I had to write this. If you haven't seen the old Degrassi mini "Be Aware of Heather Sinclair", you must Youtube it now. Also, if you don't know who Heather Sinclair is, she was a running joke for the early season of Degrassi The Next Generation. She was often referred to as a student of Degrassi and they all talked about her, but you never actually see her. All we know is that she argued with Paige, she insulted everyone, and she's Holly J's older sister.
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So here she is terrorizing the current batch of Degrassi students. Please review if you are so inclined. This is a ONE SHOT.
(There are 13 current Degrassians who appear in this. Can you name them all?)
I had no idea why Holly J would want to go back and visit Degrassi. Leaving that school was the best thing that's ever happened to me and I was lucky to get out of that school alive. Holly J apparently got caught stripping in one of the classrooms. As proud of that as I am, you'd think that my Yale attendee sister would remain hundreds of miles away from Degrassi.
But whatever. I didn't want to spend hours with my mom so I followed Holly J there. At first I just wanted to stay in the car and wait for her to come back out from whatever she was going to do but I got curious. So we walked up the familiar steps and I stopped immediately once we walked inside.
"What's wrong?" Holly J asks me.
I look at her like she's ridiculous. "Do you not see the huge metal detectors?"
"Oh," Holly J shook her head. "They installed that after..."
Despite how weirded out I was, I laugh at her. "Your escapades made them install metal detectors? I thought it was just the uniforms."
She glares at me as usual. "The metal detectors were for some idiot who brought a knife to the dance."
"And you wanted to come back here because?" I ask her slowly. I just didn't get it at all. Sure I was queen bee at Degrassi the entire time I was here but the people who go here now are practically fetuses compared to me.
"Because Principal Simpson asked me to come by," Holly J said. "Some kind of scholarship grant he wanted to give to one of the seniors that maybe I wanted to be the face of. So just go look around or something. There've been a lot of changes since you graduated."
Holly J went to Simpson's office, leaving me alone among the high school kids that were just standing around as if there wasn't a class they had to go to. But that was familiar. It seemed like I spent more time tormenting people in the hallways rather than being in class.
The first thing I noticed was the completely remodeled Media Immersions lab. Damn, they really upgraded. The computers weren't the crappy ones anymore and they weren't even placed around the room like a classroom. They were in little sections, all flat screens. This lab was better than the one I had at Ryerson. And they seemed to lessen their amount of books. There weren't that many to begin with when I was here and the number of them seemed to be cut in half. Guess reading wasn't a priority at Degrassi anymore.
I made my way to leave when someone bumped into me. Someone rather tall. But he didn't even stop and apologize for practically running me over.
"Watch it," I harshly said to him.
This tall guy with glasses and a Degrassi hoodie finally looks at me and I give him an annoyed shake of the head. "Excuse you geek" I scoff to him when he looks at me with a blank expression. He turns away and goes to a computer, not even acknowledging me.
And still, Degrassi students are rude.
I leave the MI lab and head down a hallway, quickly seeing some young looking girl with big bushy curly hair and big eyes. This girl reminded me of Manny Santos, could definitely pass for her younger sister. When I neared her I noticed that she was blatantly staring at me.
"What?" I said loudly, directing it to her.
She smiles for some reason and she probably has the whitest teeth ever. "Where'd you get your necklace? So cute."
I look down at my neck and look at the rose gold star pendant. "New Haven, my sister got it for me," I tell her. My bitter mood from that guy earlier was gone. When another girl appreciates some good style, my style, it always puts me in a good mood.
"Awesome," she said, still smiling.
I walk away, giving her a wave, and turn the corner. The familiar hallway still looked the same and passing by my old math class with Armstrong I notice that he's still teaching here, his classroom still looking the same. I walked slowly while staring at the room when I hear some loud talking and whistling.
Some guys with dark letterman jackets were walking my direction. What is this? Where the hell did these guys come from? Toronto Ice Hounds? Degrassi finally got an ice hockey team?
The guy at the front of the pack, dark-ish skin, and exudes the whole "I'm the captain" pride. His posse just follows him and they're all staring at me. I don't blame them since they all stare at baby looking girls all day. An older woman's probably shocking to them. A good shock since you know, it's me.
"What are you doing here old lady?" the obvious captain directs to me.
My jaw drops but I immediately recover. "Visiting, fetus," I bitingly said to him.
"Oh, returning to the good old days?" he asked, a smug look on his face.
"No, unlike you, the best days of my life happen outside of high school," I reply. "But from what I can tell about you, you're peaking at 18. Good for you. You're gonna be that guy who's going to bring up your popularity in high school as you meet people in college, if you go. You're gonna be that guy who prides himself on the fact that oh, you were so cool in high school because nothing in your future will ever make you feel as awesome as you do now. Enjoy your life as it spirals downwards when you graduate."
That made the smug look on his face disappear and it was my turn to smile in pride. He walks away from me with a locked jaw and his posse follows him. I have to admit, the guy tried. But Heather Sinclair wins in arguments, even if I know absolutely nothing about you.
I turn another corner and see that the students are still littering the halls. Do these kids ever go to school? Damn.
I passed by the window of the JT Yorke memorial where there were two people out there sitting, making googly-eyes at each other, talking animatedly about, presumably, the book that the guy was holding. I got a Sean Cameron and Emma Nelson vibe from those two; a rebel looking guy, this one had dark clothes and dark hair but pretty sure he was as short as Sean, and the other was a goody-two shoes looking girl but I'm guessing this one never got gonorrhea from Jay Hogart.
I made it to the very different looking cafeteria, the students still not going to class, and noticed how there was a studio in the middle of the cafeteria. Two guys were in there and according to the sign they were the hosts of the Degrassi Radio. What is the point of having a Degrassi Radio station? Is Simpson actually trying to keep these kids out of class and not learning?
I roll my eyes with annoyance and walk past the station, feeling the eyes of the two boys following me. The dark skinned one was looking at me at confusion to which I replied with a glare. He immediately stuttered, looking away, making the brown haired boy laugh. That one waved at me, which was nice, but why wave at someone you don't know?
I decide to go into the bathroom to freshen up my lipstick where I find a very blonde haired girl standing in front of the sinks, hands clasped in prayer, and muttering silently. I try not to laugh at this girl seeing as she was praying to God in a dirty bathroom and stood several feet away from her and reapplied my lipstick.
She finally comes out of the prayer and passes me, saying a smiley hello. I just nod in acknowledgement and press my lipsticked lips together as she skips out of the bathroom. I exit the bathroom a minute after her and immediately collide with someone.
"Sorry!" I hear a deep voice say.
I turn my head and see a short guy with the same letterman jacket as the group of guys earlier and I immediately am less inclined to attempt to be nice to him.
"I wasn't looking, I hope I didn't hurt you," the small boy apologized and seemingly genuinely.
This boy reminded me of a puppy dog who got caught making a mess in the middle of the kitchen. "It's fine, kid," I said. "Say, tell me, when did Degrassi get a hockey team?"
"This school year," he answered. "We're all mostly transfers."
"Huh," I said. "Thanks for the info. Don't run into other people."
He circles away from me and down the hall and I look back at him impressed. At least not all of the hockey team are cocky jerks like the captain and his minions.
Finally I hear the bell ring and all of the students scramble around me. It takes them a minute to all get into their classrooms but eventually I'm alone in the hallway, eerily taken back to being a student here. It felt weird and different but the same. As many of the changes they made between me graduating and now, it still felt like the usual, old, dramatic Degrassi.
I make the route back to the entrance where I pass by some girl with dark hair and blunt bands with a guy in plaid, smelling of grass, walking hand in hand. They seemed kind of brushed with dirt, making me wonder what the hell Degrassi has installed outside.
At a bulletin board just by the JT memorial there was this girl, also with dark hair and blunt bangs, hanging up some poster. "Shouldn't you be in class?" I ask the girl.
"Shouldn't you be in a retirement home?" she replies.
This girl, wearing a gaudy yellow sweater, just turns away and walks down the hallway. As much as that insult was not very good, I was impressed. At least there was still some queen bee around here.
I neared the foyer of Degrassi, passing by the MI lab on more time and the display of awards and plaques, with the first name I notice being Darcy Edwards, and think about my own time here. I definitely didn't get the same grades as Holly J but I dominated this school, terrorizing all of the classmates I had. I wonder where they all ended up and have they ever come back to this school and see all that Degrassi has become.
Holly J was just exiting Simpson's office with Simpson walking behind her. I walk up to the two of them and hear the end of their conversation.
"I'll do whatever I can," Holly J nicely promised the principal.
"Thank you, Holly J," Simpson replied. Turning to me he said, "Heather, so nice to see you again."
"You too Archie, man, being principal made you age a lot," I remarked in awe. "I like what you've done with the place."
"Thanks Heather," he said back to me and immediately walked away.
Holly J grabbed my arm and led me out of the school. Once we were at the car she said to me, "Heather, you were so rude to Principal Simpson. After all this time you're still a bitch?"
I scoff at her. "Of course I am."
