Hey! After much reading, I decided to make a story for Imogen and Fiona. Undoubtedly my favorite couple for Degrassi. I hope you like!
Disclaimer: I own nothing about Degrassi, except for the storyline for my fanfic.
Summary: Fiona and Imogen is Degrassi's only openly lesbian couple. All seems well until the bullying and homophobia starts. Will this make them stronger? Or be their downfall?
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .
"Oh, I wish Fiona were here today…" Imogen muttered and played with her pen during science class. Her girlfriend, Fiona Coyne, was absent and in New York for the time being. Sadly, she wouldn't be coming back for the next week due to her family's business.
Imogen played with the pigtails in her hair, imagining Fiona waltzing with her in a world similar to that of a fantasy. That was until a giant textbook slammed on her desk, causing her to look where it came from. Marisol Lewis and Kaitlin Matlin stood in front of her with disgusted expressions.
"The teacher said we have to work with you" Kaitlin stated, taking a few strands of light brown hair away from her face. "Although I have no idea why we have to work with a dyke… we're going to get it done"
"Dyke?" Imogen said out loud, looking at Kaitlin with a bewildered expression. "Just because I'm going out with Fiona doesn—"
Kaitlin raised her hand, cutting off Imogen's words. "Just get to work." She ordered and faced her best friend, Marisol. Marisol laughed out loud at the display and shook her head. All the while, Imogen was wondering where all of this unnecessary rudeness was coming from. It wasn't like she did anything to deserve it in the first place.
Shaking her head in disapproval, Imogen flipped the pages of her text book and began doing as she was told. Retaliating to immaturity wouldn't get her anywhere, so instead, shrugging it off would do for now. 'I really do wonder what their problem is…' Imogen thought, as she momentarily stopped her reading.
"So, where's your girlfriend?" Marisol asked, crossing her arms over her blue polo shirt and around her chest. The dark skinned girl had an air of superiority, Imogen could almost smell the smugness emitting off of her. What had she done?
"Fiona's in New York at the moment," the pig-tailed girl answered with a soft voice. "She should be back next week"
"Ah, I see.." Kaitlin intercepted and walked around placing a hand on Imogen's shoulder. "You know… you guys really get on my nerves"
"W-what? How?"
"Do you really think it's right with what you're doing? Parading yourselves around, getting attention from everyone. Being gay is wrong Imogen; Fiona probably doesn't even like you anyway. She's using you." Kaitlin chuckled at her own words and slammed her palms on the hard surface of the table. "You're such a loser…"
Imogen just stood up from her seat, and walked out of the class. Removing her glasses, tears began to well up in her eyes. "Don't cry, Imo… Crying only shows weakness…" she said to herself, willing away any bad thoughts. She pressed her back against a set of lockers and shook her head repeatedly, as if that would help.
"Hey! You alright?" Adam Torres walked slowly up to the visibly distraught Imogen and looked her over.
Imogen nodded and sniffled, when she looked up at him, he sighed. "Oh, you're Eli's stalker, aren't you?"
"I am not a stalker!" she stood up and poked Adam in his chest. "I have had enough with being insulted today Adam."
"Woah, I was kidding!" he chuckled and grabbed her hand. "Aren't you dating Fiona?"
Imogen nodded and looked at the tiled floors of Degrassi, which were dirty beyond belief. It was amazing how a school that enforces you to wear uniforms and look proper, was dirty and less than that itself.
"So... who were you talking about earlier?" Adam asked, folding his arms around his chest.
"Earlier?"
"Yeah. Who insulted you?"
"Oh! Kaitlin Matlin and Marisol Lewis.." she answered, recalling the classes events. "Kaitlin called me a dyke, and started going on about how I was wrong for 'being gay'"
"Kaitlin? Oh please, you don't have to worry about her. She knows nothing, she may be dating my brother, but I can't stand her. Marisol just goes along with what she says. Every villain needs a side-kick, am I right?"
Imogen giggled in response. "I believe so", she adjusted her glasses and began walking away. "Thank you for assisting me in my time of need, Adam Torres. But I must go. Farewell~" and with that, Imogen was skipping back to her science class. The dark cloud over her head had now disappeared and made room for sunshine.
When she opened the doors to her class, everyone was silent and looked at her as if she had grown a second head on her shoulder. The teacher apparently left the room, and everyone in the class was huddled to one side, as if there were some sort of secret Imogen wasn't able to get in on.
"So, dyke… where'd you go?" Kaitlin asked with a smirk on her face.
Ignoring the comment, Imogen made her way back to her seat and finished the work she had to. She looked at the clock and sighed in relief, only about 30 minutes left until the next class. "Thank goodness…" she muttered, scribbling answers to the questions that were in her science text book.
The teacher walked back into the classroom with a scowl on his face. "What are you all doing? Get back to work!" everyone immediately went back to their seats and began to do their work.
After time passed and all work was done, the bell rang and everyone filed out the classroom, eager to leave and talk amongst themselves.
Imogen sighed happily and walked out with her textbooks in her arms. "Ah, finally, being out of that class is simply a blessing from the gods~" she said to herself, feeling content. She hadn't known where the bullying came from, but she was glad it was over for the time being.
It was then, when Kaitlin bumped into her forcefully resulting in Imogen dropping her books on the floor. "Oops." Kaitlin said, sarcastically before walking away to find Drew.
"Why me…?" Imogen wondered, before picking her books up and walking in the opposite direction Kaitlin had went.
"Woah, what was that about?" Eli Goldsworthy asked as he made his way slowly, but very surely, to catch up with Imogen's retreating figure. His crutches slowed him a bit, but he still managed to reach her. Eli and Imogen were very close friends, due to their love of literature and the fine arts; it was easier for them to click. "I saw that little scuffle there with you and Kaitlin." He said,
"I have no idea," she answered before shifting to fix her glasses. "All I know is that I've been harassed unnecessarily in my classroom today and wish for this day to be over."
"Bullies don't really need a reason to you know… bully" Eli calmly stated. "People are just jerks. Everywhere you go, someone will say something. But it's your job to not let that get to you."
Imogen nodded, understanding what Eli was saying. It wasn't the best advice she could have ever gotten, but it wasn't the worst either.
"Look, I've gotta go. I'll see you around at lunch, alright?" Before Imogen could provide a proper response, Eli was making his way to class the opposite way she was going.
"This will be a very, very long day…" she sighed.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
The lunch bell rang and Imogen solemnly walked towards the Cafeteria, the day's earlier events replayed in her mind like a tape. If she had made an effort to stand up for herself, maybe this could be prevented. But that wasn't her. If she could prove that she could take it then everything will go back to normal. Or at least, that's what she thought would happen.
Imogen skipped to her lunch table, despite her mood. The pigtails on her head bounced with her as she held her lunch bag close to her chest. Cafeteria food was not very appetizing, so she had always bought her own.
As she sat next to Eli, she realized that he was reading "Romeo and Juliet" from William Shakespeare. "Haven't you read that before, Eli?" Imogen asked in slight wonder.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. I was just re-reading it to get in some inspiration for writing"
"Inspiration? Isn't Clare Edwards your muse for writing in the first place?"
"Yeah, but lately she's been avoiding me. I'm just not sure what the problem is…" Eli sighed and shook his head. The problem between the past couple had been known by everyone who attended Degrassi, they were once in a relationship but it had ended quite badly. No one like to speak about it, considering it contributed to Eli's need to use crutches, and had always left an eerie silence when the subject was always brought up. Clare was currently dating her now-step brother, Jake Martin. Although they made a very cute couple, both drove Eli mad. Nothing more upsetting than seeing your ex so happy with someone else, especially if you still love them.
"Well remember, she's with Jake. They both seem to really like each other, so let them be." Imogen reluctantly said, opening her lunch box to reveal a small box of sushi rolls.
"I get that… but I still lov—" Before finishing his sentence, Imogen cut him off.
"Love will only lead to your downfall Eli! You've got to embrace the distress you have been put through, and place it into words of pure art. Throw away Shakespeare's precious words and begin with your own~!" Imogen dramatically place a hand on her heart and took Eli's hand. "Now go! Onwards!"
She hadn't been aware, but Imogen had received many odd looks pertaining to her display. It wasn't as if it were on purpose, she had only been trying to help. Imogen was a slave to the world of artistry and acting, and if that meant throwing herself out there and getting attention, which made it even better. However, Imogen could not help but blurt out self-made quotes; it was something she had to do. Her persona was not one to be doubted, it often changed without her being aware. Although it could be very amusing at times, it could also be a nuisance, much to Eli's displeasure.
"Uhm… Of course" Eli raised an eyebrow, and placed his head down to avoid getting weird looks as well.
Imogen smiled and began eating her sushi. Hanging out with Eli had always made her day better, other than Fiona. He was her best friend, and she had never had any before him due to the fact that most students who weren't into the theatre arts as much a she had been avoided her like the plague. Mot Degrassi kids looked her over once before deciding she wasn't worthy of gaining friendship. And then, she met Eli. The only teen that was willing to put up with her outlandish ways. In which, Imogen was extremely grateful for.
"Seriously though, it's time to suck it up and smell the smell of the sickening black coffee. Clare is over you, and has moved on. You need to do the same"
"It's not that—"
"I know. It's 'not that easy' but sometimes, the best things are difficult to obtain."
"Alright. I get it. I'm going to bring this book to the library, wanna come with?" Eli raised the book and sat up and reached for his crutches.
"Of course I do, there isn't anything interesting happening anyway." She replied and followed her friend out the doors of the lunch room, only to be greeted with Kaitlin's presence, much to her displeasure.
Kaitlin looked her over along with Eli; she was clearly disgusted with both of them. "What are you looking at?" she asked, her voice extremely hostile.
"I wasn't looking at anything?" Eli began, he was extremely confused. Was it not her who was looking at them, not the other way around?
"Yeah, and let it stay that way. Move, losers" and with that, Kaitlin pushed both Imogen and Eli out of the way and went into the cafeteria. Marisol straight behind her, until she turned.
"Kaitlin… is having a bad day. Don't mind her too much, it's just you know… that time of the month." The dark-skinned girl said apologetically before following her friend.
"What was that about?" Imogen asked outloud, facing Eli.
"I could care less. Let's go, we've got better things to do." With a chuckle, he stated and began making his way to the school library. A bewildered Imogen shrugged her shoulders and skipped behind him.
"Oh, today is seriously going to be a long day…" she sighed, despite her happy disposition. And for once, she had felt that maybe things were going to be harder than she had made them out to be. Just this once.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ .
Ah, tell me what you think! I tried pretty hard with this. Took me 3 weeks, yo.
I find that Kaitlin being the "mean girl" in this fanfiction is necessary. She already holds dislike for Imogen so I though "Hey! Why the heck not?" also, if the characters are a bit "Out of Character" don't get mad at me, I beg you. It's called Fanfiction for a reason, right? Right.
Well, review!