A/N: Given that a certain canon event happens in this chapter, trigger warning for graphic violence starting in the third Connor portion. Yeah.

POVs: Connor, Marisol, and Drew

Connor was eating lunch one day with his friends when Emma and Manny came over.

"Connor, sweetie, we have a request," Manny said to him just as he was about to eat a piece of pasta.

"And what is that?" He questioned.

"Our best friend Liberty's birthday is today and we want to throw her a party," she answered.

"But you guys barely talk about Liberty," Connor pointed out in confusion. He wasn't sure how that could mean that she was one of their best friends. The only thing he knew about President Van Zandt was that she was a very intelligent and studious person just like him.

"Yeah, but she's still one of our good friends and we want to make her birthday special with an awesome birthday bash!"

"Did Godmom and Goddad give you guys permission to throw a party?" He continued to question.

"That's the thing, Connor. Mom and Dad can't find out, okay? This is a big secret between all of us," Emma explained.

"Wouldn't that be wrong to lie to them?" He asked.

"It's only wrong if they find out," Manny answered. "Which they won't. Because you're not telling them."

"Can I invite my friends here?" He asked while gesturing to K.C., Jenna, Clare, and Alli who all gave Emma and Manny awkward smiles. Emma folded her arms.

"Well no Connor, it's really only supposed to be a small gather-"

"Please?"

His god-sister looked at her best friend before looking back at him and sighing.

"Okay, but you guys have to go home early," she accepted as she and Manny started walking away. "And don't tell anyone else about this," she ordered him one last time before leaving. Alli let out an excited squeal across from him.

"We get to go to a HIGH school party! We're going to be the most popular kids in junior high," she said excitedly.

"And this is only September!" Jenna agreed.

"But how are we going to tell our parents? I doubt your parents would allow you to go to a party, Alli. And mine would absolutely not go for it," Clare questioned.

"Which is why I'm going to tell my parents that I'm going over to Connor's house to study and you're going to do the same with your parents," Alli replied. "Our parents love Connor, right Connor?"

"My godparents certainly think you're an interesting person," he answered. His godmother even said Alli reminded her of Manny when she was younger for better or worse.

"Well that settles. We're going to this senior birthday party tonight, and I'm going to meet a cute new guy to be my boyfriend!" Alli declared before her and Jenna started talking about what they were going to wear.

Connor shared a look with Clare, who had a frown on her face. They must have had the same thoughts.

Something bad was going to go down at this party.

"I don't understand. She cheated on me and yet I'm the single loser right now!" Drew complained as he watched Katie get fed a banana by Jake. They looked so happy together it boiled his blood. Katie should be the one who's miserable due to her actions, not him. That was how karma worked.

"It's only the beginning of the school year. There will be plenty of hotties to dig into throughout the year," Dallas reassured him before biting into a burger.

"Yeah but I need to make Katie regret doing me wrong, and I can only achieve that by having someone way hotter than her hanging on my arm right now," Drew grumbled as he looked around the cafeteria. So far he found no luck in getting a new girlfriend. All of the girls in his grade were either taken or not hot enough.

"What about Marisol? She's cute and single," Dallas asked him as he looked over the girl in question with desire in his eyes.

"I fucked up on a date with her last year and dumped her best friend. I doubt she'll be interested," Drew grumbled. Plus him getting them both drunk that night led to disaster.

"Hmm, well there has to be a quick way to get a new girlfriend," Dallas reasoned. Then they both overheard some seniors talking.

"I heard there's going to be a rager at Emma Nelson's house tonight," one guy said.

"Really? I'm down to go," the other guy said, "No doubt there's going to be a lot of booze and girls there."

Drew looked over to Dallas, and his friend smirked at him. He smirked back.

"I heard in gym class that Manny Santos is throwing Liberty Van Zandt a birthday party at Emma Nelson's house," Marisol whispered to Katie in class after their teacher headed out the classroom for a moment to take a phone call.

"Yeah, good for them," Katie replied dismissively with a shrug.

"Are you kidding me? We have a chance to go to a senior birthday party!" Marisol pointed out, annoyed by her best friend's unenthusiasm.

"I doubt we're invited," Katie said.

"So? We crash it!" Marisol reasoned.

"You say that like it's not going to cause issues. Why don't we instead have a movie night tonight? I'll order pizza," Katie suggested. Marisol rolled her eyes at the idea. While she would normally be down for pizza and a movie, she was more excited about the party.

"No, we're going to this party tonight. And I'm going to look super hot to let everyone know who the new head bitch in charge is going to be," Marisol declared just as the teacher walked in. She went back to looking at her notes to not raise any suspicions.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Mare," Katie whispered to her with a frown, but it didn't kill Marisol's excitement. With or without Katie, she was going as any party thrown by Manny was undoubtedly going to be the hottest party of the year.

What's the worst thing that could happen at a party?

Later that day, Connor got dressed in clothes he felt fitting for a party. He was wearing a blue button up shirt and a dark blue pair of slacks. He topped it off with a pair of black loafers. He sprayed his little Afro and combed it out. He was even wearing his best pair of glasses.

He turned around to see Manny eyeing him critically. "What?" He asked her.

"Connor, you are not seriously dressed like that for a party," she replied with narrowed eyes.

"Are you not supposed to look your best at a party?" He asked her again, confused. His mother Lucy always told him that he should always dress stylishly during these type of occasions.

"We're hosting a party , not a funeral !" She declared as she stepped forward and opened up his dressers, picking out clothes. "Now get over here! Liberty will be here in a few minutes and I don't have time to give two people a makeover!"

The next series of events happened in a blur, and Connor didn't have time to process any of it before he was suddenly in a pair of jeans and a t shirt.

The party was already well underway when Marisol arrived with Katie at her side. There were a crowd of people inside and outside of Emma Nelson's house, and loud music could be heard all the way on the other side of the street.

Marisol smiled excitedly as she entered the house and saw all of the older high school kids dancing and jumping around. This wasn't a silly junior high party, this was a real party! Holding Katie's hand, she made her way through a crowd of people to the kitchen where she smelled pizza. There was a box of pepperoni pizza by the fridge with five slices left. She immediately walked over, grabbed a slice, and started eating it.

A guy that looked way older than her approached her with a leering grin. "Heyyyy," he greeted. She smelled alcohol on his breath and was immediately repulsed.

"Hi," she greeted back with an uneasy smile.

"You're pretty," he complimented her while running his hand along her arm. She jumped back onto Katie, feeling super uncomfortable.

"Thanks….," she replied while still holding her smile. She hoped he wouldn't get too grabby.

He grabbed a bottle of rum. "You want me to make you a drink?" He asked, and before she could politely reject him, he opened up the bottle, grabbed a cup, and began pouring. Only he was pouring it all over the table.

"Alright time to move on," Katie declared before quickly pulling her away from the scene. "We haven't been here for five minutes and we're already being harassed by creeps," she complained before accidentally bumping into a group of friends. They all turned around to face them. There were two boys, and a girl who immediately fixed Katie with a glare. One of the boys was the one from the Lakehurst game. The one with the beautiful blue eyes.

"Hey watch where you're going," the girl said harshly to Katie.

"Sorry," her best friend replied dismissively. She then looked at her. "Come on, Mare," she urged, but Marisol didn't want to go anywhere.

"You're from Lakehurst! You're Owen Milligan!" She said while pointing at Owen, who grinned at her.

"And you're the cutie from the Spirit Squad," he assumed, "What's your name, beautiful?"

"Marisol," she answered quickly, stepping closer to him. He was wearing a tight grey sweater that showed off his muscles. "I've been wanting to meet you but I didn't know how," she added, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously.

"Well, you're meeting me now. What a coincidence," he replied as he looked her over. Marisol hoped he liked what she was wearing, which was a cheetah print dress with black heels. Her hair was curled, and her makeup was glamorous.

"It's a pleasure seeing you," she said with a purr in her voice. Then she felt Katie tug on her arm.

"Let's keep moving," her friend ordered, only for her to shake Katie's arm off of her.

"You go ahead, I'll talk to Owen," she suggested while never keeping her eyes off of him.

"Absolutely not!" Katie replied. "We should go-"

"She said to go ahead. You think a couple of Lakehurst kids are going to bite?" The girl next to Owen asked her best friend dryly. Katie bristled.

"Fine, I'll be outside if you need me," she told her stiffly before turning on her heel and practically stomping away. Marisol paid her no mind as she kept her eyes on Owen. Then they began talking.

In Marisol's mind, there was no one else at this party but her and Owen Milligan.

When Drew saw Marisol talking to some Lakehurst boy, he was tempted to turn around and leave because wherever Marisol was, Katie was never too far behind. But Dallas was by his side, and his friend was definitely not ready to leave when they just got here. So Drew simply pretended Marisol wasn't there.

He grabbed some beer for himself and Dallas. "You wanna chug at the same time?" He challenged his friend.

"Hell yeah," Dallas answered with a smirk. They both opened up their drinks at the same time and began chugging the liquid down as fast as they could. The alcohol burned Drew's throat as he was drinking but he was determined to win.

He finished first, and burped loudly as he did. Dallas did a mere two seconds later, but it was too late. Drew triumphantly banged his chest with his fists as everyone around them cheered for him. His friend scowled at him, but he knew it was nothing serious. A girl approached Dallas.

"I'm sorry you lost, want me to make you feel better?" She offered with a flirty smile. Dallas gave him one look before looking back at the girl with a smile of his own. She pulled him off somewhere and that was the last Drew had seen of his friend. He focused his attention on getting another beer.

He was in the middle of drinking another one when he saw a girl getting harassed by some older kid. She was trying to walk away from him, but he was grabbing her by her arm. Perhaps it was due to the liquor muddling his brain but he immediately walked over to put a stop to it, feeling like he could do anything. "Hey man, screw off," he commanded as he pushed the guy away.

"Why don't you FUCK off?" The older guy asked with a snarl as he pushed him back. Drew prepared himself for a fight. However before he could raise a fist, the other guy got sick and rushed in the kitchen to throw up, leaving just him and the girl. She looked at him with her lips pursed.

"You know, I could have handled that by myself," she told him while folding her arms.

"There's nothing wrong with help," he replied. She raised an eyebrow in response.

"What are you? Some kind of Prince Charming?" She questioned.

"If you want me to be," he answered with his most charming smile. She chuckled.

"I'll see you around, Prince Charming," she replied as she sauntered past him and he looked at the back of her. Despite his mind already getting a little hazy, he had a clear picture of her in his head. She had curly brown hair, dark brown eyes, olive skin, and red nails. He had never seen around school so she must have been from Lakehurst.

Regardless, she was way hotter than Katie Matlin, and that was what he couldn't stop thinking about.

Connor felt himself getting uncomfortable by the crowd of people around him, so he went upstairs to his room. He opened his bedroom door to see two people in the middle of engaging intercourse on his bed. "Oh shit, man! Is this your room?" The guy asked him while he and the girl looked at him in shock.

"Yes," Connor answered flatly. The couple paled as they both frantically gathered up their clothes and ran out of his room. He looked back at them, not knowing how to process what he just saw. He knew about reproductive sex, and he looked up some websites when his godparents weren't looking, but he didn't expect to actually see it happen in person.

It was interesting to say the least.

He walked over to his bedroom window and looked outside to see Emma and Manny's friend J.T. Yorke confronting some kids peeing by his car. Connor leaned in to get a closer look. J.T. turned his back on the kid to get something out of his car. That's when something truly horrifying happened.

Connor could only watch in shock as one of the guys rushed forward and stabbed him in his back.

Marisol was dancing with Owen in the middle of the living room with everyone else. She giggled as they grinded against each other. She had never danced like this with a guy before, and she found that she quite liked it. Owen's big hands were roaming up and down her body and she could smell the axe body spray on him.

"You're an awesome dancer!" She complimented him while shaking her hips.

"So are you," he complimented back as he spun her around and held her tightly against his chest. He leaned in closely to her ear. "Tell me, are the other girls at Degrassi as hot as you?" He asked her in a whisper, and the feel of his breath on her gave her goosebumps.

"Nope, only me," she answered pridefully.

"I lucked out then," he replied as he spun her back to face him. The smirk on his face was the sexiest she had ever seen up to that point. Here she was dancing sensually with a tall, strong looking boy with the most beautiful face. The only visible flaw he had were his eyebrows as they looked like the McDonald's golden arches, but she could work with that. Right now everything felt magical.

"You want to go upstairs? To talk?" She offered while holding his hand. The feel of his rough, calloused hands against her own softer hands made butterflies flutter in her tummy.

"Of course, let's go," he accepted eagerly and they both prepared to leave.

Only to hear a scream from outside.

Drew starred in stunned silence with everyone else as the hosts of the party rushed outside to see what was going on. There were multiple whisperings among the crowd as nobody knew what happened.

Dallas walked up to him while unbuckling his pants. "What the fuck is going on?" He asked him.

"Hell if I know, the birthday girl just started screaming," he answered just as Emma Nelson stepped back inside. Her face was stark white with fear.

"Someone stabbed my friend," she replied in a shaky tone, looking around. "Someone stabbed my friend. Please , somebody, give me your phone so I can call 911! He's bleeding out there!" She urged as she frantically looked for a cellphone. Despite how intoxicated he was at this point due to chugging down two more beers, he was able to reach into his pocket and give Emma her phone. As she dialed the phone, her eyes began to water.

Earlier, Drew was worried that his mother was going to whoop his ass if she smelled alcohol on his breath again. Now he was completely worried, and scared about something else.

Outside the hospital waiting room, Connor sat in silence as his god-sister and her friends waited for news of how their friend was doing. They were all huddled around him in various stages of shock and fear. But no one was more disturbed than he was. He was the one who witnessed what happened and couldn't do anything to stop it.

The image of blood pouring from J.T.'s back repeatedly flashed in his mind along with the way he slowly sank down on his car afterwards. Connor remembered not being able to tear his eyes away from the scene even after President Van Zandt came along and started screaming for help while holding J.T. He didn't tear his eyes away from the scene even after the ambulance came and Emma came into his room to make him accompany her and her friends to the hospital. The whole car ride to the hospital, Connor could not get the scene out of his head.

He stared silently at the clock as time went by. It seemed like forever but they were only at the hospital for three hours. Emma was talking to her parents, apologizing profusely for her part in throwing the party while her boyfriend attempted to calm her down. But it was futile. Manny wouldn't stop crying as she repeatedly said it was her fault for throwing the party in the first place. He wouldn't be surprised if everyone thought they were at fault for what happened. He certainly thought he could have done something to stop the knife from going into J.T.'s back.

When the doctor came into the waiting room, everyone was on edge.

A/N: Yes, a cliffhanger. Because I'm evil muahaha!