A/N: Trigger warning for references to domestic violence, mentions of someone being in a coma, alcohol relapses, and ableist slurs being used.
Main POVs: Everyone from the Class of 2013 except Marisol and Owen.
The Monday after her best friend was put into a medical coma, Katie walked numbly into the school, feeling empty inside.
The hallways were eerily quiet just like they were after the school shooting all those years ago. No one had much energy to chatter excitedly with their friends, or gossip, or complain about the inevitable loads of homework they would have to bring home. As for herself? Over the weekend, She had felt millions of emotions and none of them were good.
The strongest one was regret.
If she was a better friend to Marisol, she would have been able to successfully pull her friend away from that monster before he put Marisol into a coma in front of her very eyes. If she stabbed Owen in his throat with her fork at lunch and killed him like she had been fantasizing about for a while, none of this would have even happened. She failed Marisol, and now there was a chance she would never be able to make it up to her.
The doctors at the hospital Marisol was in did not know when she would wake up, if she did. The damage to her head was dangerous enough that they had to perform surgery to remove the blood clot that had grown from it. Now it was up to the universe to decide whether or not she would wake up. With each passing second, Katie found herself scared of the possibility of Marisol dying.
Marisol had been her other half since they were five. Her partner, her twin flame, and most definitely her platonic soulmate if that was even a thing. A life without Marisol Lewis would be one that was empty, dreadful, without color.
Katie sat down in homeroom class just in time for the bell to ring. Mr. Simpson came in and shot her a sympathetic look before standing in front of the class.
"All of you probably know what happened this weekend, and don't know what to say or do. The best thing we the staff at Degrassi can do is provide support in these troubling times. The counselor's office is always open and I have signups for individual sessions with Ms. Sauvé," he announced.
Katie didn't have any energy to react to that. A measly counseling session with Ms. Sauvé wasn't going to cure her fear of Marisol dying or make her feel any less of a useless friend. Or calm her urges to sneak into Owen Milligan's jail cell after school to kill him before his family could bail him out.
Mr. Simpson turned on the TV. "The Shep is making an announcement right now," he said just as the school principal's face appeared on the screen. Everybody in class waited to hear what he was going to say about this, especially since Owen was one of his favorite students.
"Good morning, Degrassi," The Shep greeted, "Getting news of what happened this Friday was upsetting as your principal, because the safety of my students is my number one concern whether you guys are on school property or not. Hearing about what happened to Marisol Lewis made me feel like a failure. She's a bright, outgoing, beautiful girl who didn't deserve what happened to her."
A small hope swelled up in Katie. Despite the horrible thing he said about Connor DeLaurier in her interview with him last month that could not be shown to the school , The Shep might actually handle this situation properly.
His next words killed that hope.
"With that being said, my sympathy is also with Owen Milligan, who I know did not intend to hurt her on purpose," he added, "Owen is an upstanding member of the Degrassi community and an essential part of the football team. I have known him since he was a freshman at Lakehurst, and there's no possible way he would willingly harm his girlfriend. He was just being a dumb teenage boy who had a little too much to drink. . Teenagers do stupid things while drunk, and this situation is a clear example of that. Which is why there will be an assembly before school tomorrow about the dangers of alcohol consumption in the hopes that this situation will never happen again. In the meantime, send your regards to not only Ms. Lewis' family but Mr. Milligan's as well during this difficult situation. This is Mikerty Sheppard with a message," he said before the announcement was over. Mr. Simpson turned off the T.V., and there was disapproval clear on his face over The Shep's statement.
Katie dug her nails so hard into her hands in fury at the principal's words that she could feel blood leaking from her skin. She was so angry, she was at loss at what to say. It caused her to shake in her seat.
For Marisol's sake, she was going to make The Shep regret ever coming to Degrassi.
The world felt dull, grey, and colorless.
Eli sat in his seat in history class, but he wasn't paying attention to anything Mr. Perino was saying. Instead, his thoughts were on the empty seat in front of him, and the girl who usually occupied that seat.
Marisol was in a coma, and there was nothing he could do about it. He wouldn't be able to see her smiles today, or hear her giggles, or see her apply lip gloss to her lips. There was a possibility that he would never see or hear any of that again. It scared him, and the resentment he had for himself was growing every minute.
When they were in seventh grade, he was able to save her from Rick Murray at the cost of taking a bullet in his chest. He had nightmares frequently after that and still did from time to time, but it was worth it because he couldn't let anything bad happen to Marisol.
So why wasn't he able to protect her from her bastard boyfriend?
The signs were there. The light in her eyes had been gone since the end of last year, she would walk stiffly to school every now and then, she wore long sleeved shirts and jeans even in hot weather, and she came off as jittery, shaky in classes. At lunch she hadn't been eating the food she usually ate, just salads and water, and Owen had his always arms wrapped around her in a tight, possessive grip. He knew what Owen was when he overheard the asshole talking about her like a sex doll instead of an actual human last year.
So why the fuck had he not done anything until he saw Owen punch her in her face?
He hadn't slept well since Friday. He didn't deserve to. Julia was confused as to why this was even affecting him so much when he told her that he couldn't stand Marisol. Why he was, he wasn't ready to admit yet.
He hasn't been a great boyfriend lately. He hadn't found the time to really focus on Julia when he couldn't stop thinking about Marisol. They hadn't had sex in three days and he didn't know if he would be able to be in the mood for it any time soon. Instead, they would just sleep together in his bed. Well, she would sleep. He didn't really.
As he continued to stare at the empty chair in front of him, Eli wondered when the self loathing for himself would end…..or if he even wanted it to end.
Mo struggled to find his usual willingness to crack jokes in a difficult situation.
"So…Mortal Kombat tonight?" He asked Jake as they walked to their next class together. His best friend seemed out of it.
"Uh, I think I'm going to stay home, man, just have a chill night to myself," Jake rejected, "Sorry."
"Afraid of getting your ass whooped?" Mo joked, only to drop the lighthearted demeanor when Jake shook his head. He knew what Jake was feeling at the moment about what happened with Marisol.
They both dated her at some point in time, and while they each had long been broken up with her, seeing Owen punch her triggered something deep inside of them. With Mo, it was anger. He had jumped Owen along with Eli, Drew, and Katie because while Marisol was his ex-girlfriend, he still cared enough about her that he just wasn't going to let her current boyfriend abusing her stand. Any guy that beat on his girlfriend deserved the same treatment but worse.
Jake was quiet for the rest of their walk until they took their seats in French class together.
"If I never broke up with Marisol in eighth grade, maybe this wouldn't have happened. What we had was nice, we could have been still together and she would have never dated Owen. None of this would have even happened," his best friend rambled.
Mo couldn't help but silently agree as he thought about his own relationship with Marisol. They were both so young back then but maybe it would have grown into something more.
And Marisol wouldn't be in a coma right now.
This week's Feminist Club meeting was tense in light of recent events, and Imogen could not deny how uncomfortable she felt at the moment watching Katie Matlin and the club's president, Holly J Sinclair, go at each other.
"There's something that needs to be done about The Shep. He's an abuse apologist and I won't let that stand," Katie declared with a dark look in her blue eyes. "My best friend is lying up in a hospital bed unconscious right now because of her boyfriend and you expect me to not be angry at The Shep for defending him because Owen is one of his favorite students?"
"You have every right to be mad," Holly J replied in a calm, right voice, "But what do you really want us to do? Protest him? The Shep would suspend all of us."
"I mean, we're the feminist club and isn't it a part of activism to protest even when it could get us in trouble?" Imogen decided to speak up, albeit meekly.
A few years ago, the idea of protesting for Marisol Lewis would have been laughable to her. But this was a serious situation, and even if her and Marisol didn't already squash their beef in eighth grade, she would have still wanted to do something. She participated in a protest against Rick Murray all those years ago because he was an abuser, and she would do the same against Owen Milligan and The Shep. Abusers and their apologists should never be welcomed anywhere.
The glare Holly J sent her for her comment indicated that she didn't even want a girl like her to speak. She recognized that look at this point. In her meanness, the older girl was worse than Marisol in all honesty. She treated her own friend Anya, the club's vice president, like garbage.
"I'm not risking my presidency for this, I'm sorry. We can make signs and posters to support Marisol and only Marisol and that's the best thing we could do," Holly J rejected firmly.
"I guess I wouldn't expect anything less from The Shep's princess," Katie sneered. Holly J turned to look at her with narrowed eyes.
"Excuse me?" The older girl demanded.
"You're only school president because The Shep gave you the position. You're only president of the Feminist Club for the same reason, and right now you are doing a pretty shitty job," Katie continued before looking at her in distaste, "I would ask that if your best friend Anya was in Marisol's position, would you actually give a damn about doing something then but I have a feeling it wouldn't matter either way."
Holly J's face burned in anger as she looked at Anya to demand that she say something…..but her best friend didn't say anything to argue against Katie's words. She just shrugged. Imogen cleared her throat to speak up again.
"I'll make the posters and they'll be done by the end of the period! But I am also willing to protest too, because what if Owen's allowed to come back to Degrassi like Rick was? How would any girl feel safe about that? Of all clubs, our voices about this situation should be the loudest! Degrassi shouldn't be a safe place for abusers!" She declared.
The other members of the club nervously looked back and forth between her and Katie, and Holly J and Anya, who looked like she actually agreed with what she was saying. She turned to face her friend.
"I honestly do think we should protest this, Holly J. A girl is in a coma right now and The Shep is standing by the guy who put her in it. That isn't right," Anya reasoned.
"I'm staging a protest tomorrow outside his office," Katie said before looking at them all coldly, "You guys can join me or not, I don't care. But this is only the first stage of what I plan to do with him."
Imogen had known Katie Matlin for four years at this point and thus knew that Katie had something scary, potentially lethal in mind for The Shep for defending Owen. What it was other than protesting, Imogen didn't know but she had a feeling she would find out soon. They all would.
The Shep had no idea that he was bait in an ocean, and that Katie was the shark that was about to bite him.
Drew found Bianca, sitting down at her locker with a sorrowful look on her face. Instinctively, he went over to sit down next to her. "What's wrong?" He asked her gently.
"People have been glaring at me all day because of Owen," she answered before swallowing uncomfortably, "Everyone thinks I'm going to stand by him."
"Well are you?" He asked her, hoping she wouldn't. They both saw Owen punch Marisol out at that party because she said no to him.
"Drew, I have to tell you something. Owen wasn't only my best friend but the first guy I had sex with. We lost our virginities together because we trusted each other. I loved him, he was one of the few guys I didn't think was so bad…until now," she confessed, and when she looked up he could see the redness in her eyes. She had been crying recently.
"Marisol hated me and I hated her back, but even if Owen is my best friend, I can't defend what he did to her. I can't get the image of him punching her out of my head and I'm constantly ready to throw up. I guess if I tell everyone that, the fucking glares would stop," she ranted.
Drew grabbed her hand and gently squeezed them. "You had no idea what Owen was really like, no one did," he assured her but his own guilt about the situation was eating him up inside.
He was able to stop some guys from raping Marisol all the way back in seventh grade, but couldn't see the signs that one of his own teammates was abusing her until it was too late. In a way, he felt like this was partly his fault. He had been seeing the signs for weeks and didn't do anything.
His one date with Marisol in seventh grade ended horribly, and it was obvious they wouldn't be great together, but he cared about her as a friend to feel deep sorrow about her being in a coma right now. She didn't deserve this.
For the first time in a while, he thought of Katie without any venom but with sympathy instead. Because if he was feeling terrible about this situation, then he knew Katie was feeling a hundred times worse right now.
It turns out that more members of the club were willing to protest than she thought, and for that Katie felt relieved.
"Abusers deserve no sympathy! Abusers deserve no sympathy! Abusers deserve no sympathy!" Were the words she and the other members of the Feminist Club chanted as they stood outside The Shep's office. Imogen was "decorating" the halls with posters about the dangers of domestic violence du, and the rest of them were holding up signs decrying it.
The Shep walked up to them, and his face was full of annoyance. "What the he-heck is going on here?" He demanded. Katie stopped the chanting with a single motion of her hand as she approached him.
"The Feminist Club demands that you take back what you said in your announcement about Marisol and Owen. I was at the party and saw him punch my best friend in the face because she told him no. This was not the actions of a drunk teenager but an abuser," Katie answered, barely containing the anger in her voice. "Make it known that boys like Owen Milligan will not be protected by Degrassi."
"Ms. Matlin, I don't have to do anything," The Shep rejected with a scowl, "I'm not denying that Mr. Milligan went too far but from all accounts this seemed to be a one time incident caused by alcohol and wounded pride. Your girlfriend publicly embarrassed him, and he overreacted, it happens all the time in high school relationships."
Katie was taken aback by his words. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "There were multiple bruises all over her body and some of them were old. This wasn't a one time incident, he was regularly abusing her!" She shouted.
Several of the bruises were even between Marisol's legs, indicating that Owen was doing something else far worse to her than Katie could stomach.
"You don't raise your voice at me young lady!" The Shep shouted back, causing some girls in the crowd to flinch. "If it wasn't reported to the school, then there's nothing I could do about it, and honestly? I don't believe what I don't see. If you don't end this stupid crusade against me right now, then everyone right in front of this office is getting a detention," he threatened.
Katie looked at the other members of The Feminist Club to see if anyone was willing to bend. Imogen came back down the halls after she was done putting up the posters, and was just standing there, not willing to move. No one was. Katie looked back at The Shep with a glare.
"We'll happily take the detention," she accepted coldly.
The Shep glared back at her. "Detention for the rest of the week will teach all of you a hard lesson in disrespecting authority," he snarled before going into the office, slamming the door.
Katie stared at the door calmly. His reaction only made what she was planning to do tomorrow even sweeter. K.C. Guthrie walked past them with Connor DeLaurier at his side, and Katie grabbed at his arm.
"Hey K.C., are the unedited footage from my interview with The Shep still on those cameras?" She questioned him.
"Yeah, why?" He questioned back as he and Connor looked around the crowd in confusion.
"I need it," was her simple response.
After school, Jake sat home alone by himself until his dad came back from Kentucky Fried Chicken. He had smoked his usual after school blunt, but he didn't feel the usual contentment he felt while high.
Instead it made his current troubled emotions even worse, if that was even possible.
His ex-girlfriend was one of the most fun, cheerful, and bubbliest girls at school, and the fact she had this happen to her was unthinkable. School today didn't feel the same without her, and he didn't want to think about the possibility of her dying. It made him nervous.
He couldn't get the image of the blood leaking from the side of her head out of his own head no matter how much weed he smoked, and he bought some intense shit from Jay. The image replayed over and over again in his mind, even when he closed his eyes to sleep at night.
He wasn't in love with Marisol like he was with Katie, but he still cared a lot about her even after they broke up. It was hard not to with how she did her best to support him when his mom was on life support, and when she later died. She was a good girlfriend to him and to this day he regretted that he couldn't return the favor as a boyfriend. Marisol Lewis had this perception of being ditzy, of being shallow, of being slutty, or being a bitch but she was really one of the most caring people he knew. She deserved better than to be in a coma like his mom was.
He hadn't visited her in the hospital because this situation was all too familiar to him. As her ex, he probably owed it to her to visit her but he couldn't. He would be seeing his mom again and the idea was uncomfortable.
It was sinking into him now that he was only fifteen and had already had three females that were important in his life end up in a hospital under serious circumstances, and one of them died. Another one could too. Katie was the only one he was able to help at the cost of their relationship. If she ever relapsed, he wouldn't be able to help her again.
The door opened, and his dad came back with the food, but despite usually being enthusiastic to eat fried chicken, Jake didn't have the stomach to eat any right now.
Later that evening, Dallas looked at his son as his son looked back up at him, kicking his feet happily in his cradle. Rocky was too young to understand everything that was going on right now, and he was glad for that.
He was initially glad he wasn't at the party like everyone else in his class seemed to be, but he really wished he was so he could have joined in on jumping Owen for beating up Marisol. Part of it was because he knew women in his family who had been abused by their boyfriends and husbands and thus what Owen did to Marisol felt personal, and the other part of it was regret. Regret that he was such a shitty boyfriend to Marisol in the brief time that they dated that she fell right into that bastard's arms when he came to Degrassi. If he wasn't such an asshole back then about the pregnancy situation, they probably would have lasted a lot longer as a couple, and she might have not been in a coma right now.
Dallas faked a smile for Rocky's sake as he rubbed his son's little belly, making Rocky giggle in response. He knew after what happened with Marisol and Owen what he had to do as a father from this point on.
He was going to do his hardest to make sure his son didn't grow up to be a woman beater.
Eli knew that Julia would not want him to be here, but he was still here all the same.
"Room 345," the nurse at the station told him and with a bouquet of daisies in his arms, he headed down the hallway to the room. When he walked into the room, he immediately noticed a black guy that looked a lot like Marisol sitting by her bed. Marisol herself was just laying there unconscious in the hospital bed in a hospital gown with bandages wrapped around her head.
The sight broke him inside him, and not just because he knew that Marisol would hate the dull color of the gown she was wearing.
"Hi," he greeted to the older guy.
"Hey," the older guy greeted with a severe lack of enthusiasm. Eli really couldn't blame him. "Are you one of Mari's friends?"
"Yes," Eli answered as this really wasn't the time to talk about him and Marisol's complex relationship.
"I'm her big brother, Devon. I've been here since my classes ended today," the older guy explained. Eli put the bouquet of daisies on a stand where there were dozens of other stuff. There were other flowers, stuffed animals, "get well soon" cards, and candy.
"I came by to deliver these," he said to her brother as he looked at her in the bed. He went by a flower shop after school and got them. He remembered during the first week of school back in seventh grade there was an icebreaker in art class as everyone in class introduced themselves. Each person said their name, favorite food, and favorite flower or plant. Marisol had said that daises were her favorite because they were bright, pretty, and she loved the name.
Her older brother nodded. "Thanks, she will love those when she wakes up," he said.
Of course her older brother would talk as if she was going to wake up, because she was. She had to. Eli didn't know how he would react if she never did.
"It's not right, but I want that motherfucker to die," he heard her older brother say darkly to himself as he took her hand. "Jail isn't enough for that little bastard, he needs to die ."
Eli agreed, but his main focus wasn't on Owen Milligan right now. It was Marisol, who was going to wake up from this and be the beautiful, fierce girl that had a hold on him for almost three years, and even then the hold might have not been completely gone. Even if he was in love with his current girlfriend.
Without much thinking, Eli leaned down and kissed Marisol on her forehead.
At least she was still warm.
Katie walked in the next morning to see that the protest from yesterday grew into an even bigger protest today. Not only were the Feminist Club protesting, but at least a third of the student body was. The Shep giving her and the other members of the club all detentions apparently didn't phase anyone.
As she approached the crowd outside the principal's office, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Imogen, who was holding a box of pink ribbons.
"Since pink is Marisol's favorite color, that's the kind of ribbons we're wearing in support of her," the other girl declared. A small, soft smile appeared on Katie's face in return. Marisol would love that. Katie looked over Imogen's shoulder and was shocked to see Holly J in the crowd wearing a pink ribbon. The school president turned to face her as she walked up to her.
"You're right. We can't let The Shep get away with this," she said, "Male violence should not be defended and until he succumbs to the pressure, we're protesting every day until we can't."
"Good," Katie replied as she wasn't ready to reveal her plan yet.
"You have a lot of guts standing up to me anyway, I respect it," Holly J added while giving her a look of respect.
Katie just shrugged in response. She had a brown belt and was a prodigy in her martial arts classes. She didn't fear anyone.
Especially a girl that walked around wearing a stiff ass ponytail and the tackiest clothes.
Bianca saw the pink ribbons being passed around and walked up to Imogen and another member of the Feminist Club to pick up for herself after her fourth class of the day.
The member of the Feminist Club who she didn't know the name of (and didn't care to know honestly) glared at her as she tried to grab a ribbon. The girl closed her arm over the box of ribbons. "Aren't you friends with that guy who put her in a coma in the first place?"
"He's not my friend anymore," she replied with a scowl, not in the mood to argue with this bitch.
"Pfft, yeah right. You're only saying that to cover your own ass," the girl replied with a sneer. Bianca looked at her disdainfully. The girl seemed to be experiencing an acne breakout on her face, she should be worried about that instead of stopping someone from wearing a measly fucking ribbon.
"You know what? It's not even worth it," Bianca replied with a scowl as she turned to walk away. It was apparent that since Owen wasn't here, that everyone at school was going to take their anger out on her for being associated with him.
She only made it a few steps before someone grabbed her arm. She looked to see that it was Imogen, who was holding out a pink ribbon for her to take with her free hand.
"Take one. Any show of solidarity is important," the other girl stated cheerfully.
Bianca gingerly took it from her hand, feeling some relief.
At least some people at this school didn't want her burned at the stake.
After her Spanish class ended, Fiona numbly walked out of class.
The amount of guilt she was feeling for having the idea to throw in the first place was overwhelming. The more she thought about it, she didn't have to throw a party. She could have just invited a few girls over for a lavish sleepover party and none of this mess would have happened. Without boys, Marisol wouldn't be where she was now.
Her parents asked if she wanted to start seeing the family therapist again. She turned down the offer. She hasn't talked to one since she was fourteen, and she wasn't sure if it was going to help with the guilt she had at the moment.
It wouldn't have changed the fact that it was her fault that Marisol was in a coma because she threw a party and invited everyone, even Marisol's disgusting boyfriend.
Fiona opened up her locker, and pulled out a bottle of champagne. After looking both ways to make sure no one, especially her brother, was going to see what she was about to do, she opened up the bottle and started drinking.
The warmth of the alcohol as it went down her throat provided a temporary good feeling.
During the after school assembly, Katie sat quietly with the rest of her homeroom class. She twiddled her thumbs patiently for what was about to happen.
So far, the most notable parts of the event were video clips showing the dangers of alcohol and a therapist at a rehab facility speaking about the importance of drinking responsibly. These moments didn't tug at anyone in the crowd's heartstrings, especially not hers. She didn't give a damn about alcohol safety when that wasn't the big reason why her best friend was in the hospital.
After Mr. Simpson was done speaking about how irresponsible drinking led to his best friend killing a kid and badly injuring one of their other friends in a car accident years ago, The Shep took the microphone from him, just as she predicted he would.
As he started speaking, she gave the signal to KC, who was playing the clips, to start playing the video.
"I hope that this assembly has taught you all a lesson. What happened with Owen Milligan and Marisol Lewis was a great tragedy that could have been prevented with-" he said before he was cut off by the video playing on the big screen.
"Is The Shep Really Someone You Want As Principal of Degrassi?" Were the words that appeared on a black screen in big bold red letters. Students around her started whispering in their confusion.
A series of incidents that occurred so far this semester that the Shep did a poor job of handling appeared in images one slide after the other. The main ones were the hazing of Jane Vaughn by her football teammates (who didn't take kindly to a girl wanting to play football), Mo Mashkour being hate-crimed by Luke Baker (who was only suspended for a week for the incident), and Connor DeLaurier being bullied by Luke Baker.
Then an unseen clip from her interview with him last month started playing.
"There are millions of students like Connor DeLaurier who have Asperger's and thus have difficulties adjusting to social norms. As principal, would you agree that it's your priority to make Connor and other students like him at Degrassi feel comfortable?" K.C. asked him from his position behind the camera.
The Shep chuckled as he shook his head.
"Look, just because he's one of those retarded kids doesn't mean I have to give him special treatment. The world is tough, kids like him need to learn to adjust or get eaten alive," he replied coldly. Then his face shifted in awkwardness. "Uhh…let's not show this part," he quickly demanded of K.C.
Dozens of people in the audience let out gasps at the Shep's words on screen and he looked around at K.C. in fury, who only folded his arms in defiance. The video then ended.
Katie stood up in front of everyone without any shame. "In addition to all of these truly vile moments, The Shep is an abuse apologist," she began before eying the man coldly, "My little sister Maya will be attending Degrassi soon, and the thought of her being abused by some monster and him getting away from it because he's a jock makes me sick. It should make you sick too. Stand for domestic abuse victims everyone and let The Shep know that he is no longer welcome here. No more Shep!" She shouted before beginning to walk out the auditorium.
All of the members of The Feminist Club from all over the audience got up from their seats and followed her. Then the members of the Power Squad got to up to leave, and Chantay Black was the one leading them. Members of the football team were surprisingly next. "You know why," she saw Jane Vaughn say. Eli, Jake, Bianca and anyone else who was at the Coyne twins' party were the next ones to get up. Soon a whole crowd of students were following her out of the auditorium shouting only one thing.
"No more Shep!"
A/N: As you can see at the end, Causing A Commotion inspired me while writing this chapter, but the circumstances have definitely changed.
However the Shep is still entering his fired era .