Chapter One: Welcome to Degrassi
Hello! Nissy, here! This was supposed to be a project and I wanted to get this out there but I'm not entirely sure if I should contribute to this. So, enjoy this first chapter I made which takes place in Rusty Cage where Campbell falls from the Second Floor Railing! ^^
This would be the second move this week. I've never been one to stay at a school longer than three days and when I had, the circumstances had to change. Instead of taking me to whatever location my parents' job put them, I would have to survive in the house on my own. It was because of their stupid job that we've moved at least 10 to 20 times this month alone. And even when I was under these changed circumstances, they would last longer than two or three extra days.
"Minhee, relax." My mother gently stroked my wavy black hair before putting the car into ignition. We just became Canadian citizens, and now I was off to attend my first school of the country. "This is the final transfer you will have to endure. I promise." The seatbelt flew across my chest and landed in its buckle. A sigh snuck its way from my lips, revealing how much I disbelieved the words coming out of my mother's mouth.
"Both you and father have been telling me that for the last two months. Do you really expect me to believe it this time?" I replied.
"Would it kill you to have a little faith? You make it seem like we're trying to make your life miserable!" She scolded. "You know this is all so we have money to-"
"Put food on the table. I know." I finish. I could feel her disappointed stare boar a hole into the side of my head. "Is that it?" In the distance, a large red building appeared. A large board rested on the railing of the beige, cement stairs leading the glass doors. Hanging just above in big bold white letters, read "Degrassi Community School."
"I'm going to a community school this time? No uniforms?" I turned to my mother, skeptically eyeing her. Without waiting to hear her answer, I grabbed my bag, threw it over my shoulder, and opened the car door. "All I have to do is get my books, my schedule and locker number, right?"
"I registered you under 'Suzy Edwins' and-"
"I know, Mom. I got it." I interrupted, slamming the car door before she had anything else to say. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother. What I don't love, is the constant moving and the severing bonds of previous friends from previous schools. I'm pretty sure my number is already deleted on at least half of my friends' phones. Going through the whole process again doesn't amuse or please me. In fact, if this is the last stop on the world traveling tour, I'd love the idea of finally not being the new kid.
As I climbed up the stairs, I searched around frantically for the main office. The entire school looked scary empty meaning they were either all in class or today just happened to be a holiday. I was hoping for the later.
"Excuse me," A feminine voice broke the deafening silence. Standing behind me had been a girl with curly hair painted with the color of chestnut brown and gorgeous sky blue eyes. Her outfit was as stunning as her perfect facial features. Slick black skinny jeans with studded black heels. A tight blue and white tank top clunk to her perfect torso sheltered by a black blazer. At least five pairs of black, silver and blue necklaces hung from her neck, complimenting every aspect of her unique outfit. "Are you...new? I've never seen you around before."
"Ah, y-yeah. I'm looking for the main office? I need to collect my schedule, text books and locker number plus combo." At this, she let out a chuckle. Had I said something funny?
"You've long passed the main office, my friend. Here, it's passed those stairs over there, make two rights and the office should be to your left. You can't miss it."
"Thank you so much," A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have found it until I was 75."
"Haha, I'm not too sure about that. This school actually isn't all that big! You'll get used to it, I promise." She assured. I bowed a thanks to her and said my farewells. I watched her strut off in those irresistible heels that almost made me shiver with envy at her perfect everything. She seemed nice. Maybe this school wouldn't be as bad as I thought. It was the perfect jump start to my final year of moving. I was actually kind of excited at the thought of graduating here.
The excitement did not last. Just before I crossed underneath the stairs, the sight I saw just above horrified me. There sat a boy dangling over the top of the second floor railing. She seemed too concentrated on the ground below him to even notice I had been standing there, looking up at him. "Hey!" I hollered at him. No reply. He just kept staring at the ground below him. Before I knew it, he leaned forward and prepared himself for the fall.
"Oh my god... OH MY GOD!" I dashed toward the boy just as he hit the floor, dropping my bag and forgetting all the directions the girl from earlier told me. I kneeled by his side, and helped him sit up. The boy was writhing in pain, groaning and moaning. "A-Are you okay?! H-Help! Someone help!"
"D-Don't tell Maya..." The boy looked up at me, his deep, brown eyes forcing back tears of pain and desperately clinging to my skull candy shirt, while trying to communicate with me. Before long, teachers raced out of their classrooms to see what was up and why they had heard a girl screaming in the hallway. Various in distinct whispers echoed around like a ripple in the water. Several students stood there judging him, judging me and wondering what was happening and where I had come from, but I didn't care. All I could focus on was who the boy was, why he did what he did, and how I could help him. In a sense, you could say his little stunt activated the "mother" in me.
"I'm sorry you had to witness such a terrifying experience, Ms. Edwins." Principle Simpsons said to me. The boy's name was Campbell Saunders and he was a hockey playing Sophmore. The entire school believes the stunt he pulled to be an accident; the effect of following his peers and fall down. It was a story that almost everyone I know could believe, but I had known the truth. I'd been there and witnessed everything.
"It's fine, Principle Simpson. It wasn't traumatic or anything. I'm just glad I happened to pass by when I did." To this, he smiled. I suppose he was glad that I hadn't taken on any kind of psychological damage front that experience like he had said. "All I need right now is my textbooks and my locker combination, of you don't mind."
"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. My brain is still trying to wrap around what happened today. Here." He dug around his desk and pulled out the combination to my locker. The textbooks were in a bag by the door. "Here you are. Locker 640. Combination 32-28-5. Enjoy."
"Thank you very much, Principle Simpson." On my way out, Campbell just happened to cross paths with me. It was between passing periods so, all the students and teachers were out in the hallways now. I carefully put my textbooks into my bag and roamed the halls for Locker 640, but also kept my eye on Campbell. He was walking with a tall black man with the same red hockey jersey as Campbell. The two seemed to be conversing well before a small blonde made contact with him. Of course, that must be his girlfriend. Not that I was jealous. If anything, I was more worried. Just as i was about to turn the other way to continue locker searching, a human body instantly collided with mine, knocking me to the ground and spilling my textbooks all over the place.
"Oh, shit! Asian down! Asian down!" A rough voice boomed over the others. I scrambled to gather all my textbooks and put it back in my bag. Two large hands grabbed the Chemistry book I reached for and put it in my bag for me. Looking up, I saw that it was the hockey player that had just been with Campbell. "Hey, new girl. Hope I didn't hurt you."
"H-Hi. And, I'm fine. I'm just..looking for my locker. New girl, you know?" I let out a nervous laugh. I was never a social butterfly. I never knew the right thing to say or do when a person was trying to communicate with you.
"Here, maybe I can help with all that. What locker number is it?" He reached for the slip of paper with my combination for it.
"Oh, no. It's alright. I've got I-"
"No, I insist. It's the least I could do after knocking all your stuff over." He flashed his smile at me. I had to admit, the smile was beautiful. I stuffed the paper in my pocket while he helped me up. I barely knew this guy, I didn't want him to not only know my locker number, but my combination as well.
"Mike Dallas." He held out his hand, inviting me to shake it. I forced a polite smile and shook his hand.
"Suzy Edwins. Nice to meet you." I replied "My locker is 640, if you can find it."
"640, huh? Should be down this way." He pointed in a random direction down a hallway and lead me towards it. I scanned each and every locker, counting each one we walked by. 610, 611, 612..
"So," Mike began, a flirty smile on his face. "Where are you moving from?"
"Um, honestly, I've been around. We travel a lot due to my dad's job so.." 625, 626, 627..
"What does your dad do for a living that he travels so much?" He pryed
"Um," 638, 639 "640! There it is!" I ran over to the blue locker labelled 640 and tried out the combination. After I opened it, I was far to eager to shove all my textbooks inside and lift the weight off of my shoulders. I could sense Mike chuckling behind me after the little event I just saw.
"Mike Dallas. To what do I owe this unpleasant surprise?" Another voice from the other side of my locker spoke out. I turned to find a boy with the most gorgeous shade of dark brown and mesmerizing emerald green eyes. He was giving Mike a death glare, completely ignoring my presence.
"Don't flatter yourself, Goldsworthy." He scoffed at the boy. "I'm here for the new girl. Showing her around, telling her which psychos to avoid, not that you'd know."
"Practicing your community service for when you finally earn jail time? Good for you, Dallas!" Mike's face hardened and I could tell he was ripe for a fight. I grabbed his arm before he could lift his fist, and stared at him.
"Just drop it." I told him. Mike didn't even look at me. His eyes shot lightning daggers at Goldsworthy, who stood with a cocky smirk, almost like he was inviting Mike to punch him. Mike backed off a muttered an "I'll see you after class" before stomping away in fury. I let out a sigh and checked my schedule to see what class I would have at this time.
"So, you must be Suzy." Goldsworthy's voice spoke from next to me. I turned to face him once more to see his cocky smirk had turned into a friendly smile. "Eli Goldsworthy."
"And, you know my name...how?" I placed my hands on the curve of my hips, demanding an explanation of how he knew me when this had been my very first day at Degrassi.
"So you're saying there's another new girl that happened to find Campbell Saunders in pain right below the second floor railing?" His smile grew wider after he finished his sentence. Seeing how I couldn't say anything he continued, taking my silence as a sign that he was right. "So, saving adorable sophomores and getting picked up by Jocks on your first day? Sounds like an eventful first day. Every girl's dream."
"No offense, but why are you sticking around? Do you spend you time stalking newbies?" I retorted. I'll admit. That little confrontation Eli had with Mike left a bad impression on me. Mike is nothing, but nice. I don't see why Eli had to pick on him.
"Why, you ask? Because this happens to be my locker. 641." Eli's smirk came back. I felt my cheeks start to heat up and quickly grabbed my schedule out from my locker and closed it shut. According to the slip of paper, my next class is English II. I mumbled an apology and scurried off just as a short girl with short, curly light brown hair made it to Eli. Before I could retreat to where ever I was going, I glanced back to see if Eli had told his buddy about the odd new girl he just met. To my surprise, they left the lockers, his arm wrapped her shoulders.
Apparently, it doesn't take long for news to spread. No matter what class I went to, I was known as Super Girl, the girl that saved a hockey player. First day, and I've already got a reputation for myself. But even that paled in comparison to the next event I could not avoid: Lunch. I was still the new chick in town. The only friends I had potentially made was Mike and Eli. And that was a huuuuge maybe considering how I called him a stalker. The moment I entered the cafeteria, I felt a case of new kid syndrome. Everyone had been sitting in their own cliques. I could even see a distinct group of hippies hanging out in the corner.
"Suzy, over here!" A melodically feminine voice hollered. It was a voice I hadn't heard before. All the people I had contacted were men. In a sea of people, I found a s alle blonde with bold glasses waving at me along with a girl with long curly black hair smiling widely at me. "Over here!"
"Congratulations! You have successfully avoided trying to find a table to sit at!" The girl with black hair cheered at me.
"Otherwise known as New Kid Syndrome. I got it." I sat across from the two girls, forcing a nervous smile. "How did you know I was Suzy?"
"Easy! You were a new face we didn't recognize!" The girl responded "By the way, I'm Tori. And this is Maya." I shifted a glance towards the blonde that was introduced as Maya. I thought back to what Campbell had whispered to me.
"Hey," The Blonde waved. "You're the one that found Cam in pain on the floor, right?"
"Cam?" I tilted my head,
"Ah, that's just what we call Campbell. Cam!" She motioned to the hockey table where Campbell and his teammates were. They appeared to be joking around about something. Whatever it was, Campbell wasn't laughing about it. In fact,his smile seemed forced. Were they laughing at him?
"I wanted to thank you. For being there when Cam was injured." Maya said, I happened to be unpack a jelly sandwich.
"What do you mean? He just fell from the railing. It's not like he got hit by a train or anything."
"Still. It would've been hours before someone noticed he was on the ground. You happened to be there as the moment happened."
"Did you push him?" Tori questioned. I dropped my jelly sandwich on my lap and stared at her in disbelief. Did she happen to miss the fact that I'm new? For what reason would I have to push him? Tori broke out into laughter while Maya and I just eyed her.
"Relax, I'm just kidding. For real, what were you doing there? Has he thanked you yet?"
"Actually, I was looking for the main office. And then, I saw...um..." I glanced toward Cam who was looking this way now. I think he had been eyeing Maya. His warm chocolate painted eyes drowned in compassion and what seemed to be a hint of despair. His lips were curved in such a way that could be interpreted for a frown. I couldn't help, but compare him to a puppy. A little boy in need of some motherly love. One that was slowly dying of loneliness.
"And then...what?" Tori pressed. My thoughts shattered and I was immediately brought out from whatever fantasy world I found myself lingering in. I faced Tori, unsure of what expression weighed on my face. Maya's attention zoned in on me as well. How could I put this into words..
"D-Don't tell Maya.." His voice echoed thought my head. Why hadn't he wanted me to tell Maya what was going on? What exactly did he not want to tell her? That he threw himself off the railing? He committed a severe case of self harm? Tucking a strand of my wavy, black hair behind my petite, pale ears, I decided I would confront Campbell on the matter later. He could have a method to this madness, and if that were the case, I would like to hear every word of this before I say anything.
"And then, I saw him on the ground in pain. I panicked when I saw him on the ground. I didn't know if he was being mugged or if... I just didn't know. I saw him there, and I wanted to help." Tori leaned back, pleased with my answer. Maya, on the other hand, looked towards the Jock table. Campbell had been conversing with his teammates now instead of staring at Maya. Despite that, her face stunk of concern and worry. Not that I could blame her. If my boyfriend had been found collapsed on the ground, clutching heavily to his arm, I'd be worried as well.
"If your worried, you could ask him to come over and eat with you." I leaned towards Maya, letting out an amused grin. Maya shifted in her seat, doing double takes that turned into triple takes and violently shook her head.
"I highly doubt his team would let him sit with us." Tori caught on and nudged Maya's side, wanting in on the teasing.
"C'mon, Maya. What kind of girlfriend would you be if you didn't invite your boyfriend over lunch every once in a while?" Tori winked, causing Maya's face to glow a faint pink. I chuckled and looked back at Campbell's table. This time, it had been Mike looking over this way. Only, he hadn't been looking at Maya. His charcoal eyes were focused directly on me, like a predator does its prey. This stare was not hostile though. There was a glint in his eye, revealing the obvious lust he had developed for me. Which means my years here at Degrassi might be spent drowning in his flirtatious suggestions. Awesome.
"Aww, looks like you missed your chance! There he goes, Maya!" Both Maya and I set our gazes onto the Table Campbell had been sitting. Tori was right, he was leaving. I had been meaning to talk to Campbell about his little "accident" on the railings, now would be the perfect time to do so.
"Hey, thanks for giving me a place to eat you two." I started to pack up my lunch.
"Oh, no problem! You're welcome to sit with us anytime!" Tori chimed in, flashing a beautiful set of pearly white teeth. Maya, on the other hand, was shooting me looks of uncertainty, confusion, and curiosity.
"You've... only taken one bite out of you sandwich, though." She stated. I shook my head, assuring her I could finish it by the end of today while packing my lunch into bag and attempting to secretly follow Campbell. As soon as both him and I were a clear distance from the lunchroom, I declared it was time to make my move.
"Campbell! Campbell Saunders!" I called out to him. The minute he turned around, our eyes met and suddenly I felt mesmerized by his charcoal eyes. Aura matched his face perfectly, radiating an increasing vibe of innocence. Right then and there, if I hadn't been under stranger terms, or he hadn't been taken by a certain Maya, I would've squealed and brought him into my arms for a tight, loving embrace. But since I have no intention of backstabbing the people who saved me from spending my lunch time alone like a newbie, I held back my urges and proceeded to continue with my initial plan.
"Can I help you?"
"You don't remember me? I'm the one who got Ms. Oh to call help when you fell." I motioned how my face might've looked when I frantically screamed for help. At this, he let out such an adorable chuckle, I could practically feel the pink blush painting itself on my cheeks.
"Oh, y-yeah! I remember you now.." There was dash of nervousness in his otherwise adorable voice and a head scratch that clued me in on the fact that he didn't want to discuss anything more about it. "Thanks for that, by the way."
"Wait." I grabbed his arm, preventing him from escaping. "That's not what I wanted to talk about."
"Th-There's really nothing left to sa-"
"I saw you throw yourself from the second floor railing." I blurted out. Silence between us crept along like the cracks of a frozen lake. He was like a deer caught in the headlights. Both Campbell and I stood, watching each other as if we were waiting to see who would confess first. Seeing that this was going nowhere, I opened my mouth to speak again. "I wanted to ask you..why you did it."
Campbell stood there, looking around the halls, checking to make sure no one was around. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't play dumb with me, Campbell. I SAW you do it!"
"Yeah? Well, maybe you saw it wrong. Why would I push myself off the second floor railing?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out! Camp-" Suddenly, He grabbed my hands and pulled me into an empty classroom to talk privately. Once I was in, he slammed the door shut and turned to me.
"Please, tell me you didn't say anything to Maya." He begged.
"This is crazy. You pushed yourself off the second floor railing! I just want to know why!" I wing my hands around for emphasis.
"Why? Why do you care so much?" He countered.
"Because you HURT yourself. You need to see someone about this! At least, give a good reason as to why you don't want anyone to know what truly happened?" I placed my hands at my hips, waiting for an explanation with a taping foot. He took a couple steps towards and put his hands on my shoulders, staring straight into my eyes.
"Please. Don't tell anyone. I can't tell you why. You just have to trust me on this." This is crazy. Here I am, staring into the eyes of a boy that literally threw himself off a railing. A STRANGER at that. And the only thing standing between him and therapy, is me. Nonetheless, I nodded my head, admiring and drowning in irresistible eyes. I could feel my blood boil and the regret tugging at the back of my mind as I uttered my next words.
"..Okay."
