Welcome to Saturday's new story!
Legal: I do not own DeGrassi, if I did Drew would not be with Becky, Adam would never have died, Zoe would not exist and Owen, Fitz, Bianca, Jay, Sean, Spinner and Emma and a bunch of others would come back.
There are a lot of important things to know for this fic, I messed with the reality a lot! Obviously this story is 100% A/U so read all the changes:
*Clare is the daughter of Helen and Randall Edwards; they were longtime friends of the Milligan family. When Clare was five the whole family was in a car wreck and Clare was the only survivor. She was adopted by her Godparents the Milligans and became Clare Milligan.
*Mr. and Mrs. Milligan divorced and he moved away for work.
*Mrs. Matlin died from MS, Mr. Matlin was friends with Mrs. Milligan and they developed a relationship before getting married and blending their families.
*The Milligan-Matlin family consists of Spencer Matlin (Father), Valerie Milligan-Matlin(Mother), Owen Milligan, Katie Matlin, Clare Milligan, Maya Matlin and Tristan Milligan.
*Clare is starting grade 10, Owen and Katie grade 11, Maya and Tris are grade 8 and not at the school yet.
*Jake is not Clare's stepbrother and never knew Clare before she came to DeGrassi, he's dating Katie. Jake's family is wealthy.
Ok that should do it, most of that is also in the fic but I know some of you don't read everything and you'll get confused. Hope you enjoy!
Ch. 1 Call it a Lovers Game
(DREW)
"New year, new school and no one knows me as Gracie here," Adam smiles when mom drops us off in front of DeGrassi.
"I'll see you both at home, Adam be careful," Mom tells him.
"I know Mom, I'll be fine," he assures her.
We get out of the minivan and walk to the front steps, I see some guys tossing a football and the sign for football tryouts.
"Hey new boys," a girl calls to us and we look over. She's got shoulder length black hair and bangs, she's being held by a tall lanky guy with light brown hair, they both have sort of devilish grins and the guys is laughing a little, he's hiding his face on the girls shoulder but you can tell he's laughing a bit.
"Uh I'm going to go find my locker," Adam says deciding he doesn't want to get involved with these people. I am not that smart.
"Aw it won't be fun without two people," the girl whines a little.
"Hey there's another new guy, pulling up in a hearse that's even more perfect," the lanky guy says.
"Even better!" The girl sort of squeals.
"Uh what's going on?" I ask.
"Hang on we'll tell you both," she says giving me an annoyed look she seems very stuck up.
I watch the guy with dark hair park his hearse and walk over toward us; he's in dark skinny jeans and a black t-shirt under a dark grey button up with the sleeves rolled up. When he gets close enough the girl calls him over, he wears a lot of rings, has long dark hair and dark clothes. We couldn't be more different and I wonder why this guy and this girl need the two of us.
"We want to play a game," the girl informs us.
"What kind of game?" I question.
"Yeah and who are you guys?" Asks the guy in black.
"I'm Katie and this is my boyfriend Jake, now see that girl sitting at the picnic table, not the one with dark curls that has her back to us but the other one," Katie says pointing.
We both look over and see a girl wearing a pink shirt with a denim jacket and denim skirt. She has short shoulder length hair that's sort of medium brown but looks red where the sun shines on it. Her hair is done in a lot of almost Shirley Temple type curls. She's very cute, maybe even pretty but it's hard to see in this light.
"Yeah what about her?" I question.
"We'll pay $50 to the first one to get her to agree to a date," Katie enlightens us.
"She doesn't look like she would have trouble getting dates," comments the guy in black clothes, I still don't know his name.
"We never said she did," Jake responds as we watch the girls get up and walk around the stairs to the side of the school where the girls greet some guys.
"If she doesn't have trouble getting dates then why bet us to ask her out?" I inquire.
"Because it's fun," Katie laughs.
"First one to get her to agree to go on a date with her and bring us proof gets $50 bucks," Katie grins.
I don't think I like these too but $50 plus a date with a cute girl is too good to pass up. I go around to see if I can find the girl but she's gone, I do see a door leading to inside however. That other guy is following me and we both go inside, after some searching around we find the girl at her locker and we both run over. She turns to look at us and she's pretty, she has soft features, cherub lips and these amazing blue eyes. She also has a dazzling smile which she's giving the both of us.
"Uh hi, I'm Clare Milligan and you guys are both new," she says in a soft voice.
"Yeah I'm Drew Torres," I grin holding out my hand. She puts her hand in mine and I kiss it making her giggle.
"Eli Goldsworthy, you have really pretty eyes," Eli tells her taking her hand from mine.
"Uh thanks," she blushes and then looks past us.
Eli and I turn our heads to see one of the guys she greeted earlier. He's a few inches taller than me but he's got a lot more muscle and a menacing look on his face. I think he might be her boyfriend and Jake and Katie were just playing a trick on me and Eli.
"Are you two new?" Owen asks.
"No they've been going here for two years and you just never saw them before," Clare shoots back sardonically.
"Cute, you two get lost," the guy says and Clare rolls her eyes.
"Owen don't be rude," she snaps at him.
"They're new, they don't know that you're off limits," Owen comments managing to both glare at us and smile at Clare.
"Owen!" She says with irritation rolling her eyes again.
"Let's go I'm walking you to class," Owen commands moving us aside to put his arm lightly around Clare's shoulders. She sort of huffs but she goes with him; she does look back at us though.
I look at Eli and we watch them until they disappear around the corner. I walk down the hall to find my locker and Eli follows me again, but then he stops at a locker. Mine is down the hall from his and I get out my phone because I don't remember the temporary combination. I open my locker, reset the combo on my lock and take some stuff from my locker. When Jake and Katie come around the corner I close my locker and storm over to them.
"Hey why'd you bet us to ask her out if she has a boyfriend?" I question angrily.
"Clare doesn't have a boyfriend," Katie responds.
"Then who was the hulking guy with short dark hair that told us she was off limits?" I inquire.
"That was Owen he's not her boyfriend he's her older brother and my stepbrother," Katie says with a taunting grin.
"Wait you're betting us to go out with your own stepsister?" Eli asks.
"Yep, I hate my siblings, step and otherwise and I think it's fun. You two want to compete for the $50 or what?" Katie questions.
"Yeah I want the $50, but is she even allowed to date?" I question.
"Yeah she's allowed to but Owen doesn't like her to and Owen is what makes it a challenge," Katie grins and Jake laughs again.
Jake and Katie walk down the hall laughing and I walk off to find my first class. I think Jake and Katie might be slightly crazy but I want that $50. I want to get a motorcycle and Mom says I have to get it with my own money. I think Eli just needs a date honestly, he's kind of scary.
(CLARE)
Owen leaves me at homeroom, after telling me I shouldn't be so friendly with the new guys until he's had time to properly scare them into behaving like the other guys at school. I roll my eyes but I don't really mind that he's so overprotective he has his reasons and they're good ones. I do sometimes wish he wasn't so sure that every boy was out to get me though, it makes dating hard. I walk in and see another new boy sitting in the 3rd row, he seems cute, he's got a friendly grin and he's reading a book of early fifteenth century poetry.
"Hi I'm Clare Milligan," I smile sitting down at the desk next to him.
"Adam Torres, nice to meet you," he grins back shaking my hand.
"I met another Torres who's also new at the school, Drew," I comment slowly trying to find a family resemblance but other than the fact that they have blue eyes there is none.
"Yeah he's my older brother," Adam replies.
"Huh I'd never have guessed you were brothers," I comment.
"No one ever does but we're not actually blood related. My dad married his mom when we were young, my dad adopted him, his mom adopted me and they both took the Torres name," Adam enlightens me.
"I should have guessed that actually, I come from a blended family too, actually far more blended than yours," I tell him when Dave walks in. "Hey Dave this is Adam," I introduce the two.
They exchange hellos and then Miss Dawes starts class; it's all what we can expect from the year and talking about our first assignments that are due on Friday. When class ends Dave turns the opposite way from me and Adam, he and I walk toward the lockers.
"So what did you mean by your family was more blended?" Adam queries as we walk down the hall.
"Well I was adopted by my Godparents after my parents and sister were killed in a car crash when I was five. I was in the crash too but I survived and I don't remember it at all. So my God-family became my family and I got two brothers, Owen's a year older than me and Tristan is two years younger than me. Two years ago our parents got divorced and Dad moved away for work. Mom married Spencer Matlin last year, his wife died of MS three years ago. So now I also have two stepsisters, Maya is the same age as Tris and she's real sweet and this musical genius. Katie is the same age as Owen but she's a bitch, we all hate her even Maya, the rest of us tried to like Katie but she hates all of us. Katie's always with her boyfriend Jake and she thinks she's so special because he's rich and buys her pretty things," I say with disgust.
"Wow so there's five kids in your family and that is very blended but hey five kids and four of you get along that's impressive," Adam smiles. We've reached our lockers now and he has the locker just two down from mine.
"Yeah and the four of us that do get along are real close. You'll see Owen around the school, he's on the football team," I tell Adam as he opens his locker.
"Cool Drew is trying out for football he was QB1 at our last school," Adam informs me.
"What's your next class?" I question.
"Math functions with Mr. Armstrong," he replies.
"Hey me too, I'll bet a lot of my friends are in that class. When I started here in grade nine last year they had a gifted program and I became friends with all the kids in it. They don't have it anymore but we take the advanced classes."
"Cool," Adam smiles.
I like him and can tell we'll be friends, he's very easy going and he likes poetry most people have never heard of. We walk to math and I see everyone I was expecting, while I am friends with all the kids from the gifted program I'm really not close to any of them. In fact Bianca is my best friend and Fitz and I are close and they're Owen's closest friends.
"Hey guys this is Adam Torres he started this year with his brother Drew," I announce and they all look at me. "That's Alli, she's Dave's girlfriend. That's Jenna and K.C. they're also dating, and this is Connor, Wes and his girlfriend Hannah," I finish the introductions.
"Hey nice to meet you all," Adam grins.
Alli, Dave, Jenna and K.C. take the whole second row, Connor, Wes and Hannah sit in the first row with Liam. Adam and I take the two desks in the back left corner and I notice an LGBT patch on his backpack which makes me smile because of Tris. I wonder if Adam's gay but I'm sure I'll find out when the time is right.
"What are your last two classes?" I ask Adam while waiting for class to start.
"Studies in literature after lunch and then forces of nature which is geography apparently," he tells me.
"Hey Alli, Dave, K.C. and I have forces of nature last period too," Jenna calls back to him, she has really good ears.
"Cool," Adam grins.
"I have a spare last period but we have all our other classes together," I comment.
"Awesome, at least I know I got a friend in three of my four classes," Adam says with a big smile and it makes me grin. Mr. Armstrong comes in and starts class, he lectures for all of class and then it's lunch time.
"Owen and Fitz will be at tryouts for lunch but you can eat with me and Bianca," I offer Adam as we walk to our lockers.
"Cool thanks, Drew will be at football tryouts anyway," Adam says with a grateful smile.
We grab our lunches from our lockers and I lead Adam outside to the picnic tables. Bianca's already there, she has a soda, crackers and celery sticks for lunch since her aunt doesn't shop much or give Bianca money that often.
"Hey B this is Adam he's new, this is Bianca she's in Owen's grade but she's my best friend," I tell Adam.
"Hey nice to meet you," Adam smiles as we sit down, "is that all your eating?"
"My auntie forgot to go shopping again," she sighs.
"Which is why I packed an extra sandwich for you," I tell her pulling out the turkey and cheese sandwich.
"Yes you rock thanks girl," Bianca grins hugging me.
Over lunch we find out that Adam loves Dead Hand which is one of Bianca's favorite bands. Adam also loves writing which is one of my passions, Adam also wants to be a radio broadcaster and I want to be a journalist. By the end of lunch Bianca is Adam's friend too and I've found out Adam and I have many of the same interests. We walk to our lockers and grab our book for our studies in literature class. When we get there I see Eli at one of the desks and I smile.
"Hi Eli," I grin sitting at the desk next to his and Adam takes the one on the other side of me.
"Hey Clare," he smiles back and maybe it's just wishful thinking but I could swear he's really happy to have class with me.
"This is Adam, he's Drew's brother," I inform Eli and his face falls a little.
"Oh yeah I met your brother this morning, he's in my auto shop class," Eli grumbles.
"Yeah he's good at cars, sports and girls, and he's a good brother," Adam says in defense of Drew. "Hey you like Dead Hand," Adam exclaims when Eli pulls out a binder with a Dead Hand sticker.
"Yeah Dead Hand rocks, they're my favorite band. My dad is Bullfrog on Solid Rock 98," Eli informs us.
"No way I love Bullfrog and Solid Rock 98," Adam says and Eli smiles.
The boys start talking about Dead Hand and they're also becoming fast friends. Miss Dawes comes in and starts class so the boys stop talking. After class we wave to Eli and I show Adam where the forces of nature class is. It's my spare and I know Fitz is on his spare, I go to find him so we can start on homework. As I'm putting books in my locker Drew approaches and I smile at him.
"Hey your brother is in all my classes, he's really nice we're already friends," I say to Drew.
"Yeah Adam's great, I'm glad he has a friend already. The football team is having a BBQ after school tomorrow; you want to go with me?" He asks.
"Okay sure," I reply with a smile. I figure Owen will be okay with it since it's not exactly a date plus Owen and Fitz will be there.
"Great, I'm on my spare right now but I'm going to go workout in the weight room. Gotta get in shape to make QB1," Drew tells me with a charming boyish grin.
"You look in shape to me I'm sure you'll have no trouble making QB1," I flirt. Yeah I like him and it's all physical right now but I can't help it. Drew grins back and flexes his muscles; I smile and bite my lip.
"I am pretty strong, I can bench press 200 pounds," he boasts and then picks me up. I giggle and bite my lip while giving him a coquettish smile until someone clears his throat; we look over to see Fitz standing there. "Oh hey Fitz," Drew nods.
"Hey, uh you should put her down," Fitz tells him.
"See you at the BBQ Clare," Drew smiles putting me down and he walks off toward the weight room.
"He's in all my classes but how do you know Drew?" Fitz inquires.
"I met him this morning, his brother's in all my classes. Let's go do homework outside," I say grabbing the sleeve of his black t-shirt and pulling him toward the front door, "How were football tryouts?"
"Great Drew was there, he's good so you think Owen will let you go on a date with him?" Fitz questions.
"It's not a date really, just a barbeque after school. Besides which you'll both be there," I point out.
Fitz doesn't reply and he's got a funny look I can't place but he doesn't say anything. We do homework for a few minutes and then I see Eli walk out and I wave to him.
"Hey Fitz, Hi Clare," Eli smiles sitting next to me and from the corner of my eye I see Fitz glaring at Eli slightly.
"Eli's in my studies in literature class," I inform Fitz.
"Hmm he's in auto shop with me, Owen and Drew," Fitz says clenching his jaw slightly when he says Drew's name.
"They're showing Wild Strawberries at the art house cinema Wednesday, you want to go with me?" Eli asks.
"Sure I'd love to," I smile.
"Great, so we'll work out the details tomorrow," Eli says grinning at me and smirking at Fitz.
"Okay that's definitely a date," Fitz comments as soon as Eli has walked away.
"Maybe you and B can distract Owen so he doesn't know," I say to Fitz hopefully and he sort of scowls at me. "Please, he'll try to and follow us otherwise and Eli seems really nice," I plead with Fitz and he sighs so I know he's given in.
"Fine, I'll talk to B and we'll come up with something," he caves.
"Thank you Fitz you're the best," I grin hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek.
He gives me a grin and we get back to our homework until the bell rings and Fitz has to get to football practice. We pack up our stuff and he heads for the locker room, I walk home since Owen has football, I could take the car but then he has to walk home and he's always tired when he's done with football. When I get home Maya and Tris are there since they take the bus, Katie will get a ride from Jake later, she'll probably stay at his house for dinner which is fine by us because I'm pretty sure even Mom and Dad don't like her.
"Hey how was your first day?" I ask my younger siblings who are both sitting at the table eating a snack and starting on their homework.
"Great we have all the same classes and we like all our teachers and we both met cute boys, but don't tell Owen," Maya tells me smiling the whole time until she asks me not to tell Owen.
"I won't say anything, I met some cute guys too and I have dates. Best of all I made a new friend, his name is Adam and he's great, we have quite a bit in common, he's even part of a blended family. Actually his brother Drew is taking me to the football BBQ tomorrow," I inform my younger sibs.
"Does Owen know? He'll be at the BBQ," Tris points out.
"I'll tell him when he gets home; hopefully Fitz and B can keep him in line. So about these cute guys you two met?"
"His name is Fab, he's so hot," Tris gushes.
"Mine is named Zig, he's really sweet and really hot," Maya gushes.
"Zig and Fab?" I giggle.
"Actually his name is Zigmund but he prefers Zig," Maya tells me.
"Yeah I would too," I reply.
"Fab is what he goes by, even the teachers call him that, he wouldn't tell me his real name, it's kind of like Fitz," Tris comments.
"I know Fitz's first name he just doesn't like it and gets mad when anyone tries to use it. Well we all met people now if only can convince Owen to let us go out with them," I remark with Tris and Maya nodding in agreement.
We sit and finish our homework; the three of us are done by the time Mom and Dad get home.
"I'm making burgers for dinner can you guys make a salad please?" Mom requests setting her purse down and going upstairs to change her clothes along with Dad.
"Sure Mom," Maya says as we all get up.
"Mom I have a date on Wednesday to see a film downtown," I tell her.
"Is he picking you up?" Mom asks.
"I'm sure he will," I reply.
"As long as we meet him and you're home by curfew," Mom says.
Now if only Owen was so easy to tell, I'm not even going to tell him about Wednesday and hope that Fitz and Bianca can keep him distracted. Owen gets home just before dinner is ready and goes upstairs to wash up and set his stuff down.
"Can you guys finish the salad so I can go talk to Owen?" I request of Tris and Maya.
"Good luck," Maya says.
I smile at them and go upstairs, Owen's door is closed so I knock and he calls to come in. He's on his bed getting his shoes off and looks up at me when I come in.
"I'm coming to the BBQ tomorrow after school," I inform Owen.
"Cool," Owen shrugs standing up and we start to walk downstairs but Owen grabs my shoulder and stops me all of a sudden. "Wait did someone ask you to the BBQ?" He asks narrowing his eyes at me.
"Drew."
"No way," Owen shakes his head.
"Owen I'm allowed to date and anyway you'll be there, so will Fitz and probably Bianca. I know why you're so protective and it's good…most of the time but not when you're keeping me from dating because I might get hurt. Not all boys are disgusting pigs," I comment.
"Yes we are," Owen argues and I twist my face at him. "I couldn't stand to lose any of you, you, Maya or Tris. We could lose Katie though, stuck up bitch she should just stay at Jake's house," Owen grumbles.
"I know and I love that you're protective, so do Maya and Tris," I tell Owen kissing his cheek, "but I'm going on this date with Drew."
(KATIE)
"I heard through the grapevine that Drew asked Clare to that stupid BBQ for the football team tomorrow. Should we count that as a date?" I ask Jake as he drives us to his house after school. I love being at his house, it's so nice and big and plush; it's almost like a palace, which I should live in. It also has none of my nauseating bratty siblings, I didn't like having one and when Dad married Valerie I got stuck with three more!
"If he buys her food, they spend time alone and he gets at least a kiss on the cheek then I'd say it's a date," Jake replies.
"We'll have to go observe, I can't wait to watch how angry Owen gets. I'm going to tell Drew to touch Clare a lot and try to kiss her. Maybe Owen will lose his temper and punch Drew, then Owen would get suspended, that would make me happy," I grin.
"So if tomorrow is a date then what?" Jake questions.
"Then we have some more fun, up the ante and up the prize. You don't mind shelling out a few bucks to torture my goody-two-shoes annoyingly dull stepsister and aggravate my moronic muscles for brains stepbrother do you?"
"Of course not, you know I hate them as much as you do," Jake replies and I smile leaning over to kiss him.
"We can probably keep this game going for months. I hope we break Clare's heart and spirit so much she's permanently heart broken and at the very least never wants to date again. Maybe we can literally drive her crazy. Not to mention Owen will get angry if Clare is hurt, maybe we'll get him expelled for fighting or better yet sent to juvie. This year is going to be such fun," I grin thinking of how Jake and I can get Drew and Eli to play with Clare's heart, emotions and head. Best of all since my sibs are nauseatingly Brady Bunch like if I torture and hurt Clare and Owen it will hurt Maya and Tristan too, I hope we break them all.
I hope you guys liked chapter one, don't forget that next week is one shot week so chapter 2 will not go up until Saturday August 13th. Chapter two will likely start the next day with the BBQ and will include Clare's date with Eli.
For those of you that read Ghosts of Who We Were it will go up but will likely go up tomorrow morning.
