The Life of Liberty

Hey um I've never written a fanfic before and I'm nervous but here goes nothing. I don't own Degrassi and any of the characters

Chapter One

"Happy birthday, dear Liberty! Happy birthday to you!"

The candles on Liberty's birthday cake flickered with life and energy. She couldn't believe it. It was her fifteenth birthday, and here she was, being sung to again. The only thing that changed every year was the number of candles on the cake.

"Make a wish, Liberty!" her mom exclaimed, glowing. She had her camcorder in one hand, and her other hand interlocked with Liberty's father's. Liberty noticed the little things like that, how her mom liked to capture every moment, how her dad gripped her mom's hand like they only had a few good moments left. It scared her.

She closed her eyes and thought quickly. What was her wish? What did she want?

She wanted to be happy.

She blew out the candles with her eyes wide open, watching as her wish became fire.

Liberty took a deep breath and walked up the steps to school. Liberty loved Degrassi Community School. There, she felt like she had it all, at least, that's how she usually felt. Between her running for student council positions and trying to keep her place in The Grapevine, the school's newspaper, she was always really busy. Plus all of her advanced classes, way more than the regular sophomore would take…she knew that she could do it, though. She always did whatever it took to make it through.

"Hi, Liberty!" Liberty turned around to see Emma and Manny walking in unison through the hallway. Manny was wearing her favorite pink jumpsuit, and Emma had on her floral skirt. They were both always so stylish and looked great. Not like she was jealous, or anything.

Liberty smiled sheepishly, happy that at least they were all friends. "Hi Emma, Hi Manny," she replied. "Ready for the big Algebra test first period?"

"God knows I'm not," Emma said, looking pale, "I didn't get any studying done all weekend. Are you ready, Liberty?"

"Of course I am! I'm always ready."

Manny laughed. "Of course you are!"

Liberty had spent all night after her birthday party with her parents getting ready for the test. She made flash cards, study sheets, the works…and didn't get to bed until too late that night. Of course they wouldn't know how hard she had to work, especially with her dyscalculia. The teacher knew, though, thanks to her parents.

She waved goodbye to Manny and Emma and headed to her locker. It was good that she had people to talk to in the halls sometimes, but lately she's felt more unattached, more left out. Manny and Emma both were so close, always there for each other, always hanging out…nobody ever asked her to hang out after school, anymore. And even if they did, what would they talk about other than school? Liberty didn't know anything about makeup or celebrities, and definitely didn't know much about boys. The only relationship she had ever had was one with Towerz over the summer, and that didn't end very well. Like most things in her life, it kind of just got complicated, too fast, too soon.

That night, Liberty was up again late doing an essay for History. She was working in her bedroom, a small rectangular beige space with a whizzing desktop computer on a desk in the corner. She spent most of her time in the corner, doing her homework and typing, just to type. She enjoyed typing. She took pride in being a step ahead of the rest.

Tonight, however, she had a big headache and was having serious trouble working on her essay. And instead of creeping downstairs to get Advil, she clicked on Internet Explorer and went on Facerange. She smiled, seeing status updates from her cousins in Alberta and funny pictures from her friends Toby and J.T. But, as she scrolled even more, she couldn't help but notice Manny's Facerange status. She read it out loud, squinting her eyes through her wide-brimmed glasses. The type was pretty small.

"Big party Saturday night," she read aloud, "At Emma's house! Be there or be square."

Well, Liberty thought, I definitely won't be there. So does that make me square? She chuckled aloud. Great. Now she'll have to hear about the party all week…there's no chance that she'd go, even if she was allowed to. All of her friends would be there, though. She was beyond sick of hearing about all the funny things that happened, at parties she never went to, with people who didn't even consider her one of their peers. She just kinda blended with the crowd. She sighed loudly and headed downstairs to get her Advil, getting back to her late night of schoolwork.