I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Let the rain wash away

All the pain of yesterday

I know my kingdom awaits

And they've forgiven my mistakes

I'm coming home, I'm coming home

Tell the world I'm coming home

Clare Edwards stared out of the window, watching the world fly by, biting her lip to keep the tears she could feel burning behind her eyes from spilling over. She wasn't coming home; she was leaving her home for something that wasn't her fault, and she didn't know if she would ever be allowed back.

Throughout the entire drive so far from North Carolina to Canada, Clare's aunt Natalie had spoken exactly ten words; "I'm sure you'll like Toronto" and then, almost three hours later, "We love you, you know."

No, Clare thought, you love me. They don't. Not anymore.

Her aunt had always been quiet, and Clare found the silence to be comforting. She wiped away the single tear that had managed to leak from her eye and glanced over at Natalie to make sure that she hadn't noticed. She'd never in her life called her Aunt Natalie; it was always just Natalie to her, and Clare remembered that, when she and Darcy were little kids, they used to crave her visits, always asking their parents, "When is Natalie coming back?"

Several minutes passed before Natalie spoke words eleven, twelve, and thirteen. "You okay, kiddo?"

"They hate me," Clare whispered, her voice choked with unshed tears.

There was another pause, and she looked as though she was thinking her niece's words over. "They don't hate you," she replied at last.

"Yes, they do. You weren't there, Natalie. You didn't see their faces when they… when they found out about me. My mom told me that she never wanted to see me again." She hesitated, and then repeated in a small voice that was almost a whimper, "They hate me."

Natalie shook her head, her eyes fixed on the road. "They love you. They're just… confused."

Confused. Clare was the only one who was allowed to be confused, allowed to be heartbroken. Her parents had kicked her out of the house and told her that she wasn't their daughter anymore; how could Natalie even try to defend them? Was throwing their kid out onto the street because of something she couldn't help an act of love?

Love. Love was what had gotten her into this mess in the first place. Maybe there was no such thing as love; maybe it was just a myth, like Santa Claus and the Loch Ness Monster.

They hate me. They hate me. The words repeated, over and over, in Clare's mind. Who knew that three simple words could do so much damage?

But it wasn't as if Clare could blame her parents for hating her, because at that moment, she hated herself.

000

Alli Bhandari took a deep breath and opened her FaceRange page, waiting impatiently for it to load. As soon as her profile picture popped up, her eyes hurriedly scanned the first post.

You're a lying whore. Someone's got to put you in your place.

Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed out her reply, refusing to let the words hurt her. They were just letters that bitch Jessica, or Jess, had posted. No big deal. It wasn't like those words would define her, right? It wasn't like people would agree with Jess, even if she was the most popular girl in school.

"They're just words," Alli told herself firmly as she hit ENTER, crossing the fingers of her left hand tightly and closing her laptop with her right.

"Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you, huh?" Sav commented, sitting down beside his sister on the couch.

"Or… something?" Alli guessed, forcing a smile.

"I saw what those girls wrote on your FaceRange page, and-"

"And I can handle it," Alli interrupted.

"Alli, I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I'm fine, Sav. Really. I've got it all under control."

He sighed, and then gave her the tiniest of smiles. "Okay, but if you ever need help, with anything, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Don't get all big-brotherly on me," Alli warned. "I can look after myself." Her voice softened, and she added, "But… thank you."

Sav smiled again and then stood up, walking away. Alli watched him leave, making sure he was gone before opening her laptop again and reading Jess's new comment.

Really? Is BITCH really the best you can do?

Someone else, one of Jess's clique most likely- someone named Hannah- had written underneath, What can you expect from Boiler Room Bhandari?

Boiler Room Bhandari. That nickname alone hurt more than Alli could ever let anyone know. She had made one mistake, and here she was, suffering the consequences. No matter what she did, to the students at Degrassi, she would always be Boiler Room Bhandari in their eyes.

Another comment popped up; it was Jenna, Alli's best friend.

Don't you guys have something better to do?

As half-assed as the rescue attempt was, Alli was grateful to Jenna for at least attempting to stand up for her. Jess was the queen bee of high school; basically, her word was law, and Alli was sick of it. Actually, everyone was sick of it, but no one had the guts to stand up to her.

Not even Alli.

Instead of fighting the power, Alli turned her computer off and buried her face in her hands.

000

Eli Goldsworthy snapped the lock on his door back into place and nearly fell down the stairs, catching himself at the last minute and blinking sleep from his eyes. Somehow, he'd managed to fall asleep in his room; he practically deserved a medal for such an accomplishment, but he didn't want to spend a second longer in there than he absolutely had to. The memories that he so desperately craved were overwhelming at the moment, and he needed to get away from it all.

He walked out of the house, past his hearse, and wandered aimlessly down the sidewalk, not knowing or caring where he was going. As long as he stayed the fuck away from the place where Julia had died, he would be okay.

Well, not okay, exactly, but he probably wouldn't have some mental breakdown and try to slit his wrist with a shard of broken glass again, because that had really sucked the first time he tried it.

Suicide wasn't all it was cracked up to be, especially when you were rushed to the hospital for the second time in a week for overdose. Of course, he hadn't been conscious at the time, but waking up in the hospital hadn't been the most pleasant of experiences.

Eli stopped suddenly, tilting his head back so he could see the sky. Today was the last day of summer vacation; tomorrow, he would attend Degrassi Community School for his junior year. Granted, Eli wasn't one of those wild party-all-fucking-night-long kind of people; he was more of the sleep-in-until-noon-and-do-absolutely-nothing type of guy, so summer only promised an escape from the circle of hell known as high school.

Soft, fluffy clouds dotted the endless blue sky, like wisps of curly, dyed white hair bunched together.

He was getting seriously weird in the head.

"I'm sorry, Julia," he whispered to himself, knowing that she couldn't hear him. She was buried six feet under; he'd watched them throw the clumps of dirt down on her shiny wooden coffin without shedding a tear. It seemed to be physically impossible for him to cry anymore; maybe he had no more tears left.

I'm so sorry.

000

Bianca DeSousa stretched her arms above her head, blinking into the harsh morning light. Checking her watch, she realized that it was more of harsh afternoon light, if that made any sense at all. It was nearly five, and she was surprised that Isabel hadn't woken her.

Isabel wasn't exactly known for her romantic tendencies, but she should at least have the courtesy to kick Bianca's ass out of bed before her mother slipped into a panic-induced coma.

She slid her shirt on over her head, not bothering to find her bra as she zipped her jacket over it. The floorboards creaked as she left the room, searching around the tiny apartment for any sign of Isabel. Of course she wasn't there; Bianca had long since stopped expecting her to be. Isabel nearly always left after sex, returning only when she wanted more, and Bianca was happy to oblige her. She didn't love Isabel, but there was something between them that made her forgive the girl time after time after time.

They didn't talk about their personal lives or their issues. All that Bianca knew about her was that hadn't dated a guy since she was fifteen, when her abusive boyfriend had knocked her up and she'd given her baby up for adoption, and that she worked as a stripper to pay the bills. Bianca didn't even know Isabel's last name, and though she'd wanted to, she'd never visited her place of work. She would rather watch Isabel strip without all those desperate men eying her like she was… like she was something to eat or something.

Jealousy wasn't a welcome emotion to Bianca, and she shook it off as she locked the apartment door behind her and nearly ran down nine flights of stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. She emerged onto the street and fished around in her purse for her cell phone, dialing her mother's number.

"Bianca? Where are you? I was so worried!" The words came out in a gush, barely intelligible through the cell phone.

"I was at Isabel's," Bianca answered honestly. She had a good relationship with her mother; they always told each other the truth, no matter how painful or embarrassing. Since she was only fourteen years older than Bianca herself, her mother had always seemed more like her best friend than her legal guardian, not that Bianca would ever admit it to anyone. The only time when Alicia actually acted like a mother was, annoyingly enough, exactly when Bianca didn't want her to.

"It's almost five!" Alicia practically shrieked.

"I know, I fell asleep… I'll be home soon, okay?"

"Don't make me reinforce the curfew," Alicia threatened.

"I'll be home soon," Bianca repeated.

"Okay," Alicia sighed. "I love you."

Bianca kept the phone pressed to her ear even after her mother had hung up, an old habit of hers from back when one of her friends had been attacked on the way home. Even though it was broad daylight on a crowded sidewalk, Bianca knew that she was less likely to be targeted if she appeared to be in conversation with someone.

She wanted to turn around and go back to Isabel's apartment just as much as she wanted to walk away and leave her forever. She knew that she was just a fuck buddy, not even labeled as a girlfriend, but… maybe she did love Isabel.

How would she know?

000

"Is something wrong?"

Jenna avoided KC's eyes as she shook her head. "No, I'm just tired," she lied. What was she supposed to say? I cheated on you two months ago and I just found out I'm about eight weeks pregnant? She had promised herself that she would come clean to her boyfriend, but, as always, she chickened out at the last second.

She hadn't told anyone, not even her best friend, Alli. She felt so damned guilty; not only was she fifteen and pregnant, but she didn't even know who the damned father was.

Of course, there were only two candidates, but she needed someone to be there for her through this. She'd already made up her mind to give the kid up for adoption; no matter what, she couldn't get an abortion, whether a fetus was a life or not. But at the same time, she couldn't keep her child. She was fifteen; she could barely handle high school alone. How was she supposed to get into any college with a baby?

"It's the last day of summer," KC observed, smiling, and Jenna felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart and was twisting the blade. She loved KC, and she couldn't tell him the truth. She couldn't hurt him like that.

She would have to tell him, soon, that she was pregnant, but she wouldn't tell him about her drunken one-night stand at that damned party.

It's probably KC's anyways, she consoled herself. It was just one night.

"Well, let's make it count," she replied, forcing a smile.

Thank God I'm a good actress.

000

A/N: So this is kind of the prologue or something; I'm just setting the events up for the rest of the story. This story will include all or almost all of the current Degrassi characters; it's not just an Eclare story.

I'm not in the habit of doing this, but if I could get four or five reviews for this chapter, that would make my day! I hope you guys liked the first chapter!