Chapter 1: Umbrella pt. 1

Running a school food drive definitely wasn't at the top of my 'Fun Things to Do' list; running it with Drew just made it worse. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother, but he can really be an idiot.

Drew and I were pushing a cart filled with flattened cardboard boxes into the gym. Today was day one of project: Our Mom Made Us Run This Stupid Food Drive.

"How long is mom making us run the food drive?" Drew asked as we made our way into the gym.

"Until we rehabilitate the school's image within the community," I recited word for word from my mother's previous lecture. Obviously Drew wasn't listening; but what else was new?

"So like, twelve years," Drew commented. "Well, we better find more volunteers." Drew paused as we began to unload boxes from the cart. "Hey, girls' gym class is about to start, you could canvas the locker rooms."

I gave a Drew a playful look. I didn't really mind transgendered jokes from Drew or Eli; it was transgendered slams from everyone else that bugged me, especially when they came from Fitz, Owen, Bianca, and even my mom.

The gym was silent until we heard the doors open. The first thing I saw was Drew's expression and I held back laughter. He looked like he had just discovered the eighth wonder of the world (but I knew Drew was way too dumb to do that). I wish I had gotten a picture because his face was priceless.

I turned my attention to whatever it was Drew was staring at wide-eyed. That's when I first saw her; Fiona Coyne. She was beautiful. Her blue polo told me she was a senior.

"Have you seen Mrs. Holland?" she asked seemingly annoyed.

"Nope, sorry," I replied.

"But since you're here you should sign up to work for the food drive," Drew threw into the conversation. His jaw was practically on the floor at this point which made me smile.

"I don't drive," Fiona said as if it were obvious. I couldn't help but smirk at what she had said.

"You do know you need forty hours of community service in order to graduate?" Drew was really working hard to get her. I didn't even know he knew about that rule.

"Yeah, why not get them here, now? You don't even have to leave campus," I decided to give Drew a hand.

"Or wear a hair net, or change some old dude's diaper," Drew made it sound worse than it really is (if that was possible).

"Fine, I can be charitable." And with that, Fiona was gone. Now I admit she was hot and her skirt was short, but I couldn't help but think about the beautiful cobalt blue eyes that had just walked away.

I turned to face Drew. He raised his eyebrows and looked beyond happy that Fiona would be spending some time with him. I allowed myself to light-heartedly laugh at my brother. But for some reason, I was excited too.

Okay, that was funny. Drew just struck out majorly with Fiona. I have to say, she handled herself pretty well because Drew was on full flirt mode.

I shoved open the Degrassi doors only to see her sitting on the steps. I looked around and saw no cars or people around.

"Your ride didn't show?" I asked her as I sat down next to her.

"Prompt taxi might want to change their name," she replied with a slight smile.

"I thought you'd have a princess carriage waiting; you know, with five horses and a charming prince to sweep you off your feet," I gave her a sarcastic smile. Up close, she was beyond beautiful; she was angelic.

"Prince? Yeah, I tried that. New York City royalty anyway; charming on the outside, vile on the inside," her tone shifted from light-hearted to serious. What she meant by that, I have no idea.

"Right, princes are so overrated." It was lame, but it was the first thing that came to my mind. She didn't seem to be too fond of princes so I thought maybe I could lighten the mood just a little.

"So many guys are just pretending to be something they're not," Fiona's voice was still serious. I felt a lump in my throat. Was she talking directly to me?

"Right…." I choked out, still unsure if the comment was directed towards me in particular. Did she know about my…situation?

"You seem honest. I mean, I can talk to you like a normal person," she looked at me with those beautiful eyes that had been in my mind all day.

"Really? I try," I said unsure about how to respond. "Thanks."

Our eyes met and we held our gaze. This moment was one I would always remember. I felt comfortable. My heart was beating fast. I could've looked into her eyes forever. But of course, me being me, her taxi pulled up just then.

"But historically, I have terrible instincts when it comes to guys," Fiona said getting up and walking over to the taxi. She turned back to me just before getting into the car and scanned my body. Was she…was she checking me out? No, Fiona Coyne would never do that.

I watched her car pull away and I just stood there trying to make sense of what just happened. Did we just have a moment? I don't know, but it felt good to talk with her. I smile before I left to walk home.

What had I done? I know Drew had helped me with all my problems, but I can't believe that I told him I'd help him. I know, he needed my help, crazy right? Whatever, I owed him, big time and this was just something simple. All I had to do was put in a good word with Fiona for him.

Okay, so she had denied him twice, maybe getting her to go on a date with him would be more difficult than I thought.

The bell had just rung and school was over. After grabbing my things I saw Fiona making her way towards the steps and followed her. She had just pulled open the taxi door when I called out to her.

"Princess Fiona! Wait," I ran down the steps hoping I wouldn't fall and make a huge fool of myself.

"There's already a princess Fiona and I'm not green. Quick," Fiona said as I walked in front of her and rested my hand on the taxi roof. Shrek reference, witty.

"It's Drew. My brother's a good guy; you just make him nervous," I can't believe I was actually doing this.

"Why would he want to be around someone who makes him nervous?" Fiona asked with confusion on her face and in her eyes, her beautiful eyes.

"Cuz he thinks you're great; we both do," I immediately said. Oh no! Back pedal, back pedal! "That's why I'm helping him," I said to her more to convince myself than her.

"Well he has good taste, and if he's your brother than maybe he's not so bad," a smile found its way onto her face. She put a lot on emphasis on 'your' and I didn't really know what to think about that. Was this flirting?

"Give him another chance? He deserves it," I promised I'd help Drew and I keep my promises.

Fiona sighed, though I'm not really sure for what. She then proceeded to get into the taxi. The door shut and she looked up at me. I was now standing outside of her open window. "I'm not looking for anything serious or anything physical."

"Really? Nothing…sexual?" Just for clarification...for Drew. Yeah, let's go with that.

"Not anytime soon, so you can let your brother know that," Fiona let out a giggle. Oh, her laugh was so adorable. I needed to stop these thoughts.

"Cool, thanks," was the only words that came out of my mouth.

"Only cuz you asked," Fiona replied as she played with her hair. Once again she looked me up and down before turning to the driver and instruction him on where to drive.

I took a deep breath as I watched her taxi pull away; once again leaving me standing in front of Degrassi wondering what just happened. Did she like me? Because it seemed a lot like it. I shook the thoughts out of my head as I began to walk home.

Mission accomplished.