The beginning of second semester at Degrassi Community School was never a very eventful occasion; new schedule, yes... Meaning new classes and teachers, and maybe a few new faces... But always people you'd seen around town already. Nothing very different... Until a bus with unfamiliar plates pulled up outside the steps of the school, attracting stares of many.

The plates were sky blue and white, and upon reading, one would see they were from Minnesota... The states? As the bus pulled to a stop, a small, curious crowd gathered around the doors. As they opened with a shrill creak, the rustling of jackets, bags, and some loud talking was audible to the Canadian group that was suddenly split as a small group shuffled off of the big, yellow machine.

First off was a boy and a girl pair, both busy reading and talking over what seemed to be schedules and various other piles of papers. The dark-skinned boy, who was about average height, was fidgeting with his glasses, bringing them in front of his long, dark brown hair, whilst rambling on to the far shorter, ethnic-looking girl who's black hair hit her waist. Neither made eye contact as they swept through the crowd without a second thought. Only slight dialogue could be heard from the two as they passed.

"...Taking over student government shouldn t be as difficult as it seems, Kane..." The girl seemed to be retorting.

"That's true, Soleh... If you can dig yourself into their heads like the leech you are." The boy scoffed.

Next to stumble down the cheap, metal stairs was a porcelain-skinned, small bleach blonde girl with sky blue eyes. All eyes followed her as she attempted to shift herself through the parting the previous two had made in the crowd, however, the gap slowly closed and she was eaten by a mob, before finally getting out by carefully maneuvering through everyone; obviously careful to not hurt a fly.

After the girl was a Filipino boy, shorter than average, with an iPod plugged into his ears, eyes stuck to a gaming system, and mind obviously focused somewhere that wasn't here. Bumping into a few people in his effort to get through, and mumbling slight curses under his breath, he squeezed through the crowd and quickly shuffled up the stone steps of Degrassi, slipping out of sight.

The next pair to walk out was a boy and girl. The boy held piles of what looked like football equipment, peering around him at everyone who stared as they passed, nodding and speaking an occasional "Hello" or "Hey" to a girl who d catch his fancy, though that fancy seemed to change it s mind every couple of seconds. His chestnut hair was cut just above his eyebrows, so his peach face that was adorned with freckles was easily visible. The similarly complexioned girl was quickly pacing along, blowing kisses to everyone she passed.

"I'm Marilyn!" She called to the group. "This is Mark." She continued, whilst letting go of the other's arm as he hastily walked away from her. "We're not dating, and I'm completely available, if anyone was wondering!" And with that, she skipped away, taking a good third of the male population of the crowd with her, attracting a few hollers and whistles as she went.

Whilst people were settling, a taller boy with long, dirty blonde hair snuck out of the bus, going through the now oblivious crowd that was still chattering about the brunette s statement moments earlier. Pushing his way through, he gave a particularly large push to a smaller boy standing mid-crowd, knocking him nearly to the ground, if it hadn't been for the darker, gothic-looking guy who stood behind him who caught him.

"Hey, what the hell's your problem?"

The boy, who'd already begun to walk away, didn't even turn as he snapped a response. "Who the hell are you?"

"Eli Goldsworthy, if it's worth anything to you, ponytail."

"Aiden Fox." The latter snapped his head back, his blue eyes meeting Eli's green. "Your little friend was in my way. Take a prozac and relax." And with that, he walked away.

At that point in time, everyone had gotten quiet to listen in to what resident anti-bully "Dr. Doom" had to say to the newcomers, and all besides Adam, Eli and the girl with them, Clare Edwards, had dispersed. Eli quickly patted Adam on the back, still somewhat distracted and somewhat disturbed by the new kid, Aiden. "You okay, man?"

The smaller nodded. "Yeah, fine, fine. What's even going on here?"

Clare then decided to speak. "Well, this morning, I heard we were getting a few new kids from Minnesota-that's a state in the US-"

"I'm not stupid, Saint Clare."

"-As I was saying, their school was overpopulated and through some sister program, they all volunteered to come here. Apparently, all of them have some family in the area, so it worked for the better. That s what Principal Simpson said to me earlier today."

"...You were in school earlier?" Adam laughed.

"Like she has anything better to do." Eli joked, adding in a small "Ouch" when Clare punching him softly in the arm.

The three, in their continuous bantering, didn't notice another trio that was exiting the bus. Until they heard the large machine begin to pull away did the other new kids attract their attention. The shortest was a very androgynous looking... Boy, who's baggy jeans and plaid shirt hung off of him, and who's light brown hair nearly covered his eyes. The only girl of the group was a bit taller than he, with long, wavy brown hair. She carried a multitude of bags on her shoulders, and had her phone in her hands, texting away whilst speaking aloud to herself, though not very quietly.

"LionAHodges has just arrived at the new school! ...Tweeted!"

"Do you really have to tweet every second of our new lives? Left St. Paul! Bye-bye, USA! Hello Canda, eh!-"

"-We really don't say 'eh' very much... If at all." Eli interrupted the third's ranting, holding his hand out to the taller boy with bright blonde curls. "Eli Goldsworthy."

The latter took his hand almost immediately. "Goldsworthy, yeah, I saw you out the window telling off Aiden... Good for you, good for you. He's an ass, always has been. We're not all like that. I'm Shaye Hayes, and I swear to God, if you make rhyming puns, it'll be the end of you and our friendship." He laughed.

"Who're your friends?" Clare jumped into the conversation, stepping over to where Shaye and Eli stood.

This is Liona... He gestured toward the girl, who was still engulfed in her phone, but then looked up and waved nonchalantly to the aliens. "And Tony." The small boy nodded curtly, before he himself spoke, his voice almost sounding as if he'd not yet gone through puberty.

"And you all are, Eli, Clare-"

"-How'd you know my-"

"I'm a very good listener, 'Saint Clare'. - And...?" He looked over to Adam, who was still standing in the background of the two, gesturing for him to come over and join the group. He did, with almost a look of wonder as to why this kid would want to speak to him.

"I'm Adam. Adam Torres."

"Adam. Right then."

"So, what's there to do here in Canda?...And, Degrassi, at that?" The girl finally spoke up, stuffing her phone into a large bag she held.

"Well, if you're us... Cause trouble, get the shit beat out of you on a daily basis, and stay in the outside circle of life in general." Eli rambled.

Shaye raised his eyebrows for a moment, and smiled. "Sounds about right."

"You Americans don't mind that we're pretty much the freaks of this school?" Clare laughed.

"If you're misunderstood, then you've got something really good going on." Tony muttered, looking a bit at Adam from beneath his bangs.

"Right."

Maybe this half of the year wouldn't be so boring, after all.