I'm back and better than ever! Hoorah! Now, I know that my Enchanting story was reviewed and "popular", I guess. And so I thought, why deprive these poor, fanfic-hungry people of Degrassi. I know this isn't ECLARE, but I just LOVE Campbell and Maya. They are so adorable. Campbell is soo cutely...awkward and Maya...lets just say this freshie has spunk! Who's with me *raises hand*! There hasn't been to much Maybell in the showdown yet, but I just could not resist the itch to write about these two! So, please, please, read on and tell me what you think. I NEED TO KNOW. Like I said later, the story will be in both Maya's and Cambi's POVs, but for the first chapter, its just Maya. So, please read, enjoy. And review! I'll stop talking in five. four...three...two...one:)
MAYA'S POV:
I can't believe it.
Degrassi is officially uniform free!
I thought, for a second, Mr. Simpson was joked and playing a cruel joke on us. I looked back at our principal, searching his face for signs of...lies...laughter, anything to prove evidence this was just a joke. But Mr. Simpson widened his eyes at us in disbelief. I could practically hear him say "Come on, people. No more frickin' uniforms at Degrassi. Why aren't you people celebrating?"
The students believed him this time. A loud wave of cheering from the student body roared around me, all at once, threatening to leave me deaf. It just seemed to be too good to be true. It was about time.
Finally, I would be able to dress in normal clothes that actually suited my style. It felt like a relief; to be honest, I wasn't really digging the yellow polos.
Tori Santamaria (my best friend), the smile crossing her face so wide it was bound to break her face in half, hopped out of her chair and turning around, she hugged Tristan Milligan, who pretended to wipe imaginary tears of joy out of his eyes.
I looked around me and saw a few people, who'd artfully disguised clothes under their uniform, begin to peel off the polos, revealing band tees, tank tops and long-sleeved shirts. Tori turned to me and grabbing my hands, she bounced excitedly on her toes.
"Now that that's out of the way, I have some more news," he announced. "We have a few students new to Degrassi this semester, so I would like each and every one of you to give a warm welcome to the Ice Hounds, a Toronto-based pro junior hockey team. Ice Hounds, please stand and take a bow."
A group of about eight or seven boys including Owen, Tristan's brother, stood up, all of them clad in black and red sports jackets that resembled the varsity jackets you see in movies. I caught a glimpse of their symbol, which resembled a black and red devilish-looking dog and was pinned on the left side of their jacket. All of them either carried hockey sticks or had them laid on the ground next to them.
Despite obvious differences in their appearances, all of them seemed similar in terms of personality. They were all tall and stood with their chests puffed out; an arrogant look on their faces…all except for one of them.
He stood out like a sore thumb. He was noticeably shorter than the rest of the team and looked very…young, like he could be around my age. He looked really unsure of himself as he gazed at his great hockey team of gods. Eventually they sat back down as the applause around them roared on.
I looked over at Tori, who was busy making moony eyes at the team, a look of admiration on her face. Even Tristan, who, by the way, was out and proud, looked dreamily at them. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in my chair. Okay, yes they were impressive, being a pro hockey team and all. But I don't see the reason to get all gaga and moony-eyed over them. They were just guys with great athletic talent, that's all. And the arrogance they seemed to have didn't really help.
After a few more announcements that didn't really concern me, we were permitted to leave to auditorium. The sound of chairs squeaking and students chattering excitedly filled the auditorium. I stood up and all four of us trooped out of the room and walked to our lockers. Tori chatted excitedly to me.
"Oh my gosh, can this year get any better?" Tori cheered, throwing books into her bag. She closed her locker and turned to me. "No uniforms, power squad, Zig's hair's grown to an adorable length and…I've made amazing new friends."
"Aw, Tori, that's so sweet," I told her. Tori, although annoying at first with her ever present perky and girly personality, was really starting to grow on me and I began to think of her as the type of friend I could stick with for a long time.
"Thanks, Maya," she smiled, watching me pile book after book in my bag. "Okay, so about the wardrobe problem, I say we go shopping ASAP."
A tall shadow suddenly appeared over Tori. I recognized the curly, red hair that made Tristan stick out among the Degrassi student body. Not that he minded…after all, he likes being the center of attention, which just adds to the many things that make up his fabulous, diva-like personality.
"I already am," Tristan said in a distracted tone. Tori and I watched as his fingers busily clicked away at the purple, rhinestone-ed iPhone in his hand. Tori smiled at her best friend.
Tristan suddenly let out an excited squeal of joy. Tori and I looked at him in slight worry. He bounced on his toes.
"OMG, yes, the new Ralph Lauren blazer I ordered yesterday finally arrived," he squeaked. He turned to us and showed us his phone, displaying a navy blazer with gold buttons, "I say we go and pick it up after school."
Tori clapped excitedly. "Yes! Finally, a high school shopping trip with my two best friends!"
A voice cleared his throat behind me. I turned around and saw Zig looming in the background awkwardly. He nodded at me, smiling, and walked over to Tori, his girlfriend. He made ridiculous puppy eyes at her. Tori laughed and kissed her boyfriend swiftly on the lips.
"And you too! My two best friends and my boyfriend," Tori corrected herself. Zig smiled pleasantly.
Immediately after, the bell rang, signalling the start of class.
Tori and Zig walked off, hand-in-hand to Algebra, since they both had it together. Tristan sulked over to the Biology lab down the left hall ("Ugh, I hate smelling and the smell, in general, of formaldehyde!").
Left alone by my already departed friends, I got ready to tackle French 1, which was down the hall. Sure, I liked Mrs. Fontaine, she was very nice. It's just that learning new languages was so difficult for me. It took me years before I could speak the Spanish taught at my old school. Now, imagine how long it was going to take to master yet another.
Sighing in frustration at the thought of yet another, painfully slow French lesson, I started down the wide halls of Degrassi.
Suddenly, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned around, careful not to let my frizzy blonde waves hit them in the face. My eyes widened as I gazed at the dude before me. It was the player who'd stuck out to me like a sore thumb at the assembly.
I would be lying if I said he wasn't good looking, because he was. He had amazing, round, dark eyes that reminded me of pools of chocolate. He had scruffy-looking locks of matching brown hair that fell into his eyes...nicely. His skin was snow pale. His pink lips were twisted into a very bashful smile.
"Hey. Um, do you know where room 233 is. I don't exactly...I'm kinda lost," he said softly, tripping over his words slightly.
"Yeah, I'm headed there now!" I said. I caught sight of his I.D. Weird, it says that he's a tenth grader. But French 1 is for freshmen...
"Really? Do you think maybe, you'd...I don't know, wanna walk there...together?" he asked, his ears turning pink at the suggestion.
"Yeah, absolutely," I said, pleasantly. Sure, he was part of the hockey team, but he didn't seem so bad. Besides, who was I to be rude to some newbie, hockey player or not.
I began to lead the way and thankfully, it was a short walk. I walked into the large, French 1 classroom, with the hockey player trailing behind me. I tried to ignore the piercing gaze of my classmates.
Gripping the strap to my bag tightly, I walked up to Ms. Fontaine, who awaited me in her desk, red lips tightened into a thin line. I watched how she tapped her pen tediously on the desk. I laid the homework in my hand on her desk.
"Ms. Matlin, how grateful of you to finally join us," Ms. Fontaine said, her French accent trilling the angry words. Her blue eyes roamed over my shoulder. "And I see you brought Mr. Saunders with you."
I looked over my left shoulder and saw the hockey player-who's-last-name-was-Saunders standing next to me, looking at the books in his arms guiltily. Looking up, he caught me staring and his pale cheeks pinked up the slightest bit. I turned back to Ms. Fontaine, who leaned back in her chair, waiting on my explanation.
"Ms. Fontaine, please. I came late-" Suddenly, a voice interrupted my argument against Ms. Fontaine. In shock, I looked to see the newbie Ice Hound step in front and speak for me.
"Ma'am, please. She arrived late because she was busy helping me. As I'm sure you know, I'm new around here and couldn't find my way to the classroom. She, um, thankfully, was already on her way here and I asked her to help me look for the classroom, delaying her quite a bit. Please understand, she was just trying to help me get to class," That was the most I'd seen this guy speak, and all at once, too. Still, the realization that this total stranger was defending me hadn't completely sunk in. And yet, I couldn't help but be grateful.
"Well, I must say that is a most impressive argument, Campbell. Maya, is this true?" Ms. Fontaine asked, turning her icy blue eyes towards my own. Glancing over at "Campbell", I nodded reassuringly. Ms. Fontaine leaned forward, smiling slightly.
"Well, since you are one of my best students, I will let this slide...once. But don't expect any freebies from me," Ms. Fontaine warned. She smoothed down her straight brown hair with an elegant hand and looked down at her papers. "Alright, we have been working in pairs and since you and Campbell arrived late, you will be partners. Now, sil vous plait, if you would please, go get a text book and continue on in chapter 11."
I nodded and turned around to face "Campbell". He tapped his fingers nervously to the binder in his hand as we starting towards my desk on the left. Campbell nodded and followed me through the massive array of students spread out on the desks, chattering away in English and French. I smiled at him.
"You know, you didn't have to defend me like that. I would've taken the detention just fine. But, all the same, I appreciate it," I admitted, feeling a slight flame sweep over my cheeks. He twisted his lips into a coy smile, looking down at his sneakers.
"I know, but I wanted to. I wouldn't have liked seeing you get in trouble for such a noble cause," Campbell said. I felt the blush in my cheeks turn deeper, until I was sure I'd pass out from heat stroke.
"I'm pretty sure you're the noble one here, Campbell," I teased, the blush from my cheeks thankfully disappearing. Less than ten minutes with this guy and I was already blushing like a fool...for a no reason.
Campbell stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket shyly.
"You really think so?" he asked, smiling at his sneakers.
"Oh, I know so," I said good-naturedly.
Campbell looked up at me, locking his eyes with mine. I felt the heat return to my cheeks as his glassy eyes seemed to search my icy blue ones. The flame returned to his cheeks and by this point, I didn't even know who was blush harder. Eventually, I dropped my gaze, feeling dizzy. What the heck just happened? Campbell cleared his throat.
"I'll, uh, go and get the textbook," he said, sounding more in control of his words, now.
He turned and started for the shelf near the back of the pastel-blue classroom. Before he walked too far, I gently touched his arm to stop him. True to my word, he stopped and turned around, a small smile playing on his lips.
"I have a text book. We could just use that, instead. Less books means less clutter on the desks, right?" I reasoned.
We sat down and I leaned over and opened my blue binder, flipping to the next open piece of paper. Campbell silently did the same, his ears still red. I pulled out my text book and began to flip to the page where we left off last semester.
"Okay, so last semester, we were working on numbers 1-35, which are just exercises on this lesson, concerning public places, like restaurants, cafes, libraries, etc. Then, the last "question" is an activity, which Ms. Fontaine will surely assign," I examined the questions busily. Alright, they seem...easy enough. I'm sure we could handle them.
He nodded, his eyes, too, roaming over at the textbook and skimming the questions. Campbell pulled a pen out of his pocket and began toying with it, looking lost and generally uncomfortable. Wanting to make conversation (if things would be like this for the rest of the year...we would never get through this partnership), I decided to just plainly ask him why he was here, since he was a tenth grader and all.
"I hope you don't mind my asking, but if you're a tenth grader...why are you here in ninth grade French?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. Campbell's face pinked up the slightest bit...again.
"How'd you know I was a sophomore?" he asked, batting his long eyelashes at me in the shyest matter. I felt my cheeks heat up again and I cleared my throat, the flame in my cheeks dying down, thankfully.
"I, um, I saw your I.D. and it says you're a sophomore," I admitted, trying to look away from Campbell's gorgeous brown eyes. What? Gorgeous? What am I thinking? Sure he's cute, but that's doesn't mean I have to call Campbell's eyes gorgeous...I don't even know this guy. Campbell smiled at me.
"Oh, I'm taking grade nine French because I missed out on French credits last, you know, with the hockey team and all the training..." Campbell explained. I nodded understandingly and looked back down at our empty paper. Campbell's eyes followed mine and landed on the page. I looked back at him and together, we began to work on the exercises.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After what seemed like a century, the bell rang and the sound of papers rustling and chairs squeaking exploded through the calm atmosphere. Campbell and I had, much to my amazement, managed to finish almost all of the questions. We had about seven or eight left. But thankfully, those were easy enough to do.
I got up, as did Campbell and we began to pack up for our next class. I gathered my textbook, stuffing it into my bag and putting the papers away into my binder. As I swung the backpack over my shoulder, I started for the door when Campbell called out to me. I stopped and turned around to face him.
"Um, can I ask you something," he said, once again tripping over his words. He paused, biting down on his lip and playing with the zipper on his jacket. "I was wondering if...do you have a Facerange?"
"Yeah, actually," I said, rather surprised by his question. "You know, some seniors created a group on Facerange called "Degrassi Panthers" and they added a few people from each grade, so if you want to add more people, you can just go there."
"Really? Thanks for telling me," Campbell said, his lips twisting into another shy smile.
I nodded and walked to the hall with Campbell next to me. Eventually, we had to split, since I had to go to my Algebra class and Campbell had to go to his next class. I smiled at him and he gave me a little parting wave. His large eyes shone at me and I felt my heartbeat strangely quicken. Campbell started down the hall, disappearing among the sea of students.
Knowing I couldn't afford another tardy (Mr. Armstrong wasn't as forgiving and I couldn't imagine the heart attack I'd give Mom and Dad if they knew), I hurried down the hall, clutching my books to my chest, trying to understand what happened.
No matter what, I've always remained cool and laid-back around guys, even around Zig. Why all of a sudden, am I blushing around a total stranger who defended me?
I shook my head and arrived to my next class.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Mom, I'm home," I called, closing the door behind me. I stepped out of my sneakers, revealing my fuzzy, blue socks. I'd gone shopping with Tori, Tristan and Zig after school and my feet were killing me!
"Maya, honey. I'm in the kitchen," My mother called back.
I walked to the kitchen and found my mother at the counter, evenly chopping up vegetables on the low counter. My mother, having suffered from multiple sclerosis, is permanently confined to a wheelchair and an addition to that, has to take pills for her intense pain.
I take after my mother in terms of looks. She and I both have wavy, blonde hair (thought mine is lighter and her's is dirty blonde), icy blue eyes and a nice smile. Katie takes more after Dad, with her reddish-brown hair.
Even though our house is already wheelchair accessible (all our rooms are on the first floor, including mine) and so far, she's been coping fine with her problem, I still pains me to see her like that. Because of her, I try to cause as little trouble and drama as possible. So far, I think I'm doing okay.
"Maya, honey. How was the mall with Tori?" She asked, concentrating on the peppers she chopped up. I leaned my elbows on the counter.
"Oh gosh, where to begin?" I laughed, trying to ignore the throbbing in my feet. "Well, Tristan finally got this blazer he ordered, Tori bought I-don't-even-know-how-many shirts from her favorite store and Zig and I got some cherry ICEEs. I think it was pretty fun."
"That's nice. I'm glad you finally made some new friends," My mother said, smiling at me graciously. I considered telling her about what happened in French class, but thought against it. I didn't want to worry my mother over being tardy to class, because I didn't even get punished.
"Well, I have homework to do, so I'm gonna go to my room, okay?" I said, leaning away from the counter.
"Okay, honey. I know your tired," My mother said. I leaned down and she kissed my forehead, before letting me go off. I walked away from the kitchen and down the hall, where my room was located. I opened my door and fell back on my soft bed.
My room was painted a beautiful sea-green. The maple-wood furniture went nice together, as did the heavy cream curtains and carpet. Posters of my favorite cellists and other bands covered the corkboard that hung above my headboard.
Flopping around back onto my bed, I turned on my black laptop, hoping to distract my clouded mind for a while.
Once it was fully loaded, I logged onto my Facerange account. Katie had convinced me to get one when I first started at Degrassi, since she was positive I'd make many new friends. I'd never been remotely interested in one until now. It was entertaining, I guess, to see what everyone was up to. I scrolled up and down, looking at my news feed:
Tori Santamaria: went shopping with my two best buds Maya Matlin and Tristan Milligan. And of course, my boyfriend Zig Novak:). The two cardigans I bought are totes adorable!
Alli Bhandari: omg, why do you hate us so much, Ms. Dawes? Two and a half pages on ONE fricking chapter for Romeo and Juliet? Ugh!
Dave Turner: gonna spend the day shooting hoops with K.C. Get ready, Guthrie. I'm going to kick ur ass!
Mo Mashkour: writing some totally sick songs for my sick band WHISPER HUG!
Suddenly, an obnoxious pinging sound came from my laptop. I've received a notifications. One was a message from Zig:
Zig Novak:
those ICEEs we got were sooo much btter than some clothes. i think i prefer eating rathr than shopping. Hbu?
I felt my ears go red at the thought of my initial crush on Zig Novak. He seemed like a pretty cool dude and I could admit, I was highly disappointed when Tori got back with him, even more because I helped him. But thankfully, I got over it quickly. I remember cringing every time I saw them swap spit in the cafeteria. Talk about PDA, much? At least Tori was happy, since she was a total wreck without him.
I quickly sent back a response and was about to go back to my news feed scrolling when yet another pinging sound came from my laptop. The notification bubble light up. I clicked on it and read my notification:
Campbell Saunders has sent you a friend request. Accept?
So that's why he asked me if I had a Facerange, I thought. I know I only talked to him for...one class period, but he seemed like a really nice guy. Why reject and be mean to a newbie?
I clicked the accept button and after looking at my news feed, I decided that Facerange was boring me. I got up and patted across my carpet and picked up my backpack. I tossed it on my bed and began to do homework, while listening to my iPod in the background. Coldplay soothed my nerves and allowed me to concentrate. I'd just finished my Math homework when a loud, obnoxious pining sound came from my laptop.
Tossing my homework aside, I opened my laptop and saw that I'd forgotten to log out of Facerange. But it didn't matter now, since it would be rude to log off while messaging someone. I say this because Campbell Saunders had sent me an I.M. on Facerange.
Campbell Saunders: Hey, Maya. Whats up(:?
Okay, I'll admit...not the best ending, but whatever:). I think Campbell Saunders is so adorkable and he looks even cuter when with Maya. MUST. BE. TOGETHER. I hate how much peer pressure is thrown onto Campbell, I mean, these people are picking on him left and right. Is it because he is smaller than the rest of the team...the world may never know:). Don't kill me, but I'm pretty sure they're like the new "ECLARE". Now, I know that you haven't seen a lot of Cam and Maya so far, but I just had to write a fanfic about these two cuties.
So, tell me what you think about chapter numero uno and I'll be starting on chapter numero dos. Don't freak, Campbell's point of view will be included in this story, though it's mainly Maya's POV. REVIEW (AS MENTIONED IN THE LAST DEGRASSI FANFIC...I NEED REVIEWS IN THE SAME WAY RACHEL NEEDS APPLAUSE-Glee, if you watch it, you'll get it). REVIEW, all types of critics are embraced and welcomed. And I will update ASAP, because if I need to write Maybell, since Degrassi is clearly not yet showing enough about this adorable little pairing.