A/N: Chapter POVS are just Katie and Clare. Trigger warning for underage drug use.

Katie looked down at her final exam nervously as the clock ticked and ticked.

There were five minutes left and she only had half the questions answered. She knew she should have studied for the final, especially since art was her weakest subject, but she didn't have the time. She had poured all of her effort into the soccer finals, only for the team to lose at the last second. She blamed herself, because she somehow couldn't stop the girl from the other team from kicking the ball into the goal.

Before she knew it, the bell had rung and it was time to turn in her exam. She sighed as she got up and handed the art teacher her exam. The woman looked at the exam and then her with a disappointed look on her face. Katie winced. She had already known she failed. It wouldn't affect her final grade too much, but it would ruin the straight A's she had all year.

Bummed, Katie left the classroom.

"I am so excited to end this school year!" Alli said as they all left the media immersion room in high spirits.

Clare smiled. She already knew that she passed all of her final exams because she studied every night for them for weeks.

"How should we celebrate?" Jenna asked as she hooked her arm around hers. "Shopping? Dot milkshakes? A party?"

"How about a sleepover? At my house?" Clare suggested.

"Your mom would allow that?" Alli asked in surprise.

"Sure, she trusts all three of you, and it's not like any of you are boys," Clare answered. Her parents didn't want her dating until she was fifteen, which was unfortunate for whatever her and K.C. had going on. However, she knew that she was too young to have a boyfriend yet.

"Yeah, we don't want Saint Clare to be corrupted by boys yet," Jenna teased and she blushed. Just then, K.C. walked past them and flashed Clare a smile.

She smiled back. Even though they weren't dating anytime soon, there was know harm in thinking about the day they would, right?

Katie refused to eat her lunch due to the stress she was feeling.

Her lunch was a big turkey and cheese hoagie, a bag of baked chips, and a protein shake. After the incident at dinner with Marisol's parents, her own parents had started forcing her to eat more often and were fixing her boxed lunches for her to eat instead of the cafeteria food. Her doctor said that she was rapidly losing weight, and she needed to eat more often before it got dangerous. While she was eating somewhat normally again, whenever she was stressed, she didn't have the stomach to eat. The food in front was literally making her nauseous.

"Katie? Katie!" Marisol called to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Katie asked.

"I was asking what you want to do after school today," Marisol answered, "But I guess you weren't paying attention," she added dryly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sheepishly, feeling bad. Her and Marisol were still learning how to be friends again, and she was already messing up. That was another thing she was struggling with.

"Lay off her will you? She's obviously has a lot on her mind right now," Drew replied defensively as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Katie almost cracked a smile at that. Drew was such a good boyfriend.

"Well then she should talk about it, instead of just zoning out," Marisol argued before focusing back on her, "What's wrong?"

"I just don't think I did well on that art exam," Katie answered. "I totally bombed it."

"Well it's not enough to tank your grade, right? You'll be fine," Drew assured. "I failed plenty of tests, yet I'm still going to high school next year."

"A miracle," Marisol sarcastically replied.

"Hey!" Drew exclaimed in indignation.

Jake Martin walked by their table, and he and Marisol shared awkward looks with each other before he left. Their breakup was still the talk of the school, and Marisol had not completely gotten over him yet. Katie felt bad for her, but maybe this would motivate her best friend to focus on better things. On the other hand though, she would be upset too if Jake broke up with her too because he was pretty cute…

'What's wrong with you, Matlin? You already have a great guy in Drew!' She thought to herself. Drew was perfect. He was a caring, considerate boyfriend that was just as passionate about sports as she was, so why had she been thinking about Jake recently? Other than being cute, there wasn't much else about him wasn't there? And he was her best friend's ex.

"How about we throw a party at my house tonight? My parents are going away for the weekend again and we could invite everyone," Marisol offered, and her eyes lit up at her own idea.

"I'm always down for a party," Drew said with a big smile on his face. He then looked at her. "What do you say, babe?"

"A party sounds fun," she replied, and her best friend squealed in response.

"We could get mani pedis after school!" Marisol declared while clapping her hands excitedly.

"Yeah…," Katie agreed as her mind went off to other places again while Marisol and Drew talked.

She thought about a tall boy with reddish brown hair and green eyes.

"Are we having ice cream or water ice? I vote for water ice!" Jenna said they walked through the aisles of the convenience store. After school, they were all shopping for the sleepover that would take place at Clare's house later tonight.

"Water ice sounds delicious!" Alli agreed. Clare was glad her two friends were now getting along. Something must have happened during that NYC trip. In a way, she was almost jealous that Alli and Jenna seemed to have more in common with each other than she did with either girl.

After picking up some water ice, they went through the nail and makeup section to look at nail polish bottles.

"What about this one?" Jenna asked as she held up a hot pink bottle for them to observe.

"Ooh, that would be a great color on you," Alli said as she picked up a bright red one. "What are you thinking about getting Clare?"

"I don't know," she said. She wasn't really a nail polish person. Her two friends looked at each other.

"Well, we'll just have to pick out something nice for you when we give you a makeover," Alli replied enthusiastically.

"Makeover?" Clare questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Clarebear, a makeover. It's about time we get you to dress like a normal teenage girl," Jenna replied with a teasing smile.

"Oh brother," she remarked as her friends giggled conspirately.

At the nail salon, Katie was looking at all the polish bottles with Marisol. She tried not to let the strong smell of the salon get to her. She always hated the smell of nail polish, it's why she hardly wore it.

"My mama said I could get acrylics now! I think I'm going to get French tips!" Marisol said excitedly as she went to tell a worker. Meanwhile Katie didn't know what to get. Usually, she was just content with letting Marisol give her a manicure but today was a special occasion.

"Have you decided yet?" A lady asked her. Katie looked at her before looking back at the shelf full of nail polish bottles.

She nodded as she picked up a cherry red polish bottle. She didn't know how red was going to look on her but she figured she might as well give it a shot. She wasn't going to get tips though, that was too much.

The woman led her and Marisol to the back of the salon where there were empty chairs. As soon as she took her shoes off and got on the chair, a worker immediately went to work washing and scrubbing her feet in preparation for the pedicure. She felt bad for the worker, she knew her feet smelled terrible from all the soccer she played.

She looked over to Marisol, who was reading a gossip magazine while her feet were getting scrubbed. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit jealous at how well everything went for Marisol this year. Her best friend got to be class president, had her cheer team win the championship in New York, and didn't struggle in a single class for once.

And for a while was dating a really cute guy.

Katie bit her lip nervously as she held back any thoughts of Jake. Not only was liking him wrong due to him being Marisol's ex, she had Drew. Drew was a great boyfriend. He was perfect.

But she would be lying again if she tried to deny that Jake seemed to be a good boyfriend too from what Marisol told her…

"Never have I ever failed a test," Clare declared as they all sat on her bed.

Her other two friends took a "shot", which was soda. There was no way she was going to allow them to drink alcohol from her parent's cabinet. Whoever still had the most soda in their cup was the water.

"Fourth grade. History test. I got a 28. My parents grounded me for two weeks and made me get a tutor," Alli said with a wince.

"I failed my math test last year, but then again so did the whole class," Jenna added. Then it was her turn. "Never have I ever had an accident with my period in school."

Neither her nor Alli took a sip. "I haven't even had my period yet," Clare admitted, and she felt a little embarrassed to admit it. She knew both of her other friends had it. She felt childish in a way because she hadn't really experienced being a woman yet.

"Lucky, periods are the worst," Jenna replied with a wince, "The cramps I get make me feel like I'm about to die."

"Same," Alli agreed. Then she got a mischievous look on her face. "Never have I ever liked the same guy as my best friend."

Clare didn't take a sip, but Jenna did albeit reluctantly. Her and Alli both looked at Jenna in curiosity.

"It was last year, before I met you guys," the other girl dismissed and that was the end of that. But deep down inside, Clare had a bad feeling.

The game went on for another fifteen minutes and by the end of the game, she had the most soda in her cup. Once again, Clare felt a little embarrassed despite telling herself that she shouldn't. But she felt like a little girl compared to her more experienced best friends.

"Alright, ladies! Now it's time for mani pedis!" Jenna announced cheerfully as she pulled out the bag of nail polish bottles. "Who wants to go first?" She asked.

Clare was about to answer when she heard an unfamiliar noise come from down the hall. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she looked at her friends. Jenna had an amused smile on her face while Alli had a look of disgust.

"Clare, are your parents seriously having sex right now?" Alli questioned.

"No, it can't be. My mom isn't home," she denied quickly. Her mother was at a late night church event. She didn't even know that was a sex sound. The sound got louder, and she got off her bed. It couldn't have been Darcy and her boyfriend Spinner either, her older sister would never.

"Let's go investigate," Jenna suggested as her and Alli got off the bed. The three of them quietly left her room and walked down the hall. With each step, Clare felt her nerves worsen. When they got to her parents' bedroom, the door was slightly open. Alarm bells rang in her head, but Clare decided to peek inside.

What she saw caused her blood to run cold.

There was a woman on top of her father and it wasn't her mother.

Within a few hours, the party was well underway. Nearly everyone from their eighth grade was there, and thus Marisol's house was packed.

"Hey put those down!" She saw Marisol order a kid who was messing with her mother's vinyl tapes. Her friend was wearing a short empire dress colored pink and yellow. Her natural hair was done up in bouncy curls, and she was wearing cute heart-shaped hoop earrings. In contrast, Katie herself wore a simple blue shirt dress with pockets.

"Sorry," the kid apologized sheepishly before going off to dance. Katie approached her friend.

"Where's Drew?" She asked loudly over the music as she looked around for her boyfriend.

"I don't know," Marisol answered back. "You want me to go find him?"

"No, he's probably good," Katie turned down. "I'm going to head up to the bathroom."

Her friend shrugged before walking away to the kitchen, presumably to fix herself a snack. Katie made her way up the steps, but not before having to shove past a crowd of boys who were drinking.

While walking down the hallway to the bathroom, she saw two kids make out in Marisol's bedroom. She shot them a warning glare and they quickly bolted out of the room. Then she smelled something coming from Marisol's brother's room.

She peeked inside and saw Jake smoking weed on the bed. "What are you doing?" She demanded as she stormed inside the room and tried to take the blunt from him.

"Woah, woah!" Jake protested as he fought her off. "This is good stuff!"

"Smoke that crap somewhere else!" She ordered while reaching for the blunt, but Jake blocked her at every turn. Eventually, she gave up in frustration. "Why are you even smoking it anyway?"

"Because it feels good. Wanna try it?" Jake casually offered her while holding out the blunt. Katie looked down at it critically. She didn't support the use of any kind of drug, and the smell of marijuana disgusted her.

"No thank you," she turned down sharply before turning on her sandals to walk away.

"You're quite uptight aren't you?" Jake asked in amusement. She turned around to face him with a glare.

"I am not uptight!" She protested.

"Then prove it," he challenged, holding out the blunt. "It's just weed. It's not going to kill you."

"No, it's not right," she insisted.

"I have seen how you've been lately in classes. You seem stressed," he pointed out, "Weed helps you relax."

She probably did need to relax. But her parents would kill her if they found out she did drugs. Then again, they would kill her anyway if they found out that her and Marisol were partying when they were just supposed to have a sleepover…..

A sudden rush took over her. Getting on the bed, Katie took the blunt from Jake's hand and deeply inhaled. Then she started coughing roughly. Jake laughed.

"You're not supposed to do it like that," he said before scooting close to her, "Here let me show you…."

Her father was cheating on her mother.

Clare sat on her bed silently as she stared at the wall. After what she saw, she didn't know what to say and she was sure that even if she did, she wouldn't have the strength for her. Her father was cheating on her mother.

"Do you need some water, Clarebear?" Jenna asked her in concern as she squeezed her shoulder in comfort. Clare shook her head. She wasn't thirsty. She didn't have the stomach for anything, really. Her father was cheating on her mother.

"Do you need us to go?" Alli questioned. She was kneeling in front of her bed with a disturbed look on her face. If she could, Clare would probably have a disturbed look on her face as well, but her face was blank. Her father was cheating on her mother.

And it was with a woman from their own church.

For the first time in a long time, Katie felt at peace with herself. There was no pressure, no heaviness, only air.

"So you really let Marisol give you a brazilian wax with melted crayons?" Jake asked with laughter in his sweet voice.

"Yeah, I'm stupid aren't I?" She asked with a light giggle. It was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her life, and she sprained her ankle playing soccer twice. But for some reason, she could only laugh at the memory now.

"No, just silly," Jake replied, before scooting close to her, "And cute."

"Cute? Me?" She asked in surprise. "But...but…to other guys I'm...I'm…," she leaned in close to him, "The Ice Queen of Degrassi," she whispered conspirately in his ear.

"Ice has never been hotter," he whispered back and there was a quiet beat between them. Then they laughed together.

"You're funny, Jake," Katie said. "I like funny guys."

He smiled at her, and Katie felt her heart beat rapidly in her chest which it hasn't done in a while, even around Drew. Her boyfriend. Who she hasn't seen all night since he came to the party with his friends.

In the grand scheme of the universe, that somehow didn't matter. Only her and Jake.

"I like you Jake, I liked you for a while. Ever since I saw you at the beach. Even while I'm with Drew, I think of you all the time. Even when you were dating Marisol…," she rambled.

"Wow," Jake could only say in response. Her stomach tightened as she looked at his lips.

Before she knew it, they were suddenly kissing and she felt herself floating. Mind and spirit were leaving her body. Her body warmed up with a fire she never felt before. She felt Jake cup her cheek as they fell back on the bed together. Their tongues melded together and their hands roamed each other's bodies. Was this euphoria? It must be.

She didn't know how long they had been kissing before the door opened. "Katie?" A voice called out to her, seemingly far out in the distance. "KATIE!" It shouted louder. Katie begrudgingly stopped kissing Jake and looked up. Her jaw dropped to the floor when she saw who it was.

Marisol and Drew were standing in the door frame, and both looked pretty angry.