Prologue

Justice A. walked through the halls of Degrassi, her dark brown curls bouncing at the length of below her collar bone as she searched the halls for her last class. She had just moved back to her old home after her leave when Lakehurst burned down some time ago. She had heard of some of her old friends having begun attending Degrassi after Lakehurst had gone up in flames, but she had yet to see any of them.

She had completely changed her clothing style as well, when attending Lakehurst she used to be "one-of-the-guys" always with the grungy guys. The bullies, the bad-asses who liked to cause trouble. She wasn't sure if any of them had transferred, maybe they dropped out. She thought. Her new look was now punk rock mixed with girlie-girl. She wore a black band tee, lace arm warmers, a pink and black ruffled skirt and fish-net-stockings. She refused to wear heels, instead wearing a pair of tight leather combat boots.

Her black messenger bag slapped against her leg as she rushed through the halls. Not paying attention to where she was going, her eyes glued to the piece of crumpled paper in her hand, she collided into another being. "Oh! Sorry." She said, gaining her composure. She looked up and smiled at the very attractive being of the male species.

He laughed, a smile spread across his adorable face, staring down at her with beautiful gray eyes. "No, my fault. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going." She smiled at him. "Peter." He said, a hand extended.

She took it. "Justice."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Justice. You're new here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, welcome to Degrassi." He said. She giggled. "Catch' ya round, okay?"

"Okay." She said, and he was off. She grinned to herself, and shook her head.

Peter. She thought. He's cute.

Walking happily through the halls, Alli Bandhari searched for her beloved Johnny DiMarco. Soon spotting him placing items into his locker. Walking up behind him she placed her dainty fingers over his eyes. He smiled and turned around to look at her. "You're not Bruce." He said, the smile dropping. She scoffed, and hit him playfully in the shoulder, the smile returned for a brief moment.

"Remember that movie you wanted to see?" Alli asked, leaning against a locker, facing Johnny. "The Hustler. It's playing at the Palace."

He grinned, "I mentioned that months ago." He said, placing a red book into his locker.

"If it gets boring we can keep ourselves entertained." She said, walking her fingers up his chest then gripping his chin.

Johnny gripped her wrist and moved her hand away. "I promised Bruce I'd hang at the Ravine." He said closing his locker door.

Alli shook her head. "So, I'll drop by."

"It's not really your scene; a bunch of older kids getting into trouble."

"I'm a big girl," Alli said, wrapping her arms around Johnny's neck. "I can take care of myself." She batted her lashes. "So, I'll see you at the Ravine?"

Johnny grinned. "You know it's impossible to say no to you, right?"

Smiling triumphantly, Alli kissed Johnny and then walked off. He grinned to himself as she left.

Still searching for her last hour class, Justice continued to rush through the busy halls. Oh my gosh! She thought, and then rushed into the nearest bathroom. Checking the stalls to make sure there was no one else there she let out a loud scream. So loud that people outside the bathroom all paused and looked at the door to the girls room.

Taking in a deep breath, she left the bathroom, only to stop dead when she found a lot of people staring at her. Feeling embarrassed she quickly rushed off in the direction she was headed the first time. Finally she spotted that guy Peter she had run into early, his back was to her. She quickly walked up to him and tapped him on the back. "Peter!" She said, but when they turned around, it wasn't Peter. The guy laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said.

"It's okay." He said. He held out a hand. "I'm Declan."

"Justice." She said, taking it.

"Well, Justice. You need Peter for something?" He said.

Justice eyed the two girls that Declan had been talking to; "Uh, well not really, I just need help finding my last class." She said. "You see, I'm new and I don't know my way around. I've been asking for help all day."

"Okay." He said. "Well, let's see what we can do." Taking the paper from Justice, Declan read over it. "Mr. Simpson." He said, and looked over at one of the girls. "Claire, you have Mr. Simpson's class, don't you? Why don't you take Justice there. We can talk more about the play later."

"Uh, sure." The girl said, nervous, her eyes widening behind her glasses, and led Justice down the hall.

"Claire." Justice said, trying out the name. "I like that."

"Uhm, thanks." The girl said.

"It has a sort of ring to it. Say, what grade are you in, Claire?"

"Ninth." She mumbled.

"Figures. You look like a niner."

Claire side-glanced her, feeling a bit offended. "Well, here you are." She said, stopping in front of a closed door.

"Thanks, Claire." Justice said, and walked into the classroom, the niner behind her.

"Well, Claire, you're not one to be late." Some older dude said walking up to them, apparently it was the teacher. "Take a seat."

Claire nodded and walked over to a girl with long black hair.

"And you may be?" He asked the unfamiliar girl standing in front of him.

"Justice." She said.

"Well, Justice. I would like you to know that I do not tolerate tardies. Have a seat."

Justice rolled her eyes and walked over to a vacant desk in front of a computer.

"Hi, I'm Connor." A guy with glasses and short dark brown hair said, hand extended.

Justice looked at him in a weird-disgust. "Justice." She said taking his hand. Great, a nerdy niner. This is so not the type of place I want to be.

"Who's that?" Alli asked Claire as they walked to their usual table where KC awaited.

Claire shrugged. "Her name's Justice, I think." She said.

"Hm. Another new kid."

"Yeah. I think she hates niners."

"Why would a niner hate a nin...oh. Well then what grade is she in?"

Claire sighed, sitting next to KC. "I don't know." She said.

"Hello Claire." KC said, kissing her cheek. "Alli."

"Hey KC. Did you hear about the new girl?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering. So guess what? I'm going to the Ravine this evening to meet up with Johnny."

"Isn't that where all the "anti-niners" hang out and do...you know, things?" Claire said.

"Well, yeah." Alli said. "But Johnny will be there, and I want to show him that I am not a lame niner. But that I'm mature."

"It would not be a good thing for you to go alone, Alli."

"I know." She said, a smile on her face. "That's why you're going with me."