This is a story about two unsuspecting lovers and other ones engaged in a world of drama, sex, drugs and violence. This is the Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the degrassi characters but I own the ones I made up :-)

Do you Ever

Janurary 9, 2018

Jay placed the card inside the envelope and handed it to the clerk behind the counter. He walked toward the door of the flower shop, thinking about what he'd written. He hoped Ellie would accept the flowers from him and be happier. But more important, he hoped she would be happy to hear from him. After all, so much time had passed, and yet sometimes the pain of their split still felt like a fresh cut. He walked out of the store and toward his Denali parked at the curb. Now all he could do was wait and see if time really did heal wounds. Jay thought about something his mother had often told him over the years. She said that whatever you claimed to be in life, you'd be tested at. He had always thought that he know what she meant. God knows he'd been put to the test in his life. Most times, Jay had passed those tests. But when the time came for him to be tested at love, it was a different story. That was one test that Jay wasn't so sure he'd passed.

Ellie opened the door and saw a delivery-man standing there smiling. In his hands he held a huge flower arrangement. "Eleanor Nash?" he asked. Ellie did not return his smile but nodded, confirming her identity, and sighed for the arrangement. "Thank you." she said, in a soft voice. The delivery-man headed back toward the van parked at the curb, Ellie had been accepting flowers for the past two days, all condolences for her mother's death. Most of the flowers had been sent over by members of her mother's small Methodist church congregation, who had become the dead woman's extended family for the past several years. For years Ellie's relationship with her mother had been nonexistent. And then when one did exist, it had been complex. For years Ellie had never seen her mother in charge or in control of her own life, or theirs, when Ellie and sister, Chanel had been kids. It had always seemed like they had been responsible for finding their own way in life, responsible for learning all their lessons on their own. The hard way.

But then Edna Nash finally came out of the shadows, and had claimed her place at the head of her family. She had fought the toughest battles and found solace in the only comforter she ever needed. The cancer claimed Edna Nash's life. It was a sad time for Ellie, compounded by the fact she'd spent so much time consumed with the fruitless pursuit of happiness in the gutter of drug addiction. Prior to her death, Edna had begun to pick up the pieces of her shattered relationship with Ellie. She had watched Ellie come back from the darkside, and seen that she had gotten her life together, that she regained custody of her son. But there had been some unfinished business between the two of them. Things they still had yet to conquer together, And now it was too late.

Edna's passing made Ellie think about so many things she had not allowed herself to remember for so long. She could still hear her mother's terrified voice, tstill feel the fear that surged through her every time she watched her mother beaten by Jeff. Ellie remember the terror etched on her mother's face as she curled in on herself to block her husband's drunken blows. Ellie remember how she used to try and cover her little sister's eyes and ears, to block out the horror they were forced to witness. Ellie had resented her mother for not being stronger. She had wanted Edna to fight back. It was no wonder that a woman who had never been able to fight back her own defense had been unable to fight for her children's survival. Realizing that she was still standing in the open doorway of her home, Ellie shut the door and placed the new flowers on the only available space on the table in the foyer. She removed the card that accompanied the latest delivery, and walked into her cozy living room. She sat down on the sofa and tucked her feet snugly underneath her. Opening the card, she read its message:

I'm sure that losing your mom has put an emotional toll on you right now. I know what it feels like to lose a parent. I just want you to know that even though we haven't spoken in a while, I'm here for you if you need me. Believe it or not, I still think about you all the time. There is a place in my heart that is always for you. I'm very sorry for your loss. Call me if you want to talk. (647-555-1992

Love, Jay

Ellie's heart immediately stopped. She couldn't believe what she had just read. The red head continued to read the words Love, Jay over and over again to make sure what she read was real. Even without the signature, she would have recognized the handwriting, and the familiarity which caused a shiver to travel down her spine. Ellie laid her head back against the sofa, her back flush against the mountain of pillows. Her eyes were fixed on the smooth surface of the ceiling, and on the prisms of light reflectioing through the partially open Venetian blinds, her thoughts far away. Some place long ago and bittersweet.