Manny walked into the Dot only to see Emma and Peter giggling. Anger rose over her face; he was supposed to be hers, not Emma’s. She was the one that all the guys were supposed to be after, the one that was supposed to get all the guys she wanted, not Emma.

“Oh I see someone’s jealous of Miss Greenpeace,” Jay said coming up behind her. He found this all quite amusing.

“Why don’t you just leave me alone Jay,” she snarled. She couldn’t stand him, he made her blood boil; he had turned her last boyfriend, her first real love, bad helping him cause Jimmy to get shot. If that hadn’t happened then she would be with him still, and people’s lives wouldn’t have been flipped upside down.

“Come on I can see in your eyes that you want Ms. H’s son.” He thought it would be splendid to see a fight between them, so why not add fuel to the fire. Whispering in her ear, “So why don’t you just take him, we all know how great you are at taking something that isn’t yours to begin with,” he laughed.

She wanted to slap him for that comment, but that she thought he was right, she could just take Peter back. It couldn’t be that hard, she would just do it the way that she had stolen Spin and Craig away from their girls. Yes Emma was her best friend, but she couldn’t help feel the need to have everything that she wanted not matter who she had to step on to get it.

Manny smiled mischievously, as she contemplated how she would handle the whole situation, she had to be a little sneaky at first in hopes that Emma wouldn’t find out what she was up to right away otherwise it might screw it all up, and she might have more of a fight on her hands.

Step one of the plan would start now; she strolled over to the happy couple, all perky, “Hey you two!”

“Hey Manny, what’s up?” Emma asked feeling like it had been a while since the last time that they chatted.

“Oh nothing much, just thought I would stop by to pick up some coffee before heading to meet a friend,” staring past Emma at Peter the whole time. She wished she could just push Emma aside and kiss him there and then.

“Well then we won’t keep you,” Peter said, smiling.

Manny just stood there, biting her lower lip; she felt like she was going to melt. Boy did she love the way he smiled, especially at her, every time it seemed to send butterflies through her stomach.

“Well I guess I’ll just leave you two by yourselves, bye Emma,” winking at him, “bye Peter.” With that she headed for the front counter to grab her coffee, and then headed out towards the door, but not before taking one more glances at the happy couple. “I’m sorry I have to do this Emma,” she whispered, “but I need to have him.”

******************************

Jimmy glanced down at the applications, one for the art school, and the other for the U of T. He wasn’t sure which one to pick. Going to the U of T would ensure a lot of opportunities to do a lot of things, but going to the art school would enable to better himself and maybe help him get the kind of career he dreamed of, in the arts; something he was so passionate about.

******************************

“So how was your date last night?” Emma asked as they sat on her bed. It had been a while since her friend had dated anyone; she hoped that she could find some type of happiness, happiness that she once shared with Spinner.

“Okay…but he wasn’t my type,” she said, which wasn’t true. Usually she would be totally all over his type, asking for another date, but all she could think of is Emma’s boyfriend, and step two of how to make him hers.

“That’s too bad,” Emma replied. “So why don’t I set you up with one of Peter’s friends? They’d love you,” she said sounding rather excited. She knew a few that would die to go out with her, and were exactly her type.

“No thanks, I think I’m very capable of finding my own dates,” she rather not have to watch them flirting in front of her, number one reason she didn’t hang out with Emma much when she was with him.

“Alright suit yourself.” Maybe she was still in love with Spinner, she thought, wondering how hard it actually could be to get over someone like that.

******************************

“So Jimmy did you decided yet?” Lexie asked as she and he sat at the park.

“Nope…I’m not sure what I want,” but really he was just scared. This meant the rest of his life, he was afraid that making the wrong choice would ruin the chance of a normal life he had.

“That’s not true, you know exactly what you want…you’re just too scared to do it,” putting her hand on his leg, “just like you were scared to give basketball up.”

Taking a deep breath, hating that she seemed to know him so well, probably more than any of his friends who had known him much longer, “It’s not as easy as that.”

“Why not?”

“Because this affects what my future will hold. If I don’t succeed in art, then I have nothing to fall back on.”

“And if you do, then you’ll be living your dream,” she said taking his hand into hers, smiling, glancing into his eyes.

“Do you think that I can do it?” wondering if she believe that he could.

“Jimmy I’ve told you a million times that I believe that you’re very talented. I just wish that you would see it,” she replied. She wished he would be able to see himself the way she saw him.

Looking away, “It’s just so hard at times, when I was shot it’s like I lost my self confidence.”

“Oh Jimmy,” she didn’t know what came over her; she leaned in and kissed him. It was a brief kiss; before he could respond to it she ran away, down the path; afraid that he didn’t feel the same way. She couldn’t stick around to find out, only to have her heart broken again.

Jimmy was left there wondering what had just happened between him and Alex, and what exactly it meant.

******************************

Manny noticed Peter walking her way, as he grew closer she pulled him into the janitor’s closet that was close by, somewhere no one would spot them.

“What did you do that for?” Peter asked, wondering why she had pulled him into the closet, unsure what this was all about. Something told him that he should get out of here.

Growing closer, just enough so that he could feel her breath on his face, “Because I thought doing this in public was a little inappropriate.”

He looked at her, still confused, “What is?”

“This,” leaning up, against him, biting his ear lobe, making him moan at her very touch. Yes it was working, she thought.

Peter couldn’t believe she was doing that, and he didn’t want to react but he couldn’t help it. He pushed her away from him quickly, he couldn’t do this; she wasn’t Emma. “Stop it, I’m with Emma, and I dearly care for her; more than I can say about you,” spitting into her face. If he hit girls, he would have definitely done it.

“Oh come on, you can’t possibly be getting what you want from her,” referring to sex, knowing that Emma wasn’t giving him any of that. “With me…you can have your cake,” giving him a quick peck on his lips, “and eat it too,” she smiled seductively. She grabbed his hands placed them on her waist, whispering in his ear, “I know you want to have your way with me, so why not take me.”

Peter gazed down at her, as she stared at him with eagerness in her eyes, biting on her lower lip. As he closed his eyes, thinking this was so wrong, he took in the smell of her sweet perfume; it was so intoxicating. Before he knew what he was doing he leaned in and began to kiss her soft lips; letting his body take over his brain, letting his needs come before his heart.

Manny moved her hands towards his belt to help him take it off when he was taken back into reality.

He grabbed her hands, removing them from his belt, “No I can’t…this isn’t right.”

She was disappointed that he had stopped her, but she wouldn’t push him just yet. She would just keep hinting until he came begging. “Well if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me,” leaving him to think about what she said.

******************************

Jimmy couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday afternoon, and the kiss he shared with his best friend. He had tried to call Alex to try to talk about it, but she was avoiding him. He couldn’t understand why, did she regret it or something, because he sure didn’t. To be honest he had been thinking about doing it for a while now.

Marco walked by, “What’s got you in such a daze?” noticing that he was staring off at the empty halls.

“Got kissed by an angel last night, and than she ran off.”

“We wouldn’t be talking about a certain Alex, would we?” He had a feeling for the past few weeks that Jimmy felt more towards her than just friendship. He hoped it happened, because he thought that they both would be good for each other.

“Yeah,” he smiled, not surprised that Marco figured it out, he usually knew before anyone else, even that person knew.

“Well have you tried talking to her?”

“She’s been avoiding me all day, pretending that she has something else to do. I mean why would she just kiss me than take off?” questioning her motives.

“Maybe she’s not sure how you feel, or scared of these feeling she has towards you. I mean last time she was with someone he ended up cheating on her with how knows many people, leaving her with a shattered heart.”

“Maybe you right, but what should I do then?”

“Well make sure that you catch her where she can’t get away next time, and make her talk with you, and open up.”

******************************

Peter and Emma sat at the park, having a little picnic to celebrate their two month anniversary. He had set it all up, wanting to show her that she was special to him by bringing her to her favorite place. So he brought her there despite the cold weather.

As she leaned against him, “I can’t believe you did this for me, no guy has ever been this sweet.”

“Well you only deserve the best,” and he really meant it. His heart kept on telling him to tell her what Manny had done, but he hated the thought of hurting her. He just couldn’t do it; he didn’t want to ruin her friendship with Manny even if she had betrayed her.

“And you deserve some thanks,” leaning in to kiss his lips. He ran his fingers through her hair as he deepened the kiss. He began to kiss down her jaw line, towards her neck. However, she drew his lips back to hers; she didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

I know you want to have me; Peter heard Manny voice in his head. He broke away from the kiss, glancing around him, but no one was there. Why was he hearing her voice? He wanted it to go away.

Emma looked at him, “What’s wrong?” thinking she might have done something wrong, that maybe he wasn’t happy with them just kissing.

Shaking it off, “Nothing…now where were we,” he replied, moving back towards her.

“I think…here,” biting his lower lip.

Oh, that was great, he thought. It felt good, but before long he could hear her voice in the back of his head, ‘you’re not getting what you want’. He just tried to ignore it, make it go away. He didn’t want this to ruin his night with his girlfriend.

******************************

Alex’s phone went off as she sat on her bed; she looked at the number before answering it. It was just Paige, nothing to worry about, she thought. “Hello.”

“Alex, I heard you’ve been avoiding Jimmy, why?” Paige asked. If she liked him so much, why not go after him, she thought.

“Because I got scared after I kissed him,” she admitted.

“Why?” to her she didn’t seem like someone that would be afraid of anything.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” She didn’t want anymore heartache.

“Come on Alex, you two have been hanging out a lot lately, you even got your own language. I’ve known Jimmy forever, and I’m telling you he definitely feels the same way.”

“Are you sure?” hoping that she was right.

“Yes…definitely.”

Alex was happy to hear that, she really wanted something to happen between the two of them. She picked up the portrait that he drew of her, and smiled, “Okay I guess I will go talk to him then.”

“Good, why don’t you meet me at the food court at the mall, around 7pm. We can go catch a flick or something,” Paige replied.

“Alright.”

******************************

Manny walked through the halls of Degrassi, she just had finished cheerleading practice. Now she was just heading to her locker to grab her book bag before heading home.

As she came around the corner, someone caught her eye, “Hey there.”

Peter turned around, “What are you doing here?” So wishing that he was in another place at this very moment, anywhere she wasn’t. He just wanted to be left alone by her, that her voice would leave his head.

“More to the point what are you doing here?” she smiled.

“Forgot a book that I need to study with.” He just wanted to get out of here as fast as he could.

Walking closer to him, “Oh is that so.” Growing closer to him, “You know that that I’ve been thinking about you all day,” putting her hands on his chest, “thinking about that kiss.”

Peter looked down at her, she was biting her lip, making her look oh so irresistible, but he had to stand his ground. Stepping backwards, “You need to stop this, I’m with Emma,” he harshly stated.

Shaking her head no, “I can see in your eyes that you want me,” not really true but she had to play with his head, and make him believe that she did. “You just need to stop fighting it.”

“Why won’t you stop this?” pleading for her to leave him alone. He couldn’t give in to this, he had to stay strong, but it was so hard when she was in his breathing space and all he could smell was her vanilla scent on her skin.

“Because I want what I want, and I never give up until I get it. Now look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t want me.”

Peter stared into her eyes, and some magnetic force was pulling him closer to her. He pulled her closer to him, and leaned down to kiss her roughly, crushing her lips against his.

Manny remembered where they were, and thought that maybe this wasn’t the best place for them to do this. She released from their kiss, “Why don’t we go back to my place?”

“Alright,” even though he knew he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help himself. He was letting his hormones talk for him; he had let Manny get to him just like the others.

She pulled him along, down the halls towards the front entrance.

******************************

Alex sat there in the food court waiting for Paige, she was 15mins late. She grabbed her cell from her pocket; she had decided that she would phone Paige to see what she had gotten to.

“Hey Lexie,” someone called out.

There was only one person that called her that. She turned around to face them, “Jimmy, what are you doing here?”

“Paige told me that I would find you here,” she had phoned him, making sure that he would go there to tell her how he felt.

Smirking, “Oh did she.” How did she not see this as a set up?

“Why don’t we talk about why you’re avoiding me,” even though he was pretty sure he knew already.

“Okay,” surrendering.

“So why did you kiss me and then run?”

He had to go straight into that didn’t he, she thought. “I got scared, didn’t know how you were going to react. And I couldn’t handle to find out in case it wasn’t what I was feeling.”

Taking her hand into his, “Lex I like you a lot. You’ve inspire me to live out my dreams. You seem to understand me like no other can. And spending these last few weeks, hanging out, has just made me realize that I want you to be a part of my dreams, my future.”

Those words put a smile across Alex’s face. She was filled with joy, knowing that he felt the spark between them. “Jimmy you make me want to be a better person, make me believe that I actually can go somewhere, do something with my life. Before we really became friends I didn’t think it was possible to let my heart love again.”

This time it was Jimmy that couldn’t take it, he rolled closer to her and leaned towards her, bring her face towards his. He kissed her, softly tugging on her upper lip. Kissing felt so right to the both of them; they knew this is where they should be.

******************************

Manny and Peter tumbled into her bedroom, barely able to keep their mouths off each other. He pushed her door shut with his foot, but it didn’t close completely, but neither of them seemed to notice, they were too into themselves.

She pushed him onto her bed, and sat on top of him, and began to slowly unbutton his top; softly kissing his chest in the process.

Emma knocked on Manny’s apartment door, wanting to tell her what Peter had done for her that afternoon. She did have the sweetest boyfriend, and she wanted the whole world to know it. She knocked again, but still no one answered, but she knew that she had to be home since her car was in the parking lot.

Manny must have not have heard her knock, so she tried the door to see if it was unlocked, and it was. She looked around the living room, but no one seemed to be in sight.

She walked towards Manny’s room; she heard noises coming from it. The door seemed to be opened a crack, she tried to look through but she couldn’t see anything so she decided to slowly open it, unsure what she would find.

Her eyes glazed over at the very sight. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing; her mind must be playing tricks with her. He wouldn’t do this to her, would he? She didn’t even make a sound, she just ran out of there. She’d confront them later, later when she could find the words. Tears were gushing down her face just thinking of how her boyfriend, and especially her best friend, had betrayed her together. How long had this been going on, she began to wonder? Had they been playing her for a fool this whole time, was that the reason that Manny never dated? She felt like a complete idiot to think that she would actually find someone that would treat her right, because in the end they all did her wrong some how.

******************************

“Hey Hun look who’s finally going together,” JT pointed to Paige, as he spotted them walking down the hall.

Smiling, clapping her hands in excitement, “I knew my plan would work.”

“So this was your doing,” he said, gazing down at her.

Putting her arms around his waist, “Hey sometimes people just need a little push,” she said leaned in to kiss him.

“I like it when you’re like this,” he smiled. “Have I told you lately that how lucky I am to be with you?”

“No,” she shook her head, “not today.” As Alex and Jimmy drew closer, they stopped right in front of them with glowing faces, “So I see that you guys talked it out.”

“Thanks for setting it up Paige,” Alex replied. She knew that otherwise she might have found more excuses not to talk with him.

“Your welcome…I just want to see everyone as happy as JT and I,” squeezing his hand.

“Well we are,” Jimmy replied.

******************************

Peter and Manny were standing at her locker, “So when are you going to break up with her?” Manny asked.

“When I can get her alone, but until I do we’re going to have to be a little low key,” not wanting to hurt Emma over this. He really cared for her, but there was just something that drew him to Manny that he couldn’t run away from. “I don’t want to flaunt this in her face. I think breaking up with her will already hurt her enough.”

Emma walked down the hall to notice none other than the two people she despised more than anything, together, rather close. Rage came over her body; she was going to tell them everything she wanted to say to them last night after finding them together.

She stomped right up to them with fury in her eyes; slapping Manny across the face, “You slut,” she spitted in her face. She said it so loud that everyone down the hall could hear her, making them turn to see what was going on.

“What’s wrong with you?” Peter asked, pulling her away from Manny. He didn’t know she knew, so he didn’t understand where this was coming from.

Shoving him away from her, “Oh don’t act like you don’t know why I’m upset,” she roared.

“I truly don’t,” thinking there was no way she could know since they had been together once and that was at Manny’s house.

“I seaw you two last night; I can’t believe you slept with her while you were with me. How could you say those words to me,” getting into his face, “and then be with HER,” she said, as tears ran down her cheeks.

Not really knowing what to say, “I’m sorry…”

“How long has this been going on?” No one answered her, they just stood there bewildered, “How long!” she shrieked on the top of her lungs, wanting answers.

“Only since yesterday,” he replied quietly, sad that she had found out. He never wanted her to find that out, he wanted it to stay a secret.

“I guess this sleaze here,” pointing to Manny, “offered you something I wasn’t willing to give, and you just couldn’t help yourself.” Getting in his face, “Well I hope you have fun with your little whore.”

Manny pushed her against the lockers, she detested someone calling her those atrocious names, “Enough…you’re just jealous because I know how to a hook a man, to make them want me.”

“Looks like Manny’s done it again,” Paige laughed as she stood there with JT. She wasn’t surprised though, she knew it was bound to happen yet again.

“Just can’t believe of all people she would betray it would be Emma,” JT replied, she really had hit a new low.

“Come on, she doesn’t care who she hurts as long as she gets what she wants,” knowing that was true since she didn’t seem to care that she had hurt her (who she claimed was her friend).

“Yeah, by using your perversions. I stood up for you after you stole Craig away from Ashley, when you wanted the abortion and even when you stole Spinner away from Paige, but I never thought you would go as far as stealing mine. You’re not worth anymore of my time. Good-bye,” she said tramping down that hall.