I Saw Her Standing There

The above song is from the Beatles, in jest to a couple anti-Crash comments about Yoko Ono. ;) This story takes place towards the end of a season six, when Ashley joins the same senior class as Emma, Manny, J.T., etc. Joey and Caitlin have reunited after a year apart, and are now working on their upcoming nuptials. They want the Degrassi community to help, seeing as most of their special moments have taken part in or around the school. Emma volunteers to help the wedding planner throw a good Degrassi shindig, seeing as Joey has always been a good friend to her family and Caitlin is her role model. She enlists the aid of Ash, Manny, Toby, J.T., Liberty, Darcy, and Spinner. As an added treat, Paige appears briefly as the apprentice to a wedding planner. I love Paige, so she appears in most of my stories. LOL. Ashley has just ended a relationship with Jimmy after they come to a mutual agreement to be just friends. The following couples are still going out: Peter and Emma, J.T. and Liberty, and Spinner and Darcy. Craig is still in Vancouver, and to Ashley's knowledge, is still dating Ellie. She and Ellie haven't been in contact for a year, and Ashley is lead to believe they're happy. But come on, this is Degrassi. ;) Enjoy! All the chapters are named after Beatles songs. Dedicated to the Angsty Artists on Fan Forum: Diana, Kathy, Katie, and our silent shippers. :D

Chapter 1: Baby's in Black

Simpson's wearing his black Elvis wig as Darcy tosses the pink crepe paper over Toby's head to Emma. Manny demonstrates how to "drop it like it's hot" for an impressed J.T. Liberty shakes her head and pulls J.T. away by the collar. I can't help but smile a little. Even more, I can't help but be surprised that I'm actually having fun with Toby and his friends. My stepbrother's friends. Peter passes out canned soda for everyone, winks at Emma, and I can tell she's blushing as she moves her eyes to her clipboard. Emma and I are now surprisingly close, having bonded over the new and improved S.I.T.E. club and in Caitlin's Journalism Club. We actually have decent, long talks, but we really don't interact when Manny's around. It's nice to know someone who plans for the future as much as I do.

"How's the memory book coming, Darcy?" asks Emma, her eyes moving down the list.

"Good...I think," says Darcy, scratching her head. "Um, somebody crayoned on the title page."

"Probably Jack," says Snake, walking over to Darcy to assess the damage.

"Is crayoned a verb?" says Peter.

"It actually is," answers Liberty.

"I crayoned yesterday to get my mind off exams," says Manny. "Totally therapeutic."

In two weeks, school ends. I try not to think of the stack of acceptance letters under my journal, waiting for me to piece through them. There's Banting, which Paige keeps promoting in our IM conversations, and Toronto, where Jimmy's heading for art school. Instead, I think about what's in my journal. There were poems I did for Kwan, movie quotes from films I watched with Jimmy, songs I loved on the radio. But I keep looking back at the cover, closing it, then looking at the cover again. It just doesn't seem like me anymore. Maybe it's like what Caitlin said in Club: Knowing more about the world changes you. I thought I was happy in London, but I kept thinking about my family and my friends, especially the last person I saw, the last person who said he loved me. I remember sitting in St. James Park, hearing a guy strum away on his guitar, and crying on a bench. The tears fell all the way down to the knees of my jeans, then hit the pavement. I was dating Ali at that point, but I wasn't crying in front of him. I had cried enough in front of him for a month straight after I left Toronto. I cried because I hated to yell at the person who trusted me the most, because I couldn't bare to look at how hurt he was as the taxi drove off, because I had written so many e-mails to try to explain and thought they couldn't capture what I wanted to say. Craig, I had and still have so much to say.

There is a sudden knock on the classroom door and Joey enters, carrying two boxes of pizzas as Angie skips along, a bag of candy in her hand. He looked great as always, and we exchanged a private smile. Caitlin admitted that she bragged about my writing skills to Joey. Joey said he wasn't surprised, thought I'd be the next Barbara Walters, and hinted that Craig would think the same. I thought Joey would hate me after what happened two years ago, but he said, how could I hate you when Craig doesn't? He was just trying to be polite because Craig probably did hate me, but sometimes I actually believe him, maybe because I want to.

"Some munchies for the wedding crew," announces Joey, handing J.T. the pizzas.

"I love weddings," says J.T., setting it on the table and opening it immediately.

Joey starts to sing happily. "She thinks of him, and so she dressed in black. And though he'll never come back, she's dressed in black..."

"What kind of man sings that two weeks before his wedding?" says Snake, giving Joey a quick hug.

"A confident man who loves the Beatles," answers Joey.

"I love pizza," says Manny. "Out of my way, losers. Actress coming through."

Toby puts her head in a headlock and Manny giggles. "Stop, stop!" she cries.

"Guys, you're ruining Manny's hair," says Darcy, who actually sounds serious.

Toby nods at J.T., who puts Darcy in a headlock.

Emma shakes her head at me and I grin. I wave at Angie, who walks over.

"I'm lost in a void of eternity, the eye of the storm, the depth of the sea...," sings Angie, settling into a chair next to me.

"Ugh, my black period," I groan, remembering that morbid song I composed years ago. "Remind me never to sing that again when I'm braiding your hair...oh, I mean..."

I look down and sigh. Yeah, like I would ever be an invited guest in their house again. Stupid Ash. Real stupid.

"You're going to come over again?" asks Angie, who sounds a bit excited.

"Uh no...that was word vomit."

"Too bad. I miss you, Ash. Ellie's kinda...well, she's not very girly."

At the mention of Ellie's name, I twist a couple of carnation petals. I'm surprised that I've ripped them off.

"What about Manny?" I ask, just the least bit curious, and well, because she's in a headlock and can't hear right now.

"She didn't hang out with me. She just came over to see Craig."

I could imagine.

"How is he?" I say, expecting Angie to be surprised that I ask.

She isn't. "Fine. But you should come over anyway. I can give you a manicure."

"When did you start doing manicures?"

"Since I turned ten. Now I'm in the double digits."

I laugh.

"I've got cherry-favored lip gloss too. I'll probably kiss more times this year than Craig and Ellie."

"What?" I stammer.

Angie grins and leaves the candy with me. "He came home Christmas break...and he was alone."

Alone? It was probably becauseEllie had to do something for school, or maybe she was visiting friends during break, or maybe...

Darcy came over, having escaped the head lock.

"Oh no, the flowers," says Darcy, a frown appearing as petals spread across the table. "Ashley, maybe you should do something else. This requires concentration. You space out too easily."