(Sorry for the large gaps and other wonkiness in the first part. I'm still scratching my head over this and don't know how to fix it. Haven't given up though!)


The next Monday, two grade ten girls were talking inside Degrasssi Community School. Ellie Nash slammed her locker and turned to her friend Ashley Kerwin. "You never did tell me why you bailed on me this weekend."

Ash rolled her eyes. "I was watching my nutty stepbrother all day Saturday . He spent the whole weekend in bed, and Mom was convinced that it could be something serious. We all had to take turns playing nursemaid in case he turned purple or something." She picked her books up and bumped her locker closed. Ashley and Ellie took off down the hallway.

Halfway down the corridor, Ashley nudged her friend and hissed, "There's the little monster now."

Ellie craned her neck and spotted Toby headed their direction from a side hall. He appeared to be watching his feet as he pushed past the crowds going the opposite direction. "He doesn't look sick. Maybe a little pale and unhappy, but that's no reason for you to play his keeper."

"I know. When Mom found out this morning he didn't have a fever, she made him go to school. Toby kept saying he didn't get enough sleep last night and needed to go back to bed. Everyone was a little ticked at him by that point."

Toby passed the girls by without a glance, and Ellie's eyes followed him as he went off the other way. "Maybe he's depressed."

"Right." Ashley sped up, leaving Ellie in front of her English classroom. "What does Toby have to be depressed about?"


The bell rang, and students poured into the cafeteria. As the usual beginning of lunch hubbub settled down, Ellie found herself joining Ash and a group of popular kids at one end of the room. As she scanned the room looking for Marco, Ellie spotted Toby, alone at a table near the door. A quick skim of the area showed no trace of any of his friends. Ellie nudged Ashley. "Your brother is sitting by himself again," she whispered.

Ash sighed. "That's nothing new."

Paige Michalchuk looked up from her lunch. "What's up?" she wondered, looking quizzically at the two girls. Ellie's gaze was still on Toby.

"Just Toby. He's gotten to be such a loser sometimes that even his friends won't sit with him."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "Anyone remember that time he joined us at lunch and started talking about wet dreams while we were trying to eat? What was that about?"

The group shared a chuckle of disbelief. Ellie, however, seemed fixated on Toby. She stood up and started walking towards the nearly empty table.

Ashley called to her, "El? Where are you going?"

"I don't like watching people eat by themselves. I did it for a couple years in junior high and I don't wish that on anyone."

Paige spoke up. "Ellie, isn't Marco meeting you here? He won't know where to find you if you go sit with some grade nine students. I'm sure JT and his little friends are on their way to join Ashley's nerdy little stepbrother."

Ellie reluctantly agreed that this was all true. She returned to her seat.

During the entire exchange, Toby never looked up once.