So I sort of feel like I didn't get the response that I was hoping for from She's So High. I am most likely going to take that down, and since I've made that decision, I have invested all of my free time into this project. If you watched the US premiere of Skins, then this may sound familiar. That's because - you guessed it! - that's my inspiration. I'm in love with the whole prospect of Skins and I couldn't help but pull this little thing together. I started writing last week, but after the premiere, I changed some things and enhanced the introduction. I'm not following Skins, by any means. I just like the character interaction and the party/music scene. It's kinda badass to me?
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. I do not own Skins. I do own some leopard print duct tape that I used to decorate my phone.
RAW
Smoke poured out of the hearse with Eli, Adam and Fiona. The three teenagers laughed over nothing and struggled to keep their balance as Eli locked his car and they proceeded to walk through the school parking lot.
Everyone on the school campus knew of the Dissidents. To some, they were misfits with style; to others, they were edgy, non-conformists who weren't afraid to party hard and kick anyone who stood in their way. Somehow, they had become Degrassi High School Royalty. Each of them were respected in a different way by the student body and the best part was, none of them had asked for the attention – or even wanted it. The only possible exceptions to that statement would be Drew and Ali.
"Hey, lady and pimps!" The trio turned around to see Drew trotting up to pace with them. The four friends stepped out of the brisk weather and into the musty, rodent-infested school. What's pretty on the outside isn't always heart-warming on the inside. "Damn!" Drew exclaimed with a grin. "You three smell like straight heads. Good morning, I presume?"
Drew considered himself the Alpha of their band of friends. He was a well-dressed smart-ass in serious need of a reality check. But he didn't have time for one of those because he was too busy with football, karate, and art. Drew Torres was confident and found a way to seem high-class while living in the city with his fellow middle-class society. He had no problem charming the most beautiful women, and still, he continued to string his sort-of girlfriend, Ali, around. She was clueless to the fact that he played her, which he was fine with. The longer she remained in the dark, the longer he could have her in his life without ruining the friendship they had before the sex.
"You are on point, my friend," Eli replied, smirking devilishly. His eyes were glazed over and he was blissfully unaware of the distinct smell of burnt weed trailing behind him and his closest friends. Even his black, shaggy hair let off the odor of his reckless, irresponsible teenage life that he loved with everything in him.
"What the fuck is Kathy wearing?" Fiona giggled a little louder than she had meant to. Eli, Drew and Adam turned their attention to the freakishly tall chemistry nerd as they strolled by her locker. Her gaze was downcast and her lips pursed in embarrassment.
The group laughed but Adam still managed to chastise his friend between gasps for breath. "You're such a bitch. She heard you, Fi!" Fiona simply flipped her brown curls in disinterest.
"Ask me if I give a shit," she responded proudly. Fiona was not your average high school attendee - not that any of her friends were. But she was particularly special because she was the only girl who could give Drew a run for his money in terms of confidence. Fiona Coyne was openly bisexual, and still managed to be a trendsetter and the girl that every one wants to be with. She carried a palpable attitude that was put into play for nearly every person in her life. To Fiona, no one would ever be good enough for her. Oddly enough, she was into guys and girls, but could find nobody.
"Seriously, bro. We all know that Fiona's heart is iced over," Drew teased, earning a punch in the ribs from the aforementioned brunette. "Ouch, lady!"
Adam rolled his eyes and continued to glide through the halls of Degrassi, avoiding the consistent stares and guaranteed whispers by adjusting his dark blue beanie nervously and watching as his Converse stepped - right, left, right, left – trying to match the steps of Fiona subconsciously. Most would assume that because he was the Little Torres, he would be into the player and hustling games like Drew. However, Adam was perfectly content with a kick ass video game and a good 'ol bowl pack.
"Someone needs to clean this nasty fuckin' floor," Adam whispered unknowingly. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion or disgust – he couldn't decide which of the two categories to place it in.
"Someone needs some ADHD medication," Drew retorted smoothly.
"Nah, someone just doesn't know how to handle all this big boy grass in that little boy body," Eli smirked, shoving Adam's shoulder playfully to let him know that he was only joking. Adam and Eli could joke about nearly anything regarding personal behavior and/or appearance. However, most people could not get away with it. The two of them were more of brothers than Adam and Drew; they were best friends and knew each other better than anyone else.
"Eat a dick," Adam retorted with a smile.
"Not yours!" Shot Eli, clearly shooting at his transgender situation. Adam was definitely a male between the ears, but between the legs? That was a different story.
Drew and Fiona laughed with Eli and Adam despite the touchy subject. "Zing!" shouted Drew, earning even more glances from the horny girls as his voice bounced off of the chipped lockers and ugly yellow walls.
"Yeah," Fiona agreed. "That one even stung me a bit, Adam. You good there?" The four continued on like this, goofing around and insulting each other until they got to their spot.
There was a certain table in the annex that sat in the corner of the room, surrounded by wall-length windows. Drew, Eli, Adam and Fiona met there with KC, Ali and Jenna everyday before school, during lunch, and whenever they had a free period or simply decided to skip class. All of the other students knew that this spot was reserved for the Dissidents, as everyone else called them. It was an unspoken, unwritten law of sorts.
Jenna was already waiting for her friends, her nose stuffed into a book that was undoubtedly about death or possession or both. Her blonde hair shielded her face from the outside world and her black fingernails tapped on the table without any particular beat.
"Hey, sexy." Fiona smiled down at her friend, taking a quick seat next to her. Jenna looked up from her disturbing words and welcomed everyone with a slight nod while she chewed on her chapped bottom lip in uncertainty.
Everyone knew that Jenna was self-destructive. She'd attempted suicide a handful of times and she was only happy when she was swallowing pills or inhaling cocaine like oxygen. Even then, she wasn't happy – but the closer that Jenna Middleton could swim next to death, the better she felt. The worst feeling in the world to her was waking up in a crisp hospital bed after having her stomach pumped; her life saved.
The five delinquents fell into a comfortable conversation while they waited for the remaining two to show up. Once the seven of them were together, they were unstoppable. It was only a matter of waiting.
"I heard Marisol cut her wrists a couple of days ago," said Fiona casually, sipping her water.
Adam nodded, drumming his knuckles on the table and nodding his head to a tune that he heard playing in his head – the song that Eli had playing in his hearse on the way to school. "She did. I saw them in math yesterday." He used his index finger to draw a line across his other wrist briefly before shrugging. "She said they bled a lot," he drawled, continuing his fantasy drumming.
"She did it wrong," Jenna informed her friends abruptly. "You're supposed to do it vertically." Feeling the worried stares of her peers, Jenna nibbled on her thumb, nearly ripping the skin off. Sometimes she wished that she would just not speak, because she felt like a freak every time she opened her mouth. Even still, she wouldn't be a part of their crowd if there weren't something off about her.
Eli scoffed, leaning his chair back on two legs. "She's looking for attention."
"How do you mean?" Drew questioned, his eyes piercing his good friend's.
"Think about it," Eli laughed darkly. "No girl broadcasts her depression. If she was really broken enough to cut herself, she would be hiding them instead of treating them like show-and-tell projects."
Drew didn't seem convinced. "I don't know… Jenna doesn't have a problem letting the world know about her detrimental hobbies of choice."
Eli waved his hand in dismissal. "Jenna's also -"
"- I'm also crazy." Eli, Fiona, Drew and Adam looked at Jenna with raised brows. "What?" Jenna whispered, self-conscious. "Don't act like that's news to you, or anyone else."
"'Sup, bitches!" Ali shouted, saving Jenna from her uncomfortable situation. KC followed Ali, looking almost as awkward as Jenna felt. His hair was greased down and his clothes looked a little to wrinkled to have been clean.
Ali, on the contrary, looked great. She always did. Her high-waist neon green skirt and white halter did good things for her figure, and Drew immediately noticed. "Hey, baby," he smiled, eyeing her up and down in approval.
"Well, hello," she breathed, sliding onto his lap eagerly and capturing his lips in a passionate kiss that really should have been saved for private time, but as everyone already knew, this particular group did not give a shit about anyone or anything that didn't concern themselves, and a good time.
Ali Bhandari was almost like the Ken to Drew's Barbie – as ass-backwards and messed up as that sounds. Drew sought any and all forms of attention, and he was the 'leader' of their little group (or so he felt). Ali was in love with the obnoxious, cocky boy and couldn't help but follow him around and answer to his every beck and call. She was oblivious to the ways that he used and abused her affection, because in her case, it proved true that love makes you blind. There was nothing special to Ali besides the fact that she was forever devoted to her friends. Her family never understood her, and in a way, the six people around her took a rightful place in her heart as her family.
KC looked at Fiona, Adam and Eli, noting their red, squinty eyes and permanent smiles. His eyes doubled in size when he realized why they looked the way that they did. "Aw, for fuck's sake, Eli!" Eli and Fiona busted into fits of laughter after attempting to hold it in for maybe three and a half seconds. Adam was genuinely confused. "You cock sucker. I can't believe you smoked my shit, man."
"That green was yours, bruh?" Asked Adam, concerned and clearly guilty. Eli and Fiona laughed again, unable to control themselves. Drew and Ali were too busy making out to notice, and Jenna was reading the same twisted sentence from her book over and over again, mouthing them and shaping them into her memory.
"Yes, it's my fucking bud. You all blow, you know that, right?" KC folded his arms across his chest and glared at the trio in front of him.
Adam raised his hands, palms out. "Hey, if I knew it was yours, I wouldn't have smoked it." KC lifted one brow while Fiona and Eli gaped at Adam.
Even Jenna looked up long enough to roll her eyes and mumble, "I call bullshit" under her breath.
It didn't take long for Adam, Eli and Fiona to clutch their stomachs in aching laughter, thoroughly amused that Adam lied to KC's face with zero difficulty. They were all one in the same; lying was nearly impossible within their circle.
"Fuck you, Goldsworthy. Just because I left it in your car, doesn't make it yours. You owe me a dub." This only made Eli howl even louder. They were all perfectly aware that KC would not get paid back. When he dropped the bag in the hearse, it became Eli's new present. He rationalized it as gas money for all the times that he drove KC's broke ass around – and everyone else, too.
Eli was one of the most complicated members of the mysterious clique. He wasn't a fan of life, but he wasn't self-destructive like Jenna. But he did have a masochistic quality within him that was hard to ignore at times. That was most likely what lead him to do drugs and drink, and also engage in sexual activities with countless nameless ladies. Women were nothing of importance to Elijah Goldsworthy. He cared about three females only: Jenna, Fiona, and Ali. He couldn't even muster up any affection towards his own mother. Then again, that was completely justified in his situation. His mother was another story in itself. So Eli took his frustrations out on his body and his health. Girls threw themselves at him because he was brooding and broken, yet sexy. It was strange to him how a sardonic, 'fuck you, and you, too' attitude could be so magnetic, but he went with it.
"So," KC began, changing the subject from his stolen weed. "What are we doing with our shallow lives this weekend?"
Drew sighed dramatically and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we could go into town. See what's poppin' on their side?"
Fiona's curls shook furiously. "No, fuck that. I can't stand those high-class, uppity bitches. Remember what happened last time?"
"Actually, no… I can't. But that's because I was busy having a good time instead of bitching about every detail of the whole night like some people, Fi." Drew smiled sweetly at her and she responded by automatically lifting her middle finger with a blank face.
"Spinner texted me last night," Eli offered, not interested in Drew and Fiona's banter. "There's supposed to be something happening at his place tonight. I don't know much about it other than that, though."
The crowd remained silent until Ali broke the ice. "I mean, Spin always has pretty legit parties. It could be fun?"
"I don't care how many people are there, or what music they play. As long as I get my pills beforehand." Jenna spoke to the five people around her without looking up from her book.
Fiona groaned in frustration. "Okay, seriously, Jen? I'm not taking your ass to the ER again tonight." They loved Jenna to death, but sometimes taking care of her could be exhausting. It really pissed them off when they just wanted to party and have fun, but they couldn't let loose because Jenna's safety and sanity was always nagging at them.
"Good," Jenna whispered, not loud enough for anyone to hear her.
"Spinner's it is, then," KC finalized. "And don't try talking us out of it, Drew. None of us wanna go to that preppy, suburbia party."
KC was sweet, much like Adam. The two of them were loyal to the people they loved while keeping reserved demeanors. You would rarely find either of them saying rude things about anyone unless they were provoked. This quality made for a great friend, but KC Guthrie had one major problem: He was in love with his best friend's girl, Ali. He hated watching Ali and Drew together because he knew that Drew did her wrong and, to him, she didn't deserve it. But it was a matter of respect and being true to the people who mean the most, so because of those invisible guidelines, KC would never be able to make a move on Ali. That alone tore him apart.
"Fine, fuckface. But when we end up bored out of our fuckin' skulls tonight, no one better come cryin' to me." Drew rolled his eyes and took a quick swig of his Gatorade.
"Damn, baby! You fine!"
Ali, Eli, Adam, Fiona, Jenna, KC and Drew turned to see who was causing such a disturbance in the annex. Turned out, it was Owen – one of Drew's idiot teammates – hitting on some girl that none of them had seen before.
The mysterious girl stopped in her tracks and spun around with a look of disgust plastered on her face. She took two defiant steps towards the disrespectful stranger, fire dancing in her eyes. "Number one: I'm not your baby. Number two: If you ever grab my ass again – or touch me, ever, for that matter – you will lose both of your hands. Is that what you want?"
Owen stared at the tiny girl, dumbfounded. He'd never had a girl lash out at him over some harmless game-spittin' and he was instantly defensive. "Calm down, girl. It's not that serious. And you shouldn't make threats that you can't follow up on, beautiful." He smiled icily at her and she stepped closer once more, so that their chests were touching.
The smile on his face disappeared when the girl grabbed the hem of his jeans, pulling them up as high as she could, and hard. He grunted in pain and the unknown girl grinned sweetly. "What was that? Threats that I can't what, now?"
"Ohh, myballs," his voice pleaded, muffled with discomfort. "You're hurting my balls!" Louder that time. Everyone had stopped his or her actions by this point to watch the scene unfold in the annex. People pointed and whispered and giggled at Owen's expense.
She laughed dryly before releasing his jeans, and laughed harder when he took three very fast steps backwards, cupping his manhood tenderly. "Come at me, bro." The girl turned on her heel and clicked down the hallway with purpose.
Once she was gone, the whole room exploded with laughter, pointing at Owen with ridicule. He proceeded to cuss them all out and left the annex, probably to ice his boys.
"Who the hell was that?" Drew asked, an interested gleam in his eye. KC knew what that meant and looked away from his friend. The new girl would be welcomed by Drew Torres, and he'd need KC's help in the process of keeping the secret from Ali. He'd been signed up for that job on numerous occasions.
Fiona clapped her hands humorously. "She's feisty; I like her!"
While the group talked about this strange girl excitedly, Eli remained silent. There was something about her that he couldn't help but notice. Maybe it was her short, auburn curls or ocean-blue eyes. It could have been the way that her floral print dress hugged her hips and pushed her breasts up just the right amount. Her long legs went along for days, growing like healthy stems from her sexy black high-heel boots.
Contrarily, it was possibly the fact that she stood her ground. Something about a girl who doesn't let a guy walk all over her was very attractive to Eli. Regardless, he was determined to learn more about her. After all, he was one of the Dissidents. All of the girls wanted a piece of him.
The first bell rang, interrupting the group of seven from their conversations and mindless thoughts. They groaned in unison and stood, gathering what they needed to manage through their monotonous every day routines.
"I don't know 'bout you guys, but I'm gonna need a jay during lunch," KC sighed as he walked away with Jenna towards their first period.
Jenna looked at him with pleading eyes, waving good-bye half-heartedly to their friends. "You don't have any coke, do you?"
KC laughed and wrapped his arm around his dear friend's shoulder. "Christ, Jenna. You're a mess."
I really hope that you all enjoyed this first chapter. The next chapter will probably be out in one week (if you like it and wish for me to continue). Please be honest. If you do not like it, then I don't wanna waste my time writing the rest. But I'm very attached to this plot and I think it's going to be a lot of fun!
Twitter? Yessir. InsightDelight.