm removed, too. But, he wasn't. Rennips then took some small scissors and began cutting away at the stitches.

Craig winced every time he dug the scissors into his skin to remove a stitch. After about ten minutes, it was over. "Okay," he said. "I'm done. With the stitches. But now we have to get some things on record."

"Like what?" Craig asked suspiciously.

"Like your weight and height," Rennips answered. Craig glared at him. He followed Rennips to a scale. He stepped on it. Rennips balanced it.

"68 kilos," he muttered. He wrote it down on the clipboard.

"God, I'm fat," said Craig.

"No," Rennips corrected. "You're tall." Craig shrugged.

"I'm fat and tall," Craig said. Rennips smiled. He took Craig back to the first room. He put him up against a wall and made him take his shoes off. He measured Craig.

"Six feet tall. Wow. You are tall."

"Yeah, I am. My step dad's like, a foot shorter than I am." Craig smiled sadly. He couldn't be that happy today.

"Okay, you're free to go," Rennips said coolly.
"Yay," said Craig with little or no excitement whatsoever. He slid his shoes back on and left.

He took the bus to as close to Angie's school as he could get. He jumped off the bus and went inside the building. Drawings and projects from all the kids there coated the walls. He went to Angie's classroom, where all the children were getting ready to leave. He stood by the door. The teacher came up.

"Are you here to get someone?" she asked. Craig nodded.

"I'm here for Angela. I'm her brother," he said.

"Angela!" the teacher called. Angela turned her head and looked up.

"Craig!" she cried happily. As old as she was, she acted just the way she always had around Craig; happy to see him. She ran up and hugged his leg.

"Yes, it's me," said Craig. "And I am here to take you home."

"Okay," said Angie. "But only if I can ride on your back!" Craig smiled adoringly.

"Every time, Angie," he said. He bent his knees, letting his young sister jump onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Angie said excitedly. Craig started walking out of the building. It was raining again.
"It looks like it's gonna flood here," he muttered. He stopped and set Angie down. He took his jacket off and handed it to her.

"Here," he said. "Keep yourself dry." Angie put her arms through the sleeves of her brother's favorite leather jacket. She hopped back onto his back and he kept walking. He sighed as he held her feet. It was difficult because of the cast, and hurt a little bit because of the stitches still embedded in his right arm, but he managed.

He walked all the way back home. He set Angie down on the couch. "Okay, Angie, what do you want to do?"

"Um...I want to watch TV," she answered.

"Well, first take off my jacket," Craig ordered. She pulled herself out of the jacket and handed it to him. He picked it up. He turned some channels until he found a show that Angie watched all the time.

"Okay, Angie. I'm going to bed. Don't let anyone in; don't turn anything on, and...well, you know. Oh, yeah. Don't leave. If anyone calls, then...tell them that nobody's here but us. If it's for me, wake me up. But ask who it is. If it's not Ashley, Sean, or Marco, tell them I'm not here. Only wake me up for them, okay? Or...if you get hurt, come wake me up." Angie nodded, trying to take in all the information.

"Okay, Craig," she said sweetly. "Goodnight." Craig smiled.

"Goodnight," he responded as he went upstairs. He took his shirt, jeans, and shoes off before going to bed.

He woke up a few hours later to yelling and screaming coming from downstairs. He put his jeans and shirt back on before wandering downstairs. He found the source of the noise; Joey and Caitlin. Angie was sitting on the couch, crying. Craig went over and picked her up. He hugged her to him, and she felt safe. He carried her upstairs and put her on his bed. "Stay here," he said. Angie nodded. Craig went back downstairs.

He watched Joey and Caitlin for a second. "SHUT UP!" he shouted. The two stopped yelling at each other immediately. "What are you two fighting about?" he demanded. He glared at the both of them.

"None of this would've happened if you would've just stayed up and watched Angie," Joey barked.

"Excuse me? I locked the doors and told her not to open it, take any calls for people, or turn anything on! She's smart enough now! And I've had a shit day so don't tell me what I should do!"

"You should have been responsible enough to stay up and watch her!"

"What happened that's pissing you off so much?"

"Angie broke her finger!"

"Angie will be fine! It could've happened to anyone! Why didn't you wake me up and yell at me instead of fighting with Caitlin?"

"Because she could've been here and watched Angie instead of you!"

"She was going to damn job interview! I mean, I'm sorry she's trying to earn some money and not act like a little loner from off the streets like I am!" The room went quiet. The two stared at each other. "I'm leaving," Craig said quietly. He went upstairs to his room, where Angie was sitting on the floor, touching his guitar.

"Be careful with that, Angie," he said. "I'm going for a walk. Don't go through my stuff, and don't pick up the guitar. Okay?" Angie nodded. He grabbed his jacket off of the bed, put it on, and ran out the front door before Joey could stop him.

The next day at school, Craig went up to Ashley. "Ash, I swear. I didn't go anywhere after school yesterday. Really. Since when did you start believing what Spinner said, anyway?" Ashley turned around and glared at him.

"Since it started sounding like something you'd do," she said angrily.

"Ash! Come on! You know I wouldn't do that again!" Craig cried. He touched her shoulder, making her turn around. "I would never do it again. I love you, Ash. You have to believe me." Ashley looked up into Craig's eyes. She sighed softly.

"Okay," she muttered. "I believe you."

"Why is it that every time we get in a fight we're back together the next day?" Craig asked curiously.

"Because we love each other enough to care," Ashley answered sweetly, wrapping her arms around Craig. "And we're always fighting about stupid things anyway."

"Oh," Craig said. "Interesting theory."

"It's not a theory; it's the truth. What're you doing after school today?"

"Being grounded," Craig answered coolly. "Joey's mad at me because Angie broke her finger yesterday. Yesterday sucked. I fell in a giant puddle in front of the house, and I think I'm starting to get sick from it."

"Don't get me sick!" Ashley cried.

"I guess we're not going to be able to be happy together until I get better, eh?" Craig said.

"I don't want to have to wait that long," Ashley whispered, kissing Craig softly. Craig kissed back, and put his right hand on her lower back. Ashley pulled back and said, "Not right now." Craig sighed and said, "Fine."

Eventually, lunch came around, and Craig and Ashley skipped it to go "study". They had escaped to the area behind the school building.

They heard a door open, but thought nothing of it. "Whoa! When you guys said you had to go study, I didn't know you meant each other!" Spinner shouted.

Craig and Ashley sat up quickly. "Spinner!" Craig yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Marco," Spinner said defensively. "And then I find this. I'm so ashamed of the both of you." Spinner shook his head, as though he actually were ashamed of them. He sighed and went back inside.

"Stupid Spinner," Craig muttered. "Now where were we?" Ashley smiled as they lay back down and began "studying" again. Unfortunately, lunch was over soon after Spinner had left, and they had to go back in for class. They scoffed, annoyed, and went to class. As they had before, they started passing notes. Really, it was more like passing e-notes, as it was Mr. Simpson's class, the only one they had together, a.k.a. 4th period. Craig had two classes with Simpson, and some with teachers he didn't really care about. Mr. Simpson was about the nicest teacher he had. He was the only one who really ever gave him a chance.

Craig typed slowly with the only hand he was able to type with at the moment. He finally pressed "Send", and sent his email to Ashley, who was all the way on the other side of the room.

'Ash – this sucks. I hate waiting for this stupid cast to get off my arm!'

'I know you do. But don't worry, it will be off soon.'

'No it won't. chances are I'll break it again.'

'that's not true. Your arm will get stronger from being in the cast.'

'I'll manage to break it again.'

'okay. Whatever you say.'

'it is what I say.'

'where'd you go after school yesterday?'

'I got my stitches out, and then I went and babysat angie.'

'I mean when you left after joey got home.'

'I went to the park.'

'the park was flooded last night.'

'I know. I sat on the bench and got my clothes soaked.'

'sounds like you.'

'yeah it does.'

'can I ask you something? You have to promise not to get mad.'

'you're all the way on the other side of the room. I'm not gonna get mad.'

'okay.'

'ask the question!'

'right. Did you take the meds?'

'yes! God, that's a horrible question!'

'you said you wouldn't get mad!'

'I'm not getting mad. I'm kidding. I'm glad you care enough to ask.'

'every time.'

"Craig Manning!" Mr. Simpson shouted from one side of the room. "You'd better not be the reason for all the beeping coming from the computer over here!"

"I'm not!" Craig said smoothly, typing another message to Ashley. He smiled as he hit "Send", and waited for Ashley's reply.

Four hours later, Craig was sitting in his room, alone, and bored. He'd been home for an hour-and-a-half now. He laid on his back on the bed and sighed. He rolled over on his side, then onto his stomach. "My God! This is SO boring!" he shouted to no one. Angela and Caitlin were downstairs, no doubt having fun making a pie. But, no. Craig couldn't have fun with them because he was too old to have fun. That made no sense, because Caitlin was, what, 33? Turning 34 next month. Christmas was slowly approaching, which meant the harsh, cold rains would turn into light, fluffy snow. Craig sighed into his pillow. He rolled off of the bed and stood up straight. He opened his bedroom door and slowly went downstairs.

He went into the kitchen and sat at the table. "Hi, Craig," Angie said happily. "We're making pie!"

"I see that, Angie," Craig muttered. "Are you having fun?"

"Yep!" Angie said, giggling as she wiped some of the sugary sauce on the counter.

"I wish I could say as much."

"Craig," Caitlin said, handing Angie a spoon. "Why don't you get out of here? I'll tell Joey I sent you to the store for something. Okay? You can come back and say that they were out of...whatever you feel the need to say." Craig looked up at Caitlin.

"Are you serious?" Craig asked.

"Yeah," Caitlin answered, smiling.

"Thanks," Craig said happily, standing up from the table. "Bye, Caitlin. I'll be back with the bagels soon." He went upstairs and grabbed his jacket from the closet before running out the door.

"Ellie, I'm worried about him. He says he's grounded, and I can believe him, but...he's just acting weird," Ashley said to her friend, Ellie, as she sat down on her bed, holding the phone to her ear.

"Ash, just ask him what's going on," Ellie said reassuringly. "If he loves you, he'll tell you. Or he won't. Maybe it's just...something he doesn't want to talk about."

"I tried asking him. But like I said, he told me he's grounded. He says that he went to the park yesterday when Joey got home."

"The park was flooded yesterday."

"I know. He says he went to the park and got completely soaked and now he's getting sick. He is, you can tell."

"I don't know what else there is to do. I'll talk to Sean about it. He's usually able to things out of Craig. He's just now getting here. I'll talk to him. He's got some explaining to do; he's an hour late."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later, El," Ashley said.

"Bye, Ash. One more thing -- stop worrying. Chances are, Craig's not going to do anything to lose you now. He loves you."

"Okay, El. Bye." They both hung up. Ellie turned to Sean, who was in the kitchen, putting several bags of groceries on the counter.

"Sean!" she said venomously. "Where were you?"

"I was at the store!" Sean said defensively. "Where were you?"

"I was right here talking on the phone with Ashley about Craig!" Ellie cried.

"Craig? I just saw Craig. He was walking down the street and then he went into some bushes and he was gone."

"Did he see you?" Ellie asked.

"I don't think so," Sean muttered. "He just walked right into a bunch of bushes, and, like I said, he was gone. Why? Is something wrong with him?"

"Ashley thinks Craig's cheating on her," Ellie explained.

"Well...I couldn't explain that. Unless somebody he knows lives in a bush, then..."

"Sean, I'm being serious!"

"I know you're being serious," Sean responded. He picked up a few cans of soup and put them in the cupboard. "And I'm trying to be serious, but it's hard to believe that Craig would sit there and tell us that he was seeing some girl after school if he was actually cheating on her."

"He told you that?" Ellie asked blankly.

"He said he was going to see someone after school, and it wasn't a 'chick', but it was a 'her'. He said he had to baby sit his sister, and after that he was going to see 'her'. I don't know who she is, but she must be pretty amazing if he wants to keep her to himself."

"Maybe he's just...I don't know," Ellie whispered. "What if he is?"

"If he's cheating on her? I don't think so. I could ask him. But I doubt he'd tell me."

"Just try. Please?" Ellie asked, looking up at Sean. Sean leaned down and kissed Ellie on the cheek.

"I'll ask him," he said. "For you."

"Thanks, Sean," Ellie said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Tuesday

"Jay, seriously. It's a very... um... convert... operation. You're the sneaking around-type. We're all going to be tracking him down and trying to find out what he's doing. You have to help us," Spinner muttered, leaning up against the back of the Dot, where he had told Jay to meet him after school.

"Okay," Jay answered. "Do you mean 'covert' operation, how much do I get paid and do I get to run the operation?"

"Covert, sure. I'll pay you...fifty bucks and yeah, you can run it."

"Well, alright, then," Jay said. "If it's an undercover job that no one's supposed to know about, then..."

"Can I tell them that you're in on it?" Spinner asked.

"Tell them I'm in," said Jay. He fixed his hat and straightened his jacket. He put his sunglasses on, not as though he needed them, and said, "Good day, Mason." He turned the corner and left Spinner standing alone. He ran into the café, sat at a table, and pulled out a cell phone. He dialed a number quickly.

"Hello?"

"Sean. He's in," Spinner said.

"Good." They hung up and Spinner sighed. He stood up and left the Dot. He smiled with self-pride as he put his hood up and walked home.

Craig dialed Ashley's cell phone, as she hadn't picked up the one at home. "Hello?" she said softly.

"Ash, it's Craig. Um...you wanna come over? I wanna show you something," Craig said quickly.

"Uh, sure, Craig," she said. "You're at home, right?"

"Yeah," Craig answered. "Where else would I be? I'm still grounded. Joey says you can come over for a little while."

"Okay," Ashley said. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay, bye," Craig said, hanging up.

Craig waited about twenty minutes until Ashley got there. He heard a knock on the door. He ran until he was halfway down the stairs, and then jumped off the last seven. He hit the floor with a loud thud and almost tripped as he ran toward the door.

He opened it. Ashley was standing there, soaking wet. "Ash!" Craig said happily. "You're wet. And cold. Come on." Craig put an arm around her shoulder and led her upstairs.

He left for a second and then returned with a towel. He handed it to her, along with a sweatshirt. "Now you can be warm and dry," he said, smiling. Ashley took the towel and sweatshirt. She draped the sweatshirt over her shoulders, and rubbed her head with the towel furiously. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Okay," Craig said. "This is what I wanted to show you." Craig lifted his guitar and set it on his knee.

"Craig, I've seen your guitar," Ashley said simply.

"Yeah, but not many people can play old school, Mexican rock with a broken arm," Craig said.

"What?" Ashley said blankly.

"Ever heard of Ritchie Valens? He redid the song 'La Bamba', and I've been learning to play it."

"I wanna hear it!" Ashley said excitedly.

"Okay," Craig said. He played the G, C, D, and A chords.

"That's the song?" Ashley asked. Craig nodded.

"Yeah," Craig answered. "Pretty cool, I know."

"How'd you learn that?"

"I was watching TV and this movie called La Bamba came on, and I was kind of confused at first, but I got the whole point of the movie. At the end, there's this part when it replays the song, and I watched him play, and I learned the song."

"Craig, that's amazing," Ashley said. Craig set the guitar back on the stand. He lay back on the bed. Ashley threw the towel to the floor and laid down next to him. She rested her head on his chest.

"I love you," Craig whispered, stroking her hair with his hand. He stopped stroking her hair when her shoulders started shaking. "What's wrong? Do you want me to not love you?" he asked. Ashley looked up at Craig.

"I want you to love me and trust me," she whispered through her tears.

"I do love and trust you," Craig assured her. "I wouldn't lie to you. What's wrong?" Ashley sat up, and Craig sat next to her. Ashley sighed. She turned and looked at Craig.

"Are you cheating on me?" she asked. She looked into Craig's eyes.

"No," he said quietly. "I'm not. You don't need to worry about me cheating on you. Okay? I love you. I'm not leaving you anytime soon and I'll never hurt you like I did again. I promise."

"Okay," said Ashley. Craig wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

"Shh," he said. "It's okay. It's okay." He laid back down on the bed, still holding her. "I love you."

Craig turned on his side, facing her as she was still on her back. He kissed her softly, resting his hand on her waist. She kissed back, and ran her hands under his shirt. Craig could taste her tears. They turned cold as they trailed down her face. Craig moved his hand lower down her back, tracing his fingers lazily across the covered skin.

Ashley pulled back and hugged him closely, and he hugged back. She sighed into his shirt, and he kissed her one last time. "I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Bye, Ash," Craig said sadly as he watched her stand up and leave, still wearing his sweatshirt. He sighed, almost caring that she took it with her. He didn't really mind; it was just a sweatshirt, and she'd give it back tomorrow.

Craig waited by the door, looking out the window until she was out of view. He glanced around the room, put his jacket on and slid out the door.

Later the next day, Ashley, Sean, Spinner, Marco, and Jay were plotting there secret operation. They'd all met up at the Dot immediately after school was out. "Okay, I'm the head of this entire thing, so first of all, I get to decide who does what," Jay said proudly. "Kerwin, you're the one who wanted this in the first place, so you get to interrogate him. Del Rossi, you're going to make sure Manning doesn't find out about this. Cameron and Mason... you just act cool. We're all going to follow him and find out what he's doing."

"Why are you addressing us by our last names?" Ashley asked.

"Because I just feel like it!" said Jay.

"Okay, okay..." Ashley muttered.

"So...now what?" said Sean.

"Now...we wait," Jay said, standing up. "We all leave this place, and pretend this meeting never happened."

"Okay," everyone said in unison.

Everyone left the Dot and went their separate ways. Ashley walked home slowly, starting to have second thoughts about this. She didn't want to invade Craig's privacy, but she wanted to know if he was cheating on her again.

Sean got into Jay's car, as he was going to drive him back to the apartment that he shared with Ellie. Jay pulled up to the building. "Thanks, man," Sean said. He got out of the car and went upstairs. He opened the door and sat down on the couch. This was going to be hard work; especially if they were all stalking Craig after school the next day. Jay drove home alone, listening to the radio. It was a really boring station, but all the other ones were worse. They'd stopped playing the music that he liked, and now they were playing oldies. Stupid radio. He wanted to call Alex, but she was probably still mad at him. They hadn't talked since the gonorrhea thing, and she would probably track him down and kill him if he called.

Marco and Spinner walked alongside each other, talking quietly about tomorrow's plan. They stopped talking immediately when they saw Craig emerging from an area covered in bushes and trees. Craig looked up at them. "Hey, guys," he said.

"Craig, what're you doing in the bushes?" Marco asked blankly.

"Nothing," Craig said quickly.

"You being in the bushes doesn't sound like nothing," said Spinner.

"Well, it is nothing," Craig said, irritated. He started walking in the opposite direction when Spinner grabbed his arm.

"Dude! You have to tell us what's going on!" he shouted. Craig turned around and pushed Spinner.

"I don't have to tell you anything! And if I did, there'd be nothing to tell you!" he said defensively.

"There is something going on with you, and if you're not gonna tell us, then maybe you don't trust us enough, and maybe we shouldn't be friends," Spinner said quietly. Craig looked genuinely hurt and insulted.

"It's not that I don't trust you guys. I just—I gotta go. Joey's gonna kill me if he finds me out here."

"You can't hide things from us forever, Craig," Marco whispered. "But I'm not gonna force it out of you."

Right when Craig was just about to turn around, he stopped when he saw Joey's car right in front of him. Joey rolled down the window. "What're you doing out here, Craig?" he asked.

"I was—" Craig began.

"No excuses. Get in the car," Joey commanded. Craig sighed and got into the car.

"Why did you have to do that?" Craig asked. "I was about to go home."

"So was I. You're grounded, Craig. Does that not occur to you? Ever?" Joey said loudly.

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Joey," said Craig.

"Well, sometimes it really seems like it." Craig looked over at Joey, hurt. He turned and looked out the window. Joey looked over at him, then back on the road. "Craig, I—"

"Don't, Joey. What you say doesn't even matter to me anymore." And that was the end. Craig had his hand on the door, waiting for Joey to get in front of the house. Craig opened the door and ran inside. He ran up to his room and slammed the door behind him. He looked at his left hand. "Sick. My skin's dry," he muttered. He picked up a small bottle of lotion off of his nightstand. He rubbed some on his hand, feeling better instantly that his skin didn't look so bad.

Craig took his jacket and shoes off and went under the blankets. He turned off the lamp and faced away from the window, where most of the light was coming from. He fell asleep, thinking about Joey, Marco, and Spinner. He felt bad that he was keeping things from them, but what he did was none of their business, and they shouldn't be trying to get him to tell them.

He woke up. He rolled over and looked at his clock. 3:38. He sighed and rolled out of the bed, taking the blankets and some pillows with him. He sat up and rubbed his head. He stood and looked out his window. It was dark and raining outside.

Craig went to his door and opened it. He went downstairs and saw a light coming from the kitchen. It was the light just above the table. Joey and Caitlin were sitting at the table, talking. They looked up at Craig.

"Craig, I'm sorry, did we wake you up?" Caitlin asked. Craig shook his head.

"I don't think so," he muttered groggily. "I always wake up at weird times of the night."

"Okay." Craig sat down at the table, next to Caitlin and across from Joey.

"What're you guys doing up this late, anyway?" he asked.

"Couldn't sleep," Joey answered. Craig shrugged. He rested his head down on the table and closed his eyes. He sighed softly.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." was the only thing that came from his throat.

"Maybe you should go to bed," Joey suggested. Craig shook his head.

"I can't sleep. I wouldn't have woken up if I could."

"Is there something wrong?" Caitlin asked in a concerned tone.

"No," Craig said tonelessly.

"Okay." Caitlin glanced over at Craig, who caught her doing so when he opened his eyes.

"Really. I'm fine. I'm just tired and I have a headache."

"Do you want an aspirin?" Joey asked.

"Sure," Craig moaned from the table. Joey stood up and got Craig a glass of water and an aspirin. He handed it to him. Craig sat up straight and drank the aspirin down with the water. The cold water felt good against his hot, dry throat. He drank the entire glass. He sighed in relief.

"Ah," he said. Caitlin and Joey smiled at Craig's reaction to the water. Craig looked at them.

"So...you two can continue with whatever you were just talking about before I came down and interrupted. I'll probably fall asleep right here."

"Actually, Craig, we were just talking about you," Caitlin said calmly.

"Good me or bad me?" Craig asked suspiciously.

"Good you," Joey responded. Craig smiled.

"I like Good Me," he whispered.

"We like Good You, too." Craig looked up at him. He sighed and rested his head back on the table.

"I'm going to bed," he said. "My head's starting to hurt a little bit more." Craig said goodnight to Joey and Caitlin and plodded back upstairs. He pushed his door open and went back to bed. He decided that he wasn't going to be able to sleep on the bed, so he got a seemingly clever idea. He got off the bed and laid down on the floor. He fell asleep about a half-hour later.

Joey woke up the next morning in bed next to his girlfriend, Caitlin. He rolled off the bed and stood up straight. He rubbed his head and felt weird fuzz starting to grow. He ran to the bathroom and covered his head with shaving cream before promptly shaving the fuzz off. Just as he was about to go back to his bedroom to get ready for work, the light from his step son's room showed no signs of its resident. He approached the door and pushed it all the way open. He found Craig stretched out on the floor next to the bed.

He knelt down next to him and shook his shoulder. "Craig. Craig. Wake up, buddy," he said. Craig stirred and turned over.

"What...?" he murmured.

"Craig, it's time to get up for school. Come on," Joey said, resting his hand on Craig's shoulder. Craig stood up and stretched. "Hmmm...What time is it?" Craig asked.

"It's time for you to get up for school," Joey repeated. Craig scoffed.

"I don't want to go to school today," he said. "Everyone's gonna harass me today."

"Why would they do that?" Joey asked.

"Because they're just rude like that," Craig answered. He went to his closet and started rummaging around for shirts and jeans. He found the clothes he wanted to wear that day and threw them on the bed. Joey shrugged and went back to his own room. Craig picked up his clothes and went into the bathroom to take a shower. When he emerged, he felt fresh and clean. He put his clothes on and combed his hair like he always did.

He found some socks and put them on, his shoes immediately following them. He grabbed his sweatshirt from the floor and smelled it. It smelled like Ashley. He smiled as he put it on. He went downstairs and sat down at the table with Caitlin, Joey, and Angie, who looked tired. He poured himself a glass of juice and drank it quietly.

"How'd you sleep on the floor last night?" Joey asked, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Better than I would have on the bed," Craig answered.

At School

Ashley ran up to Craig during lunch. "Where've you been?" Craig asked curiously.

"I was in the bathroom," Ashley said. "I didn't feel well."

"Are you okay now?" asked Craig worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm fine," said Ashley.
"That's good."

"So...what're you doing after school today?"

"I'm grounded," Craig muttered. "I'm not doing anything after school except being grounded."

"Poor Craig," Ashley said quietly, leaning against him. "You'll be ungrounded in a little while."

"I didn't realize that three weeks was a little while."

"It's okay. It won't be too long. Chill out."

"I can't chill out." Ashley hugged him tightly, not ending it until the bell rang.

"Come on. It's time for class," she said smoothly, taking his hand and leading him to class with her. Craig went with her, walking alongside her until he reached the classroom. He sat in his usual corner, with Ashley on the other side of the room. He sent her an email, asking her what she was doing.

"The assignment," she wrote back.

"I didn't hear the assignment. What was it?"

"You're supposed to write an html background by yourself."

"How does Simpson expect me to do that?"

"He just does."

"He's not smart then. I can't do that."

"Tell him that!"

"Can I copy yours?"

"Hm...fine. Just don't tell him that I gave it to you."

"Okay. Send it to me!"

"I'm not done yet!"

"Fine!" Craig sat back in his chair and stared over at Ashley, who was typing away quickly on her computer. That's when Craig got an idea. He opened up the word processor and began typing random letters, numbers, and symbols. He put 'html' every so often, and a few ' 's here and there. He put the word 'background' at the end, along with a URL and was finally done. He copied and pasted it and emailed it to Ashley. Under it he said, "Look at my beautiful html."

He saw Ashley as she opened the email. She looked up at him. She rolled her eyes and smiled softly. Finally, class was over. It seemed to take forever.

Over an hour-and-a-half later, Ashley, Spinner, Sean, Marco, and Jay all met up behind the school.

"So," Jay said. "Is everyone ready for what needs to happen?" Spinner, Marco, and Sean nodded. "Kerwin, I didn't see you nod," said Jay.

"I'm not so sure about this," Ashley muttered.

"Not so—what? You're the one that thought of this in the first place!" Jay almost shouted.

"I know. But...it's Craig," said Ashley. "And he...I don't know if it's right of us to go and---"

"Okay, if you don't want to do this, fine. Then don't. But if he finds out that we're doing this and you're not there, I'm telling him that you set it all up and you just paid us to go and find out what he was doing," Spinner said simply. "Or, you can still do this, and we can all be blamed for it if he finds out."

"Fine!" Ashley cried. "I'll do it."

"So now what do we do?" Marco asked.

"We sit here and wait until school's out," Jay answered. "Because it'll seem a little odd if everyone goes back into their classes at the same time."

"Okay..." Sean said quietly. "Whatever."

"Cameron, don't use that tone with me!" Jay reprimanded.

"You wanna go?" Sean shouted.

"Man, shut up, sit down, and wait until the bell rings," said Jay. Sean backed down and sat against the brick wall. He sighed and looked around at the others.

"So..." he said.

"So what?" Ashley said.

"I don't know," Sean said defensively. They all started laughing after about ten minutes of silence. Everyone, that is, but Ashley.

"Kerwin, what's your problem? You're like...boring," Jay said seriously.

"I don't think it's right that we're spying on Craig," Ashley said quickly.

"If you're not going through with this, then I am. Your little boyfriend doesn't get to lie to everyone he knows about where he's going after school. If he's not telling anyone, then it must be serious," Jay responded. Ashley glared at him. She jumped when the bell rang. Jay looked at the four people before him.

"Show time," he said. Everyone stood and followed Jay. They went to his car, where everyone got in. It was kind of crowded due to the fact that there was only room for four. Ashley squeezed in the back between Spinner and Marco. Sean sat in the front next to Jay. They waited in the car while they carefully watched the people empty from the school. "There's your lover," Jay said to Ashley as he indicated Craig, who'd just come out.

"Shut up," Ashley snapped. Jay rolled his eyes. He pulled out and followed Craig as he went home. He took a left turn away from Craig. "Where are you going?" Ashley asked.

"Chill out," said Jay. "He'll be on to us if we follow him home. I'm going a different way."

Ashley shrugged and shut up. She talked to Marco quietly while Jay and Sean listened to music in the front. Spinner stared out the window. He looked around as Jay stopped the car about two houses away from Craig's. They waited in the car, the radio playing quietly. Every time a car would drive by, they would lower their heads in their seats. It started raining. A car finally pulled up into the front of Craig's house. Joey and Craig emerged.

"There he is," Jay muttered.

"Joey gave him a ride. He's been getting off work early lately," said Ashley.

"That's nice," Spinner said, sighing.

It was another hour until Craig left the house again. Jay waited until Craig turned the corner and then started the car completely (because only the accessory was on), and put the car into drive. He was always about twenty feet behind or in front of Craig. It was still raining, harder than it was when it first started. The sound probably blocked the noise of the car. And even if Craig did pay attention to the car, he wouldn't have heard it, because he had his MP3 player with him. He held it in his hand, which was keeping itself warm in the pocket of his sweatshirt.

"That's not fair," Jay said. "Where'd he get that? That's a nice one."

"Does it matter where he got it?" said Ashley. "It's just an MP3 player."

"Yeah. A damn nice MP3 player," Sean added.

"Lucky," said Spinner.

"Craig's the farthest from 'lucky' that I've ever seen," said Marco. Jay rolled his eyes.

"What's up with everyone being all sympathetic about him today?" he said. Nobody answered him. Eventually, Craig lowered his head and went through some bushes. Jay stopped the car on the side of the road and looked around to make sure there were no 'No Parking' signs. The last thing he needed was a ticket. He waited until the bushes stopped shaking. "Come on, guys," Jay said. He got out of the car and left the door open so that Spinner could get out.

They all followed Jay into the bushes. When they reached the edge of the bushes, they looked out through the spaces between leaves. Everyone stared at Craig, who was sitting next to a large, polished, perfectly-shaped rock.

"Great, now I feel stupid," said Sean.

"I feel disgusting," Ashley whispered. "This isn't fair."

"Why's he here?" asked Jay. "I mean, is this a hobby of his or something?"

"No, it's not a hobby," Ashley said quickly. "It's...I'm not sure what you'd call it. Maybe a way of support."

"Support of what?" Jay said.

"Never mind," Ashley muttered. "I can't believe I yelled at him for this."

"Don't feel bad," said Marco. "Me and Spinner tried to get it out of him the other day, but he got irritated and Joey picked him up and took him home."

"Maybe we should leave," said Ashley.

"No," said Jay. "I'm not leaving now."

"Fine," said Sean. "But I'm not staying here long. This is depressing."

"How is it depressing? I'd find it depressing if I knew why he was here," Jay mumbled.

"Just wait until he leaves."

"Why is he getting his pants muddy? That's just...weird. Craig never willingly sits in mud," said Marco.

"You're just using that as an excuse so that later you can see him walking down the street and 'help him get it off the back of his pants'," said Jay. Spinner snorted and Marco glared at him.

"That's the same look Kerwin gave me back in the car," Jay said, laughing. "I'm not surprised that you'd give the same look as her."

"Okay, Jay, enough with the gay jokes," Ashley scolded. Jay rolled his eyes.

"Some people," he said quietly. They watched Craig for a few more minutes. He stood up and went the other direction. "He's leaving," said Spinner.

"Duh," said Sean. "Why didn't he just go that way when he got here?"

"Because the other way is faster. He's probably tired," Ashley explained. Sean shrugged. When Craig was out of view, they emerged from the bushes and went to where Craig had been sitting.

"That's why he's here," said Sean, pointing to the rock. "This is where he went when..."

"This is his mom's grave," said Ashley.

"Whoa. Really? I thought his mom was that chick that runs around filming people," Jay said curiously.

"No. That's his...step dad's girlfriend. There's a difference."

"Oh. I get it. So...he's...an orphan?" Jay asked.

"Don't put it in such harsh words," Marco said.

"I'm just asking!" Jay said defensively.

"Well, yeah. He is. But he lives with his step dad and his little family," Sean added.

"Now what were you saying before Kerwin interrupted?" Jay asked Sean.

"When I first met Craig, it was like, not even a week after I met him, and he was gonna kill himself. He ran away from his dad's, and we couldn't find him. Emma told us to look here, and, sure enough, he was here."

"He misses his mom," Ashley whispered. "Things are hard for him right now."

"Well, then, why don't you go do something to make things... harder?" Jay said suggestively. He smiled.

"Jay! This is not the time to be talking like that!" Ashley cried, slapping Jay's arm. Jay glared at her.

"Sorry!" Jay said. "He shot his dad, right?"

"Not on purpose," said Spinner. "At least that's what he told us."

"He spent a week in jail," Ashley said. "In the dark. He made friends with one of the guards. He gave him food and water every so often."

"Sucks for him," Jay mumbled. "But I've been in there longer."

"You would be."

"You guys, I think spy time's over. This isn't fair to him," Ashley said suddenly, standing up straight. "Let's go."

Jay sighed heavily and stood up. That's when he saw something---Craig's MP3 player. How could he not have felt it fall to the ground? Or hear it? He ran over and picked it up. He shoved it in his pocket. He could keep it. He could sell it—for a lot. Or, he could claim sympathy and give it back. He could be nice for once. For once. And only for once.

They all went back to the car. He went the same way he had to get there. "Where are we going?" asked Marco.

"Shut up and you'll find out," Jay answered. He pulled up in front of Craig's. "Stay here. Kerwin, stay down." He got out of the car and went up to the door. He knocked. He heard footsteps and someone answered the door. It was a small girl, who couldn't have been that old.

"Hello," she said sweetly.

"Hey," Jay said in the same voice he used with everyone else. "Could you give this to Craig?" Jay took the MP3 player out of his pocket and wiped the mud off of it on his jeans. He handed it to her. "Please? Tell him Jay dropped it off."

"Okay," the little girl answered. She held it in her left hand, as she couldn't very well hold it in her other one.

"What happened to your finger?" asked Jay.

"I fell off the couch and broke it," the little girl said.

"Oh. I see. Well, remember—Jay dropped it off. Okay? I gotta go," Jay said. "Bye."

The little girl shut the door as Jay jogged back to the car. He opened the door and got in the car. He started it back up, and noticed that everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he demanded, driving away.

"That has to be the nicest thing I've ever witnessed you do," said Sean.

"Don't mention it. Ever," Jay said harshly.

"Why'd you do it? You could've sold it for hundreds of dollars. And you gave it back."

"I feel sorry for him. That's all there is. When I feel sorry for people...I'm just...shut up, Cameron."

"Sorry! It's just that I've never seen you nice before. Maybe if my parents die then you'll be nice to me, too."

"Cameron, I am nice to you. And it's not just because his parents are dead. It's a lot of things. Just shut up or I'll drop you off right here."

"That wouldn't be too bad of a problem, considering that my apartment's about a tenth of a mile away."

"Shut up, Cameron!" Jay shouted. He drove the short distance to Sean's apartment, and let Sean get out. Spinner promoted himself to the front seat. Jay dumped everyone off at the Dot, then went home himself. He went into the bathroom, and shut the door. He took off his hat and looked at his reflection.

"What am I doing? Why am I going soft on Manning like this? This sucks," he said to himself.

A/N: Haha! I know what you're all saying, "Holy crap! That's a long deucing chapter!" Nearly 15,000 words of a chapter better be considered long! Anyway, I'm now working on Part 10, which, I promise, shan't be as long as part 9. And...I REALLY want the reviews! So...if you could all be so nice as to review this story, (please make it long. I like long reviews. They're interesting.) It would be greatly appreciated.