Time Stands Still

I walk into Degrassi covered in yellow paint and feathers. You should know me. Rick Murray, the name should ring a bell. It's been awhile, almost 9 years, since I have been to this rotten son of a school. Nobody that goes here now knows who I am, but they have probably heard "urban legends" about me. No one can see me, but I can see all of them. A blonde girl with glasses smiling as she talks to this tall, black haired boy who is dressed in all black, a dude that looks rich walking next to this asian guy, and I even see Mr. Simpson walking down the halls. This place gave me nothing but hell, so it's time to end this school once and for all.

I walk over to what used me be my locker, there is a lock on it, so someone is obviously using it. Ever since that day with the paint… and my… death… I haven't been able to locate my glasses, so I tend to walk right through people and walls without realizing it much. The bell rings, so this is a great time to look in that locker. Being a ghost is good though, I'm strong enough to throw or break through anything, so I rip off the lock and open the locker, it obviously belongs to a girl, because there's tons of posters of some werewolf and vampire show and pink notebooks and a diary. I remove all of the books, and lodged in between the back of the locker and the walls are my glasses. Still covered in paint, I put them on. I know have the power to destroy this place. Finally, my soul can rest in peace.

I walk into Simpson's office, apparently he's the new school principal. "Mr. Simpson, how are ya?", I say to him. Good thing people can hear me, cuz I have the power to freak them out. He looks around and see's no one in his office, so he gets up and looks in the hallway that is around his office, no one is there, just me, the one he can't see. "Stupid kids.", he says as he sits back down at his desk and begins to write paperwork. "I have come back for you.", I say to him. This time he looks up and backs himself into a corner. "Who is that?", he said out loud, looking all around the hallway and his office. "An old friend of yours, Mr. Simpson. I'm sure you remember me. I'm Rick Murray.", I say to him.

A few minutes later I have him tied into his chair, but before I could tape his mouth shut, he screams at me. "I can't even see you, why are you doing this?!", he says, pleading me to let him go. "You all failed to save me. This school deserves to rot in HELL!", I say to him. raising my voice at the end. "Rick, it wasn't any of our faults. It wasn't yours either. You messed up by coming back to Degrassi, but everyone else messed up when they tortured you. If you would just move on… you could finally rest in peace.", he says to me. I'm not buying it. "Don't tell me what I 'messed up'.", I say to him as I put the tape across his mouth. "Now no one can hear you scream, just like they couldn't hear me.", I say to him, as I walk out of his office, the bell rings, and students pour out of their classes. It's time to interrupt their perfect days. "EVERYBODY STOP!", I scream. Everyone stops and looks around, people start whispering to each other. "Who said that?", A blonde girl with glasses said, the same one as I saw earlier. She's asking me to kill her. "I'm your biggest nightmare. My name is Rick Murray."

Another thing about being a ghost is that you can make yourself visible whenever you want, so that is just what I did. And now that they can see me, they know they're not dealing with some stupid kid tricking them. I had them all up against the lockers. "What are you going to do to us?", the same asian kid I saw from earlier asked me. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched these kids become as helpless as I was when I was alive. "I don't know, possibly kill you all.", I said, as I let out an evil laugh. "Why are you doing this?", the same blonde girl asked me. "Because I can.", I say simply. "No… why do you want to kill us?", she asked me another question. This girl just doesn't stop with the 20 questions, I'm not here to play games. "Because I want everyone to feel what I felt when I was alive.", I say to her. She turns to me, and looks at me, as I look straight at her. I have a gun in my bag, all loaded and ready if she comes any closer. "Maya, what are you doing? He has a gun.", the black haired boy says to her, trying to pull her back to face the lockers as I earlier instructed them to do. "Oh… Maya are you? Well Maya… what could you possibly have to say that is so worthy of me not shooting you right here, right now?", I say to her, and I dig my hand into my bag, clutching onto the gun inside. "What did you feel...when you were alive?", she asks me. Wow, this is the first time someone was actually concerned with how I was feeling. I felt good to finally be acknowledged. "You want honesty, Ms. Maya?", I say to her coldly, and she just nods, staying a decent distance away from me. "Depressed.", I say to her, then I look down and continue. "I felt… lost… and I just wanted everyone to finally feel what I felt… to feel… my pain.", I say to her, then I look up, everyone is now turned to face me, just like Maya. SHE TURNED AN ARMY ON ME! HOW COULD I LET HER DO THAT?! "YOU DISOBEY ME? I'M RICK MURRAY!", I scream at them, pulling my gun out and pointing it at Maya. "You're the reason everyone is against me. Just like everyone was when I was alive. It's time you die.", I say to her, and right before I pull the trigger, she speaks up. "Stop. We're not against you. I know… well, knew someone who felt the same way you did. Everyone does stupid things and everyone sometimes just goes crazy. What you did was not right… but what they did to you is almost as bad. Don't be the person what drove you to insanity. Because right now, you're being the person you hate. You're being a bully. But, I know your pain. I'm pretty sure we all do. But you, standing here before us, trying to hurt us won't let you finally rest in peace. And everyone deserves to rest in peace. Be the person you wanted to become after you returned here, not who hurt you.", she finally stops speaking, but, her words… touched me. She made me realize I was the reason I wasn't happy in the afterlife. I lowered my gun and put it back in my bag. I smiled at her, and I left the building, letting Mr. Simpson free.

It has now been a month since I have been to Degrassi, and I personally promised myself that I would look over Maya. She was laying in bed when I walked in, she couldn't see me, though. I occasionally visit her to make sure she is ok. "Hello, Maya.", I say to her. "Hi, Rick.", she says to me. "I just wanted to make sure you were ok.", I say to her. "I'm ok.", she says to me, looking at the ceiling. "I just wanted to say thank you.", I say to her, walking closer and letting her see me, she turns to look at me. "For what?", she asks me. "For setting me free.", I say to her, as I once again fade away and begin leaving. "Goodbye, Maya Matlin.", I say, I am already someone distant, so she hears me faintly. "Goodbye, Rick Murray.", she says to me. And with that, I leave her house. Hopefully, just hopefully, no one gets on my bad side. I smile and I laugh somewhat evilly. "That's to you, Degrassi.", I say, walking off into the night and fading away.