(AN:) Sorry if this chapter is boring, but I had to set everything up! I promise the next chapter will be much much more exciting. Pleasee if you are intrigued keep reading and revieww! There will be slash soon. There are a couple hints in this chapter, if you pay attention to detail. Please give me criticism; I'll accept any kind of review.
Thank you for reading! and enjoy.
Chapter 1:
In the middle of June at 3 a.m., staring at a blank computer screen, only slightly aware of the fuzzy crackle of the white noise from the television, Spinner Mason realized that his life was falling apart again. He didn't even really care that his power had just flickered, causing his internet surfing to come to a sudden end. All he could think about was his friends. They had wasted so much time being mad at Spinner, and now they had no time left.
Classes at Banting started in early July. That meant that Marco and Paige would be gone for more than half of the summer. Spinner had been looking forward to spending more time with Paige...as friends. And Marco had been the first of Spinner's friends to forgive him. How could he be leaving already? How could all of this have happened so fast?
Craig was back for the summer, but after that he would be back in Vancouver. Jimmy, who would be Spinner's only real friend left at Degrassi, was feeling just as empty as Spinner. They had had to watch their class graduate...without them. But Jimmy wouldn't even be in Toronto the whole summer. Ellie had pushed him into attending an art camp in Boston. He'd be gone the entire month of August (but at least he'd earn a college credit).
And Darcy seemed to be a lost cause. Spinner had already written five letters to her, but she had not responded. But Spinner swore to himself that he would be faithful, just on the off chance that Darcy might forgive him. He wanted Darcy back more than anything in the world. More than he wanted to leave Degrassi with the rest of his friends. More than he wanted his friends to stay.
Spinner got up from his seat at the desk. He walked lethargically over to his bed and let himself collapse comfortably into the warmth of his mattress. Laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, Spinner wondered if he'd ever get away from Degrassi. Or if he even had a reason to leave. What was he going to do with his life? He had never really thought about his post-high school plans. College? Trade School? The Military? He had no idea what he wanted to do. Everything was suddenly real and impending.
Spinner closed his eyes. He felt himself sink deeper into his bed.
I need to get away.
And then he fell asleep.
"Come on guys, I need this," Jimmy pleaded, "You can't bail on me."
He was sitting in his wheelchair at the end of a booth at The Dot with Marco, Paige, Alex, Ashley, and Ellie. Jimmy's vulnerable gaze traveled back and forward from person to person.
"Jim, I'm sorry," Marco said slowly, trying to sound as disconsolate as he felt, "But I can't tell Banting when to start the semester."
"But it's senior week!" Jimmy said desperately, "You won't even have to be at Banting till the day after we get back. This trip could be the last time all of us get to hang out together."
"But that week is the only time I'll be able to spend with Dylan until Halloween. I can't go. But we can hang out here. Why do we have to go somewhere?" Marco tried to compromise.
Jimmy looked expectantly at Paige, who was sitting a comfortable arms length away from Alex.
"What?" Paige said, starting to feel a little bit guilty, "I'm in the same boat as Marco. I have to go to Banting a week early for cheerleading. Sorry, hun."
Jimmy sighed, and then looked at Ashley and Ellie.
"Ash?" he asked, as if he didn't already know what her response would be.
"Jimmy, I told you," she said sorrowfully, "I need to spend some time with my family. I haven't seen my mom and Jeff and Toby since last summer. I just can't leave again...even if it's only for a week."
Jimmy attempted a smile to show that he understood her. He felt bad for being so selfish and trying to get all of them to just throw up their hands and stop whatever they were doing to come on a road trip with him. He sighed and looked down, hopelessly.
"Well I'll come," Ellie finally said, after what seemed like a year of silence.
"You will?" Jimmy said, almost surprised, looking up at Ellie.
"Sure," Ellie replied, "Why not? You'll be gone in August and I want to get my entire summer's worth of Jimmy Brooks. What better way to do that than a road trip?"
"Ellie…" Jimmy started gratefully. But he was interrupted by Alex.
"Do you think there would be enough room in the van for a girl who needs to get away from her painfully sucky life for a while?" Alex said with a desperate, yet reserved look on her face.
"Of course," Jimmy said, excited that he was going to have his trip after all.
"That's good," Alex said dully, "because I was just fired from my third job in a month...and I don't think I'm up for begging someone for a new one just yet."
Paige suddenly looked concerned. She stared at Alex for a second.
"Hun," she began with a sympathetic countenance, "You didn't tell me you were having trouble keeping a job. I could help. There's a new manager at the food stand. She's really --"
"Paige," Alex cut her off, slightly frustrated, "We haven't talked since graduation."
Paige almost replied with an argument against Alex's, but then she realized that she was right. They hadn't talked at all.
"Well I think we should all get together for a pre-trip celebration," Marco purposefully interrupted the awkward silence, "That way we could all still hang out one last time."
Jimmy smiled.
"Yeah," he said to Marco, "that would be perfect."
As unrelated conversation quickly struck up again, Paige and Alex inched further away from each other and participated in separate conversations.
When Spinner woke up the next morning the feeling of discontent was gone. If he didn't get caught up thinking about everything, he could exist happily. And he felt even more uplifted when he noticed that Craig was in his room, yelling at him to wake up.
"Spinnnner!" Craig said excitedly, "Come on, man."
Spinner finally opened his eyes and laughed at Craig's goofy smile. This was the perfect moment.
"What do you want?" Spinner said, smiling and throwing a pillow at Craig.
Craig caught the pillow by the corner and tossed it back at Spinner. This led to a short, playful exchange of a pillowfight-like nature, which ended when Spinner accidentally fell out of his bed trying to catch the pillow.
"Come on," Craig said, laughing at Spinner, "Manny and I are going mini-golfing."
Spinner lowered his eyebrows slightly. "Why do you want me to go on a date with you and your girlfriend?" he said, not understanding why Craig would possibly want Spinner to come on a date with him and Manny, considering their fight over her the previous year.
"We figured you'd be upset if we didn't invite you," Craig said matter-of-factly.
"Why would I be upset?" Spinner asked, confused, standing up.
"Because," Craig explained, "you love put-put. Anyway, we haven't hung out in forever. Being away for so long makes you realize how fast everything goes."
"I know what you mean," Spinner said coolly. He paused for a brief second and then smiled again. "Alright, let's go," he said cheerfully, walking toward his bedroom door.
"Yes" Craig sort of cheered, following Spinner out of the room.
"Shotgun!" Spinner yelled as they both bolted down the stairs that led to the entry way.
"Spin, I'm driving," Craig informed him.
"Oh," Spinner said, shaking his head in slight confusion.
The two of them left Spinner's house through the front door and headed toward Craig's car, which was parked at the edge of the front lawn. Manny, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat and looking at herself in the mirror, turned toward Spinner and Craig and waved excitedly.
As Spinner got into the back seat of the small car, Craig sat down in the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition.
"Did you tell him where we're going?" Manny asked Craig cheerfully, looking toward Spinner with a smile.
"Yep," Craig replied, "mini-golf heaven."
"Ohh, this was such a good idea," Manny exclaimed, somehow throwing her arms around Craig to give him a peck on the lips.
Seeing Manny and Craig so happy together made Spinner feel good inside. They really were a perfect match. Spinner couldn't help but feel a little sad though. He didn't have Darcy anymore. He didn't have anyone.
For some reason, at that moment, Spinner thought of Marco. He had no idea why he would think of Marco at such a strange time. And then the thought was gone almost as soon as it had come.
Alex Nunez arrived home from the Dot to find her ex-boyfriend lounging on her couch once again. Alex just smiled and rolled her eyes. Usually Jay's presence put a damper on her mood, but nothing was going to bother her today. She was excited. She would be leaving this soon.
"I see you're cheery today," Jay acknowledged with a smirk, "What's the occasion?"
"None of your business," she replied, heading toward the refrigerator to get a drink.
Jay paused for a moment, briefly focusing his attention on the TV before turning back to Alex.
"Chad ran out again," he said nonchalantly.
Alex was not the slightest bit phased.
"Are there any cokes left?" Alex asked, closing the door to the fridge when she did not find any.
"Don't you want to know what they were fighting about?" Jay asked, ignoring her change of subject.
Alex sighed.
"It doesn't matter to me," she said matter-of-factly, "they're not my problem anymore. At least not for the summer."
"What are you talking about?" Jay demanded, a confused look on his face.
"I'm leaving," Alex responded after the slightest hesitation, "with friends."
"What friends?" Jay exclaimed, standing up. He was getting agitated. "Paige? Jimmy? They aren't your friends. They don't know the real you."
Alex rolled her eyes again, but this time it was out of irritation. She turned back toward the fridge and resumed her search for a carbonated beverage.
"Lexxie," Jay shouted, "Why are you doing this?"
"Because I want to!" she countered, "Every day here is the same. Mom drinks, fights with Chad...kicks him out. Then you're here…you come on to me with the hope that I'll suddenly decide that I like boys again. It's just all so incredibly lame."
"But—" Jay began angrily.
"And they do understand me. No matter what you say," she continued compassionately.
Alex walked toward her room, but turned around before entering.
"We're leaving in a week," she said quietly. And then she left Jay alone again.
Spinner's heart skipped a beat.
"You're going on a road trip?" he spoke into the phone.
"Yeah, in my van. We'll travel across the border, visit some places, experience life," Jimmy explained with enthusiasm.
It was night time. Spinner had been getting himself a late snack when the phone rang.
"That sounds amazing, man," Spinner replied, knowing right away that this trip was exactly what he needed. But he wasn't sure if Jimmy was inviting him or just making conversation.
There was a brief pause.
"So are you coming?" Jimmy asked.
Spinner was ecstatic. "Yeah, of course I'll come!" he exclaimed.
"Great," Jimmy said, smiling slightly at his friend's inability to control his excitement, "Then there's four of us. I guess that's it."
"Who else is coming?" Spinner asked.
"Well there's me, you," Jimmy slowly began his short list, "And then there's Alex and Ellie."
"Alex and Ellie?" Spinner said in bemusement.
"Yeah," Jimmy replied in a slightly sarcastic tone, "Remember them? They are two of the most stunning ladies that graduated without us."
"Yeah, sure," Spinner said, "but what about Marco, Craig, Paige? And Ashley? I thought you guys were together, man."
"Nah, me and Ash aren't official," Jimmy said distantly, "but maybe we will be. Anyway, they all bailed. Marco and Paige have Banting, Ashley has her family, and Craig has his Manuela."
"Oh..." Spinner was slightly disappointed that he would not be spending this road trip with all of his friends, "But that's okay. We don't need all them."
Jimmy smiled. He had been worried for a moment that Spinner might not want to come along now that he knew most of their other friends wouldn't be coming.
"Well, I'm going to get to sleep," Spinner said to Jimmy, "I have to start packing tomorrow."
"Yeah," was all Jimmy could think to say. He was overwhelmed by how suddenly his life had changed. Less than a month ago he had let go of his year-long grudge and now it was like old times; Jimmy and Spinner, best friends. It all seemed so surreal.
They said their goodbyes and hung up.