A/N: English is not my first language so there will be some mistakes. I´m still looking for a native speaking beta but there are over 200 betas in the Degrassi list – most of them non-active users. 0_0 So it´ll take some time to work through that list.

Legal: This story is a fanwork. The show and the characters belong to Epitome/DHX Media. They just came by to play with my imagination.

School was back on and Maya was full of plans. Holding Zig´s hand she went through the hallways with him und tried to convince him when Tristan caught up to them. Maya gave him a happy look. "Hey, Tristan, tell me, that you will do another Musical with us."

"Sounds fun, which one?"

"Well", Maya started, "I thought, we do it from the scratch. Looking for someone to write the play and I want to write the music myself, maybe with some help." She looked pleadingly to Zig who sighed. "Never done that."

"At least try, please."

Zig shook his head. "I´m in for singing or playing an instrument."

Maya just looked up to him and he had to grin. "Okay, I try. But don´t be mad, if it doesn´t work."

Maya grinned. "I won´t", she promised.

"What about this Jonah guy?", Tristan suggested, "isn´t he into music?"

Zig looked away. He didn´t forget his first encounter with Jonah. He would have to talk to Maya about him later.

"I´ll talk to him", said Maya looking at Tristan, "so, what about you?"

"I´m in", Tristan replied, "well, if I get to be the lead."

Maya grinned. "We don´t even know yet, what the lead will be like. By the way: Do you know anyone with writing skills?"

Zoe came up to them grabbing Tristan´s arm. "Writing skills?"

"We´re doing a musical - on our own", Tristan explained, "someone has to write me an interesting, glamorous lead."

Zoe shrugged. "Maybe you should ask Grace."

They all looked up at her surprised. "She writes?", Maya asked.

"Did you never see her scribbling some stuff? I guess, she´s writing. But I never asked."

Maya and Zig exchanged a look. They saw Grace doing some writing at her notebook, but they expected it to be some nerdy computer stuff.

"I can ask her", Zoe offered. At least that would give her a reason to look for Grace. She really wanted to see her. And see what will happen when she does.

"I can do that myself", Maya said, "I have class with her later on."

Zig saw Zoe´s face fall und had to grin. "Why don´t you leave that to Zoe?", he suggested. Maya looked at him questioning and he raised his eyebrows. She realised what he meant. Of course. They all saw the kiss. Embarrassed for not thinking of it herself she looked to Zoe. "It would be nice of you to ask her."

Zoe smiled assured. "Thanks. I will tell you later." She wanted to take another hallway, when Mayas voice held her back. "Zoe? Will you be in the musical?"

Now, that surprised Zoe. Of course, she would have auditioned for it, but she didn´t expect to be asked by Maya to be there right from the scratch. She met Mayas eyes and smiled. "I will." Then she took the hallway to her class.

"I never expected her to go for a girl", Tristan said, "I have to grill her for the juicy details."

Maya grinned. "I never expected Miles to go for you." The moment Tristan turned around to meet her eyes, she knew, that she had said something, she shouldn´t have. "Sorry", she mumbled and changed the topic. "Anyway, I have to see Pill about the musical. Will you two join me?"

"Now?", asked Zig.

Maya nodded. "I want to have it through her as fast as possible."

"Okay", said Zig.

Tristan cleared his throat. "I think, I have to look something up before class, sorry." With that he disappeared in the hallway.

Zig looked questioning to Maya. "He´s still into moneybag?" Maya shrugged. "I don´t know. Maybe I should ask him."

"If you think so", said Zig, "but now we should visit Pill if we want to be in time for class." Maya nodded still thinking about Tristan while they walked down the hallway.

###

It was Lunch break, when Zoe found Grace sitting at the window in the corridor. She strengthen her shoulders and went for her. "Hey."

Grace looked up from her notebook. "Hey." They didn´t know what else to say, so Zoe just sat next to her. "Maya is looking for someone who can write the next musical. And I thought... You are often writing at your notebook. I mean... are you writing stories or something?"

Grace for sure didn´t expect this from Zoe. "I don´t write fancy stuff for others to read."

"But you do write... stories?"

Grace sighed. "Yeah."

"But then...", started Zoe.

Grace shook her head. "Look. May be hard to understand for you, but I don´t do it to get attention."

Zoe opened her mouth and closed it, before she asked: "You think, I only do the acting for attention?"

"Don´t you?" Grace looked at her seriously.

Zoe pressed her lips together.

"You know, you can still start doing it for the fun of it", said Grace.

Zoe raised her shoulders helplessly till something came to her mind. "If you do the writing just for the fun of it."

Grace had to smile. "Deal. But don´t expect some cheesy romance."

Zoe smiled. "I can do with that." She met Grace´s eyes. Silence. Zoe cleared her throat. "So..."

Grace sighed. "This has to be the point where we decide that we should talk."

"I guess."

Grace closed her notebook and rose. "Meet me at the front door after class." Zoe confirmed and followed Grace with her eyes while she went down the hallway.

###

Zig and Maya sat with Tiny at lunch. Getting the musical through Pill had been simple. Getting Tiny to join wasn´t.

"But there has to be something you´d like to do", Maya said, "there are so many things, that have to be done for a musical."

"I´m not any kind of artsy type", Tiny answered.

"How about the tech", Zig suggested.

"You´re not supportive there, man", said Tiny, "you are the musical pros. I´m into sports."

"And if we do a sports musical?", asked Maya.

Tiny looked at her. This was getting kind of hilarious. "I don´t do cheerleading."

Zig laughed und Maya grinned at Tiny. "Well, it´s not as if you didn´t already try..."

"Careful", Tiny said looking at her, "no musical for me, definitely."

Maya looked at her lunch. If Tiny expected her to give up, he was wrong for sure.

###

Later Maya found Tristan sitting alone in the parlour of the school and joined him. "Sorry for this morning", she said, "I kinda thought you two were over for good."

Tristan sighed. "Me too."

"But?", asked Maya.

Tristan shook his head. "He is much more the person again, that I was friends with... that I fell for."

"He went through a lot, while the two of you were dating", said Maya. Tristan looked incredulously at her and she added: "Not because of you. Because of his dad."

"But they were arguing non-stop before, too", said Tristan.

Maya sighed. "It´s not my story to tell."

Tristan looked hurt. "So he talked to you but not to me."

Maya closed her eyes and then looked at him. "It was by chance. He wouldn´t have told me." He was silent and she put a hand on his arm. "Why don´t you talk to him?"

He shook his head bitterly. "Some things that are over should be left that way. First he was crushing on you and then he was all over Zoe. I don´t think, I need to know more. If I just could get him out of my head."

"Maybe you need a new boy. Worked for me." Maya grinned, Tristan as well. "As if. Zig was always your number one choice."

Maya saw to the floor grinning. Then she looked up. "Yeah. Right."

Tristan hit her shoulder playfully. "Lucky you." He sounded envious.

Maya put an arm around his shoulders. "What about this Gage guy?"

Tristan shrugged. "He´s been away all summer and met someone else. He was just someone easy to talk to anyway. You know, being out in high school and stuff."

"Well, there has to be some nice guy out there for you", Maya said, "just keep your eyes open."

Tristan tried a smile. "No other choice there."

###

Maya was already sitting in class, when Zig joined her. They still had a few minutes. "Um, Maya, about Jonah...", Zig began.

She watched him intently. "What about him?"

Zig cleared his throat. "Vince made me collect some cash he indebted to the gang. Just not sure, if it´s a good idea to work with him on the musical."

Maya frowned. "Maybe it´s a chance to apologize?"

Zig was relieved that Maya didn´t held a grudge for his behaviour. "Maybe."

"Then how about we talk to him together?"

Zig couldn´t help but smile. "Okay." Maya took his hand and shared his smile.

###

After school Maya saw Jonah in the hall and grabbed for Zig´s hand to pull him to Jonah, before he disappeared. Jonah wasn´t happy to see Zig but Maya didn´t care. "Hey", she said, "you´re Jonah, aren´t you? I´m Maya." She held out her hand and he looked from her hand with a distrusting look to Zig.

Maya looked at her boyfriend and Zig sighed. "Listen, I´m sorry about before. The gang stuff is over for good."

Jonah crossed his arms. "Okay."

Maya decided to change the topic fast. "We are doing a musical and the two of us are going to write the music. It would be nice of you to join us."

Now, that really irritated Jonah. "Is this some kind of trap? I´m over with drugs and I did pay my debt." He wouldn´t tell them that he paid it with the money and the trust of his girlfriend.

"No", Maya protested, "totally not. We just want to have fun together." She thought for a moment, then she took her bag from her back and searched it for something. Then she showed Jonah a paper. "We even have it through Pill already."

Jonah scanned the paper. He wasn´t fully convinced yet, but it sounded like a good thing to do - now, that Becky was gone. "I´ll think about it."

Maya smiled. "You won´t need to promise anything. We can just hang out and jam and see what happens."

"Sounds good", said Jonah, "but I gotta go now." He disappeared between the other students.

Maya and Zig looked at each other and started to leave the school building. "Okay", grinned Maya, "Zoe already told me that Grace is in. Who do we ask next?"

"Why don´t you make poster", Zig suggested.

Maya stopped. "I kinda wanna do this as friends. Get the oomphchat and gang stuff behind us. Getting some people talking again..."

Zig grinned. "So that´s some kind of scheme of you?"

She grinned mischievously. "It does work, doesn´t it? You apologized and I think Jonah will be in."

"So, I guess Tiny is not off the hook, yet", Zig realised.

Maya elbowed him in the side. "You can bet on that. And don´t think about warning him."

Zig took her hand and went for a place in the shadow. He kissed her. "Thanks for not holding a grudge for what I did to Jonah."

Maya smiled and kissed him again. "Thanks for being honest."

They took each others hands and went on. "You know, it´s good to know that you have my back", Zig offered.

Maya stood still and looked at him seriously. "You have mine as well."

He put his other hand on hers as well. "Always will."

She smiled and he changed the subject. "So, Tiny made me cook tonight. You wanna come?"

"Sure", she answered.

###

Zoe sat on the stairs in front of the school. Nervously she looked up when she heard Graces voice greeting her. Slowly she rose. She met Graces gaze not knowing what to say.

"Come." Grace pointed to the benches in the shadow and Zoe followed her in silence. After sitting down Zoe cleared her throat. "This is weird."

Grace grinned. "For sure. Listen, Rivas, you were right - I like you. But your too used to give people what you think they want of you. You don´t have to try pleasing me by kissing me."

Zoe frowned. "I didn´t..."

Grace smiled at her. "I´m not even sure if I´m into girls." She met Zoe´s gaze. "And neither are you. You just have this thing in your head, that someone liking you can´t be without wanting something of you. And with all the talk about me being gay..."

"Why did you never say you weren´t?", asked Zoe.

Grace shrugged. "I am not that much into guys either. I prefer friends over some dumb relationship drama."

"But you knew how a crush feels." Zoe was really confused now.

Grace grinned. "Yeah. Celebrity crush. Nothing important."

Zoe needed a minute to get her head around this new bits of information. "You might be right about me being not into girls but I kinda liked kissing you... and it pretty much feels like a crush."

Grace smiled, even leaning her shoulder against Zoe´s. "Don´t you think that you might have a crush on being liked for who you are?"

Zoe had to think about that. Graces touch made her feel warm. This was really confusing. "Maybe", she offered.

Grace gave her a sympathetic look. "Crushes are confusing."

Zoe had to smile. "Yeah."

Grace leaned back. "About the kissing. Friends can kiss, too, you know. Most just don´t cause they are afraid of being called gay."

"And you´re not?"

Grace shrugged. "I just do what feels right. Don´t care what others think of it. You really surprised me by not caring about everyone seeing us."

Zoe smiled. She just thought for a second and grabbed Graces hand. "So, is this okay?"

Grace smiled watching their hands. "Yeah. Just not used to it."

Zoe grinned. "I´ll make sure you´ll get used to it fast."

"Wouldn´t have thought otherwise." Grace met her gaze with a smile. She was really happy that Zoe wasn´t all drama about this like she kind of expected her to be.

But then she looked at her watch and let go of her hand. "I gotta go." She rose and Zoe followed. "Wanna hang out?"

Grace smiled. "You got me a musical to write. But we could brainstorm together."

"Yeah, sure." Zoe was all for it. She leaned forward to kiss Grace on the cheek and then Grace went on her way. Zoe did still have some time left and wanted to take a look at a new shop.

She was deep in thought as a car pulled up next to her and she saw Miles at the wheel. "Hey, wanna hang out?"

Zoe wasn´t sure. Being just friends with Grace made her free to go there but she didn´t really want to. "Look...", she started.

Miles left the car and leaned at the door to look at her. "Grace, I know", he said, "but can´t we just hang out?"

Zoe sighed. There was a look of loneliness on his face she knew all to well. "It´s not Grace. But the two of us - we just needed someone..."

Miles was disappointed. "And you don´t need that anymore cause you have other friends now."

Zoe really felt some sympathy for him. "You can have that, too, you know. They are forgiving. Maya even invited me to do the next musical with them. You could as well."

Miles snorted. "I don´t sing."

"It´s not only about singing", Zoe said.

Miles looked down, then he pushed himself from the car. "I should be going." He wanted to leave, but Zoe interfered. "Miles?" He turned around and she smiled. "How about The Dot?"

Miles flashed her a grateful smile and locked the car. "Sure."