Just in case I haven't made it clear by now, I do not own Degrassi. Please enjoy!

Interlude #2 – Back in the Day

The summer before my senior year was pretty much torture. I spent most of it in bed, crying and picturing Eli making out with a gorgeous college girl. My friends tried to cheer me up at first; Alli would drag me to Above the Dot to dance, and Adam called or came by every day. But after the first month, everybody was sick of watching me fall apart, including me.

That first day back at school changed everything. I made it through most of the day without talking to anyone, but in my last class, Media Immersion, we were told to find a partner and work on an assignment. I watched apathetically as people around me paired up, laughing and talking about what they had done over the summer. Then my eyes fell on the one person who looked less enthusiastic about the project than me: Bianca DeSousa.

I grabbed my stuff and moved over to the seat next to her. "Hey, wanna be partners?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Why do you want to be partners with me, Jesus Freak? Do you want to save the school slut's soul?"

I was already regretting the hasty decision to ask her. "Um, no. I just needed a partner and I saw you didn't have one."

Bianca smiled knowingly. "So you're saying that you're a loser who has no friends?"

I don't know what came over me in that instant, but I was suddenly so pissed off at the entire world, Bianca included, that I slapped her before I even knew I was going to.

"Bitch," she shouted, pressing her hand to her now-scarlet cheek. She kicked out with her left leg, sending my ball out from underneath me so I landed on my ass on the floor. Then she was on top of me, yanking my hair and clawing at my face.

I had never been in a fight before, but instinct took over. I threw my weight sideways, sending her flying off of me. Somehow I landed on her and started punching her in the face repeatedly. Everything in my vision was blood red. I must have blacked out or something, because the next thing I knew, I was face down on the floor and Dave Turner's dad was putting cuffs on me.

I lifted my head from the ground and looked around the nearly empty classroom. Bianca was in a similar position next to me, already cuffed. She was staring back at me. I watched as she spit a glob of blood out.

"You've got a mean jab, Jesus Freak." She grinned. Her face was pretty frightening, with a black eye and blood gushing out of her nose. "I guess we can be partners after all. I like a chick who can handle herself."

I found myself smiling back at her without knowing why.

We both ended up with three-day suspensions and a stern lecture from Mr. Simpson, detailing the punishment if we got in any more trouble. Bianca laughed it off, so I tried to do the same. We walked out of the school building together, in total silence.

I was trying to figure out what to do. I didn't want to go home. My mom would take one look at me and know I'd been in a fight, which meant I'd have to tell her about my suspension. I had just decided to go to the Dot when Bianca called out to me.

"Hey, Clare!" She was standing with her hand on her hip, tapping her foot. "Come to the Ravine with me. A couple shots of vodka will make you feel a whole lot better."

I approached her slowly. "My face doesn't hurt that much," I pointed out.

She threw her head back and laughed. "Not your face, dumbass. I meant whatever shit's going down in your life that brought you to the point where you would go off on me in class. Come on. It's not like you have school tomorrow."

I laughed with her. "True." We walked slowly down the road, me following her lead. We talked about all the people at school who had witnessed the fight, and what the rumors would be like when we returned Friday. She seemed surprised that I had been to the Ravine before, and I was surprised that she actually had some good ideas for our project.

She led me to one of the old couches and told me to wait. She returned shortly with a bottle of vodka and a pack of cigarettes. "Let's have some fun," she begged, lighting a cigarette and handing it to me. "I haven't had a cool girl to chill with in forever."

"You've never had a cool girl to chill with, Bianca." I glanced up, recognizing the voice instantly. He stopped when he saw me. "Clare, what are you doing here?"

Bianca took a huge swig out of the bottle and passed it to me. "Meet my new best friend," she told him.

I took a much bigger drink than I meant to. I could feel my face twisting as a burning sensation travelled from my tongue down into my stomach. I took a drag off of the cigarette, trying not to cough as I returned the vodka to Bianca. "Hey, Fitz. What's up?"