AN: I know I don't update on the weekend, but this was caused for an update. My mom is getting much better and before I know it, she'll be home. I'm glad she's making a speedy recovery and it just made my day so much better. To show how happy I am, I decided to update Still Holding On today instead of making you all wait on Monday.

By the way, I want to thank you all for the reviews. You all don't know how happy this makes me. Seeing these reviews encourages me to continue writing.

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Suggestions are greatly welcomed in my PMs, or if you want to talk, feel the need to PM me. I will respond when I can.

Disclaimer: Stephen Stohn owns Degrassi.

Chapter 2: Feeling Closer to You

(Owen)

After dropping Maya off at home, I go home and think about what Maya had just told me. How could she—of all people—cheat on Cam? I thought that she was just as much in love with him as he is with her. Did the past year mean nothing to her?

Sighing, I park my car, turn it off, and walk into the house. I flop on the sofa and turn on the TV. I flick through the channels as Tristan emerges from the bathroom and into the living room. He takes a seat next to me and flashes me a smile.

"Wassup, bro?"

"Nothing," I say flatly.

Why did this bother me so much? I know I shouldn't get involved with Maya and Cam's love life, but I didn't want to see Cam hurt. Last school year affected a lot of us and I don't want to relive that moment, again. As much as I wanted to tell Cam, I couldn't—not yet. After talking to him yesterday, he seemed so happy—so at ease. He tells me how much he missed his home and it felt good to be there for a while.

"You're so lost in your thoughts that you haven't even noticed that I turned it on Glee," Tristan comments, snapping me from my thoughts.

"Oh, I—"

"What's up, Owen?"

"If I tell you something, you have to swear to me you won't utter a word to anyone…okay?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" he asks eagerly. Of course, Tristan is always eager for gossip.

"Apparently, there's going to be some new kids attending Degrassi. Maya had no problem getting acquainted with them," I grit out angrily before continuing, "There's this guy that she's apparently attracted to. She went to his house, went for a swim, and they kissed."

"Gasp!" Tristan says dramatically as he holds his hand to his mouth, "Maya would never cheat on Cam, wh—are you sure this is the same Maya Matlin? You know, blonde hair, wears glasses, very shy and innocent?"

"I'm positive. I asked her if she liked the guy and she said she didn't. Well, at first she went around the question, but then she answered it. I know she's lying, but I don't understand—"

"Why would she cheat on Cam?" Tristan finishes for me with a sigh, "I have to talk to her."

"NO!" I yell, causing Tristan to flinch and look at me with wide eyes. "She'll know I told you—which I don't think I was supposed to do."

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"For now, we have to stop Maya from cheating and we have to keep it from Cam. We have to make it seem like nothing has ever happened. We can't go through what happened last school year, again."

"Yeah, I felt like I was going to lose Cam. This is why you need to let me talk to Maya; she'll understand why you told me."

I pause, thinking about it. It did make sense; letting Tris talk to Maya. He could talk some sense in her and hopefully make her realize what she did was wrong. If she wanted to see other people, Cam would understand. Well, at least Owen hopes he would.

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(Maya)

I look in the mirror at the nest I call hair on my head. It's tangled and hard to comb through. I sigh and look at my phone—it reads 12:30. I groan inwardly and send a text to Tristan, telling him I'm having a hair crisis! He texts me back immediately, telling me he was on his way.

I was going to the Hollingsworth's later—and it wasn't to kiss Miles again. I was simply going to tell him that I have a boyfriend—whom I love—and that kiss was a mistake. And it was, honestly, a mistake.

Tris knocks on my bedroom door—I'm guessing my mom let him in—and he opens the door when I tell him to come in. He says hi and sits on my bed, giving me a disapproving look.

I sigh and say, "Can you fix this, please? I have somewhere to be soon."

"Where?" he asks, folding his arms across his chest. "Are you going to that boy's house that you kissed, but have no feelings for?"

My mouth opens and I stare shockingly at Tristan. I'm speechless. I hadn't expected for Tristan to know about it.

"Owen told you," I say sadly.

"Yeah, and I'm very shocked at you for two reasons! 1) You cheated on Cam with someone you barely know, My! 2) You didn't even think to tell me: you're best friend. Someone you can trust—"

"Yeah, because I knew you were going to judge me, Tris. Geez, it was mistake to make and now I'm suffering with guilt. I—I feel bad for kissing Miles and I was going to march over to his house and tell him it was the biggest mistake I ever made. Look, I love Cam. I really do. I never want to hurt him, especially since he's still healing."

"Do you think it's a good idea to go see Miles? Maybe there's some attraction there, Maya. You should just tell him over the phone that—"

"There is no attraction there," I tell him and I feel bad for lying. I'm finding myself attracted to Miles just after a few days. I feel the guilt eating me alive. "And I—I can't tell him over the phone. Trust me Tris, I—"

"I'm coming with you, then," he interrupts.

I stare at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. Tristan wanted to come with me over Miles' house?! I don't know why, but I feel anger boil through my body.

"I don't need a babysitter, Tris! I don't need you to monitor me and make sure I won't do anything, because I won't!"

Tristan shakes his head at me disapprovingly. He walks over to me and begins to rake through the mess on my head. I hear a sigh come from his lips.

"This is exactly why I have to come with you," he says sternly. "Maya, you're getting all hostile for nothing and it makes me worry if you'll actually cheat on Cam, again."

I mumble a fine as Tristan continues to work his magic through my nest. I take out my phone and send Miles a text, letting him know Tristan was coming with me. I wasn't going to cheat on Cam, again. I love him a lot and I want to make sure that Miles knows that the kiss was a huge mistake; it shouldn't have happened.

Once Tristan finishes with my hair, we head off to the Hollingsworth's mansion. I tell him how amazing and huge the mansion is. I tell him I wish I could stay there and never leave, which leads to Tris saying…

"Why, so you can kiss him all you want?"

"What?" I say, taken back by the comment. "I wasn't—"

"Sorry, My, I shouldn't have—"

"Yeah, whatever," I snap.

We walk in silence until we get to the mansion. Tristan stares at it with his mouth hanging open. As I make my way to the door, I feel someone pulling me back. I look back at Tristan to see that he has gone back to completely normal.

"Before you touch that doorbell, we have to set some rules."

"What?" I groan. I didn't want to set any rules. I just wanted to tell Miles that the kiss was a mistake and hope that we can go on with the day. I didn't want things to be awkward and weird between us. I was hoping we could actually be friends, but Owen and Tris don't seem to think it's a good idea.

"Okay, we're staying for 5, maybe 10 minutes—no later Maya. Do not go anywhere alone with him and don't back out of this. When, or if, you think about kissing him, remember you have a boyfriend. Okay?"

"Yes, I know!" I snap irritably as I go ring the doorbell. My arms fold across my chest and I tap my foot impatiently on the concrete.

The door opens and it reveals Miles and Chewy. I start with the introductions and then we're off to the backyard. We all cut through the kitchen and go back outside. We go to lounge around on the chairs. The silence was comfortable and relaxing. I almost wanted to close my eyes and relax until Tristan cleared his throat. My eyes advert to him and I give him an annoying look.

"Miles, we need to talk," I tell him before taking my eyes off Tristan and adverting my eyes to him.

"You wanna talk in front of Chewy and uh, Tristan? Maybe I can take you to my game room," he suggests.

"Sure," I say perking up. "That'll be—"

"Ahem," Tristan says, looking at with another disapproving look.

"I—I mean, maybe we can just sit here and talk. I'm sure they won't listen."

"Or," Chewy cuts in, "you two can just stay put and I'll take Tristan to the game room."

Before Tristan could protest, Chewy was out of his chair and dragging Tristan out of his. Tristan mouths that he'll be back in 5 minutes. I'm guessing that's all the time I need to get this out of the way.

I take a deep breath, replaying what I'm getting ready to say in my mind. I stand out of the chair and began to pace. I feel Miles' eyes on me, but I don't want to look him in the eyes. I don't want him to see how nervous I am.

What if he doesn't want to be friends? I know I shouldn't worry about it, because we hardly know each other, but I can't help but feel a connection towards him. The more I feel it, the more I feel guilty about Cam.

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" Miles say, breaking me out of my trance.

"Oh, yeah, um…the kiss—"

"It was a total mistake, Maya, and I apologize for kissing you. I know you have a boyfriend—a hockey one at that—and I know you are in love with him. I shouldn't have overstepped my boundaries and it'll never happen again. But, can we at least be friends?"

I exhale a breath, more like a sigh of relief. This was going to be easier than I though. I would have stumbled over my words before I even got the sentences out. Miles said it with a breeze, almost as if he has said it so many times.

"Yeah," I say when I feel his eyes staring at me, "We can totally be friends."

Miles smiles and I can't help but smile back. I extend my hand out for him to shake it, but he pulls me into a hug. I hesitantly wrap my arms around him and inhale his cologne. I feel my eyes closing, enjoying the warmth of his body and the way his arms are wrapped securely around me.

The sound of someone clearing their throat makes us jump apart. I look up to see Tristan staring at me.

"Your 5 minutes are up. Come on, Owen's here."

"You called Owen?!" I shriek.

Why in the hell would he do that?

"So he could pick us up and take us for a ride, you silly girl," Tristan says, playfully tapping my nose. I scrunch up my nose and swat his hand away.

"Now, let's go."

Tristan drags me out of the house, and before we leave I mouth goodbye to Miles and Chewy. We walk to Owen's car and I climb in the back seat. The two begin to immediately lecture me. I roll my eyes, take out my headphone, turn on my music, and block them out. I feel guilty enough; I don't need these two making me feel any worse.

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(Cam)

I send Maya my second text of the day, telling her hi and I love her. When she doesn't respond, I slip my phone back into my pocket and stand from the sofa. Camille comes down the steps with her hair into a high ponytail and she's wearing a pair of high-waisted shorts with a crop top. My eyes pop out of my head. This is my little, 15 years old, sister. She should not be dressed like this!

"Where do you think you're going?" I ask here, staring at her outfit. Maya would never wear something like this and if she did, I think I'd have a heart attack. (AN: Kind of sung this in Demi Lovato's voice.)

"To the mall with a couple of friends; wanna come?" she says as she applies lip gloss to her lips.

"Do mom and dad let you go out like that?" I ask her, ignoring her question.

"Uh, yeah," she responds, rolling her eyes. "Do you think I'd go out like this without them knowing?"

"Okay," I say, defeated. "Let's go."

I need something to do for the day and I don't want to stay in all day staring at my phone, waiting for Maya to text me. I follow Camille out of the house, not before yelling to my parents that I was going with her to the mall. We walk out of the porch and I follow her to the mall, which is not that far from our house.

Once we get there, Camille instantly spots her friends. She grabs my hands and drags me with her to her friends, who are all squealing. She hugs them and I didn't know that she was so popular.

"Oooh, who's this?" Camille's friend with red hair and a nose ring asks.

"This," Camille says, gesturing towards me, "is my older brother Cam. He stays in Toronto so he can play hockey at a school called Degrassi. Remember I told y'all he was coming?"

"Oh, right! This is the famous Cam," redhead coos as she takes a step towards me. "He's cute, Millie."

"And he's off-limits. Cammy has a girlfriend."

"Hey," redhead smirks, "what his girl doesn't know won't hurt him."

She gives me a flirtatious wink and I turn away, feeling a blush creep on my cheeks. I can't believe how nonchalant this girl is being and she's around Camille's age, or probably older.

"Sorry for not introducing you to these losers," Camille says and her friends shout in protests, "This is Stacy, Cathy, Samantha, and this little nasty chick is Amber."

Amber shakes my hand and gives me another wink. After the introductions, we make our way inside of the mall. We walk around, talking and stopping at little food shops to grab a snack to eat and drink. I find myself separating from the group and walk around until I spot a jewelry store. I want to buy Maya something else before I go back home.

I find this sterling silver bracelet with a heart on it. I examine it, thinking of Maya's reaction once she sees it.

"You must really love her," I hear a voice say. I turn my head around to see Amber standing right there, looking at the bracelet over my shoulder.

"Yeah," I say, feeling my lips curl into a smile. "I really do love her."

"Does she love you?" she asks me and I feel my mouth slightly open.

"Of course she loves me," I say defensively.

"Just asking," Amber smiles, "but that'll definitely make her smile."

"You think so?"

"I know so. Sorry for coming on too strong earlier; when I see a cute guy I don't know how to act."

"It's fine," and I feel myself blushing again.

I hate that I blush so easily. Amber smirks and goes with me to the cash register to pay for Maya's gift. Afterwards, she and I just walk around, getting to know each other. She's actually not that bad and I find out we have some things in common. She tells me how she used to cut and how she fell into depression after she lost her mother due to a robbery at a grocery store. Her father had passed away only a few months after she was born so she didn't have vivid memory of him. She only knew him through pictures.

I tell Amber my story and she tells me that it sucks to be bullied. She was bullied how she had been bullied through her middle school years.

The more we talk, the more I feel myself getting closer to her. She has been through a lot, like me, so it's refreshing to talk to someone who understands how you feel.

"You know, I needed a friend like you, Cam," she says with a small smile.

"Yeah, me too. It's nice to talk to someone who understands you."

"Yeah, it is," she responds as she checks her phone. "Come on, we need to meet Millie and the girls back at the front. Apparently they're looking for us."

We head back to the front of the mall and meet with Camille and the girls. We all walk around some more and the girls do some more shopping. Amber hits the bookstore and she comes back out to hand me a book.

"You should read this book," she tells me, handing me a book called Thirteen Reasons Why. "I like it and you might, too."

I thank her and as the group come back out. The girls are finally finished shopping so we all go our separate ways. Camille hands me a couple of her bags and I carry them for her with no hesitation. It kind of reminds of what she used to do when we were younger.

"So, you and Amber?" she asks me in a teasing tone.

"She's cool; she understands me and we've been through some similar stuff," I say, realizing that my family didn't know about my depression or my cutting.

"What do you mean by that?" she questions, holding her hand to my chest to stop me.

Uh-oh! Now, I have to explain to Camille my story. This was one person I did not plan on telling this to.