A/N Hey, guys. Welcome back to more of the Degrassi Welcome Back Home series. So first off, I hope you guys are staying safe out there, taking turns to get a vaccine, and washing and santizing your hands every day. Second, I finally wrapped up my final semester, so I can finally make time to keep writing my current projects. Third, I want to thank you guys for being patient with me so far since this is my first SYOC story. And fourth, this is the second part of the previous chapter Getting To Know Each Other. At the end of this chapter, I will add more character pairings that I have in mind. But anyway, this is the fifth chapter and the second part of Getting To Know Each Other, and here we go.
Serenity
Having wrapped up with her first day, Serenity didn't have trouble making friends despite her flaws. Having made friends with boys like Adam Hawthorne and Carter Crane, she hoped that she would get to know one of them.
While walking down on a set of stairs from the front entrance, she spotted Adam, and before she can walk up and talk to him, she observed a girl with a wavy auburn hair and blue eyes walking beside him.
'I guess I better talk to Adam in school tomorrow,' she thought.
Just then, someone tapped on her shoulder before she turned around and Carter was standing behind her.
"Hey," he greeted awkwardly.
"Hey to you too," she said.
"How was your first day of school?" asked Carter.
"It was good. How about you?" Serenity replied.
"Well, despite the trouble of making friends today, I guess mine was okay," he said.
"Cool. So what do you want to do?" she said.
"I don't know. I just want to avoid any conflicts," he said.
"Hey, you want to walk home together? We could take our time to get to know each other," Serenity offered.
"That's a good idea. I just had the same idea," said Carter.
"Let's get going then," she said.
The two new friends left the school grounds and walked beside each other in silence.
"So, you got a family?" asked Serenity.
"I do, yeah. One older brother and one older sister. My sister is a sophomore of this school," Carter replied.
"Lucky you. My parents divorced when I was 5 years old. But they would always support me of my dreams even though they're not together anymore," she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The only thing I can tell you is that they wanted me to be a normal teenager and attend a normal high school. But I'll tell you more soon," she replied.
James
At the end of his first day of high school, James walked out of the school building with his backpack slung over his shoulder. So far, the only friends he made with is Janie Thompson, Ethan Roberts Mason, and Serenity Annabelle Verona.
While he was walking, someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned over to see Janie was following him.
"Hi," she said.
"Hey," he replied.
"Do you mind if we take a walk together?" she asked him.
"Sure, I guess," he replied.
The two next door neighbors turned friends walked beside each other in silence. James was the first one to speak after some silence.
"So, how was your first day of school?" he asked.
"It was okay. But I didn't make much friends. Except I made friends with a couple of kids like Adam Hawthorne and Aisha Crane. And you," she replied.
"I guess we both didn't make many friends on our first day, right?" he asked.
"Well, I hope we both make more friends. Since today was our first day of high school," she replied.
"Do you want to go somewhere and hang out for a bit? Like to get know each other better?" asked James.
"Sure. Since I have homework to do anyway," Janie replied.
"I've seen you living with your father for a while. May I ask what happeend to your mother?" said James.
"My mother died from cancer when I was young. And my father is expecting some high expectations from me," said Janie.
"I have a mother and a little sister that I live with right now. And my mother encouraged me not to go down the same path she did," he said.
"Sounds like you have a responsibility to look after your mother and your little sister," she said.
"Believe me. It's really stressful being the only man in the family," he said.
Aisha
After her first day as a sophomore ended, Aisha had made friends with Janie Thompson, along with Ethan Roberts Mason and Colt Worth.
Aisha also hoped that Carter didn't have trouble on making friends. She kept telling herself that she can't keep teaching her own younger brother on how to make friends despite his personality and flaws.
As she got lost in her own thoughts, she ends up running into someone before she looked up and Colt was standing in front of her.
"You okay there?" he asked her.
"I'm fine. I thought you were my younger brother for a second," she replied.
"No worries. I never have the intention to run into someone," he said.
"I have to get home anyway, because I have a lot of homework to do right now," said Aisha.
"Do you want to take a walk together? Like maybe have a conversation?" asked Colt.
"Sure. But I don't know when my parents will get home from work," she replied.
"I think you should tell your younger brother first," he reminded her.
"No need. I already felt bad enough that I had to ditch him today. He need to be more open about himself. And I've dealt with his problems too many times already," said Aisha.
"Sounds like you deal with your little brother's problems every day," said Colt.
"I can't deal with it every time now. He needs to deal with his own problems," said Aisha.
While walking with Colt, Aisha didn't have any plans to tell him one of her secrets, afraid of how he would react if she told him.
Colt
Despite having a stressful day and making some friends, Colt and his new friend Aisha walked down on the sidewalk, having agreed to walk home together.
"So, uh, how was your first day as a sophomore?" he asked.
"It's like my freshman year. Complicated, but I'm still a queen bee," she replied.
"Makes sense. I don't have a lot of friends. I only stick true to those who are my real friends and I don't have a plan to make friends with anyone else," he explained.
"Do you have a family?" asked Aisha.
"My parents are divorced. And I'm the only kid in my family. Plus, I'm living with my father right now," Colt replied.
"Sounds like you have a lot going on with your family," said Aisha.
"I don't exactly have the best relationship with my father right now. Except that I have the best one with my mother," he continued.
"Why don't you have the best father-son relationship with your father?" she asked.
"He doesn't understand my sexual orientation. And he's been on two tours with the Canadian Armed Forces before he got discharged. And he decided to get his teaching credentials," he replied.
"Have you lived your happy life with your family?" she asked.
"No. My parents pretended to be the perfect married couple, but I saw it wrong. I have been angry about that for years," he replied.
"I actually have two brothers. One older and one younger. My little brother goes to Degrassi with me," she said.
Just then, Aisha came up with an idea to get Colt out of his comfort zone.
"There is a church I go to every Sunday. But I don't always follow what the bible says. You want to go with me sometime?" Aisha offered.
"My religion is Catholic. But I guess I can go," said Colt.
"I never knew you were part of a religion," said Aisha.
"Trust me. There's a lot of things you don't know about me yet," said Colt.
Peyton
Meanwhile with Peyton, she nearly had a bad day. She almost got caught smoking on the school grounds a few times today and she didn't appreciate it.
Despite nearly having a bad day, she was able to get through the day without any problems and she was now walking home with a sophomore and she sees him as someone who would pick on nerds for no apparent reason.
"You really don't have to walk me home, you know," said Peyton.
"And I'm trying not to get on your bad side," he remarked.
"Your family is gonna be worried about you," she said.
"I don't need my parents to worry about me. Especially my older brother Spinner," he said.
Peyton looked at him incrediously. He just said that his older brother Is Gavin 'Spinner' Mason, the alum of Degrassi.
"So, do you have a family?" he asked.
"I have a mother. My father died in combat. And he was a war veteran," Peyton replied.
"Oh, wow. I'm sorry to hear that," he offered.
"Just because I dress like a rebellious teenager doesn't mean I'm always nice," she said.
"I'm gonna guess and say you're a sassy one," he said.
"Very funny," said Peyton.
"My parents, including my older brother, wants some high expectations from me. Since I just started as a sophomore. I just can't believe my older brother encouraged me to go to his high school since he's an alum after all," he said.
"I almost got caught smoking a few times on the school grounds today," she said.
"I never knew you're the type of person who smokes weed," he said.
"There's a lot you don't know about me," said Peyton.
After half an hour of walking and having a conversation, the two classmates and strangers arrived outside of Peyton's residence.
"This is me," she said.
"I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow. Well, if I only see you around," he said.
As he turned around and started to walk away, Peyton had completely forgotten to ask him for his name.
"Hey! I didn't get your name!" Peyton called before he turned around.
"It's Ethan! Ethan Roberts Mason!" Ethan replied.
"I'm Peyton Reid!" she said.
"I'll see you around, Peyton!" he shouted.
And that will be the end of the fifth chapter and the second part of Getting To Know Each Other for now. So what do you guys think so far? More friendships are just the beginning and it could turn into relationships soon. The next character pairing that I have in mind is James McKay/Janie Thompson. So yeah, the only two character pairings I came up with so far is Adam Hawthorne/Melody June Taylor and James McKay/Janie Thompson. If you guys want to see any other character pairings, let me know in the reviews section or the PM. More chapters are coming soon, so keep an eye out for it. I'm also in the middle of trying to come up with an idea on You Can Come to Me Spider-Man project that I'm working on since it's been a month. If you guys are a fan of Riverdale, check out my project The Hawthorne Twins Season 1 when you get the chance. I've also updated my Godzilla Meet The Civilians project on the third and final arc. So, that's pretty much it. Continue to do your part to stay safe out there, take turns on getting the vaccine, and drink water to keep yourselves hydrated.