A/N: As some of you know from my Tumblr posts; this is the marker of the beginning of a new project I have where I write my own version of Degrassi's 13th season. This first 'episode' if you will is a two part stand alone and the rest of the ones will be either one, two, or three parts long depending on what I do with each one. And though some of the plots are similar to what you've seen; I've done my own thing to make more things happen in the series of fics for this project. After all, I don't like to copy the work of others! Enjoy!

"And we'll never be royals. It don't run in our blood, that kind of luxe just ain't for us. We crave a different kind of buzz..."

"So, did you find out if Zig is going on the trip with us?" Tori asked, her head held high as she walked through the winding hallways of Degrassi. That morning, the students had met up at the school if they were signed up to go on the trip to Paris with their French class. Some parents and other teachers could be found around the school getting prepared to chaperone the students on their trip. Neither Maya nor Tristan could believe that Tori was actually okay with Maya seeing Zig now. Then again, as Tori said, he was 'her problem' now and wished the two of them the best. "If so, I'm totally sitting as far away from him as humanly possible - no offence, Maya." She added, Maya just shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her cellphone while she waited for a text.

"I haven't heard from him yet. He said he had a new job and he wasn't sure if he would be able to leave town," Maya replied as she continued to walk, not pulling her eyes from her phone. Over the summer, Zig had managed to get a job of some sort to help him take care of his family's expenses and help him pay for this trip. Though, he never said exactly what he was doing but he seemed to be making a fair amount of money from what Maya could tell. He had taken her out several times over the course of the last month and he definitely didn't try to ditch any tabs, after all.

"Maya, look out!" Tristan exclaimed but it was too late - she had face planted right into a cardboard cut-out of Drew Torres.

The olive skinned boy was taken aback by the sudden thud that knocked the cut out, out of his hands. "Whoa, are you okay?" Drew asked, flashing a pearly white smile when stopping with Dallas in their tracks. "Blinded by my good looks, eh?" He added, winking at the young blonde and she rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Oh, shut up Drew!" Maya retorted as she moved past them to walk away. Half the time she wondered how both Katie and Adam could tolerate such a douche. He seemed like an arrogant jerk most of the time since he seemed to flirt with everyone under the sun despite being engaged.

"Don't get your panties twisted, chicken cutlet! He was joking." Dallas spoke up, a smirk creeping across his lips as he defended his friend. Maya shot Dallas a harsh glare as the group of grade tens walked past and headed for the classroom they were supposed to meet up at. "She has been nothing but bitter since Cam died. Damn." Maya heard Dallas say to Drew and her heart felt like it dropped from her chest to the floor. Though the blonde refused to let his words get to her; she couldn't help but to feel sad that Cam was still gone and not coming back.

As the Tori, Tristan, and Maya took a seat at the back of the classroom; their teacher walked in and announced a new student's arrival. "Oh...oh my God. Do you realize who that is, Tori?" Tristan asked, his blue eyes were locked on Zoe Rivas aka Gatsby Garcia from West Drive. Tori looked up from her bag and saw the girl standing at the front of the class but unlike Tristan, Tori definitely did not like Zoe. She had met her once outside of Music Plus; a local venue where celebrities from all over would do interviews and meet fans. However, when Zoe and Tori met - Zoe was rather rude and it immediately turned her off of ever liking her or her character again.

"Oh...great," Tori muttered, Maya exchanged glances with Tori then the two looked back at the new girl. "I'm sure she's going to be oh so divalicious. Just like the last time I had the privilege to meet her," Tori added, Maya and Tristan could feel the hatred coming from Tori. However, Tristan didn't want to believe that Zoe was a diva. Though he hadn't been able to meet her in the past, he had met the other kids that were on West Drive, and none of them seemed to be snooty or rude in the past.

"Class! May I have your attention? This is Zoe Rivas, she's a new student here at Degrassi and in grade ten. Zoe, would you like to say something to the class?" Madame Jean-Aux announced, smiling sweetly as she waited for the girl to speak up. To Madame Jean-Aux, Zoe seemed slightly shy because she didn't talk to anyone on the way from the principal's office to the classroom. Zoe gave her teacher a look then looked around the class, plastering on a fake smile before speaking up.

"Hmm... no, I think I'm good." Zoe replied then walked off to take a seat in front of a small misfit looking group in the back of the class. Except for one curly haired brunette which she recognized. And already, Tori was giving Zoe a look as if to say she needed to back off right then and there. Though Zoe had other plans in mind.

"Okay, your outfit is absolutely fab. Where did you get it?" Zoe asked, looking over Tori. Tori was wearing a blue and black tribal print crop top under a black knit cardigan which was paired with a black skirt. The brunette was taken aback by what had just happened - did Zoe actually forget that they had met in the past and how rude she was to her when they were introduced? "Seriously, I have to know!" Zoe continued.

"Um...H&M I think. Pretty sure I got the whole outfit from there, actually." Tori replied, her tone of voice sounding confused and a little bit on the cautious side.

Meanwhile, Tristan was sitting behind Tori trying to muffle the sound of a small fanboyish squeal. "Would you like to sit with me on the bus ride to the airport? And on the plane?" Zoe questioned, Tori turned to look at Tristan because he hoped that if she did, he would be okay with it. Tristan slowly nodded his head and smiled.

"Do it for me!" Tristan whispered.

Then Zoe definitely realized who they were and smiled. "Oh, hold on a second, are the two of you the kids that do the West Drive vlogs?" Zoe asked, leaning back in her seat.

"Yeah?" Tori replied, wondering what was about to be said.

"Oh, right, well by contract with my agency I can't befriend fans. It could cause a lot of problems. I'm sorry! I can't sit with you after all," Zoe stated then got up to move to the other side of the room where her friends Winston and Miles were seated. Tori gave Zoe the most hateful glare as she watched her walk off. Unfortunately, it was true. Zoe could have gotten in trouble if she buddied up to any known fangirls of the show. She felt like they couldn't be trust and though she was no longer acting for the time being - she still had to watch her back for her agent's sake.

"Told you she was a fucking bitch, Tristan. Listen to me next time!" The curly haired brunette exclaimed angrily. Luckily her voice was quiet and Zoe couldn't hear her nor could the teacher. Those words alone could have caused her more trouble than it was worth and would have gotten her kicked off the trip.

"God, I am so sorry Tori. I didn't know." Tristan admitted, he felt terrible after watching what just happened with his friend. Maya, on the other hand was beaming, since she had just heard from Zig.

"Zig's coming on the trip with us!" Maya announced happily, grinning from ear to ear as she looked at the text. This was the first time that she would be able to practically experience a summer alone of being with a boyfriend.

"Great!" Tori muttered under her breath and crossed her arms over her chest; this was definitely going to be one hell of a trip for her. And already she knew it was not going to end well.

"You really don't have to come see me, Eli. Keep your internship! Don't let my being sick ruin this for you." Clare stated as she sat alone in her hospital room; she couldn't believe Eli had called her saying he was coming home. Little did she realize, he was much closer than she had thought.

"A little late for that, isn't it?" Eli spoke up, turning his phone off as he walked through the hospital room's doorway. Two bags in hand. Clare didn't know whether to shout and throw a pillow at him or cry because she actually had him there to support her. She was terrified but she wanted to be the strong girl she knew she was deep down. The emerald eyed boy smiled sweetly at the love of his life sitting there on her hospital bed, and even in a hospital gown, she looked beautiful. "You know, even in this hospital room and in this gown, you're still the most beautiful girl in the world?" He added, laying his bags in the chair next to him as he moved to sit on the bed with her.

"You make it so difficult to be mad at you, Eli." Clare replied, standing up to give him a hug. As she pulled him in, a wave of emotion came over her and she found herself crying as he held her close in his arms. As she pulled herself together she looked up at him, smiling softly. "One night this week we need to plan an evening to just be together - without anyone checking on me. Not my mom, not a nurse, not anyone... just me and you," Clare stated. Eli nodded his head and smiled though he could feel his eyes tearing up.

"Okay, yeah, I would like that a lot." Eli replied, his voice a little deeper than before from the sudden rush of emotion that came over him so quickly. "What exactly do you have in mind for this night?" Eli asked, locking eyes with the blue eyed beauty in his arms.

"Maybe we could have dinner, watch a few movies, cuddle..." Clare replied softly, biting down on her lip gently after speaking hoping that maybe Eli would get a hint as to where she could be leading with that sentence.

"I like the sound of that." He replied simply.

The next day, Clare woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating and a sleeping Eli in the chair beside her bed. Clare had just received a text message from Alli with a picture of her and Jenna posing outside the Eiffel Tower holding up the head of her cardboard cut-out from the elections. "Oh my gosh," Clare whispered with a quiet laugh; that was enough to wake Eli up. Eli's eyes opened and he smiled sleepily at his girlfriend as he watched her smile down at her phone.

"Mornin'," Eli muttered, rubbing his hand over his eyelids.

"Hey, you! Good morning!" Clare replied, however before she could speak to him - a rather pissed off Helen Martin stood in the doorway.

"What the hell is this?" She exclaimed angrily, holding up a bill from the credit card company that was supposed to be for emergency use. Clare's eyes widened because she knew exactly what it was seeing as how almost a month had past by since she and Eli had slept together after prom.

"Oh...um, oh God mom. Sit down and I'll explain," Clare replied, feeling her stomach drop from fear that her mom was about to unleash her fury on both her and Eli. "Please, sit." Helen then moved to sit down on the edge of Clare's hospital bed.

"Maybe I should go?" Eli spoke up only to gain a look from Helen as if to say "you're not going anywhere, young man.". Clare shook her head no at him then exhaled a breath.

"Look, I was going to tell you but I didn't know how. Eli and I have been in love with each other for a long time now and I made the choice to go rent a room with him after prom. There was no pressure or force from either one of us and the evening was... amazing. I know it goes against your beliefs but you have to think about what you did with Glen and the times I caught you before you yell at me." Clare stated, giving her mom a sorry look as she tried to refrain from getting emotional. She hated hurting her mom but this was a choice she had made with her boyfriend and Helen really couldn't tell her what to do with her own body.

"Excuse me? What I do and what you do are two different things and you know premarital sex is not okay - especially at your age." Helen stated, argumentatively.

"Neither is being a hypocrite!" Clare replied calmly, suddenly feeling more angry than anything. She was tired of her mom constantly preaching one thing then going out and doing another. "You know that's true. But at least I was with someone that loves me more than anything," Clare continued. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's my body and my relationship. I'm sorry I used the emergency money for such a thing but I'll pay you back."

"No, don't worry about it. Just don't do this kind of nonsense again but promise me - if you get pregnant you'll speak up. I don't want you feeling like you can't tell me that, okay? But be safe, you're too young to be having babies right now. You're not even in university!" Helen lectured, standing up to walk out of the room before turning to give Eli a stern look. "And you better not pressure my baby girl into sex. Got it?" She asked.

"I would never do that!" Eli replied, making a face back at the woman. Sometimes he really disliked how Helen thought he was such a bad boy when he wasn't all that bad anymore. "Never."

Back in the hotel rooms in Paris, everyone was getting ready to go out for a little while to do various things, like shop or go out to dinner. As Maya, Tristan, Tori, and Zig headed out into the halls of the hotel to go grab some food - they met with Zoe and her friends by the elevator. There was a thin, geeky looking guy wearing glasses and a bowtie standing next to a tall, brown haired boy that was decked out in designer clothes. The geeky looking one awkwardly winked at Tori causing her to give him a disgusted look. "Sup pretty lady? I'm Winston," the guy spoke up, as he leaned against the wall while waiting on the elevator.

"Tori and I'm not interested," She replied, flipping her curly brunette locks over her shoulder as she moved away from the guy to ignore him. When he started to follow her, she moved so that she was standing closer to Zig and Tristan. "Seriously, go away. Please!" Tori added.

"Chewy! Cut the crap, dude," the tall brown haired guy spoke up. "I'm sorry about him - he has never had a girlfriend and probably will. He'll leave you be now." he added.

"And you are?" Tristan asked.

"Miles Hollingsworth. It's nice to meet you all," Miles replied, introducing himself to the others."So, are you here with the Degrassi students or something? I'm starting school there this fall as well as my friend here. It would be nice to have other people to hang with while in Paris!" Miles added, luckily unlike his friend Zoe, he was actually quite friendly and outgoing.

"Uh, no, we're not hanging out with this bunch. They're nowhere near good enough to be around us!" Zoe disagreed, trying to convince Zoe otherwise that the kids they were talking to were not worthy of their time.

"Shut up!" Miles retorted, furrowing his brow. "Please, just, shut up for once would you?" He added, sounding more annoyed than angry when he spoke to Zoe. Miles always seemed to feel annoyed with the girl. They may had been friends with benefits for weeks but he always used the term friend loosely, when it came to her.

Miles couldn't help but to look at Tori with awe. She was beautiful, she had perfect olive skin and beautiful deep brown eyes, and Tori definitely looked like the type he would go for. Though he could tell she was miserable there by the look on her face alone. "Are you being true with your words, Miles? Seeing as how I was already talked to by Zoe and lead to believe she wanted to be around me yesterday - I can't tell if you mean what you say or if you're just being a douche." Tori asked.

"I mean it. I would love to have you around to keep me company this evening! Same goes to your friends here and who are you guys?" the billionare asked, hearing the elevator doors open behind him just before he turned to get in. The others followed behind him and got in as well, Maya pressed the ground floor button so they could leave the building, and once Tristan was inside the doors shut.

"Well, I'm Zig - that's Tori, Tristan, and Maya." Zig spoke up and pointed to each person to introduce them to everyone. Maya then took Zig's hand in hers and laid her head on his shoulder. She saw how that Zoe girl was looking at her boyfriend and she wanted to make it clear that they were together before Zoe could do anything. Since they were out in the hall, Zoe was subtly looking Zig up and down, taking every detail of him in. Maybe it had something to do with the new leather jacket he had on or maybe it was his tough demeanor that made him attractive. Though Maya was sure that Zoe would lose interest in him the moment she found out he was poor and had to get a job to pay for the trip.

"So, where are we headed exactly? The four of us were going out to dinner so we should probably eat something first." Tristan asked nervously, he didn't know how this night would turn out but he wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

"Dinner then shopping." Winston spoke up to answer the question.

"Speaking of - we need to try Ambience; my uncle said the food there is amazing and they have great ratatouille niçoise and crepes." Miles stated, he could feel his stomach rumbling from the thought of that alone. After all, it was one of his favorite dishes and if someone made it perfectly he would feel like he was in Heaven.

"How expensive is this place? I have to be careful with my money; I've worked hard for it." Zig asked.

"Not bad." Miles simply replied, smirking as the doors opened to let them out of the elevator.