Mmmm... tired. I promised Sunday, and to me, it still is. It's some ungodly hour Monday morning, but it feels like Sunday since I haven't gone to bed yet. Tomorrow is my day off from work, but I'm going to help my aunt before she goes to get surgery done on her eyes. So, that's going to be just as bad. "You're hair is too greasy. Your shirts are crinkly. Your pants are too baggy." Someone shot me! Try to enjoy this chapter... I rewrote it all for you!

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Chapter Seven: Show Some Spirit!

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Lunchtime wasn't far off, but it wasn't soon enough for Alex. She endured a class with Marco and briefly another class with Hazel. In her class with Marco, all he did was try to apologize for what he had said. Alex blew him off and attempted to start the missed work for her History class. Although, she could have done it in the three more detentions she had gotten from her teacher. When her class with Hazel rolled around, Alex was tired and pissed. When Hazel began insulting her and asking about Paige and her, Alex stood up and walked out of the classroom. She was spending that period out on the steps of Degrassi… thinking.

'I'm glad you've decided to listen to me.' Alex scowled at a nearby tree, pretending it was the source of the voice. Considering nobody else was around, she answered out loud.

"Yeah… well, it's not like I had any other ideas."

'Are you going to take Paige back? Misunderstanding or not, Paige was kinda going to use you in her change. She likes you, yes, but that's not my point. Take things more slowly and try talking it out.'

"Thank you Dr. Phil, but weren't you the one who told me to rush into a relationship with her in the beginning?" There was silence in Alex's head. For a moment, Alex felt at peace.

'That feeling… enjoying silence, the nice cool breeze, on a beautiful spring day. Do you remember another time you felt like this?' Alex froze, knowing the answer full well.

"W-With Paige. Everytime I'm with Paige, I feel a peace and comfortable."

'You like her, a lot. She likes you too, but you need to talk this out if you want it to work. Slowly, but try.' Things in Alex's head were much calmer, but there were still things to think about. Marco? Ellie? Jay?

'Marco… let him wallow in guilt for now. Ellie… didn't do anything wrong. She stuck up for you and there isn't any reason to hate her. Jay… seems to have changed. For now, trust him. If he gets back into school, hang with him, but if he starts making moves, back out of the friendship. Easy!' Okay… all food for thought was now gone. Not long after that, the bell rang, alerting Alex it was time to eat some delicious rat poisoning. When she entered the cafeteria, she noticed Jay, sitting alone in the corner.

'It looks like he did make it in. Go Jay!' Alex thought as she bought lunch and took a seat next to him. He smiled as her tray clattered against the table.

"I successfully pulled a 'Spinner'. Here I am… back in Degrassi… helping the janitor after school for the rest of the year. Go me!" Jay said half-heartily.

"Better than nothing, right?" Alex mumbled as she poked at the pasta-like substance.

"I supposed. Heard you got into a fight with Marco this morning. Anything to report?"

"Marco is an asshole, he lied to Ellie, I overheard the lie, and I think Paige might really like me." Jay nodded and things were silent as they ate. Alex watched as Paige got lunch and sat with Marco, Hazel, Jimmy, Craig, and Ellie. Lunch was over to quickly and it was back to classes, which she shared only with Ellie and Jimmy.

"Alex!" The red head said as she took a seat next to her.

"Ellie." Alex said dully. There was a blank expression on her face as their teacher dropped another folder with her missed work and three more detention slips.

"That bites… three detentions?" Ellie asked as she viewed the folder.

"I have a collection. Three detentions from each class I've been to so far." Ellie sighed.

"Alex… let me just get this out. I'm sorry about what Marco said. It wasn't nice and it wasn't try… sometimes I think him and Hazel should of hooked up considering how they use their deadly mouths." Alex snorted and nodded.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong… it's not like I'm going to hold Marco's ignorance against you or something." They laughed and besides all the missed work, it was her best class so far that day. She had two more classes with Ellie before she entered her last class. Perfect boyfriend Jimmy sat by the window, the only empty desk next to him. As she sat down, he turned to her.

"Hey." He said weakly. She nodded as she looked down at another folder that had appeared on her desk. Oh joy… oh rapture.

"Listen… I heard about Hazel being a bitch in third period."

"Hazel is a bitch in all eight (my school has eight… I don't know how much they have, live with it!), whether I'm there or not. How can you stand her?" Jimmy sighed and looked out the window. It looked as if eighth period P.E. was being forced to run laps around the school. Hazel and Paige happened to both have P.E. together and were talking as they ran.

"I can't. I honestly like Ellie. Promise you won't tell her?"

"Tell who what?" Alex answered, a grin played across her face. Eighth period was bearable, seeing as all Alex did was talk about how much she hated Hazel to Jimmy. Surprisingly, he agreed with most of what she said. As she left eighth period once the bell had rang; she set off towards the gym wondering how Paige was at lunch.

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Once Paige had sat down to eat, she realized Jay was sitting next to Alex a few tables down, in the corner.

"Looks like the 'scum of the earth' are finally back together, eh?" Hazel said as she sat down, Jimmy not far behind her.

"There is nothing going on between them. Jay got back into Degrassi and Alex is just his friend."

"Friend with benefits. Probably fucked him the three days she was gone and now he's back so they can do it some more. She walked out of third period when I mentioned your name and never came back to class. Probably went to fuck him in the bathroom." Hazel said smugly as a look of worry crossed Paige's face.

"I-I don't think so. I mean… Alex is… was…" Paige just stopped talking as Marco and Ellie sat down. Marco turned to Paige, a pleading look in his eyes.

"Paige… I'm sorry about what I said to Ellie. I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh, but it kind of was. It was shallow and I'm sorry I never said it to you, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings after leading you to believe it was. I'm so sorry." Ellie rolled her eyes as Craig to a seat across from her.

"What did I miss?" He whispered to Ellie.

"Hazel being an evil bitch, Marco letting it all out, Paige being lied to, and Jimmy just sitting there." She whispered back. Both turned their attention back to the trio (not including Jimmy… he's boring right now), wishing they had popcorn to go with this entertainment.

"Marco… you said I used the poor girl. I wasn't using her…" Ellie decided to quick jump in.

"Paige? Didn't you tell Marco that part of your change would be dating Alex? Dating badass Alex so people would think you were badass yourself?" She asked. Paige glared at her.

"Well yeah, but I didn't mean it in that way." She spat.

"Yeah, but from the outside point of view, it was using her to get something. You like her, but you did use her." Craig said, coming to Ellie's rescue. Ellie blushed and Jimmy glared at the two.

"Excuse me, but I hope you and Marco aren't talking about Alex? That was only a rumor… right? You're not really a… a…" Paige glared at Hazel.

"A what? Spit it out!"

"A… a lesbian?" She whispered and cringed at the word. Marco turned to glare at Hazel.

"Do you have a problem with gay people?"

"NO! It's just… Paige is my best friend. We've been friends for awhile… and we've gotten changed in the same room… and she's dated guys!" Hazel said, becoming slightly hysterical.

"Yeah, and I dated Ellie before coming out. So what's that got to do with it?" Marco said getting very angry with Hazel. Jimmy, Ellie, and Craig were holding down smiles as Paige and Marco ganged up on Hazel. Who would have thought?

"Hazel… I'm only bi, but those were more than rumors. I was going out with Alex and she's leading me to believe that we still have a chance." Hazel glared at Paige. It was one big glaring triangle.

"So you've become a lesbian and I'm the last to know? Some best friend you are! Come on, Jimmy." She said angrily as she rose from the table. Jimmy turned his chair around and waited for Hazel to leave. Paige stood up too.

"Wait… Hazel can we talk about this in eighth period?" Hazel mumbled something that sounded like a 'yes' and Jimmy followed her out of the cafeteria. Paige returned to her seat and proceeded to forgive Marco, promising to talk to Alex about it later. The bell rang and Paige watched as Jay and Alex left together. She felt her blood boil, Hazel's words ringing in her ears.

"She walked out of third period when I mentioned your name and never came back to class. Probably went to fuck him in the bathroom."

Shaking her head, Paige left to endure three periods before she reached eighth. When she got into the changing room, Hazel was already changed and looking at her suspiciously.

"Hun, I'm not going to jump you or anything. Why so uneasy?" She asked as she began changing. Hazel turned away and mumbled something about 'Paige watching her change'.

"Haze, I only like Alex. She is the main reason I became bisexual." Hazel refused to talk to Paige until their teacher was leading them outside to run laps around the school.

"This school is huge! This is so cruel! What did we do to deserve this?" Hazel said to Paige as they finished their first lap.

"I know! God, sometimes I wonder if our teacher might have been in the military or something!" They continued to talk as they ran. A few times, Paige thought she could make out Jimmy and Alex watching them through one of the windows of the school, but she pretended in was nothing and continued to run with Hazel. Once class was over and they had gotten changed into their uniforms for Spirit Squad, Hazel came up to Paige.

"Sorry I've been weird about this. It's just… Alex? And the whole bit about not telling me. I just kinda felt betrayed." Paige nodded and they hugged.

"Now… let's go make my last practice with you guys the best ever!" Hazel nodded and they entered the gym again.

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Alex sat on the bleachers, waiting for the cheerleaders to enter the gym. She could hear some of them talking in the changing rooms, but otherwise there was no one. She never thought she'd ever be at Spirit Squad practice… she never really had time for school spirit. But here she was, about to sit through an hour of girls waving pom-poms and boys showing their true colors. Minutes later, Paige and Hazel walked out of the locker room, dressed in blue and yellow, showing their school spirit. Paige looked up to Alex and waved. Alex waved back, her bag sliding off her shoulder in a clumsy way. Paige giggled and turned to the newly arriving cheerleaders.

"Okay everyone. This is our last practice with me as captain. I'm leaving the squad to Manny, because even though we're not good friends, she is probably the best choice… next to me of course. So… let's get this practice underway." Alex sat and watched them cheer, do cartwheels, and do flips for an entire hour. At one point, she left to get some air, but returned to see Paige with a worried look on her face. It seemed as thought Paige had thought she had left, but when she saw Alex walked back into the gym, she felt relief flow through her body.

'Wait… what if she left to meet up with Jay? No… she wouldn't… would she?' Paige continued to ponder Alex and Jay as Spirit Squad practice drug on. After returning to the locker room to get changed and saying good-bye to everyone, Paige and Hazel met up with Alex who was waiting for Paige outside. Hazel waved to Alex.

"Nice to see you at the practice." In the locker room, Hazel agreed to try and get along with Alex for Paige.

"I would say the same if you didn't hate me."

"I don't hate you. I just want to make sure you don't hurt Paige or anything." Alex chuckled and Paige bid farewell to Hazel.

"You could have been a bit nicer, ya know." Paige said as they walked to her van.

"I'm a bit more worried about you hurting me." She said, no longer in a joking mood. The got into the car and sped off to the Dot.

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To Be Continued...

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See... I orginally had it started out at SS practice and Ellie was there too. The school day was all a flashback, but I didn't like it so I didn't think you would. I don't like flashbacks to much... ruins the 'now'! Anyway, sorry it's not as long as you would have all liked it to be. More next Sunday... I still have one more story to update tonight (or this morning... or... NOW!). R & R! You can never have too many reviews! Thanks to everyone for reviewing so far!

P.S. When you review, I was wondering if you could give me your opinions... is Jay better off bad or good in my story? Your reviews decide which plot I plan on taking coming up!