Author's Note: This story is AU (alternate universe) -- Ellie Nash does not go to Degrassi Community School, but everyone else does. Instead, she goes to a private school that her mother put her in. This is my first Degrassi story, so please tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I'm just a silly fangirl in front of my computer -- I own the names you don't recognize. This includes the school that Ellie goes to -- this school is fictional, and I made it up off the top of my head.

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Linger
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Prologue.
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Ellie Nash ran quickly down the hallway, messenger bag swinging on her shoulder, and saddle shoes causing her footsteps to echo off the walls. Of the whole school uniform that St. Hilary's Private School made their girls wear, the saddle shoes were the worst. The knee-length pleated skirt and the knee-high stockings she could deal with, and she even had a sort of a soft spot for the way the charcoal-colored sweater vest looked over top a white blouse. But the shoes, besides being uncomfortable, were just so ugly.

And, as Ellie learned on this damp Thursday afternoon, they weren't the best running shoes.

She burst out of the double doors of the large brick building, just in time to see her bus -- an off-white old-fashioned thing numbered two-oh-one -- pull away from the parking lot. Her arms dropped, chest heaving with her breaths, and she gave her head a toss to shake her red hair out of her face. She normally wore it in a simple ponytail, but she'd woken up late that morning and hadn't been able to do anything but brush it.

"Shit." She mumbled with a sigh, before starting slowly down the stone steps.

"Miss your bus again, Ellie?"

She glanced to her right, where one of her friends, Liz, was unlocking her bike. Ellie smiled, despite her situation -- Liz was one of her closest friends. She neared the blonde, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Of course," she said, "You know I can't go a whole week without missing it just once."

Liz gave her a grin, wheeling her bike out to the sidewalk. "Well, you know I'd let you ride on the handlebars if you lived by me." She said, expression tinted with sympathy.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah I know." She said. Liz was always offering to ride her halfway home -- it was just that both girls lived in opposite directions. Ellie glanced up at the gray sky. "I just hope it doesn't rain until I'm safe and sound inside."

Minutes later, Liz was riding away from her, and Ellie had started on her own way. Her arms were still crossed as she walked, and she hummed to herself quietly. Thankfully, she didn't live that far away from St. Hilary's -- and a little exercise was always good, right?

She was about two blocks away from home when she first saw him. He'd just gotten out of his car in front of what she'd assume was his house -- and how could anyone not notice him, getting out of an orange Honda? He'd climbed out of the driver's seat, lips moving along to some song that he was listening to in his head, and Ellie quickly took him in.

He was tall, with shaggy brown hair that he obviously prided himself in, but didn't take time to style. A tattoo adorned one of his arms -- visible because of the black wife-beater he was wearing. Maybe Ellie looked at him a little longer than she should have, but she blamed it on the fact that her school was an all girls one -- she didn't see good-looking guys very often.

And as fate would have it, of course he looked up in time to see her staring.

Heat rushed to her face, and she stiffened, lowering her gaze to the sidewalk she walked on. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him round the front of his car, but instead of crossing her path to go up to his house, he stopped and leaned against the front of it, arms crossing over his chest. She swallowed, mentally cursing herself -- way to be obvious there, Eleanor.

She didn't know why, but she chanced a look up. She immediately wished she hadn't, as he was watching her -- his smirk was one of smugness and teasing, and his eyes -- blue -- were piercing in a strange way. Still flushing, she looked down again, trying to hurry past him, but it felt like she was walking in sand. Her stomach was full of frenzied butterflies, and she was already thinking of a different route home for when she had to walk again.

It probably wouldn't be so bad if my school had boys, she thought.

But Eleanor Nash had grown up with all girls schools. The only boys she ever came close to were cousins or her friends' brothers -- or the many magazine cut-outs of celebrities that hung on her walls. A few years back she'd even wondered if maybe she should just turn lesbian so at least she could have a significant other. Going-on-seventeen-years-old was just too old for her to have never had a boyfriend, in her opinion.

"Nice shoes."

The boy's voice cut into her thoughts, and she hesitated slightly in walking. She was sure her face couldn't turn any redder, and instead of giving him the satisfaction of rolling her eyes, she kept going. Now she hated those damned saddle shoes even more.

And suddenly he was beside her, walking in long strides, movements casual, as opposed to her quick and jerky steps.

"Aren't you gonna say 'thank you'?" He asked her.

"Thank you." Her voice came out choked, and she was filled with the sudden desire to crawl into a hole and never return.

He didn't respond, just kept walking beside her, and she was half-tempted to take off at a dead run. But she was forced to stop all at once as he swung around to stand in front of her, holding his hands up, level with her shoulders, as if trying to block her from going any further. She tried to slow her quickly beating heart -- not fast out of fear or irritation, but of excitement. An excitement she couldn't explain.

She took a deep breath, and raised her dark gaze slowly. He was taller than her, and he was looking down at her, one of his brows quirked. There was something that could only be described as amusement in his light eyes. His smirk turned into a smile -- he had a crocodile's smile -- when she met his gaze.

"Thank you." He said, dropping his hands. He then held one out for her to shake. "I'm Jay, Jay Hogart."

She was somewhat confused as to introduction, but she took his hand lightly -- hesitantly at that. As they were shaking, she was silent however, and he raised his brows at that.

"Got a name, Ginger?" he asked.

For some reason this nickname made Ellie blush, but she forced her tongue to work and form proper sentences. "Ellie." She said. "My name's Ellie Nash."

Still grinning he dropped his hand again, and she shifted uncomfortably as his eyes traveled down her, taking in her outfit.

"So, with an outfit like that -- you're either from a private school or straight outta my dreams," he said. He gave a slight shrug, still looking down at her outfit. "Must be a private school -- the girls in my dreams always have stilettos and shorter skirts."

Ellie took an unintentional step back, trying to stutter out a response. He didn't say anything else, but he didn't seem the least bit surprised by her backing away from him -- he was still smirking. She suddenly felt like he was undressing her with his eyes, and she crossed her arms over her chest awkwardly.

He gave a laugh. "Look, I was only kidding." He said. "Didn't know there was a twelve-year-old trapped in that body of yours."

Her brow furrowed, and she tossed her head to the side again, getting her hair out of her face. "Are you...always this..." She trailed off, looking for the right word, and summoning the courage to speak to him. "Upfront?"

He grinned, nodding shortly. "Pretty much." He said. "Though I don't think I've gotten that word before. I've gotten --" he started counting on his fingers, "-- rude, vulgar, obscene, mean. Rude seems to be a favorite among you girls."

Despite how true those words were for him, Ellie found herself unable to hold back a laugh.

His eyes lit up. "So?" He asked. "St. Hilary's?"

"Lucky guess?" She asked.

"School crest." Was his answer, pointing at her chest.

She looked down at her shirt -- the sweater vests they were made to wear had embroidered crests where a right breast pocket would be. These crests had the school logo, as well as the school name. Ellie flushed again, giving another nervous laugh.

"Oh." She said. "I forgot about that."

He laughed, crossing his arms again, and studying her. "You new here?" He asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you walk this way before."

"So you see everyone that comes this way?" Ellie asked smartly, mentally congratulating herself.

"Oh yeah." He said. "I'm like those creepy old men, I sit at my window all day and people-watch. I even have a notebook to write it all down in."

Ellie laughed once more, and shook her head. "I'm not new." She answered. "I just happened to miss my bus today."

"Lucky me." Jay said quietly, the sudden change in his tone making something twist in Ellie's stomach. "I really do like those shoes."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be an ass." She said. "I know they're ugly as sin."

"Oh, a private school girl that curses." He said, ignoring the point of what she'd said. "I like."

"You really are upfront," Ellie said. "I'd hate to see the side of you that people call vulgar."

He grinned his shark's grin, and moved a little closer to her. "Would you really?" He asked. "Or would you like to see it -- it comes out very easily."

Her face reddened again, and she took another step back. "I have to get home." She said. "My parents..." She wished she hadn't brought them up -- saying it made her sound like she was ten-years-old.

"Would think something happened to you?" Jay finished for her, eyebrows raising again.

She nodded stiffly, and he smirked, but nodded.

"I understand." He said. "Is it bad that I'm kinda hoping you'll miss your bus again one day?"

Not if I'm wishing it too, Ellie thought, before she instantly cursed herself. She laughed in response, shaking her head slowly, and she started around him.

"Who knows?" She asked. "Maybe you'll get lucky again."

"See you later, Ginger." He called after her.

Ellie knew it was wrong for her to develop a crush on the kind of guy Jay Hogart seemed to be, but as she walked home, her humming was a little more upbeat, and a smile was pasted onto her face. It didn't even fade once it started raining, and she hadn't made it inside yet.