Disclaimer- I do not own Degrassi, but I own a fat bulldog that enjoys sitting on people's laps :)
A/N REMEMBER THIS IS AU! THAT'S WHY THEY LIVE IN FLORIDA FIRST!
Hey everyone! I'm really glad you guys read my story- it got a lot of views/hits! But people are sometimes just too lazy to review whenever you read a story… oh well! xD
I would like to dedicate this chapter to WaitCait705. She was the first reviewer of this story! She's an amazing author and you should really check out her stories- especially Secrets! Thanks so much Caitlyn! Xoxo
A few shout outs to eclarefanaticxoxo and KitKat0219…
Eclarefanaticxoxo- Thank you a billion times! You are, like, one of my favorite authors and your review inspired me to update and make this chapter longer! Your stories are freaking AWESOME and I am really honored that you read mine and liked it. Xoxo
KitKat0219- Thank you for your review! I'm really glad you gave my story a chance being that you don't usually read Eli/OC stories! I was PSYCHED that you liked my story too, and your reviews make me SUPER HAPPY! THANKS! Xoxo
Okay! This chapter is going to be fairly long, and sorry if the beginning seems slightly rushed! I just want to get to the part where they get to Degrassi. :)
-1 year later-
"Come ON, Eli! It'll be fun- I promise!" Autumn whines as Eli and her load Morty's trunk with huge suitcases full of some of their stuff. Eli's parents and Autumn's mom were in the moving trucks with the rest of the stuff, and Autumn's sister Alessandra had some stuff too. She was riding with her boyfriend Hunter.
Eli turns to her and sighs.
"Of course! Moving to Canada has always been a dream of mine!" he says sarcastically.
"Come on, Eli. You have to give it a chance! This is our new beginning- our chance to start over! We've been through too much, Eli. We have to leave it behind and make a new life," she says softly, gently touching his shoulder understandingly.
"Sounds great," Eli says flatly and slams the trunk closed, walking around to the drivers' side of the car. He gets in and closes the door, starting the car, its engine groaning to life.
Autumn sighs heavily and raises her eyebrows. "This is going to be a long ride…"
20 hours of driving, switching places, eating, stopping for gas, and reading later, they arrive in front of their new houses, exhausted. It's around 1am, and they are pulling Morty into Eli's driveway, across the street from Autumn's. The two houses look almost identical- large, tan, white windows and doors… the whole block looked pretty much the same. There was no one outside, the only sounds the humming of cars rolling down the street, and Eli and Autumn's families pulling up to the house as well.
Eli pulls the key out of the ignition and looks at the baby-faced brunette once before they both get out of the car, prepared. As they get out, they see their parents parking the moving trucks and Alessandra and Hunter pull his Lexus into Autumn's driveway.
Autumn's mom hops out of the first moving truck in her black high-heels, plain black tee and dark blue skinny jeans, her wavy caramel-colored hair cascading a little past her shoulders. She was always dressed fancy, no matter what the occasion was. She looks wide awake and perky, her lips bright red, her makeup perfect and hair un-frizzed, as if she didn't just drive 20 hours in a moving truck to Canada.
"Hey you guys!" she says loudly with her Hispanic accent. "How are you?" she runs over to Autumn and Eli with a grin on her face, showing off her perfect white teeth. She pulls them both in for a hug.
"You guys did this drive all by yourselves! I'm so proud of you!" she says, despite the fact the she actually drove the moving truck here on her own, while everyone else had a partner to switch off with. She looks at both of them. Autumn can't help but chuckle at her caring but obnoxious mother. She was always there for Autumn, and she gave her a lot of freedom she didn't even ask for.
"Hey mom," she says simply with a smile.
Eli smirks and nods at the 36 year old woman and greets her. "Nice to see you, Ms. Rodriguez."
"Eli, we've known each other for 5 years now. How many times am I going to tell you to call me Candi?" she says with a smile.
"Right… Candi," he replies. Autumn turns around and sees Eli's parents, CeCe and Bullfrog, get out of the other moving truck. CeCe's choppy blond hair is messy, and she is has on her big silver hoops, eyeliner and hot pink lipstick. She is wearing one of her crazy combos- a dark purple leopard print long sleeved shirt under a black leather vest, with blue jeans and black leather knee-high heels. Autumn loved CeCe. She was like her 2nd mom.
"Autumn! Eli!" CeCe says with a huge smile as she runs over to them, her heels clacking against the concrete and her arms open for hugs.
"Hey CeCe," Eli says flatly. He wasn't too enthusiastic about the move. If it wasn't for Autumn, he would have crawled under a rock and stood there mourning Julia's death for the rest of his life.
"Hey honey!" CeCe greets her son with a big hug. "Cheer up, baby! We're here to start over! Everything's going to change. You're going to be happy now, sweetheart."
"…I know. I'm going to try, CeCe. I am," he replies with a weak smile. She smiles back in thanks and turns to Autumn.
"Autumn!" she squeals and gives Autumn a loving hug. "How are you, honey bunch? How was the ride?"
"It was great! I'm so excited to just be able to start over, as hard as it'll be. I want to meet new friends, have a normal life, and be as happy as possible," Autumn replies with a smile as she takes in her surroundings.
It's nothing like Orlando. There are a few dim streetlights giving off a warm glow, but there weren't any stores with flashing lights on the block. All the houses on the block were tan and plain, not modernized houses with patios and pools. There weren't cars speeding down the street with music blasting, just a few silently rolling by. There weren't obnoxious teenagers yelling and laughing and walking down the block, there was no one in sight- everyone was asleep. To be honest, it was utterly… boring. It was all new to them, and it would definitely take some getting used to.
"That's wonderful, baby. Julia would want y'all to be happy," she says softly, touching Autumn's arm gently. Autumn nods back and smiles at her best friend's mother. Eli snorts and shakes his head, walking over to his dad attempting to get out of the moving truck after CeCe. The plump man is wearing a studded leather vest, dark blue jeans and black cowboy boots. He struggles to get down as Eli tries to help him step down from the truck. He lands on the ground with a thump, and he smirks and nods, as if congratulating himself.
He runs his fingers through his little bit of brown hair coolly before walking over to CeCe and Autumn.
"Hey there, Autumn," he says in his raspy voice with a wave and turns to CeCe. "We should go into the house and unpack everything tomorrow. We all need a little rest."
All of the furniture was in the moving trucks, but the rooms were already decorated. Their parents had come here a few weeks earlier and designed just the bedrooms, including new beds and furniture in their rooms. Everything else in the house would be decorated later on in the week, so everyone decided just to bring in their suitcases with their clothes tonight.
CeCe nods and gives Autumn a peck on the cheek before turning toward their house across the street from Autumn's. They walk inside and leave the door open for Eli to come in when he is ready.
"Autumn! I'm going inside so come in when you are ready! And let your sister know to do the same thing," Candi exclaims as she hauls a few large suitcases inside their new house. Autumn turns to Eli to see him sitting on her front stoop, his head in his hands. She sits next to him and puts her arm around his shoulder.
"It'll be okay," she whispers.
"It won't," he replies curtly. "It never will be, Autumn. Never again."
He lifts his head and looks at her, his eyes watery. A single tear rolls down his pale, flawless cheek and she wipes it away with her thumb.
"I'm going to get you through this, Eli. We're best friends- that will never change. Just remember that, okay?" she says comfortingly.
He nods and replies, "I know… We have school tomorrow, and it's been a long ride. So let's get some rest."
"Good idea," she says more cheerily with a small smile. He smiles back and pulls her in for a hug. "Goodnight, Autumn," he says before getting up and walking across the street. He disappears into the darkness and she hears the door creak and close behind him.
Alessandra and Hunter get out of his car hand in hand as they approach Autumn. Alessandra looks perfect, as usual, as she struts over to the new house. Her pin straight brown hair is silky and shiny as it falls in a perfectly messy side ponytail with choppy side bangs. Her small, delicate lips are glossy and pink and her teeth are so white it's almost blinding. Her eyes are crystal blue like her father's and black mascara brightens them. Her flawless skin, which is lighter than Autumn's, is radiant. She is wearing a dark purple satin top with a super low neckline that plunges to almost to her bellybutton, with a black tank top underneath and a thick gold belt around the middle. She has on big golden hoops and golden flats to match, with dark skinny jeans that compliment her very slender but curvy body.
Hunter, her male-model boyfriend for 3 and a half years, walks beside her, his shaggy brown hair blowing in the wind. His chocolate brown eyes glimmer with pride as he walks with her, his plaid, red button-down slightly open.
"Hey!" Alessandra says with excitement as she runs over to her. She wraps her arms around her in a big hug before letting her sister, who is only 3 years younger than her, breathe.
"Hey, Alessandra," she replies, chuckling. Hunter nods his head at Autumn before Autumn tells her sister they should go inside because it's really late. She agrees before they walk inside their new house, suitcases of just clothes in hand.
When they get inside, Autumn says goodnight to her mom before running upstairs to her new bedroom. She hasn't seen it yet, so it would be a surprise. Her mother said that the doors had signs with each person's name on it, so she would know which was her room.
Autumn opens the door with her name on, it and sees a huge, modern looking room already decorated with one of her favorite colors as a theme- purple. The walls are lilac and the floor is shiny, waxed wood that is light purple. There is a bedframe the color of the floor coming out of the wall, with a queen-sized mattress and dark purple sheets and black throw pillows. A little dark purple, rectangle rug is at the end of the bed, making it look cozy. On the wall opposite the bed, there are 6 shelves in the wall right next to a long desk with a brand-new mac on top of it. There is a large pinkish-purple furry rectangle with black designs hanging above the desk that balances out the colors of the room, and a spinning black computer chair in front of the desk. On the wall next to the desk, there is a black framed window with dark purple curtains covering the top half and fuzzy wallpaper on the wall that looks like a carpet for it, the same color as the bed sheets. Next to the window, there is a small fish tank and a flat-screen TV mounted above it. Next to the bed is a fuzzy black chair with little purple throw pillows, and the wall behind the bed has the same carpet wallpaper, except it's striped with different shades of purple. And to top it all off, there's a crystal and light purple chandelier with little lights in the middle of the room, hanging from the ceiling. (LINK OF BEDROOM ON MY PROFILE! I RECOMMEND YOU LOOK ;D)
Autumn squeals in excitement as she plops down onto her new bed- still in her uncomfortable outfit- with a brand- new mattress that she sank right into.
It's perfect, she thought before being rudely awakened by reality. Except for the fact that Julia's gone… forever.
She sighs as she rolls over into her pillow, and does what she did every night: she cries herself to sleep, blaming herself for her best friend's death.
It was 7am, and Autumn's alarm was beeping like crazy. She groans as she pulls her phone from under her pillow and dismisses the alarm. She opens her eyes slowly and as soon as she does, she falls off her bed with surprise.
She has no idea where she is. She sits up abruptly and looks around her, and it takes her a few seconds to process that she was in her new house in Canada. She takes a deep breath and suddenly remembers she has to go to school. Her new school- Degrassi.
She groggily opens the door to her bathroom, and sees that it is the most beautiful bathroom she has ever seen in her life. It is underwater themed, and it has a stand-up shower, dark blue walls with little fake sea turtles, 2 sinks, a huge mirror, and marble, tan sink tops. (LINK TO BATHROOM ON MY PROFILE… ALSO RECOMMEND A LOOK…) She gasps in surprise at how amazing it all is- everything in her new house. The only thing missing was Julia…
After showering, brushing her teeth, blowing out her hair, applying makeup and getting dressed, Autumn is ready for her first day at Degrassi. She knew Degrassi had uniforms, but they told her she could wear normal clothes for the first day and purchase her uniform at the end of the day. So for today, she found a bright red t-shirt with a thick black belt around her torso, making her look curvy, with blue skinny jeans and brand new black ballet flats all in her suitcase. To accessorize, she adds a few black bangles, black hoops and- of course- her little silver locket with Julia's picture inside, that she wore every day. The shiny locket is heart shaped with 2 wings in the front that opened to reveal a picture of Julia and Autumn.
Autumn opens the locket and glances at the picture before closing it and slinging her dark purple Aeropostale tote bag over her shoulder, filled with a spiral notebook, 2 marble notebooks, a few pens and a folder. They told her she wouldn't need very much, so she didn't bring much.
She runs downstairs and out the door. "Bye mom!" she calls over her shoulder as she walks down the steps to see Eli standing in front of her house, his hands in his pockets. He smirks as he sees her, and he's wearing black skinny jeans, a red and white graphic tee, a black vest and his headphones around his neck.
She grins at seeing his goofy smirk again and speaks first. "Wow, Eli. On time for school? You? I'm proud."
When she gets down the stairs, they walk side by side to Morty.
"Don't get used to it," he retorts in his usual sarcastic manner. "It's our first day- we shouldn't be late… but maybe our second…"
She shoves him playfully before they get into Eli's hearse. When they get in, Eli turns and smiles at her sweetly before pulling out of his driveway and heading toward their new high school.
When they pull into the parking lot of Degrassi, it is 8:30am, and they have 10 minutes to kill before the first bell rings. They get out of the car and look at each other, ready for a new beginning.
They walk together to the front of the building and wait for the bell.
"Hi!" they hear someone squeak. They turn their heads in unison to find a short, pretty Indian girl standing next to Autumn with a huge grin on her face. She's in a purple Degrassi polo with a yellow 'D' in the right corner and a uniform skirt with black strappy heels and big silver hoops. She has straight black hair that reaches her shoulders with front bangs, and big brown eyes. She has on lip gloss and mascara that brings out her eyes, and a perfect manicure with bright red nail polish. She holds a large, olive green tote bag over her shoulder as she speaks to them.
"I'm Alli! Alli Bhandari. I'm a sophomore here. You must be the new juniors!" she exclaims with excitement as she looks at Autumn and barely at Eli. Autumn smiles genuinely back at Alli.
"Hey, nice to meet you. I'm Autumn and this is Eli," she replies kindly, gesturing to the dark haired boy beside her. "We just moved here from Orlando."
"Sweet!" Alli says. She looks at Eli. "You're really… dark. But you seem nice!"
He smiles curtly and says sarcastically, "Well you seem pretty Goth yourself…"
"Ah, sarcasm. I like it," she says with a smirk before looking back at Autumn. "And you seem REALLY awesome! I think we could be the best of friends! I would love to get to know you more! We should totally hang out sometime."
Autumn smiles back at her. "Cool. I'd really like that."
"Great! So, see you around. Later, emo boy!" she says brightly, waving as the bell rings. She meets up with a pale girl with short, curly hair and they walk into the building together, and so does the rest of Degrassi.
Autumn smiles and looks at Eli before they silently walk into the building, side by side, as people oblivious to them and their dark past shove by.
SO? What did you think? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Next chapter will be really getting into the Degrassi mode! PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE ME YOUR OPINIONS! I'd really like more reviews and feedback on this chapter! :D xoxo