her ghost will remain (marissa)

[Deleted]

Summer was almost there. Just one more week, and he would be rid of homework and teachers. He'd be officially halfway done with high schol. And Matt had plans. Big plans. And they were centered on growing a spine.

The end of the year was bringing several events. Including the fair. The fair was his big chance. He had casually suggested that Marissa go with him, since neither of them had dates. He had a plan. She was going to find out. After all, it had been almost five years. That was a long time to keep a secret like that. Especially from his best friend. It was time he told her.

He had written a poem. He was going to get her to ride the ferris wheel. Then, at that terrifying moment that they were stuck on top, he'd recite it. And he'd ask her what she thought. And after she said she liked it, he was going to tell her the truth: that the girl, the love he wrote about, was her. And then he was going to kiss her.

He had made it sound like they were going as two dateless friends. It would be completely unexpected, which made it perfect. Matt had been planning it for weeks now. He had it all in his head. And it was going to happen in just a few more days. He was so excited, he had been chipper all day.

The bell rang, and Matt headed to lunch. He found Marissa with her nose in a book, as usual. He peeked over her shoulder. "young lady, that's pornographic and inappropriate," he told her, teasingly. He didn't even know what she was reading. "report to the principal's office!" he grinned. "hi"

[Marissa Michelle Manning]

It had been a long week. But that was really nothing new. It was always long. Always busy. Marissa was always studying and reading, going to church. But that was just fine. She loved school and she enjoyed her religion. But her life did not just revolve around school and church. She was like any normal teenager. She had her own circle of friends, including a best friend. She had crushes. She's been to a party or two.

As usual, Marissa was sitting in the school cafeteria, with her lunch tray right in front of her and reading her latest novel. It was her every school day ritual. She would sit her, eat her lunch and read her book. That is until Matt would show up.

Looking up, Marissa closed her book and smiled. "Oh no. I guess you caught me. I'm sorry. I'll try to behave. Please don't send me to the office." she had joked back as she set her book beside her lunch tray and took a bite from her sandwhich. "So, hi. Aren't you excited about the year ending? I know I am."

[Deleted]

Matt smiled. "I might let you off with a warning." he leaned in, ready to kiss her. But he caught himself. He couldn't do it. She wasn't his girlfriend. She would probably push him away. He had to do something. He didn't need it being obvious. He didn't want to have to explain it. So, raising his eyebrows, he reached forward and tickling her stomach.

His attention was completely on her. That is, until he heard her name being called. When he looked up, he inwardly groaned.

JJ and Travis had been standing across the cafeteria. The school bully with the most publicised man whore. Everyone knew that Travis had dated one of the popular girls, Lindsay, and cheated with one of the freshman bad girls, Lily. Mostly because Lindsay made sure everyone knew. And yet, his popularity had increased. Even nerds like Mallory Isaacs was swooning over him. And, it got him brownie points with JJ. Travis had been secretly wanting to hang out with JJ since his first day at Degrassi. Today, the two had been chilling and checking out girls.

When JJ spotted Marissa, he nudged Travis. "hey, man. Look."

Travis looked up and bit his lip. "wanna go talk to her?"

JJ smirked. "Do you, lover boy?"

Travis smiled. Pushing off the wall, he headed over. "hey, Marissa!"

[Marissa Michelle Manning]

Marissa had never considered herself to be popular. Especially when it came to boys. She had Matt and Aidan. Those were probably the only friends that she had that were of the opposite sex. Other than those two, she was best friends with Jenna. What more did she need? When Matt tickled her stomach, she could not keep herself from giggling. She had always been extremely ticklish. She was about to open her mouth to say something when she suddenly heard someone call out her name and she instinctively looked over to see who it was that was calling out her name.

“Hey, Travis.” She spoke, shyly. To be honest, she had never really been all that confident when it came to boys, even. And even know, her eyes weren’t even on Travis. They were on JJ. She did not understand it. She had no idea why she even had a crush on the older boy. It was probably pretty stupid anyway. “Hi, JJ.” She spoke, blushing slightly. She looked back to Travis. “Did you need something?” she asked, sweetly.

[Deleted]

Travis smirked.It wasn't like he was new to this sort of thing. He had been around a time or two already, for only being in the tenth grade. He peeked over his shoulder at JJ, who was fiddling with a five dollar bill. The older boy didn't think he'd do it. And that was where JJ was wrong, dead wrong. Travis had no qualms when it came to girls. No inhibitions. He gave JJ a grin before looking at Matt. Anyone could tell that he liked her. Hell,maybe even loved her, And under normal circumstances, Travis wouldn't get in the way of that. But this had nothing to do with love, or even like. Travis was on a mission. And it included Marissa.

"You can say that," he said when she asked if he needed anything, "You know, the fair's this weekend. And let's just say that I've been waiting to get a date until after I asked you. Cause, you know, you're special"he gave an innocent shrug with a smile. "So how about it? Will you go with me?" And just like that, he won five bucks. Of course, Marissa didn't know that. He and JJ didn't plan on telling her, either.