As I slowly eased my way out of the car, I let the souls of my Toms slowly grip the pavement while simultaneously staring up at the beautiful gloomy sky. I slightly drifted into a gaze at the unfamiliar environment. I slowly took a breath of fresh air and let it all soak in. "This is my home now." I said to myself as I let out a quiet sigh.

Goodbye Seattle, once my beautiful emerald city, hello Toronto.

I exhaled as I looked around arms crossed while lightly kicking the tiny rocks that emerged from the uneven blacktop, remaining in a closed state of mind.

Hold on a moment. Let's back this up a bit:

My name is Samantha Weiss. Sam would be preferable if you don't mind. I'm 15 years old. I recently moved to Toronto to live with my aunt and uncle.

I had lived in Seattle for most of my life. I didn't want to leave it, but I didn't feel I had any other choice.

My parents have been going through marital problems since I was about 8 years old. They refuse to get a divorce, even though it's quite obvious they hate each other. Whenever I'm around them, they bicker. Whenever I'm alone with one of them, they gripe about one another. It drove me absolutely insane. I used to walk everywhere just to avoid their company. I would lock myself in my room and just sit there, I wouldn't do anything, I would just drift off into my own imagination. I didn't have many friends, and the ones I had I honestly had no interest in outside of school. My brother and I were distant; we would hardly acknowledge each others existence. I was all alone in the world.

The one friend I had was my cousin who lived in Toronto. He and I get along like best friends. We're into the same music, have nearly the same interests, and the way we present ourselves is very similar. We understand one another and our own perspective on life. We were 2,100 miles apart so I couldn't just call him over when I needed someone I could trust, someone I could go to when I needed to get out of my "home," a shoulder to cry on.

Every single aspect of my home was blatantly unwelcoming. I just couldn't handle it there. It drove me absolutely crazy. I needed an escape. Some sort of relief. An escape that was permanent.

It was a hasty decision to leave my life in the states to move to Toronto, but I knew it was the right one. I knew I'd be happier living with my cousin. I feel like I belong here more than I ever did back home. Also, aesthetically Seattle and Toronto were very alike, so the change wasn't greatly dramatic.

Of course, I had to break through my parent's overprotective boundaries in order to leave the country… But when I was able to state my case, they were more than willing to send me to where I'd be most happy.

Anyways, back to my new life:

I took my bag out of the car and steadily placed it over my shoulder as I continued my gaze. "Degrassi Community School" I silently read to myself as I scoped the high school. "It looks... decent." I told myself under my breath.

I scoped the passing students as they would turn to look at me. Some would whisper to one another after getting a good look, some would give me strange looks, some would even smile and quickly shift their head to another direction to ease the tension as we made eye contact.

After each instance I would just let my eyes roll in remorse at how typical these kid's reactions were. It isn't like I'm not use to seeing people look at me like I was some sort of circus freak. They more than likely don't even make an effort to be different. Conformity is the undocumented eighth deadly sin. I wasn't about to let others sway the way I like to present myself. However I feel comfortable with dressing is no one's concern but my own.

"Are you coming Sam?" I awoke from my trance as my cousin coaxed me toward the entrance of my new school.

"Oh… Uh, Yeah…" I couldn't bring myself out of the awkwardness that had consumed me while my mind was elsewhere. I had just processed that, with the exception of one person, I knew absolutely no one.

He had a year at this school prior to my arrival, so hopefully he had some friends I could get to know and I could finally be content, if not happy.

Hopefully I would meet someone who was into music the same way I was. I loved to sing and play the acoustic guitar. I wrote my own music along with learning cover songs upon request. I wanted to make that known around these halls. Sam Weiss would be Degrassi's very own music prodigy. I wouldn't mind that at all.

-

As we picked up our schedules I was told by a distributor, possibly a counselor of some sort, to go to the office to talk to the principal about what I should expect from this school and all the school sanctioned activities I had the option to be a part of.

Yippee school spirit...

I stood there for a few seconds to contemplate whether i should go or not. I ran my fingers through my blond hair at the front to mix with my dark brown hair. I then decided it would be a good idea to go and see what he had to say.

My cousin liked to make fun of me for the way I did my hair. Apparently the way I styled it was almost the equivalent to that of Rogue from X-Men. Which I'll admit was true, but I liked it. That chick was an emotionally-unstable badass.

I timidly eased my way to Principal Simpson's office to see him standing behind his desk while leaning against the wall behind it with a warm smile plastered across his face.

With that, I sighed in relief as I walked through the door with a bit more confidence than I had begun with.

He seemed genuinely nice. Unlike the Principal I had prior to Degrassi. He would not have taken the time out of his busy schedule to cordially greet a new student into their brand new learning environment.

I have a good feeling about this school.