Don't own Degrassi!

2.

Bianca wasn't at the Ravine the next night. Owen sent her at least a dozen texts over the next two days, but she never responded. He finally decided to corner her at the bus stop Monday morning, but she wasn't there. He arrived at school that day feeling completely lost; he and Bianca had never had a serious fight, where they completely quit talking to each other, and he wasn't really sure how to fix things. He checked the bleachers where she liked to smoke at lunch, and even went by her locker, but she was nowhere to be found.

It wasn't until after 2nd period that he spotted her, leaning against a locker at the other end of the hall. He yelled for her, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the crowd. It suddenly seemed like there were 5 million students at Degrassi, and every single one of them was standing in that particular hall. He was weaving his way through the crowd, trying to reach her, when he realized who she was talking to. He began shoving people out of the way.

By the time he reached her, he had worked himself into a fury. "Get away from her, freak," he shouted, grabbing Adam Torres by the front of his shirt and yanking him up hard enough that Adam's feet no longer touched the ground.

Adam's eyes widened as he was suddenly propelled through the air. Owen pulled his arm back, preparing to slam his fist into the freckled face of that weirdo, when a set of blood red fingernails dug into his arm. He looked at Bianca, not understanding her interference.

"You get away from me, freak. Not that it's any of your business, but I want to talk to Adam. And I believe I told you to forget my name." Bianca's voice was soft but deadly as she slid between Owen and Adam. "Get. Fucking. Lost."

Owen released Adam purely on reflex. "What?" He was staring at her like she had 2 heads.

Bianca threaded her arm through Adam's. "I said you need to go. Our friendship is over." She stomped off, dragging a bewildered Adam with her.

A red haze filled Owen's vision for a few seconds, before transforming into a cold, hard knot in his stomach. He cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling "Was our friendship over when you tried to blow me Friday night?"

A faint but clear "fuck you" floated back to him, emphasized by the sight of Bianca's middle finger aimed in his direction.

Adam cleared his throat as he joined his best friends at their usual lunch table. "Hey, guys…" He trailed off nervously.

"Hey, Adam," Eli Goldsworthy mocked him. A well-placed poke from Clare Edwards shut him up.

"Hi, Adam." Clare was smiling sweetly at him. "Is everything okay? You seem out of sorts."

He took a few deep breaths. "I invited someone to join us for lunch today. Um, look, I know this is going to be a little awkward, but please try to make her feel welcome. And Eli, please be nice!"

"Why would it be awkward?" Clare sounded suspicious.

"Hi, mind if I sit here?" The group looked up to see Bianca, standing with her lunch tray. Eli choked, spraying his friends with root beer.

"I guess that answers that," Clare muttered, snatching a napkin and dabbing at her face.

Bianca bit her lip, looking genuinely apprehensive. "I'm sorry. Adam didn't get around to telling you I was coming, huh?"

"It's fine," Adam interrupted, waving his arm. "Sit down, it's all good. Eli does that all the time – sprays us with his lunch, I mean." His eyes fell on Clare, clearly pleading for help.

Clare instantly perked up and smiled. "Yeah, we really need to designate a splash zone. And honey…" She patted Eli's arm. "I know it's hard to remember all this, but you really need to swallow before you try to take a deep breath."

Eli shot Clare a dirty look, which he then turned on Bianca as she cracked up. Adam stared down at his tray, ignoring Clare's expectant gaze. An awkward silence descended on the table for a minute. Adam was just about to break it when Bianca spoke up.

"So you're probably wondering why I wanted to sit with you, right?"

From his seat across the room, Owen watched as Bianca leaned toward her new lunch buddies. Adam appeared terrified, but Clare was nodding, genuinely interested in what Bianca was saying. The goth boy was lounging back in his chair, a bored expression on his face. Then something Bianca said must have caught his attention, because he sat upright and put his elbows on the table. Adam shook his head, but then Clare spoke, and whatever she said set Eli laughing, waving his hands around dramatically.

Owen wanted to hear what was being said enough that he thought about moving to a closer seat, but then he saw that the goth boy and the freak were getting up from the table. Stealth had never been Owen's style. He preferred direct confrontation, and here was a perfect opportunity to find out exactly what was going on. He grabbed his uneaten lunch, ignoring the questioning looks from his football buddies, and followed his targets to the tray return. His timing was perfect.

Adam turned from the tray return just as Owen reached it. He mumbled an apology and tried to dodge, but Owen was twice his size and had no problem blocking him. "I need to talk to you, weirdo."

"About what?" Eli stepped in, raising his chin as he confronted the much bigger football player.

Owen glared down at the two of them. "I want to know what the fuck Bianca is doing with you losers."

Eli's trademark smirk appeared. "Trying to stay the fuck away from losers like you, apparently." Owen moved to grab him, but the smaller boy danced away quickly.

"Just stop," Adam snapped. "Quit trying to intimidate us, asshole. Bianca can do whatever she wants, and she usually does."

Understanding passed through Owen's eyes for a brief moment before he replied. "Look, keeping Bianca safe is my job and she's making it really hard for me to do that right now. Let's make this real easy. Just tell me why she's with you guys so we can all go on with the rest of our lives, preferably with no further contact."

Adam shrugged. "I don't really know. She apologized to me this morning, and then said she's trying to turn over a new leaf."

Owen waited impatiently, but Adam had nothing further to say. "What is that supposed to mean, a new leaf? She's gonna go to church with Edwards and start bringing souls to Jesus?"

Eli snorted loudly, catching Owen's attention. "She told us that she decided her interaction with males has been, quote unquote, 'unhealthy and inappropriate'. She also said that she needed some new friends that were positive influences. Sounds to me like your job of keeping her safe got a little easier. Not that you were so great at it anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Owen ground his teeth together, trying to control his temper.

"What he means," Adam interrupted, "is a real friend would have called her on her behavior a long time ago, instead of encouraging it."

A shout from across the cafeteria caught the trio's attention. "Are you guys coming?" Clare Edwards stood, hands on hips, waiting expectantly. "We're going to be late." Bianca was leaning against the table, watching.

Eli gave Owen's shoulder a less-than-friendly nudge. "Gotta go, bro. Hope we don't see you later." He sauntered away, Adam trailing after.

Owen barely noticed, too busy locking eyes with Bianca. She gave him one last hard look, shook her head and turned away from him.