Author's Note: I didn't know what to write, so I just decided to write a sequel to my Cranes story. It will probably be less cute than the last one, but I think it's a much better idea. The title is a major giveaway, but oh well.
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. But if I did, Anya would realize that she was in love with Wesley's nerdy charm. And J.T. would haunt Degrassi forever…
HOLLY J. AND THE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES
It was a sunny Monday afternoon. Clare came over after telling her mother that she was at rehearsal. Rehearsal was actually cancelled because Adam caught mono, which he gave to Fiona after kissing her during rehearsal the week before (not knowing that he had mono). We couldn't rehearse well without our two leads, so we had actually cancelled practice for the whole week until either of them got better. But that was fine, because that gave me a chance for some alone time with my girlfriend.
Unfortunately, this alone time was spent thinking of ideas for our English project due in four days, which required us to think of a way to improve the life of someone that we didn't know and prepare a presentation about it to the class. Miss Dawes had shouted to the class, "Be creative! This should be FUN! Think outside of the box. Don't tell me that you walked over to a homeless guy with a beard that stands with a cardboard sign and a tin can on a street corner and gave him ten dollars that he could spend on crack. Put THOUGHT into this. I wanna hear some interesting stories!"
Great. Now that homeless guy will be sad because he will have no crack. Meanwhile, Clare and I were kind of sad, too. We had been thinking for two hours now, even searching online for inspiration, but every idea that we came up with was shot down in a matter of seconds. I became fed up with it and started goofing around on Clare's laptop, which she had brought over and which I was using while she was on mine. My mouse pointer hovered over the drop-down list with her recent pages on it and, out of curiosity, clicked on it. The websites on the list were all ones that I had clicked on since I got on the computer, but there was one exception. Clare was on this website before I got on, and I clicked to see what it was. It was an article from Wikipedia about one-thousand paper cranes. Having no idea what was meant by that, I scanned the article and found something particularly interesting. The article said:
"This true story is of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese saying that one who created a thousand origami cranes would then be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died shortly after. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. They also built a statue of Sadako holding a giant golden origami crane in Hiroshima Peace Park."
"Clare?" I asked.
"Yeah?" she replied distantly, clearly in the middle of reading something important.
"What's this?" Clare walked over and saw what was on the screen and gasped.
"Hey! That's prying! Don't go looking through my internet pages!" She crossed her arms.
"Why? Do you have something to hide?" I asked.
"Well…no." she blushed. I would just have to find out her secret later…
"Just answer my question. Why did you look this up?"
"It's just for a social studies assignment. I have to look up people who became famous because of events from World War II, like Hiroshima. I just found her on some list of people on a website and the link next to her name led me to this."
"That's such a sad story for your project."
"Yeah, but at least her friends helped her finish the cranes. It's actually a cool legend, the thing with the cranes. I wonder if it would work, like if a sick person actually made one thousand cranes, I wonder if it would help them get better."
"I doubt that…" I started, but I saw Clare's face fall and kept talking, "But maybe it would have some sort of…placebo effect."
"Yeah! The sick person could THINK that the cranes were helping when they really weren't, and that attitude could actually make the sick person feel better."
"I guess…sorry I looked through your stuff. I won't do it ever again."
"It IS a bit weird…and slightly stalker-ish."
"Hey! I'm not the one who snuck into your room while you were at lunch!"
"Touché."
"Okay. Now we better keep looking for ideas before we have to go or we might not have enough time to actually DO the project." So we both turned back to our computers and began searching for more ideas. The room was silent aside from the sounds or mice clicking and fingers typing. Then, without warning, Clare stood up and gasped, smiling widely.
"What is it, Clare?" I asked.
"Holly J!" she exclaimed.
"Come again?"
"Holly J. That's it! That's our project!"
"What do you mean?"
"We'll need some volunteers, scissors, string, large garbage bags, and a LOT of paper."
"I'm not following…"
"We need to go to the craft store NOW."
"CLARE! What are you talking about?"
"We need to make one thousand cranes for Holly J. Sinclair."
"What? Why?"
"Because she's sick!"
"She is?"
"Yeah. Haven't you heard? Everyone has been talking about it. It was even on the ANNOUNCEMENTS when she was in the hospital."
"She was in the hospital?"
"Yes. You REALLY need to get informed."
"So we're making cranes for her?"
"Yeah. Just like for Sadako."
"That's…actually a really good idea."
"Don't act so surprised!"
"But you know Holly J. We can't do this project for someone we know."
"I don't know her THAT well. I've only seen her on the announcements and talked to her, like, five times in my life."
"Wait…is Holly J. dying?"
"I don't think so…but that doesn't mean that she's okay."
"Oh…but doesn't she have to make the cranes?"
"No. It says here that other people can make the cranes for you. Sadako's friends made some for her."
"Cool…but wait. How will we make one thousand cranes in three days?"
"That's why we need volunteers."
"Okay. But who would volunteer?"
"I know some people…"
So Clare gathered the volunteers and brought them all to Fiona's condo, where she had agreed to let us work as long as we were quiet enough for her to rest. She even agreed to help make some cranes when she wasn't napping or doing schoolwork or shopping online. Sav, Anya, Adam, Chantay, and Alli were all seated on the couch talking quietly. While we were setting up the supplies, Alli spoke up.
"Clare!" she whined, "Can you PLEASE just tell us why you forced us to come here?"
"Be patient!" Clare called over her shoulder.
"Ugh!"
"You didn't tell them?" I whispered to Clare, "Isn't the point of volunteering that you help out VOLUNTARILY?"
"Well, yeah," Clare blushed, "But I thought that if I told them the truth, they might…not come."
"Sneaky," I murmured, and she got even redder.
"Alright, I think it's time to begin," she whispered, then turned around, clapped her hands, and rose her voice, "Okay, everyone! I think you're wondering why I suggested that you come here."
"More like forced us…" Adam mumbled.
"Quiet!" Clare scolded him before continuing, "Now, we are gathered here today because of an idea concerning you dear friend, Holly J."
"Actually, Holly J. and I have barely ever…"
"ALLI! Shush!" Clare hissed, then regained her composure, "As I was saying, we're here about Holly J. As you probably have heard, Holly J. is not feeling very well. Her condition may or may not be life-threatening…"
"Actually, she had strep throat, which was left untreated and led to complications with her…" Sav began to explain.
"Sav, we don't need a diagnosis right now. So, in order to make her feel better, we are going to make cranes."
"Cranes?" Chantay raised her eyebrows.
"Yes. Cranes. I want you all to read this article and then we can begin." She passed out the article that I had read and there was silence while everyone else looked it over. When everyone finished, Clare spoke again, "Okay. Any questions?"
"We have to make a THOUSAND cranes?" Adam asked.
"Yup. And we have three days to do them."
"How will we do that?"
"Same way you do any big task in a short amount of time. Time…effort…dedication…and coffee. LOTS of coffee."
"That'll be tough."
"Well, life is tough. So deal with it." Gosh. Clare was brutal when she was in charge…
"Yeah…" Anya started, "How are cranes gonna help Holly J. get better. They're paper. This is only a legend."
"We know that it probably won't affect her health much, but it will definitely make her happy. So…you guys wanna help?" There was an awkward silence before Sav spoke up.
"Well I think it's a great idea. I'm in." The others just shrugged or nodded.
"Great! So let's get started!" Clare said cheerily.
"Wait!" Chantay interrupted, "Are these hard to make?"
"Nah," I assured her, "They're a breeze once you get the hang of it." I then turned away and smirked. I had a feeling that this would be funny to watch.
And I was definitely right. Although Anya already knew how to make them and Alli was a natural, getting the hang of it by her third, it was hilarious watching as Sav's hands fumbled across the paper, unable to make sharp creases and practically ripping the paper in half performing the petal fold. And after all of that effort he put into his crane, it ended up having three tails, and neither I nor Clare had any idea how to fix it. However, slowly but surely, everyone soon got the hang of this, and we got two hundred decent cranes finished in three hours (half of them coming from Clare and I, and only three coming from Sav). Fiona even came out of her room to see Adam and to add twenty more cranes to the pile (she had learned while living in Japan). Clare and I were smiling wide at the end of the night as we watched everyone go home, glad because of the progress we made. But we still had two days and about eight hundred cranes to make, so we decided to meet up again the next day at six, and hoped to make another two hundred.
The next day, information leaked about our project and a few more students, including Riley, Zane, K.C., and Jenna, joined the group of volunteers. There was a lot more conversing that day, and it was almost like a party…just with cranes. Instead of making two hundred cranes, we made three hundred, and we were halfway done with two thirds of our time gone, so the group decided to meet again the next day at six.
The third day, even more students came, even Dave, Wesley, Connor, Bianca, and Drew. Fiona's condo was very crowded and we only had one pair of scissors to share, so cutting the paper included a hunt for the scissors. But unfortunately, Alli could not come back because Fiona had left her glass on the counter and Alli drank from it, and by the next day she was already getting sick and did not want to spread the mono even further. By the end of the night, we had made over a thousand cranes without even realizing it. So we had to throw away some, but Clare ended up hanging most of the excess cranes on her ceiling, which I noticed was running out of space rather quickly. Then, all of the volunteers toasted to a job well done (making sure they had their own cups) and left.
Clare and I spent the rest of that evening preparing a Power point presentation about how you make a paper crane. We then came up with a plan to give Holly J. the cranes in a spectacular fashion. Then I took all of the cranes to my house and put them on a string to present them to her in a creative way. And I fell asleep that night content that our project would be great and that Holly J., whom I barely even knew, would be happy. And thanks to the teamwork of everyone, we didn't need one cup of coffee…unless you count the cup I usually have every morning.
The next morning, Clare and I began preparing. We grabbed the trash bag with the stringed cranes, arrived at school early, and went to the room where the morning announcements were held. We slipped an extra paper under the pile of announcements set up on the table and then hid behind a cabinet. It was hard to keep quiet because we were so excited, and we were sitting so close that I was tempted to start kissing her. But I refrained, because those thoughts were interrupted when Holly J. and Sav (who knew about our plan) walked in and turned on the lights. Even though I don't believe in God, I prayed that she would not come behind the desk. When she almost did my heart beat real fast, but Sav noticed and called her over, saving our butts (I had to remember to thank him later).
After a few minutes, announcements started, and Holly J. began to speak. She was a natural at public speaking, and I began to feel bad about being inattentive during this every morning during homeroom. She even tried her best to make the announcement about the chess team losing their semi-finals seem interesting. Suddenly, Clare poked me and I perked up. She pointed to Holly J., and I noticed that there were only two papers left in her hands.
"The meeting will begin after school on Friday, and all members are encouraged to attend if they wish to go to the trip this summer. See Mr. Armstrong for more details." She put the paper down and saw the paper that Clare and I had added. She had a confused look on her face, "Look behind the cabinet?" she mumbled, and began to walk toward us. When she wasn't looking, Sav turned the camera around and winked at the audience, indicating that this had been planned. He then pointed the camera toward the cabinet. Holly J. looked behind it and saw us, gasping.
"SURPRISE!" Clare and I yelled with huge grins on our faces.
"Clare? And…emo kid? What are you doing behind the cabinet? Are you STALKING me?"
"Actually, I prefer Eli." I replied.
"And we're here for a special reason." Clare added. Clare and I then began to climb out from behind the cabinet with the trash bag. She stepped on my hand with her high heeled shoes in the process, and I had to mask my pain with a smile and I hid my bleeding hand behind my back. It probably looked very weird to everyone watching, especially because I gritted my teeth while smiling. But we continued on anyway.
"That's right, Clare. We're here to give Holly J. a special gift." I said in my best announcer voice. Clare then began to explain the story of Sadako and the legend, to which Holly J. commented, "So? Is there a point to this? The announcements have to be finished within ten minutes, so wrap this up."
"Well, Clare heard that you were recently in the hospital and, in order to make sure that you got better, we decided to make you..." I paused, taking the cranes out of the bag, "ONE THOUSAND CRANES!" Holly J. had a shocked expression on her face and, after remaining silent for a few seconds, blurted out, "Where am I gonna put all of these?"
"I suggest you hang them on your ceiling." Clare answered, "It looks like they are flying over your bed."
"Cool. Thank you guys so much! This must have taken a lot of work."
"Well, we did have some help. A lot of your friends volunteered. Bianca, Drew, Wesley, Dave, Connor, K.C., Jenna, Zane, Riley, Alli, Adam, Chantay, Anya, Sav..." Sav turned the camera around and waved before Clare continued, "And most importantly, Fiona, who let us use her condo to work."
"Oh!" Holly J. said to the camera, "Thank you ALL out there who helped. This was such a wonderful gesture! Much appreciated! And don't worry, I am getting better. So Degrassi, this has been Holly J…"
"And Clare!"
"And Eli!"
"And Sav!"
Holly J. laughed, "Thank you, and have a wonderful day!" She smiled and Sav turned the camera off. She then pulled Clare, Sav, and I into a bear hug, "Thank you SO much. This was SO nice of you." She whispered. Then the bell rang, and we all headed off to class. As Clare and I walked, we held hands and talked.
"By the way, I got an A on my social studies assignment on Sadako." Clare mentioned.
"That's great for you! We might as well find a way to add her to every project we do." I smiled.
"Yeah…sure…But I'm SO glad that Holly J. liked what we did."
"Yeah. That was a great idea."
"Thank you."
"We make a great team, don't we?"
"Totally." She grinned and pulled me in for a kiss.
"HEY!" We flinched and looked to the source of the yelling, "NO PDA!" Mr. Simpson shouted out of his room. He then closed the door, mumbling, "Crazy kids with their cranes and their young love…" We laughed and then parted ways to get to our classes. All I could think about during those classes was trying not to mess up during my English presentation.
When Clare and I walked into English together, the class started clapping. We stood there, dumbfounded, until Miss Dawes came over and said something.
"Wonderful! Wonderful! That was EXACTLY what I was talking about when I told you to be creative. Excellent work! And a VERY creative way to give them. Now, would you like to go first and say anything to the class that you haven't already during announcements?"
"Umm…sure Miss Dawes." Clare agreed, and we set up out presentation. Clare went into more detail about the legend, and we both handed out paper and showed the class how to make a crane. Adam was finally back at school, and was the only one who had it perfect. Half the class made their cranes with two heads like I did my first time. When we were finished, the class clapped loudly, and I couldn't help but smile.
"Well done, Eli and Clare!" She shouted, "Way to set the bar! Now, just hand me the written portion and go back to your seats."
"What…written portion?" Clare asked.
"The two-paged paper on your thoughts behind the project. Do you have it for me?" Miss Dawes questioned.
…CRAP!
Author's Note: Oh well. I tried. Hope it didn't waste your time. The two crane stories were based on my second time making a crane and on a book that I had read when I was little, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Not the most well-written book in the world, but I will remember its story for a long time. It was also partially based on the fact that my friends and I made a thousand cranes for my other friend who was ill. Anyway, thanks for reading. I love you all with the passion of a thousand burning suns…wow…I really hope you aren't creeped out by me saying that. Anyway, bye! :-D