CHAPTER ELEVEN: TANGLED WEBS
JT and Trixie confusedly followed Mr. Raditch down to his office where he led them; they went past Trent's room and Trixie wondered if he could possibly know what was going on...
Trent looked out Mrs. Kwan's outside window just in time to see Trixie and JT being escorted somewhere by Mr. Raditch. His eyes widened a little, and Jimmy quickly noticed and looked in the direction he was looking in.
"Hm, wonder what's up with that?" Jimmy mused in a whisper.
"I don't know... would they get in trouble for PDA here?" Trent asked.
"PDA? What's that?" Jimmy wondered.
"Public Display of Affection - you know, kissing and stuff," Trent explained.
"Oh, nah, they don't usually get sent to HIM for anything like that," Jimmy assured his friend.
But Trent wasn't really all that assured; for the rest of the period, what could possibly be going on tugged at the back of his mind and almost forced him to think about it.
Terri looked over at Trent and noticed the look of distress on his face and in his eyes. Concerned, she wrote him a quick note, seeing as Mrs. Kwan had now given them some study time; folding it carefully, she then tossed it cautiously into his lap.
Trent looked down into his lap when he felt something land there and quickly opened it when he discovered that it was a note:
What's wrong?
He wrote in reply:
Probably nothing, just me worrying as usual.
Terri read this response and was now more curious than ever:
About what?
Trent sighed, then replied:
I saw Mr. Raditch leading JT and Trixie somewhere.
Terri's eyes widened:
I wonder what could be going on... it's probably nothing, so I wouldn't worry if I were you.
Trent smiled a little despite his mood:
I appreciate that, but you know I'm gonna worry anyway.
After that, the notes stopped coming and Terri reached her hand over to his shoulder and rubbed it gently; when he looked up at her and smiled, she blushed shyly and removed her hand, staring intently at the papers on her desk.
Paige saw this and smiled a little; maybe there wasn't much wrong with Terri - after all, she seemed to be doing pretty well with Trent.
In Miss Hatzilako's class, Sean was getting more and more antsy all the time, wondering what the hell could be going on that Mr. Raditch would want JT and Trixie for. So he raised his hand, "Miss H., may I use the washroom?"
Miss Hatzilako's nodded and Sean walked out the door, not looking back once to see Emma's cold look.
"Whoa Emma, calm down, you're gonna kill the guy with those daggers," Toby warned lightly.
"I just can't help thinking that he might have something to do with that whole robbery thing; I bet he and Jay are going to skip the rest of the day and squander their "earnings" or something..." Emma replied bitterly as she turned around in her seat.
Toby just sighed and shook his head lightly.
Meanwhile, Sean got down to Mr. Raditch's office and stood at a safe distance, watching and trying to listen in on the activity going on inside...
"Mr. Yorke, Miss Miller, it has come to my attention that you two might know something about the robbery from the caf this morning; would this be true?" Mr. Raditch asked as he paced in front of the two teenagers.
JT got a look of confusion on his face as he honestly replied, "Well no sir, we don't."
"Really? Miss Miller, will you please empty out your pockets?" Mr. Raditch indicated her denim jacket.
Trixie's mouth opened as if she were about to say something, but JT cut in, "Trix, just do it; to prove we have nothing to hide," he said as calmly as he could.
"Just empty your pockets please, Miss Miller," Mr. Raditch insisted.
Trixie oblidged and as she did, she felt something that made her face contort into a look of horror...
A rather hefty stack of cash was there in her pocket!!!!
She had no choice but to pull it out; Mr. Raditch looked almost as surprised as JT, but not too much.
Trixie was at a loss for words and looked like she was going to cry at any moment; she looked to JT as if trying to assure him with her eyes that she didn't do it.
"Mr. Raditch, you honestly don't believe that we did this, do you?!" JT asked increduously.
"Well I believe what I see; and you two DID seem in an awful big hurry this morning, what running to class and all," Mr. Raditch shoved this in their faces.
Mr. Raditch grabbed his phone and started dialing a number rather quickly.
JT looked to Trixie and saw she was terrified; he wrapped an arm around her and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we'll find out what the hell's going on."
But all of a sudden, someone burst through the door of the office, causing Mr. Raditch to hang up the phone.
"Mr. Cameron, this is a private discussion, you'll have to wait outside," Mr. Raditch tried to say as his secretary came up behind Sean and tried to escort him out.
"But Mr. Raditch, Trixie and JT didn't do it!" Sean insisted.
Mr. Raditch looked up at Sean from his desk in surprise, "You know something about this?"
Sean couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he knew these two didn't deserve what they could be possibly be getting, "Yes... they didn't steal the money... Jay did."
"You know this for a fact, Mr. Cameron?" Mr. Raditch asked.
"Yes sir... I was there when he did it," Sean replied, "he was trying to get me to help him, but I wouldn't. I was leaving when he did it, but I DID see him do it."
Mr. Raditch blinked in surprise, "Well if this is the case, then how did the money get on Miss Miller?"
"That I don't know... all I know was that he said something about putting it in a safe place and then getting it after school," Sean replied.
Trixie then recalled the events from that morning...
"Mr. Raditch, I think I know," she said, "as I went into first period this morning, Jay bumped into me... he could've put the money in my pocket that way?"
Sean nodded with a roll of his eyes, "Sounds like Jay... and I bet I know what he was gonna do to get it back, too..."
Trixie, JT, and Mr. Raditch dared not ask Sean what he meant, but now they knew what was going on and they all felt better.
"Well in that case, I do believe I need to get Jay in here and see what should be done about this," Mr. Raditch said, dismissing the three to class.
Trixie, JT, and Sean walked out of his office and decided to just walk around the halls, since their next period was only a few minutes ahead anyway.
"What made you come forward?" JT asked, "I mean, no offense, but you and Jay are pretty tight."
Sean sighed, "'Cause I knew what you guys would get if you were successfully framed for it," he replied simply, "that's all you need to know... plus I think it was pretty low-down of him to plant it on you and Trix like that."
"Well, thank you Sean," Trixie said sincerely, "we really appreciate it... but Jay will probably be pretty pissed at you."
"Pfeh, who cares? Besides, his attitude's been getting on my nerves here lately, anyway," Sean replied.
"You and Ellie sit at lunch with us today then," Trixie offered, "I'm sure no one would care."
"Uh, I don't know about that..." Sean tried to protest.
"Please do!" Trixie stepped in front of him, "This is the second time you've helped me out somehow! I WANT you there, okay?" she grinned.
Sean nodded and smiled, "Alright; me and El'll be there," he replied, lightly hitting her arm and walking off in the direction of his next class, "later!"
JT grinned and put an arm around her, "Yet another Miller does justice to Jay - and in the most subtle of ways as well," he said with a British accent.
Trixie laughed, "Yeah, just hope that Trent doesn't run into him later or that restraining order might be broken."
"I don't think that'll happen," JT replied, indicating toward Degrassi's front doors; Jay was being escorted out of the building in handcuffs.
"Oh whoa..." Trixie said, very shocked.
Next thing, the bell rang and Trent scurried out of the room so fast that he left Jimmy, Paige, and even Terri behind.
"Ter, I'd be going after him if I were you," Paige said.
"He's trying to find Trixie probably," Jimmy replied.
"Yeah, he was awful worried," Terri added.
"Worried about WHAT? Okay, SOMEONE fill me in here!" Paige demanded.
"He saw her and JT going with Mr. Raditch somewhere, so now he's practically been having an aneurysm all class wondering what the heck's going on," Jimmy filled her in.
"Oh... JT? Trixie? Hm, wonder what could've happened..."
At lunch that day, everyone had already been filled in about the Jay incident, and how Sean had come forward about how Jay had done it.
"Wow, it seems that Sean might be changing for the better," Paige said with a smile.
"Yeah, considering that he ratted pretty much his only friend out like that," Spinner added.
Sean and Ellie then walked up.
"Hey guys," Trixie said with a smile, "have a seat!"
It was a little awkward at first, seeing as they weren't used to Sean hanging around, but Jimmy made the first move since he and Sean had come past their own barriers last year, "'Sup, Sean?" he put his fist up so Sean could hit it.
"Not much, Jimmy," Sean replied, hitting his fist just enough to let him know everything was cool.
After that, things became less and less awkward and the guys were actually making plans to hang out and shoot some basketball after school. Sean included.
Trixie went to see JT and everyone just talked and made more plans for the dance.
"So Sean, you gonna go to the dance?" Trent asked.
"Eh, I don't know; dances aren't really my scene," Sean replied.
"Oh come on, Sean, do it for Ellie; after all, she has a dress and everything... I know, El, you were wanting to talk him into it yourself, but sometimes it takes a little persuasion from friends," Paige, surprisingly, said with a wink.
"It's tomorrow night, it's not too late to reconsider," Ashley added.
Sean smiled; it seemed that life might actually start getting better for him now, "I'll think about it," he replied with a smile to Ellie.
"This is pretty awesome," Marco said to Trent.
"What is?" Trent asked.
"That everyone's starting to get along and everything... Sean and I were never exactly the best of friends or anything, but maybe now things could change," he replied.
Trent smiled, "He's getting a shot at redeeming himself, hopefully he won't blow it."
"I don't think he will," Ellie replied slyly, turning toward them.
Terri looked on past everyone else and saw Craig wandering by himself, "Just too bad it won't be so easy for Craig with some people," she said.
Ellie nodded, knowing what she meant.
Trent excused himself and gave Terri a kiss, then went to talk to Craig.
"Hey," he said to the slightly taller boy.
Craig turned to see Trent standing there, "Oh hey; how's it goin'?"
"Eh, it's alright," Trent replied.
Craig nodded.They stood in silence for a moment until Trent spoke up again.
"What's goin' on?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Craig wondered, giving a small, fake laugh.
"Well you've not really been talking a lot, and in class you seemed distracted," Trent pointed out, "just wondering if anything might be wrong."
"Oh, nah," Craig replied with a smile, "nothing's wrong, I'm just thinking a lot."
"If you say so; well, I'm gonna go on back over there, I'll talk to ya later," Trent waved as he walked off.
"Later," Craig replied, then walked off in another direction himself.
Ever since Trixie had gotten to their table, Manny seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, but Trixie didn't notice; only Emma seemed to notice Manny's sudden change in behavior.
They were all talking until Toby and Kendra went to dump their trash, but then Trixie turned to Emma, JT, and Manny with an idea.
"Hey, how about you guys come to my house tonight and we can all hang out? Emma, you can bring Chris if you wanna, and Manny, you could bring your boyfriend; JT, wanna come?" she asked.
"Oh, I can't, I've got a test tomorrow and I SO need to study," Emma said, "but not to worry, we can all hang out at the dance tomorrow night."
"Cool; Manny, you wanna come?" Trixie asked with a smile.
"I don't think I can this afternoon," Manny replied.
"Oh, well okay; JT, how about you?" Trixie said.
"No, I actually have to study too," JT replied in a serious voice.
"Oh..." Trixie trailed.
Emma raised an eyebrow though, "JT, study? Come on, could you not think of a better joke than that?" she asked increduously.
Trixie laughed and smacked JT on the arm, "You jerk, you had me goin' for a minute!"
"I know, I'm just that good," JT replied, wrapping her in a one-armed hug to apologize.
Later that evening, Trent met up with his sister.
"Hey, me, Jimmy, Sean, Spinner, and Marco are going over to the basketball court, we'll probably be home in a couple of hours or so," he said.
"Okay; JT and I will probably hang around the house or something unless we decide to take a walk or something," Trixie replied, the two going their separate ways.
So the guys made their way down to the basketball court, Jimmy passing the ball back and forth to each of the guys as they made their way there.
"Okay, Spin and Sean on a team, me and Trent the other; Marco - "
"I know, keep score," Marco grinned. He didn't feel left out, he usually didn't play that much anyway, he preferred watching.
While they were playing, Craig came by and sat beside Marco.
"Hey Craig," Marco said, "I see you have the camera; inspiration?"
"Well not really, just figured I'd bring it out and see what I could do," Craig replied with a slight smile.
After a moment or so, he got up and started taking different frames of the guys; he thought they were pretty good and vowed that he would make them copies. Spinner would probably frame any of the ones that had him in them. Not because of the handiwork behind the camera, mind you, but just because HE was there.
Meanwhile, JT and Trixie were just getting to Trixie's house when she shivered.
"Ya cold?" JT asked, about to offer her his hoodie.
"Oh no, just thinking about something," Trixie replied.
"Ah," JT nodded, seeming to get what she meant, "I wouldn'tve let Jay hurt you if that'd been the case. Plus I'm sure Sean wouldn'tve either."
"Probably not... oh well let's get inside, I'm creeping myself out..." Trixie stated, she and JT getting inside.
She went into the kitchen to get some drinks while JT went on up to her room; though she knew nothing could happen now, she still kept a cautious eye about her to make sure nothing fishy was going on. Freaking herself out yet again, she bounded up the stairs and to the safety of her room with JT.
"What's the matter? You look like you saw a ghost," JT wondered.
"Oh I'm fine, just being paranoid," Trixie replied, giving him his drink and setting hers down, then sitting beside him on her bed.
JT smiled a little and wrapped an arm around her, "Not to worry, I won't let any bad guys get you," he replied, "though I'm pretty sure there's no chance of it anyway."
Trixie blushed a little bit, "One reason I was gonna have everyone over... so it could take my mind off being paranoid."
JT scoffed, "So I'm not good enough alone? Well, I see how you are," he folded his arms.
"JT, I didn't mean it like that..." Trixie said, laying her head on his shoulder, "pleease forgive me."
JT smiled, "Fine, but only this time," he replied, wrapping an arm around shoulders again, taking her hand with his free hand.
Trixie sighed contentedly; JT turned and looked into her eyes, giving her a genuinely sweet smile and squeezing her hand. He tilted his head toward hers as their eyes closed and their lips met in the middle. His hand let go of hers and went to the small of her back as he leaned toward her, causing her to lean back. This was somewhat similar to the situation she and Craig had been in a couple of nights ago, but yet not. This time, she actually felt something in the kiss, not just the kiss itself...
After awhile, the guys all decided to come back and crash at Trent's place for awhile; Craig declined, saying he was going to see about getting the pictures done in the blackroom that Joey had made out of a large closet near the attic when he had first moved in.
Trent looked around; no note or anything saying she and JT were gone. So most likely he either went home or she and JT were up in her room.
The phone rang as Trent was getting drinks and snacks, so he answered. Turned out to be Terri, so he got the food and drinks together on a tray and took them into the livingroom where the guys had already started watching TV.
Spinner looked from Trent to the rest of the guys, "Hmm, it must be the lovely Miss Terri he has on the phone!"
Trent rolled his eyes and went back into the kitchen with the phone.
Spinner looked to the rest of the guys, "Who wants to bet JT's still up there?"
"He might be, but would that be any of our business? I think not, now watch TV like a good Spinner," Jimmy replied.
Spinner gave him an incredulous look, "Dude, come on, I'm just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Sean said.
"He's right," Marco added.
"Sean, I dare you to go up there and see," Spinner said.
"No way, man," Sean replied.
"Come on, it's not like I'm having you take a picture or anything," Spinner pointed out, "just go see - make sure they're not doing anything "naughty"."
Sean rolled his eyes, "I'm sure they're not; and if Trent were concerned, he would've went up there himself."
"Just DO IT; that's all you have to do, just look," Spinner said.
Jimmy said, "You might as well, or Spinner might himself; don't want THAT happening..."
Sean sighed, "Fine... which room's hers?"
They told him and he walked up the stairs, found her door, and stood beside it a moment; when he couldn't hear anything from inside but music, he was just a bit curious. He tried to refrain from opening the door, but he couldn't. When he opened it, he couldn't help but emit a silent chuckle.
Trixie and JT lay on her bed fast asleep, JT holding Trixie in his arms and she using his chest as a pillow. It didn't appear as if they had done anything or anything like that, they'd just fallen asleep.
When Sean got back downstairs, he had six curious eyes upon him. He just smiled to himself as he said, "They're doing homework."
After the guys had went home, Trent came through to check on Trixie since he hadn't seen her all evening; he assumed she might be working on something or asleep. But he didn't expect what he walked in to find.
"Trixie!" he whispered loudly; she stirred and opened a sleepy eye.
"Trent?"
"Do you know what time it is???" he asked.
"Uh..." she looked at her clock, "11:00?"
"Yeah, now explain that," he pointed behind her.
Trixie was then aware of the arms around her waist and turned to find JT there, "JT!!! JT, we fell asleep!"
"WHAT???" JT got alarmedand sat up quickly, then saw Trent, "We didn't do anything, honest!!"
"Well I didn't think you had, but your parents might be pretty worried about you at this time of night," Trent replied.
"I was going to stay the night at Toby's tonight... his parents are out til midnight... Well, I could make the walk from here," JT said, about to get up, but Trixie held his hand.
"Wait, couldn't you call Toby and possibly stay here? It's not like mom would know or anything," she said, then looked to her brother, "what do you think?"
Trent raised his eyebrows, "Well, she probably wouldn't, but I don't know..."
"Pleeeease? Trent, you don't realize how important this would be to me!!" Trixie pleaded with her green eyes.
Trent sighed, "Okay; so long as no one gets killed, it should be okay."
"Trix, you call Toby, I'll have a talk with your brother," JT said, hoping over the bed and walking out of the room with Trent as Trixie got her extension and called over at Toby's house.
"Are you wanting to talk to me because you know why she wants you to stay here?" Trent asked with crossed arms.
"Yeah, actually..."
"Does it have something to do with Jay?"
"How'd you know?"
"Sean told me, or, rather said something about what Jay's plans were to do with the money, including getting it back; I wish SHE had told me, but as usual she didn't wanna start something..."
"Well yeah... and she's pretty paranoid about it, she wanted me, Emma, Chris, AND Manny here so she wouldn't think about it."
"Yeah well, just don't take advantage of her, okay?"
"I won't. I don't mind staying here, I just don't know about your mom..."
"If anything comes up I'll talk to her."
"OKay, thanks, Trent."
"Not a problem JT; I know you wouldn't hurt her, that's why I trust you."
JT smiled, "And I never will," he then went back into her room.
JT and Trixie confusedly followed Mr. Raditch down to his office where he led them; they went past Trent's room and Trixie wondered if he could possibly know what was going on...
Trent looked out Mrs. Kwan's outside window just in time to see Trixie and JT being escorted somewhere by Mr. Raditch. His eyes widened a little, and Jimmy quickly noticed and looked in the direction he was looking in.
"Hm, wonder what's up with that?" Jimmy mused in a whisper.
"I don't know... would they get in trouble for PDA here?" Trent asked.
"PDA? What's that?" Jimmy wondered.
"Public Display of Affection - you know, kissing and stuff," Trent explained.
"Oh, nah, they don't usually get sent to HIM for anything like that," Jimmy assured his friend.
But Trent wasn't really all that assured; for the rest of the period, what could possibly be going on tugged at the back of his mind and almost forced him to think about it.
Terri looked over at Trent and noticed the look of distress on his face and in his eyes. Concerned, she wrote him a quick note, seeing as Mrs. Kwan had now given them some study time; folding it carefully, she then tossed it cautiously into his lap.
Trent looked down into his lap when he felt something land there and quickly opened it when he discovered that it was a note:
What's wrong?
He wrote in reply:
Probably nothing, just me worrying as usual.
Terri read this response and was now more curious than ever:
About what?
Trent sighed, then replied:
I saw Mr. Raditch leading JT and Trixie somewhere.
Terri's eyes widened:
I wonder what could be going on... it's probably nothing, so I wouldn't worry if I were you.
Trent smiled a little despite his mood:
I appreciate that, but you know I'm gonna worry anyway.
After that, the notes stopped coming and Terri reached her hand over to his shoulder and rubbed it gently; when he looked up at her and smiled, she blushed shyly and removed her hand, staring intently at the papers on her desk.
Paige saw this and smiled a little; maybe there wasn't much wrong with Terri - after all, she seemed to be doing pretty well with Trent.
In Miss Hatzilako's class, Sean was getting more and more antsy all the time, wondering what the hell could be going on that Mr. Raditch would want JT and Trixie for. So he raised his hand, "Miss H., may I use the washroom?"
Miss Hatzilako's nodded and Sean walked out the door, not looking back once to see Emma's cold look.
"Whoa Emma, calm down, you're gonna kill the guy with those daggers," Toby warned lightly.
"I just can't help thinking that he might have something to do with that whole robbery thing; I bet he and Jay are going to skip the rest of the day and squander their "earnings" or something..." Emma replied bitterly as she turned around in her seat.
Toby just sighed and shook his head lightly.
Meanwhile, Sean got down to Mr. Raditch's office and stood at a safe distance, watching and trying to listen in on the activity going on inside...
"Mr. Yorke, Miss Miller, it has come to my attention that you two might know something about the robbery from the caf this morning; would this be true?" Mr. Raditch asked as he paced in front of the two teenagers.
JT got a look of confusion on his face as he honestly replied, "Well no sir, we don't."
"Really? Miss Miller, will you please empty out your pockets?" Mr. Raditch indicated her denim jacket.
Trixie's mouth opened as if she were about to say something, but JT cut in, "Trix, just do it; to prove we have nothing to hide," he said as calmly as he could.
"Just empty your pockets please, Miss Miller," Mr. Raditch insisted.
Trixie oblidged and as she did, she felt something that made her face contort into a look of horror...
A rather hefty stack of cash was there in her pocket!!!!
She had no choice but to pull it out; Mr. Raditch looked almost as surprised as JT, but not too much.
Trixie was at a loss for words and looked like she was going to cry at any moment; she looked to JT as if trying to assure him with her eyes that she didn't do it.
"Mr. Raditch, you honestly don't believe that we did this, do you?!" JT asked increduously.
"Well I believe what I see; and you two DID seem in an awful big hurry this morning, what running to class and all," Mr. Raditch shoved this in their faces.
Mr. Raditch grabbed his phone and started dialing a number rather quickly.
JT looked to Trixie and saw she was terrified; he wrapped an arm around her and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, we'll find out what the hell's going on."
But all of a sudden, someone burst through the door of the office, causing Mr. Raditch to hang up the phone.
"Mr. Cameron, this is a private discussion, you'll have to wait outside," Mr. Raditch tried to say as his secretary came up behind Sean and tried to escort him out.
"But Mr. Raditch, Trixie and JT didn't do it!" Sean insisted.
Mr. Raditch looked up at Sean from his desk in surprise, "You know something about this?"
Sean couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he knew these two didn't deserve what they could be possibly be getting, "Yes... they didn't steal the money... Jay did."
"You know this for a fact, Mr. Cameron?" Mr. Raditch asked.
"Yes sir... I was there when he did it," Sean replied, "he was trying to get me to help him, but I wouldn't. I was leaving when he did it, but I DID see him do it."
Mr. Raditch blinked in surprise, "Well if this is the case, then how did the money get on Miss Miller?"
"That I don't know... all I know was that he said something about putting it in a safe place and then getting it after school," Sean replied.
Trixie then recalled the events from that morning...
"Mr. Raditch, I think I know," she said, "as I went into first period this morning, Jay bumped into me... he could've put the money in my pocket that way?"
Sean nodded with a roll of his eyes, "Sounds like Jay... and I bet I know what he was gonna do to get it back, too..."
Trixie, JT, and Mr. Raditch dared not ask Sean what he meant, but now they knew what was going on and they all felt better.
"Well in that case, I do believe I need to get Jay in here and see what should be done about this," Mr. Raditch said, dismissing the three to class.
Trixie, JT, and Sean walked out of his office and decided to just walk around the halls, since their next period was only a few minutes ahead anyway.
"What made you come forward?" JT asked, "I mean, no offense, but you and Jay are pretty tight."
Sean sighed, "'Cause I knew what you guys would get if you were successfully framed for it," he replied simply, "that's all you need to know... plus I think it was pretty low-down of him to plant it on you and Trix like that."
"Well, thank you Sean," Trixie said sincerely, "we really appreciate it... but Jay will probably be pretty pissed at you."
"Pfeh, who cares? Besides, his attitude's been getting on my nerves here lately, anyway," Sean replied.
"You and Ellie sit at lunch with us today then," Trixie offered, "I'm sure no one would care."
"Uh, I don't know about that..." Sean tried to protest.
"Please do!" Trixie stepped in front of him, "This is the second time you've helped me out somehow! I WANT you there, okay?" she grinned.
Sean nodded and smiled, "Alright; me and El'll be there," he replied, lightly hitting her arm and walking off in the direction of his next class, "later!"
JT grinned and put an arm around her, "Yet another Miller does justice to Jay - and in the most subtle of ways as well," he said with a British accent.
Trixie laughed, "Yeah, just hope that Trent doesn't run into him later or that restraining order might be broken."
"I don't think that'll happen," JT replied, indicating toward Degrassi's front doors; Jay was being escorted out of the building in handcuffs.
"Oh whoa..." Trixie said, very shocked.
Next thing, the bell rang and Trent scurried out of the room so fast that he left Jimmy, Paige, and even Terri behind.
"Ter, I'd be going after him if I were you," Paige said.
"He's trying to find Trixie probably," Jimmy replied.
"Yeah, he was awful worried," Terri added.
"Worried about WHAT? Okay, SOMEONE fill me in here!" Paige demanded.
"He saw her and JT going with Mr. Raditch somewhere, so now he's practically been having an aneurysm all class wondering what the heck's going on," Jimmy filled her in.
"Oh... JT? Trixie? Hm, wonder what could've happened..."
At lunch that day, everyone had already been filled in about the Jay incident, and how Sean had come forward about how Jay had done it.
"Wow, it seems that Sean might be changing for the better," Paige said with a smile.
"Yeah, considering that he ratted pretty much his only friend out like that," Spinner added.
Sean and Ellie then walked up.
"Hey guys," Trixie said with a smile, "have a seat!"
It was a little awkward at first, seeing as they weren't used to Sean hanging around, but Jimmy made the first move since he and Sean had come past their own barriers last year, "'Sup, Sean?" he put his fist up so Sean could hit it.
"Not much, Jimmy," Sean replied, hitting his fist just enough to let him know everything was cool.
After that, things became less and less awkward and the guys were actually making plans to hang out and shoot some basketball after school. Sean included.
Trixie went to see JT and everyone just talked and made more plans for the dance.
"So Sean, you gonna go to the dance?" Trent asked.
"Eh, I don't know; dances aren't really my scene," Sean replied.
"Oh come on, Sean, do it for Ellie; after all, she has a dress and everything... I know, El, you were wanting to talk him into it yourself, but sometimes it takes a little persuasion from friends," Paige, surprisingly, said with a wink.
"It's tomorrow night, it's not too late to reconsider," Ashley added.
Sean smiled; it seemed that life might actually start getting better for him now, "I'll think about it," he replied with a smile to Ellie.
"This is pretty awesome," Marco said to Trent.
"What is?" Trent asked.
"That everyone's starting to get along and everything... Sean and I were never exactly the best of friends or anything, but maybe now things could change," he replied.
Trent smiled, "He's getting a shot at redeeming himself, hopefully he won't blow it."
"I don't think he will," Ellie replied slyly, turning toward them.
Terri looked on past everyone else and saw Craig wandering by himself, "Just too bad it won't be so easy for Craig with some people," she said.
Ellie nodded, knowing what she meant.
Trent excused himself and gave Terri a kiss, then went to talk to Craig.
"Hey," he said to the slightly taller boy.
Craig turned to see Trent standing there, "Oh hey; how's it goin'?"
"Eh, it's alright," Trent replied.
Craig nodded.They stood in silence for a moment until Trent spoke up again.
"What's goin' on?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Craig wondered, giving a small, fake laugh.
"Well you've not really been talking a lot, and in class you seemed distracted," Trent pointed out, "just wondering if anything might be wrong."
"Oh, nah," Craig replied with a smile, "nothing's wrong, I'm just thinking a lot."
"If you say so; well, I'm gonna go on back over there, I'll talk to ya later," Trent waved as he walked off.
"Later," Craig replied, then walked off in another direction himself.
Ever since Trixie had gotten to their table, Manny seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, but Trixie didn't notice; only Emma seemed to notice Manny's sudden change in behavior.
They were all talking until Toby and Kendra went to dump their trash, but then Trixie turned to Emma, JT, and Manny with an idea.
"Hey, how about you guys come to my house tonight and we can all hang out? Emma, you can bring Chris if you wanna, and Manny, you could bring your boyfriend; JT, wanna come?" she asked.
"Oh, I can't, I've got a test tomorrow and I SO need to study," Emma said, "but not to worry, we can all hang out at the dance tomorrow night."
"Cool; Manny, you wanna come?" Trixie asked with a smile.
"I don't think I can this afternoon," Manny replied.
"Oh, well okay; JT, how about you?" Trixie said.
"No, I actually have to study too," JT replied in a serious voice.
"Oh..." Trixie trailed.
Emma raised an eyebrow though, "JT, study? Come on, could you not think of a better joke than that?" she asked increduously.
Trixie laughed and smacked JT on the arm, "You jerk, you had me goin' for a minute!"
"I know, I'm just that good," JT replied, wrapping her in a one-armed hug to apologize.
Later that evening, Trent met up with his sister.
"Hey, me, Jimmy, Sean, Spinner, and Marco are going over to the basketball court, we'll probably be home in a couple of hours or so," he said.
"Okay; JT and I will probably hang around the house or something unless we decide to take a walk or something," Trixie replied, the two going their separate ways.
So the guys made their way down to the basketball court, Jimmy passing the ball back and forth to each of the guys as they made their way there.
"Okay, Spin and Sean on a team, me and Trent the other; Marco - "
"I know, keep score," Marco grinned. He didn't feel left out, he usually didn't play that much anyway, he preferred watching.
While they were playing, Craig came by and sat beside Marco.
"Hey Craig," Marco said, "I see you have the camera; inspiration?"
"Well not really, just figured I'd bring it out and see what I could do," Craig replied with a slight smile.
After a moment or so, he got up and started taking different frames of the guys; he thought they were pretty good and vowed that he would make them copies. Spinner would probably frame any of the ones that had him in them. Not because of the handiwork behind the camera, mind you, but just because HE was there.
Meanwhile, JT and Trixie were just getting to Trixie's house when she shivered.
"Ya cold?" JT asked, about to offer her his hoodie.
"Oh no, just thinking about something," Trixie replied.
"Ah," JT nodded, seeming to get what she meant, "I wouldn'tve let Jay hurt you if that'd been the case. Plus I'm sure Sean wouldn'tve either."
"Probably not... oh well let's get inside, I'm creeping myself out..." Trixie stated, she and JT getting inside.
She went into the kitchen to get some drinks while JT went on up to her room; though she knew nothing could happen now, she still kept a cautious eye about her to make sure nothing fishy was going on. Freaking herself out yet again, she bounded up the stairs and to the safety of her room with JT.
"What's the matter? You look like you saw a ghost," JT wondered.
"Oh I'm fine, just being paranoid," Trixie replied, giving him his drink and setting hers down, then sitting beside him on her bed.
JT smiled a little and wrapped an arm around her, "Not to worry, I won't let any bad guys get you," he replied, "though I'm pretty sure there's no chance of it anyway."
Trixie blushed a little bit, "One reason I was gonna have everyone over... so it could take my mind off being paranoid."
JT scoffed, "So I'm not good enough alone? Well, I see how you are," he folded his arms.
"JT, I didn't mean it like that..." Trixie said, laying her head on his shoulder, "pleease forgive me."
JT smiled, "Fine, but only this time," he replied, wrapping an arm around shoulders again, taking her hand with his free hand.
Trixie sighed contentedly; JT turned and looked into her eyes, giving her a genuinely sweet smile and squeezing her hand. He tilted his head toward hers as their eyes closed and their lips met in the middle. His hand let go of hers and went to the small of her back as he leaned toward her, causing her to lean back. This was somewhat similar to the situation she and Craig had been in a couple of nights ago, but yet not. This time, she actually felt something in the kiss, not just the kiss itself...
After awhile, the guys all decided to come back and crash at Trent's place for awhile; Craig declined, saying he was going to see about getting the pictures done in the blackroom that Joey had made out of a large closet near the attic when he had first moved in.
Trent looked around; no note or anything saying she and JT were gone. So most likely he either went home or she and JT were up in her room.
The phone rang as Trent was getting drinks and snacks, so he answered. Turned out to be Terri, so he got the food and drinks together on a tray and took them into the livingroom where the guys had already started watching TV.
Spinner looked from Trent to the rest of the guys, "Hmm, it must be the lovely Miss Terri he has on the phone!"
Trent rolled his eyes and went back into the kitchen with the phone.
Spinner looked to the rest of the guys, "Who wants to bet JT's still up there?"
"He might be, but would that be any of our business? I think not, now watch TV like a good Spinner," Jimmy replied.
Spinner gave him an incredulous look, "Dude, come on, I'm just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Sean said.
"He's right," Marco added.
"Sean, I dare you to go up there and see," Spinner said.
"No way, man," Sean replied.
"Come on, it's not like I'm having you take a picture or anything," Spinner pointed out, "just go see - make sure they're not doing anything "naughty"."
Sean rolled his eyes, "I'm sure they're not; and if Trent were concerned, he would've went up there himself."
"Just DO IT; that's all you have to do, just look," Spinner said.
Jimmy said, "You might as well, or Spinner might himself; don't want THAT happening..."
Sean sighed, "Fine... which room's hers?"
They told him and he walked up the stairs, found her door, and stood beside it a moment; when he couldn't hear anything from inside but music, he was just a bit curious. He tried to refrain from opening the door, but he couldn't. When he opened it, he couldn't help but emit a silent chuckle.
Trixie and JT lay on her bed fast asleep, JT holding Trixie in his arms and she using his chest as a pillow. It didn't appear as if they had done anything or anything like that, they'd just fallen asleep.
When Sean got back downstairs, he had six curious eyes upon him. He just smiled to himself as he said, "They're doing homework."
After the guys had went home, Trent came through to check on Trixie since he hadn't seen her all evening; he assumed she might be working on something or asleep. But he didn't expect what he walked in to find.
"Trixie!" he whispered loudly; she stirred and opened a sleepy eye.
"Trent?"
"Do you know what time it is???" he asked.
"Uh..." she looked at her clock, "11:00?"
"Yeah, now explain that," he pointed behind her.
Trixie was then aware of the arms around her waist and turned to find JT there, "JT!!! JT, we fell asleep!"
"WHAT???" JT got alarmedand sat up quickly, then saw Trent, "We didn't do anything, honest!!"
"Well I didn't think you had, but your parents might be pretty worried about you at this time of night," Trent replied.
"I was going to stay the night at Toby's tonight... his parents are out til midnight... Well, I could make the walk from here," JT said, about to get up, but Trixie held his hand.
"Wait, couldn't you call Toby and possibly stay here? It's not like mom would know or anything," she said, then looked to her brother, "what do you think?"
Trent raised his eyebrows, "Well, she probably wouldn't, but I don't know..."
"Pleeeease? Trent, you don't realize how important this would be to me!!" Trixie pleaded with her green eyes.
Trent sighed, "Okay; so long as no one gets killed, it should be okay."
"Trix, you call Toby, I'll have a talk with your brother," JT said, hoping over the bed and walking out of the room with Trent as Trixie got her extension and called over at Toby's house.
"Are you wanting to talk to me because you know why she wants you to stay here?" Trent asked with crossed arms.
"Yeah, actually..."
"Does it have something to do with Jay?"
"How'd you know?"
"Sean told me, or, rather said something about what Jay's plans were to do with the money, including getting it back; I wish SHE had told me, but as usual she didn't wanna start something..."
"Well yeah... and she's pretty paranoid about it, she wanted me, Emma, Chris, AND Manny here so she wouldn't think about it."
"Yeah well, just don't take advantage of her, okay?"
"I won't. I don't mind staying here, I just don't know about your mom..."
"If anything comes up I'll talk to her."
"OKay, thanks, Trent."
"Not a problem JT; I know you wouldn't hurt her, that's why I trust you."
JT smiled, "And I never will," he then went back into her room.