A/N: As much as I wanted to keep what happens at the end of this chapter 100% a secret, I cannot due to it containing very triggering content.
There's a scene of graphic domestic violence in Eli's fourth portion of the chapter so trigger warning for anyone who does not want to read such material.
Main POVs: Fiona, Eli, and Bianca.
After a month of attending Degrassi, Fiona Coyne was displeased at not making any new friends yet.
"Everyone loves a rich girl, don't they? I should be super popular at this point with my own posse," Fiona complained to her twin brother Declan as they ate breakfast croissants in the school cafeteria. The croissants weren't from the school, no they would never poison their bodies with that garbage, but made from the live-in chef, Ricardo, at their condo. He also prepared their lunches for the day, which were two trays of sushi and rice.
"Do you really want to be friends with any of the maniacs that go here?" Declan asked her dryly before taking a sip of his earl grey tea. "Mom and Dad sending us to this school was a serious misfire on their parts."
He wasn't wrong. Her and her twin brother had been going to prestigious boarding schools from all over the world their whole lives but somehow now were currently attending a high school infamous for its teen pregnancies, fights, and STI outbreaks. Oh and that one time a kid brought a gun to the school….and how a Muslim kid was the victim of a hate-crime during only the second week of this semester.
Was this their parents' odd way of trying to humble her and Declan?
"Not everyone is a maniac here, there's some girls I see as respectable company," Fiona argued, thinking of Marisol Lewis, the most popular girl in her grade. She was pretty, upper class, and bubbly. She just had an obnoxious ogre of a boyfriend. They talked on a few occasions in their classes, and Fiona desperately wanted to be friends with her.
"There are certainly some ladies at Degrassi that currently pique my interest," her brother replied with a smirk. He was currently the most desirable bachelor at Degrassi, and she was sure every girl in his grade that wasn't in a relationship wanted him. But yet no one was paying her any attention.
She didn't care about getting attention from boys at all. For some reason, she was only concerned with having female friendships at the moment…..
"We should throw a party while our parents are away this weekend," she suggested as the idea came to her. "A grand Coyne affair!"
"A party would be a great way for the both of us to climb on top of the social scene," Declan mused. "Degrassi would be ours to run."
"Exactly, I'll get the word out, and everything will be prepped by the time we get home," she replied excitedly. People would swarm around her soon enough, not just Declan. At all of their other schools, girls were always following her around, wanting to be her. Because her and Declan weren't just popular. That was a disrespectful way to describe it.
They were royalty.
Eli walked into his homeroom class with Julia as they held hands together. His best friends were joking about something in their usual seats.
When they saw him however, they dropped whatever lighthearted demeanor they had. Eli waved to them, but Mo only glared at him. He sighed as he and Julia took their seats. It looked like his friends really were pissed at him for prioritizing Julia over them lately. Last night he didn't go to yet another game night at Mo's place because Julia wanted to sleep over his house.
"Fuck them. You don't need them," Julia said to him.
"I don't like fighting with my friends," Eli replied as he rested his chin on his fist. He really didn't know what could be done at this point. Mo and Jake hated Julia and Julia hated them back.
"Who needs friends when it's those two judgmental assholes? They don't even understand you like I do," Julia pointed out.
That was true. Mo and him bonded at first over them both being outcasts but other than that they were quite different. Every trait Mo found creepy in Julia was present in him as well but for some reason Mo never had an issue with him and it bothered Eli. With Jake…..he honestly didn't know how he and Jake became buddies. They just did.
"They need to get over themselves, and I'm holding out hope that they do," Eli said as he looked again at his friends. To his annoyance, Mo and Jake went back to joking around with each other as if he didn't exist.
"If they don't, then it's no big deal. You have me," Julia replied while resting her hand on his leg. It caused him to smile.
Julia was the brightest light in his life so far. He had never found someone he connected with more. She was his other half, his soulmate, his twin flame. And she was right. He didn't need Mo and Jake.
Julia was all that he needed.
During the first period of class, Bianca was doing her biology test along with everyone else. The answers on the test were coming easy to her unlike half the class…and probably her own boyfriend as well.
Bianca looked over to Drew to see how he was doing on the test. There was a nervous expression on his face and the way he was filling out his answers seemed like he didn't have confidence in any of them. She had faith that he was doing a lot better than he thought he was.
Last night, instead of doing anything romantic, Bianca helped Drew study for the test instead. He was annoyed but she knew what was more important. She knew that deep down, he wasn't dumb. It was just harder for him to understand the learning material more than others due to his dyslexia.
Drew told her that he wanted to be in an actual relationship with her because there was something special about her compared to other girls. Well, she felt the same way about him. There was a vulnerable, soft, and tender side of Drew that the other boys at Degrassi didn't have and that's why she was finding herself to have deeper feelings for him beyond physical attraction. Their first date was actually her first date with a guy, and it made her get the warm fuzzy feelings that girls like Marisol constantly gushed about. For the first time she had fun outside of drinking and sex, and it felt….good. Being with Drew felt good unlike it never did with Owen.
The bell rang, and Bianca turned in her test, feeling confident about her chances. She definitely passed. Since she hadn't been hanging around Owen and Fitz as much lately, she had actual time to care about school.
She met with her boyfriend at the entrance to the classroom, and grabbed his hand as they walked out together.
"How did you think you did?" She asked him as they walked to their next class.
"I don't know. There were some answers I knew while others I didn't. Regardless, I wouldn't have known any of them if it wasn't for you so thanks for that," he replied in gratitude.
"I know you did good, Drew. You need to start having more confidence that you can do good on tests," she said.
"Okay, Mom," he joked as they accidentally bumped into Owen, who looked disgruntled about something.
"Not to interrupt your convo with your boyfriend, B," he began, and the way he said "boyfriend" as if he didn't believe she actually had one now, rubbed her the wrong way, "But have you guys seen my sweet little Mari yet?"
Bianca shared a look with Drew as she shook her head. She had French 2 with Marisol in third period but not in her first two classes. She hadn't really spoken with Marisol at all this year so far, and that was for the best. They did not get along if she could put it nicely.
"She ditched on our date at the last minute last night for some reason and we need to have a talk about it," Owen explained. Bianca looked in her friend's eyes and was put off by the sheer rage in it.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you guys will make up and fuck afterwards like always," she replied, feeling uneasy.
"Too bad, the other way I usually let out my frustrations isn't available these days," he said, looking her up and down before storming away from her and Drew. Bianca looked over to Drew, who was staring at the back of him with a raised eyebrow.
"What is he talking about?" He asked her suspiciously.
"Nothing," she dismissed quickly. She wasn't ready to talk about her and Owen's former sex escapades that definitely were not happening again now that she was dating Drew. She had no intentions of cheating on her boyfriend, and quite honestly, there was no pride in being Owen's side bitch anymore. Now that Marisol was spreading her legs for him these days, Owen really had no reason to even cheat but his girlfriend must have been boring in bed.
"You know, Owen's a cool guy sometimes but something about the way he treats Marisol is kinda weird," Drew pointed out.
"It is," she agreed, "But it's none of our business so we should mine our own."
Even then, as they continued walking to their next class, the uneasy feeling Bianca had didn't stop.
In Art class, Fiona was too busy watching Marisol do her art project instead of doing her own. The other girl was doing a pretty watercolor portrait of a beach in Jamaica during sunset.
"Hey that's really great," she complimented her.
"Thanks," Marisol replied with a smile that caused a warm feeling in Fiona's stomach.
"My brother and I are throwing a party tonight at our mansion, you should come!" Fiona offered.
"Well I love parties, so there's no reason why I wouldn't be able to come," Marisol accepted.
"I am going shopping for a new dress after school, would you like to join me?" Fiona asked, hoping Marisol would say yes to that too.
"The new rich girl wants to go shopping with me, I should be honored," the other girl replied.
"No, it would be an honor to go shopping with you," Fiona countered, "You're like the coolest girl here compared to the rest of the losers and freaks here."
She looked over to one of the losers and freaks in question, Imogen Moreno, as she sat behind them working on her own little art project. She seemed to be in her own little world as she painted a watercolor portrait of some dog, humming some tune to herself. She was wearing a black headband with two fuzzy bumble bees on top of it along with a yellow and black striped dress, yellow boots, and bumble bee shaped earrings. Her hair was worn in two braided buns. It was truly an odd sight to Fiona, what kind of weirdo dresses like that? Was the girl mentally five?
"Imogen's weird but she's actually not that bad once you look past it," Marisol replied. "Maybe you should invite her to the party."
Fiona wrinkled her nose in disgust. She would never invite Imogen to any social gathering. The girl would only make her and Declan look bad.
Coyne affairs were for the elite, not sideshow performers.
When it was lunch time, Eli grabbed his lunch of a burger, fries, and a Pepsi and went to sit with his friends along with Julia.
He approached them with his tray of food, only for Mo and Jake to look away from him and talk with each other as if he wasn't even there. Pissed, he led his girlfriend out of the cafeteria and to some of the tables outside. "I can't fucking believe they're really shunning me," he grumbled to himself as he sat down.
"Like I said earlier, you don't need them, you have me," Julia replied before eating on her slice of pizza.
"Me and you against the word, I guess," he replied, "I don't want to be friends with anyone that hates you."
A soft, beautiful smile appeared on his girlfriend's face. It was the small moments of vulnerability that she displayed around him that made him love her even more.
"I love you," she said before they both leaned in at the same time to share a tender kiss. They pulled apart from each other just in time to hear an interesting conversation from some students nearby.
"Are you going to that party the Coyne twins are throwing tonight?" One girl asked the other.
"Uh, duh! I heard it's going to be awesome! Maybe I'll get the attention of Declan, he's such a hottie," the other girl gushed. It made Eli roll his eyes as he turned back around to look at his girlfriend, who had a devious look in her eyes.
"We should crash that party," Julia said.
"Why? What would be the reason?" He questioned in confusion.
"To make those rich, stuck up brats uncomfortable," she answered with a smirk. "You don't want to cause a little mischief with me?"
"I'm always in a mood to cause mischief with you," Eli replied with a smirk of his own.
After school, Bianca walked out of the building with Drew. As soon as they walked down the final step, however, Drew suddenly wanted to split apart from her. "Where the hell are you going?" She demanded as she followed him.
"You know my mom picks me up after school," he reminded her as his sister met up with him.
"I can't meet her?" Was her next question. Her boyfriend's silence made her fold her arms in indignation. "Ah I get it. Don't want Mama Torres to find out you're dating the school slut," she added bitterly.
"My mom is irritating as hell, you don't want to meet her," Drew replied while diverting his eyes away from her.
"But yes it's because of your reputation," his sister clarified, earning a vicious glare from her brother in return. "What? It's true!"
Bianca pursed her lips tightly. Of course not even Drew thought she was good enough to meet his parents. She turned on her heels and prepared to walk away from them, only for Drew to call her. "Wait," he said. She begrudgingly turned around to see what he had to say.
"We're having a family dinner this Sunday. You can come by then. I just don't want you to face Audra Torres unprepared," he said as he walked up to her. She allowed him to grab her hands. He ran his thumbs over her knuckles, and for some reason the gesture made her giddy inside.
"We're still going to the party together, right?" He asked, referring to the party these rich snobs at their school were throwing tonight.
"You may be going, but trashy sluts like me are definitely not invited," she bluntly answered.
"Fuck that. You're my girl and I'm bringing you everywhere no matter what anyone says," he replied sharply. "If anyone is mad over it tonight, it's because you'll be the best girl in the room. Guaranteed."
"Here comes Mom," his sister announced as a red minivan came around the corner. It caused a worried expression to appear on Drew's face. Despite having the urge to stick around, Bianca decided to leave Drew's presence, but not before giving him one final longing look.
Despite hearing from Drew constantly about how awful Audra could be at times, Bianca still wanted to meet her. Some of it was morbid curiosity to see if she really was awful.
The other part of it was that she actually wanted Drew's family to like her.
At Destiny boutique, Fiona was showing Marisol around as they shopped for outfits for tonight. The boutique was owned by one of her and Declan's cousins, who have lived in Toronto for a while.
"Wow, these are all so pretty," Marisol said as she picked out a shimmering red dress from the rack, "But definitely too much for my wallet."
"Don't worry, everything's on me," Fiona assured her with a smile. Paying for someone else's dress wasn't a big concern to girls like her. The money she had at her disposal was never ending.
Marisol's eyes widened in shock. "Really?" She asked.
"It's no big deal hun, try it on," Fiona urged. The other girl squealed before running to the fitting room with the dress. Fiona sat down primly on a satin seat in front of the stall door. She took a moment to look down at her nails, which were freshly painted lavender last night. She didn't get them done at a regular salon (because her nails deserved better than the disgustingly cheap products the salons used), but had them done by a private nail tech.
After a few minutes, Marisol came out of her stall wearing the shimmering red dress…and something stirred in Fiona. It was a wrap with a low hanging neckline that barely reached past Marisol's thighs, showing off her shiny looking brown legs. The straps of the dress were hanging, showing off her bare shoulders as well. Fiona struggled not to bite her lip in a show of something she was scared to admit to herself.
"Does this dress look great on me?" Marisol asked her.
Great was an underwhelming way to describe it.
"Has anyone ever told you you're like a goddess?" Fiona asked her back.
Marisol giggled in response, and Fiona felt her cheeks warm.
Eli later arrived at the party on a bike with Julia following right behind him on her own bike. He didn't feel any nervousness or anxiety as they stepped into the Coyne mansion together. He really didn't give a fuck about what anyone thought of him and Julia showing up.
There were stares from some people, but most of the guests at the party were too busy chatting, dancing to music playing in the background, or eating…sushi?
"Wow these twins really are fucking rich," he heard Julia say in wonder as they looked at trays of various kinds of sushi on one of the kitchen counters. There were trays of muscles, oysters, clams, rice balls, shrimps and other exquisite foods available to try. He even saw caviar was being passed around.
As he looked around the Coyne mansion, Eli had to admit that he was impressed. He wasn't unfamiliar with the world of the upper class as his mother's side of the family was wealthy, but as he took note of the marble floors, large vintage paintings, diamond chandeliers, and lush furniture, the Coynes were giving off vibes of being filthy rich or at the very least not ashamed to flaunt their wealth.
"Would either of you like to try some crab balls?" A servant asked him and Julia while holding up a tray of the fried appetizers, shaking him out of his thoughts.
"Uh…sure," he accepted as he and his girlfriend took one each. He took a bite out of his and immediately took note of how fresh and meaty the crab tasted. "Shit, this is really good," he said to Julia.
"And hot," she replied before taking another bite of her own ball. "What should we do next?"
He was about to answer but his eyes instead fell on Jake and Mo, who were chatting animatedly with some other party goers. Despite knowing at this point that it wouldn't end well, Eli walked over to his friends. "Hey guys," he greeted politely.
"Hi," Mo greeted back flatly as Jake started sipping on a glass of something that looked like beer.
"You guys didn't tell me you were going to be at this party," Eli said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well we figured that you would be too busy swallowing your girlfriend's cooch tonight to give a damn about what we're doing," his best friend bluntly replied.
"Come on, man, are you guys really mad because I'm trying to support my girlfriend?" Eli asked angrily, truly fed up now.
"Yes, because it's coming at the expense of our friendship!" Mo replied just as angrily. "You don't hang with us anymore, not even at school. It's all about your girlfriend!"
"Eli dedicates his time to me because he loves me, something no girl can ever say about you," Julia sneered from his side. Mo scoffed in response.
"Your boyfriend loves the sex you're giving him, which must be out of this world because I can't see why else he would put up with miserable bitch like you," he countered. Rage boiled inside of Eli at the disrespect of his girlfriend. He walked up to his best friend with a threatening glare.
"You may be my best friend but you might want to cool it down with how you speak to my girlfriend," Eli warned Mo, who glared back at him. Both of their fists tightened up at the same time.
"Guys, guys, please. We're at a fancy folk party, let's behave," Jake urged as he got between him and Mo, pushing them both back with his hands.
"Tell lard ass over there to behave," Julia replied, folding her arms. Mo's eyes narrowed at the insult, and deep down Eli knew that his girlfriend went too far with that comment.
"Fuck you guys. I hope you'll enjoy her forever, Eli, because you have no one else right now who cares about you, especially me," Mo snarled before storming off. Jake looked at him and Julia with a frown before following Mo.
Eli stood there, not knowing how to properly react for a moment. Did Mo really just end their friendship?
His throat began to itch as he held back the urge to cry. He had to do something to distract that urge. Quickly. Mo didn't deserve to see him cry.
"Eli…," Julia said to him while attempting to grab his arm. He shook off her hand. Oddly he wasn't in the mood for her touch right now. He looked around the living room, and his eyes fell on a bottle of champagne that was being passed around.
He went over to get a glass.
This was not the usual kind of party Bianca attended.
As she sat on Drew's lap eating muscles, she couldn't help but feel like a fish completely out of water even if she was dressed for the occasion. She was wearing a classy asymmetrical black dress and hers, but still felt like nobody actually wanted her here. She tried to hide her insecurities with the food and the really good liquor.
"Look at the way that guy is eating those oysters," Drew said to her with a laugh as she looked to see what he was talking about. There was a blond guy weirdly chomping on a tray of oysters like there was no tomorrow while everyone looked at him in confusion.
"Isn't he the leader of The Studz?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. She knew a drug user when she saw one.
"I guess it's all part of the rocker life," her boyfriend answered with a shrug.
'Well, even the classiest high school parties still have drugs,' Bianca mused as she watched Marisol dance with the hostess of the party, Fiona. The two girls were laughing and giggling together. She wouldn't even dare to go over there and ask if she could join them.
Marisol would probably spit on her.
Fiona was having the time of her life as she playfully spun Marisol around as they danced to the pop song playing loudly over the speakers. She knew that she finally found her first real friend at Degrassi!
When they were done dancing together, they broke apart just as Katie Matlin walked up to them in a blue dress. "Hi Mare," she greeted Marisol, "Can we talk for a moment?"
Marisol's eyes turned dark (well darker than normal), but she nodded. Fiona watched as the two friends walked off to a corner. She knew the two girls were childhood best friends but were currently fighting due to Katie not approving of Owen. Fiona personally could see why Katie hated that guy, but she wisely kept her opinions to herself. She decided to instead get a class of sparkling cranberry apple cider from her parents' cabinet. It was one of the most expensive drinks there and her favorite.
She could not have actual alcohol.
As she sipped on her drink, Fiona looked at all of the guests as they carried on in pride. Her and Declan had thrown yet another successful party. Where her brother was at, she currently didn't know. He was probably having sex with some girl in his room. She saw him flirting with some model earlier.
Her eyes fell on Owen Milligan as he shoved his way through the crowd, probably looking for his girlfriend. From the way he was stumbling, she could tell that he was a little drunk. She looked upon him in distaste. She never got worse vibes from a jock. In classes he was dumb, rude, vulgar, and very creepy. She caught him eying her a few times and it made her skin crawl. As if she would ever let that touch her body.
He locked eyes with Marisol, and the lust in his eyes was clear. Fiona's gut tightened in dread as she tried to remember if her bedroom door was locked or not. The idea of that ogre having sex on her bed made her want to vomit.
What threw her off though, was the unease in Marisol's eyes at the sight of her boyfriend.
One glass of champagne turned into several, and now that his mind was fuzzy and his body unnaturally warm, Eli could admit that the several was too many.
"Eli…," Julia called to him, but her voice was distorted, "Let's go home, I'm tired…"
He slowly turned to look at his girlfriend, who was a little blurry right now. Everyone in his line of vision, and the people on the other side of the room were just blobs.
"Going home is a great idea…," he heard himself agree before beginning to walk, only to stumble a little. Maybe not. "I need to sit down for a bit…."
He sat down at a couch, wobbling along the way, and his girlfriend followed, sitting down next to him with her arms folded. He was probably a bad boyfriend for this. He always was when he couldn't make Julia happy.
"Owen, I'm not in the mood," he heard Marisol say, and he turned his head immediately to focus on her as she argued with her douchebag of a boyfriend. He probably shouldn't be admitting this even to himself, but she looked beautiful in her red dress. Red was an attractive color on her, even if he preferred her in pink.
"Mari, don't say no to me," Owen replied and the anger in his eyes immediately put Eli on edge.
"Please, baby. Maybe later but right now I'm talking to Katie," Marisol pleaded, and even while drunk, Eli could detect the fear in her voice. Instinctively, he rose from his seat, still wobbling.
"Mari, we're going to find a room right now to talk about how you've been treating me lately," Owen declared.
"How about you leave her alone?" Katie demanded with a low growl in her voice.
"Shut up, bitch no one's talking to you," he snarled. At this point everyone was staring at the couple as they argued.
"Hey you don't talk to Katie like that!" Marisol shouted as she moved past him, holding Katie's hand, "I think I'm going home by myself tonight," she added angrily.
Owen then grabbed Marisol by her arm and she barely had time to react before he punched her in her face, causing her to fall down and hit her head on a table nearby.
And that's when Eli felt a rage he had never felt before in his life.
Bianca didn't have time to register what her best friend just did before all hell broke loose.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD I'LL KILL YOU!" Katie Matlin screamed in pure homicidal fury as she jumped upon Owen…and she wasn't the only one. Drew had disappeared from her side to join Katie and a bunch of other guys to beat on Owen, who tried to fight them all back while everyone else watched in mixtures of shock and horror. Bianca herself couldn't move as a million thoughts ran through her head.
Owen committed an act of domestic violence in front of her eyes. Owen, her best friend, her first sexual partner. He just punched his girlfriend in the face as if she was a guy.
Several people from the crowd rushed in an attempt to break up the carnage that was currently happening but it took until Jake Martin said something for everyone to stop.
"She's not waking up," he said in horror as he kneeled down next to an unconscious Marisol on the floor.
There was blood leaking from the side of Marisol's head.
Fiona was shaking as the ambulance workers carried Marisol off on a stretcher, who was still unconscious. Katie had followed the ambulance workers out of the mansion, demanding to get in the ambulance with Marisol because she was her sister.
Owen had run from the scene, but she didn't think he was going to make it far with the cops looking for him.
The party was over. That much was clear. "Everyone get out," she said, feeling frustrated when no nobody moved, "I said everyone get out!"
There were loud whispers and panicked conversations as the party guests frantically scurried out of the mansion, leaving just her and her brother in their living room by themselves. There was spilled food and drinks everywhere, but that wasn't a major concern to her at the moment. Fiona walked over to a couch and sat down, feeling tears spring up in her eyes.
For the first time in almost four years, she had a raw urge to drink alcohol.
A/N: Poor Fiona, but more importantly poor Marisol. I had planned for this moment to happen for quite a while but it didn't make writing it hurt any less :((((
What will happen next with this storyline? You will find out next chapter.