Chapter 15: My Own Worst Enemy

Emma sat in Independent Study, tapping her pencil nervously as she watched the clock. "Three…two…one…" she whispered to herself. She heard the first computer beep. She smirked, wincing at the pain in her lip. "Blast off!"

Computers all over the room began beeping. Snickers began to fill the room.

Manny was sitting in the library when her cell phone beeped. She frowned as she opened it and did not recognize the text message sender's number.

"Go to the M.I. room. Something you want to see."

Manny sighed and frowned, rolling her eyes. "What the hell?" she muttered in boredom. She walked into the computer lab just as another text message popped up.

"Open email with subject 'Women Scorned'. It's a real eye opener."

'What the hell is this?' she thought as she sat down. 'If someone's trying to send me a virus…' She was so deep in thought she didn't hear the snickers become full blown laughter. Her eyes widened in surprise as the email loaded onto her screen.

"So, Kim. What did you do for fun before you got here?" Sean asked as they nibbled on a shared piece of cake.

Kim smiled softly, her eyes glazing over with nostalgia. "Horse back riding," she murmured so softly that Sean almost missed it.

"I've never tried that before. Closest I've ever come is riding motorcycles."

"Oh! You should try it sometime! It's…it's…it's the freest feeling in the world!"

Sean chuckled and nodded. "Tell you what. When we get out of here, you can show me how to ride a horse…if you let me take you on a motorcycle ride."

Kim blushed. "I'd break-"

Sean frowned at her. "If you say you'll break my seat, or any other part of my bike," he said sternly, "I'll shove this cake right up your nose!"

Kim looked surprised for a minute before her face crinkled into a smile. Soon, she was laughing, and Sean chuckled. "It's a deal," she promised between giggles.

Kim suddenly frowned. She looked around in surprise. "Where's Shanna?"

Sean looked around with a frown. He shrugged. "I aint' got a clue. Want another bite of cake?"

Kim smiled nervously. "I'm going to gain-"

"What? An ounce?" Sean shrugged. "So what? I never got that whole stick thin thing. Who wants to look like they're dying from some third world disease?"

Kim rolled her eyes as she nibbled at a bite that he'd passed over on his fork. "You think you're smooth, don't you?" she asked with a smile.

"Hey!" he replied with a smirk. "You've got a crush on me, don't you?"

She laughed and playfully slapped his arm. "You wish!"

Sean grinned. "Want another bite?"

Within moments of the photos loading, Manny was laughing hysterically. She looked over at Emma, who was wearing a smirk and Emma nodded in her direction before turning away. Manny stared back down at the photos.

Photo one…Chris and Peter with their pants around their ankles, standing strangely close and facing each other. Anyone looking might think they were getting ready to kiss! Photo two…the picture that Emma and Manny had taken together on the day they'd planned that stupid Double 'O' Seven prank. Photo three…Emma sitting on a couch that Manny didn't recognize. She had her legs kicked up and crossed at the ankles on top of a coffee table. In one hand, she held a bottle of beer. A cigarette hung lazily in between her lips, and the smoke had curled up, forcing one eye to close. Her other hand was flipping off the camera. In the caption, it read, "Don't worry, Santos. The second pic isn't on anyone else's email…so you're off the hook. I'll defrag after class…Archie's NOTHING if not predictable with his lame ass punishment, right?"

Manny couldn't help but wonder why Emma had done something so nice for her when she'd been so crummy to her.

Suddenly, Ms. Hatzilakos's voice came over the PA system, nearly inaudible over the snickers, laughs, and cat calls as Peter rushed down the hall past the room.

"I need Emma Nelson in my office immediately! Emma Nelson!"

Emma stood up with a smirk on her face. She walked over to Manny's computer, tapped some keys, whispered, "Don't worry. I sent them to your home account," and walked off. Manny turned back to the screen in shock as she watched it begin to do something called "Eraser D". Manny realized in surprise that Emma had just begun a program to wipe all the files clean and overwrite them so that no one could access the photos in the temp files. Now, there was no proof that Manny had ever been involved in any scheme with Emma…ever.

Suddenly, sadness washed over her as she realized that she and Emma wouldn't be involved in any harebrained schemes anymore…ever.

"Oh!" Kim gasped, looking down at her watch. "I've got counseling in about five minutes."

Sean nodded and stood, picking up the two empty cakes plates. He tried to hide a happy smile at the thought that they'd actually gone back for seconds, and Kim hadn't complained about her weight once during the whole second piece. He set the plates on the pick up tray and walked over. "Evans?" She nodded. He smiled. "I'll walk with you. It's on my way back to my room…and on the way, you can tell me about all your pets."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! I've got this puppy. She's a chocolate lab, and her name's Cocoa Puff!" She smirked. "Not real original, I know…"

"I wouldn't exactly call it original, but I had a dog once…the last time I lived in Wasaga. He was a Cocker Spaniel named Charlie. I had to leave him behind when I moved to Toronto. Dad said that he got hit by a car a week later. But…who knows? He could have shot him or something." He shrugged. "Who knows? Dad was drinking pretty heavy at the time."

"Oh!" Kim mumbled sadly. "I'm sorry."

Sean shrugged. "Me too. I'm sorry I didn't take him to the pound. He'd have had a better chance there. Hell, he'd have been better off living in the streets and hunting scraps."

Kim nodded with a small smile. "If I'd have known you back then, I'd have offered to take him in for you."

Sean smiled. "That's sweet. But back then, I was more into…ummm…girls who weren't exactly…"

"Chubby?"

He shook his head. "Nice. I liked the 'Girl Interrupted'…Angelina Jolie thing."

Kim laughed. "Ummm…this is it. I'll…I'll see you around."

Sean smiled. "You bet you will. I still want to hear about the rest of your pets."

She walked inside and Sean continued walking to his room. When he got there, he was surprised to see that Shanna wasn't there. Instead, Charlie was sitting on the desk across from Sean's bed.

"Whoopy!" he said with a smile.

Alex paced back in forth in front of the school. Where was she?

"H-hey, Alex?"

Alex turned with a frown at Manny's timid voice. If she weren't so worried about Emma at the moment, she might have taken the time to be amused by the other girl's obvious fear. "What is it, Santos?"

"Uhhh…Emma…is Em…is she OK?"

Alex's frown grew. "How the hell should I know? She's in your class…not mine!"

"Yeah, but…but she hasn't been in class since Hatzilakos called her to the office during Independent Study."

"Oh, hell!" Alex groused as she began storming down the street.

Manny clutched her books to her chest as she followed behind. "Is she…I mean…does she like living with you?"

Alex arched her brow and spun on Manny. "What's it matter to you? Huh?"

"She's-"

"What? Your friend? No…really. I mean…you shit on her for dating Peter…just cause you couldn't keep your top on, and now you expect me to give you the low down on how she is? Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"I can't! I…I don't know what to say!"

Alex shrugged. "Yeah. Sorta' got that. You never seem to know what to say unless it's something to get a guy to get you knocked up, right?"

Manny stepped back as if she'd been slapped. Tears burned in her eyes as she watched Alex turn away again. Something inside Manny snapped. She stood up straighter. "Fuck you, Alex Nunez!"

Alex spun around with a tiny smirk. "Already did that over the phone a while back, Darlin'. Have to admit, the little sighs and squeals? Kind of hot…even for you."

Manny's mouth snapped closed as her skin paled. Suddenly fury filled her and she walked up and slapped Alex in the face. Alex smirked.

"What's the matter? Afraid your secret will get out? That you're a closet kinky bitch?" Alex shook her head and chuckled. "Don't worry. I wouldn't want to trash my rep by letting anyone find out." She turned and strode off.

After a moment, Manny followed, not ready to give up. "What the hell's your problem, Alex? Seriously. You think you're better than everybody…you trash us…is it just to make yourself feel better?"

Alex shrugged.

Manny nodded. "Yeah. That must be what it is. Cause you and your little scumbag boyfriend don't seem to like anyone until they stumble and fall on their face! Well…what about me, huh? Do you think I feel good about what I did with Craig while he was with Ash? You act like Ashley's the only one who lost something. She wasn't, you know. All she lost was Craig. I lost Craig…AND a baby, dammit!"

Alex's steps faltered a bit, but she shook it off and continued. "And that little Spinner thing? I'm not proud of it. It was a competition…and I won. So what?"

Alex chuckled. "See? Now that's your problem. You seem to think that making mistakes makes you human. The problem is that you never seem to learn from them. You're nothing but Degrassi's broken record. 'Oh, poor me!' Yeah? Well, what about Emma? She cut her wrists because she couldn't deal with everything going on in her life because her best friend took a healthy dump on her."

"It was a mistake!"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Like I said. You never learn from your mistakes." Alex rushed off before Manny could reply.

"So, Charlie. What's up?"

Charlie looked around nervously. "That…stuff I told you…you're not-"

Sean smiled and waved off the rest of his words. "Better than just being a kept secret…it's already forgotten. At least when I'm around people who can get you busted."

Charlie stared at the door. "Even Shanna?" he whispered.

"Shanna? Why would you worry-"

"It's not that I don't trust her. It's just…like yesterday, she was downstairs. Tessa and Tina were discharged."

"Tessa and Tina?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. They were molestation victims when they were young. Their uncle. Anyway, after their folks were killed, their uncle was their only option. They made a suicide pact." He shrugged. "What I'm saying is that…it seems like every time she gets put downstairs, another person who isn't ready seems to be discharged. Four out of the nine have already committed suicide, and two are in the youth detention center. They got busted to get out of their situations."

"And you think Shanny is involved?"

Charlie shrugged. "Not saying she is or she isn't. Just saying it's weird is all." He sighed. "I sort of…I let her know that I'd caught you two in the woods the other day…kind of my way of insurance to stay. But now…now I wish I hadn't. She can be pretty conniving…and besides…you're cool. I wouldn't out you just to save my ass. And that sucks."

Sean nodded. "Look. I'll talk to her…and kind of try to get a feel for what's going on in her head without her getting suspicious, OK?"

Charlie looked relieved. He stood up and shook Sean's hand in the 'guy shake'. "Thanks, Man."

"No problem."

After Charlie left, Sean got up and went for a walk. He was just returning when he bumped into Kim. "Hey! How was counseling?" he asked as he casually strolled up to her.

Kim beamed. "It was…OK," she murmured, blushing softly.

Sean noticed and chuckled. "Kim? Are you OK?"

"I…uhhhh…I mean…ummm…yeah," she stammered as her blush deepened.

Sean decided to let her off the hook. "Hey! I was wondering if you want to join me and Shanny…you know…for supper. It's not a huge deal or anything…of course, but-"

She chuckled. "Sounds like fun. I'll meet you guys outside your room at suppertime."

Sean smiled. "Great. See you then," he said as Kim waved and turned to go into her own room.

When he got to his room, he was shocked at its state. "What the fuck?" he muttered as he looked around at his notebook pages strewn across the room. The clothes he'd been brought into the hospital in were shredded. His CD player lay shattered on the floor. CDs were smashed and flung everywhere. He knelt down, his rage rising. He knew who had done it. Shanna. The only thing missing was his hoody. His beany was the only article of clothing not ripped up.

"What the hell?" came a feminine gasp over his shoulder. "Sean? Are you crazy?" she asked.

Sean looked up in confusion. "You…you didn't trash my stuff?"

Shanna's face reddened. "Why would you think that?" she hissed.

Sean shrugged and stood up. "I don't know. I just…I guess I thought that since you were the only one who knew where I hid my bag-"

Tears sprang to her eyes. "You thought I did it! Nice! Sean…I only took the hoody that once because…I wanted you to…to like me in it…the fantasy was a turn on!"

He shook his head as he stared up at the empty space on the wall that had once contained the clock, which now lay at Sean's feet, in about ten pieces. He sighed. "Can you call the nurse? No sense in us getting blamed for this."

"Why not? You already blamed me!" she huffed, but hit the nurse's call button anyway.

"Shanny! I just…my stuff's trashed! And your half of the room is probably pristine, dammit! What would you think if the roles were reversed?"

Shanna shook her head sadly. "I don't know…but I wouldn't blame you," she mumbled angrily as she threw back the curtain to her room. Her gasp caused Sean to look up. She spun on him angrily, tears in her eyes. "Guess that blows your theory all to shit and back, doesn't it?" she asked harshly as she turned back to her room, which was in the same state as his.

She plopped sadly on the bed, tears spilling down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the TV, which no longer contained a screen. "Who the hell would do this?"