Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters.
Author's Note: I had this idea a while back, since JT was one of my favorite characters, it is kind of in honor of his seasons on the show.
Visits to The Graveyard
8:32 a.m.
Liberty Van Zandt stepped up to the grave, with silent tears already streaming down her face. She looked down at the inscription on the tombstone and gently laid flowers on top of the grave.
"Hey JT," Liberty whispered to the boy she had loved grave, "today was supposed to be your birthday. I'm sure it would have been a more worthy celebration than the one I had."
Knowing that the silence that greeted her was inevitable, she still could not help but feel that he was going to answer her.
"Anyways," Liberty continued, after a chilling pause, "Manny and Emma thought it might do everybody good to throw a party in your honor. We all really miss you. The seniors just aren't the same without JT Yorke to put his thoughts in. Or his jokes."
Liberty turned to leave, but slowly turned back around, as if needing to say a few more things.
"I know how you felt about me," Liberty shook her head, "what you were doing out there that night. Part of me wishes that you wouldn't have felt that way, because then you wouldn't have been out there that night. The other part, the bigger part of me, is just so happy that you actually felt the same way about me as I did about you. I love you JT, and I hope wherever you are, whatever happened to you, you are happy."
With a note of finality in her voice, Liberty walked away from the grave, smiling a sad smile as she went.
10:03 a.m.
The girl with long, dark hair laid a beautiful bouquet of flowers by the grave before letting her tears fall freely. It had been a few months since the passing away of one of her oldest, and dearest friends, and she still couldn't come to grasps with what had happened. Manny Santos still had nightmares about the night that JT had died.
Manny opened her mouth, willing words to come out to express how much she missed JT. Yet, no words could express the way she felt. She also felt that if she said the words, they would come out hollow, because there was nobody there to listen to the words she would have said. The party her and Emma were throwing tonight was not going to be like the other party at Emma's, it was just going to be a few close friends of JT's. Even though she knew that JT liked big gatherings in which to goof off, he had really matured in later years and probably would have preferred a few close friends.
"You know, I was wrong," Manny finally thought of some words to say, "you are not more immature than Craig. I miss you JT."
Manny gave one final smile to the grave of a dear friend before blowing a kiss to the ground. With that, she turned around and walked away.
12:31 p.m.
The couple stepped up to the grave, each holding a small bundle of flowers in their hands. Sean Cameron hung back while his girlfriend, Emma Nelson sat her flowers down first.
"JT," Emma said, in a shaky voice, "I feel like this whole thing is my fault. I had the party at my house. I'm so sorry. I should have stopped it."
As tears began streaming down her face, Sean put a supportive arm around her shoulders and set his own flowers down on the ground. He looked at the grave for a moment, trying to find words to say.
"I know we did not hang out much in recent years, mostly my fault," Sean admitted, "mostly due to myself, but I really miss you man. You always were good for a laugh."
They stood at the grave silently for a few seconds, each thinking different thoughts about their friend, JT Yorke. Emma had quit crying and was now unsuccessfully holding back laughter. Sean turned and looked at her as she let out a giggle.
"I was just thinking about when JT did that commercial a couple of years back," Emma shook her head, "it was so terrible."
"I was thinking about when he brought ecstasy to Toby's house, because you wanted a bad boy, and he thought he had taken it, but really hadn't," Sean shook his head, "that night was a disaster."
Both shared a good laugh at memories of their friend. Sean grabbed Emma's hand as they made to leave the graveyard.
1:22 p.m.
"Hey JT," Mia said as she held a picture of her daughter in her hand, "Isabella really misses you. She has nobody to goof off with at the playground anymore."
Mia sighed, holding back the tears as she took a seat in front of the grave, putting the picture of her daughter on top of it, "you were a great guy."
"I don't understand why this had to happen to you," Mia shook her head, "there are plenty of guys out there that deserved to die before you did. Plenty of guys who wouldn't have stuck by me when they saw Isabella."
"And I know that you did not feel the same way about me as I did about you," Mia's tears began to fall, "I knew it all along. But, when I was with you it was some of the happiest moments of my life. No matter what would have happened that night, whether you would have told Liberty that you loved her, whether you would have continued dating me, I can still honestly say they would have been the best memories of my life."
"I love you JT," Mia repeated the words that Liberty had uttered just a few hours early, "and I hope you have a great birthday and celebrate it with all your heart wherever you are."
With those words, Mia stood up and turned to leave, but before walking off she turned back once to whisper only a few more words, "And JT, Liberty, she will be fine. I know."
4:12 p.m.
She walked up to the grave, her blonde hair bouncing with every step. A few seconds behind her was a good-looking young man.
"JT Yorke," Paige shook her head as she reached the grave, "I can't believe this happened to you."
"Yeah, dude," Spinner said, joining Paige and standing right next to her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here for the funeral," Paige whispered with a watery smile, "school was … well, let's just say it was hard."
"I'm sure he doesn't blame you for not being there," Spinner whispered to her.
"Anyways," Paige said, after a quick smile at Spinner, "you were a great guy. Helped me through a tough time."
"And, dude," Spinner spoke, "I know that I bullied you when we were in junior high and pretty much ignored you when we were in high school, but I always admired you. You could always make people laugh and no matter how many times I beat you up, you still wanted to be popular."
"I miss hanging out with you," Paige whispered to the grave, "now stopping hanging out with you just seems so irrelevant, I wish I would have made more of an effort to stay your friend."
"And I wish I would have made an effort to actually be your friend," Spinner shook his head, "I warned you that violence was not the answer, but then I kicked those guys out, ignoring my own advice, and look what happened."
"Come on Spin," Paige said gently, leading Spinner away from the grave.
6:45 p.m.
"Hey kid," Ashley approached the grave, Jimmy rolling in his wheelchair by her side.
"DJ Mad Bullets, anyone?" Jimmy gave a grin to the grave, remembering the last official time he and JT were supposed to hang out before the trip had to be cancelled.
"JT, we miss you," Ashley shook her head, "school just isn't the same. Toby isn't the same."
"He misses his best friend, dude," Jimmy chimed in, "and where is Degrassi without the annual JT/Liberty drama?"
"Or JT making a complete fool of himself," Ashley smiled, "like running for student body president against me. Just because Toby wanted to get back at me."
"You were so upset about that," Jimmy recalled the election, "I thought you were going to have a panic attack."
"Hey!" Ashley protested, "I just didn't expect him to do that well."
"Apparently not," Jimmy chuckled, "but, JT was pretty good at most things he tried."
"Really?" Ashley quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend.
"Remember the commercial he was in?" Jimmy asked, "that party was so lame. I don't think he looked any of us in the eye for a week or so."
"He was a good kid," Ashley smiled, "and I'm sorry that he had to go so soon."
"Me too babe," Jimmy said, suddenly more solemn, "me too."
With these words the couple started to walk away from the grave, smiling at the memories.
11:23 p.m.
Toby Isaacs made his way to the grave, knowing that he was cutting it short for actually making it in time for JT's birthday. Even though he had visited JT's grave on several occasions, he felt as if he had to visit it on JT's birthday.
"Hey buddy," Toby said to the grave, "sorry I wasn't out here earlier today. It still hurts to think of you being gone."
As the wind and the dark and the silence surrounded him, Toby's mind turned to the party that was probably still taking place at Emma's house in JT's honor. The party that Toby was not at.
"I really wanted to go to the party JT," Toby explained, "I know you're probably wondering why I'm not there. Well, if you can even see me where you are. I'm not there … because, I have something to tell you."
Toby took a deep breath. He wondered why it was so hard to say this to his dead friend, it wasn't exactly like his friend could beat him up or anything. He knew that sounded insensitive, but he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the reason why he was having such a hard time with this.
"I kissed Liberty," he blurted out, "and liked her. I knew how you felt, and still I went for it. She didn't know about your feelings … but after she found out, well, she pretty much hated me for awhile. I think we're okay now. Friends again. But, I know I should have never done that to you in the first place. You were my best friend."
"And you died trying to tell Liberty you loved her," Toby whispered, "I'm sorry."
Toby exited the graveyard a few moments later, looking like a man with a whole lot lighter load on his mind than he had entered with.