1: New Leading Lady
"Marisol," Katie whined as her best friend pulled her by the wrist through the halls of Degrassi. "Marisol!" Katie cried louder only to be ignored. Marisol continued dragging Katie down the hall until they stopped in front of open doors.
"Here we are," Marisol claimed proudly as she let go of Katie's arm.
"And there I go," Katie said before turning around and starting to walk away. Marisol grabbed her shirt and tugged her back.
"No; you're not going anywhere but in there," Marisol demanded pointing through the doors.
"Why? I don't want to," Katie complained. She scrunched her nose like a child would before they throw a tantrum.
Marisol held her ground with an amused expression on her face. "Because you need some fine arts credits to graduate and they still need a leading lady for the play?" Marisol told Kaite.
Katie sighed. "Come on Katie! It'll be fun!" Marisol encouraged. Katie sighed again.
"Then why don't you do it?" Katie questioned defensively.
"Cuz I have out of school commitments to get to and have no time for the play. Plus, I already have all the fine arts credits I need to graduate," Marisol snobbishly pointed out.
"But-" Katie began to argue but was cut off by Marisol's hand.
"No buts, Katie. You have to do this," Marisol pushed her into the room before walking away.
Katie turned to see a few students already in the Degrassi drama room. She felt her face go red hot as all their eyes fell upon her. She gave a shy smile and looked around the room unsure of what to do.
A dark haired boy caught her eye and began walking up to her. He had emerald green eyes and worn black nail polish. Katie couldn't imagine anyone like him working on the school play, yet here he was in a Degrassi Drama shirt.
"Can I help you?" he asked in an emotionless voice.
"Um, yeah. I'm here to join the play," Katie responded. She nervously began to shift her weight from one foot to another as the boy looked at her. "Marisol," Katie added, "told me you were looking for a leading part, but I'd be okay just working behind the scenes." The boy's lifeless gaze began to scare Katie.
"You act?" he asked uninterested.
"Not really," Katie admitted. She saw the boy's lips curl into a faint smirk; it was the only sign of life in the mysterious boy.
"You'll fit right in," He told her. Katie smiled unsure whether it was because she was part of the drama club now or because the dark, mysterious boy seemed to approve of her.
They were looking at each other when they heard heels clicking against the ground. Katie turned her head to see a beautiful girl walk into the room. She wore a blue polo telling Katie she was a senior but she dressed it up with a blue bow in her hair and a yellow tie hanging around her neck.
"Eli!" the girl exclaimed. Katie saw the boy in front of her look up. "I'm sorry I'm late," the senior apologized. She approached the boy who Katie now knew was Eli. "Who's this?" she asked.
"Um…" he began puzzled. He turned away from the girl and back to Katie. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"
"Oh, uh, Katie. Katie Matlin," she informed him.
He turned back to the other girl. "Fiona, this is Katie Matlin. Katie," he turned back to Katie, "this is Fiona." Fiona reached her hand out to Katie who took it and shook it. "And I'm Eli," he added also shaking Katie's hand. "She's going to be taking your place as leading lady of our play," Eli said to Fiona but looking at Katie. Fiona nodded.
"Eli, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked him. He nodded and they stepped away from Katie for a few minutes to talk.
Fiona pulled Eli a few feet from Katie by the collar. Katie noticed his eyes stayed emotionless the whole conversation. It surprised her that he was so dead throughout the whole time.
"Eli," Fiona warned.
"What?" he asked shrugging. Fiona sighed.
"You know what," she reminded him. It was his turn to sigh.
"Fiona, the show must go on, you know that," he told her.
"Yes, but we need to be careful. You can't just give her the part. Not when you, Clare, and Adam are all running this thing together." At the sound of his former girlfriend and former best friend's names, Eli tensed. Fiona continued unaware of this motion. "I know you aren't all talking right now, but unless you want things to get worse, I suggest that you refer to them."
"Fiona, we are the directors. Not Adam. Not…" he gulped. "Not Clare. You and me. We choose the actors, not them." As he said the words he knew they were wrong but couldn't help it.
Fiona sighed. Sensing the venom and underlying pain in his voice, she softened towards him. "You know, you never told me what happened between you and Adam," she offered.
"Yes I did," he said through an uncaring clenched jaw.
"No, you told me about Clare," she insisted. "Want to talk about it?" Eli shook his head. Fiona knew he wouldn't budge from his position on the matter. "You said that after you let if off your chest, you felt better. Maybe that's what you need right now. To just let if off your chest?" she posed an offer. He thought about it for a moment.
Eli nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe talking will help," he admitted. "But not here. Not where everyone can see me breakdown. I can't…I can't let word get to either of them that I'm broken." Fiona nodded in understanding. She got up followed by Eli. They snuck out of the drama room and through the back doors leading to a parking lot surrounded by trees. The two walked between the trees until they saw a familiar place to the both of them.