A/N: Thanks for all of the positive reviews and feedback.
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Let the drama ensue…-------------------------------------------
Spinner was standing in front of Paige Michalchuk, the love of his life, with a stunned expression on his face.
"I didn't stutter. What I'm saying is that I don't want to be the girlfriend of some hateful, homophobic, moron!"
"Paige what, in the world, are you talking about?" Spinner exclaimed.
"I can explain with four simple words. Marco-is-a-fag." She yelled back. "It's funny how quickly rumors spread in high school. Marco told Ellie about what you did and she told Ashley about it. Guess who the next person to find out was?"
"Its not like I made it up." Spinner retaliated, "I heard it straight from the horses mouth."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Marco didn't tell you so you could go and inform the entire school about his deepest secret. Do you even realize what kind of position you've put me in? I do have a brother that's gay." Paige informed him.
"Paige I'm not suddenly suffering from memory loss, I have met Dylan."
"It sounds more like you're suffering from brain damage. There's something I've never told you about Dylan. Remember when Dylan left last year to spend some time with our relatives outside of Vancouver."
"Yeah, so."
"Well," Paige continued, "that's not exactly the truth. He wasn't staying with relatives. He ran away from home. He left after his girlfriend told all of their friends that he was gay. He had kept it a secret from everybody, even from me. He was really worried about what would happen once we found out. For the better part of last year we would only get occasional calls from him. He would call to let us know that he hadn't wound up in a ditch somewhere. Finally we were able to convince him that we loved him, no matter what. I never want him to feel uncomfortable around me or feel like he can't trust me." Paige was almost on the verge of tears. "I don't think I could take him running away like that again."
"I still don't get what this has to do with me."
"Marco was jumped and beaten up before Dylan's hockey game last night. What if those thugs saw your little artwork and put two and two together?" Paige replied.
"No way." Spinner interjected, "Its like I told Jimmy, I had nothing to do with what happened to Marco."
"Bullshit!" Paige interrupted, "I've seen how hard it is for someone to come out. Its people like you that give them a hard time that make it worse. They feel like they have to hide who they are, which hurts just as much as being punched in the face. I can't be a part of that and I can't be with you if that's how you're going to act."
"Hold up, you're way off base! Its not like I walked up to Marco in the middle of the cafeteria and started telling gay jokes in front of everybody." Spinner defended.
"Well, Spin, what if the shoe was on the other foot? What if I was the one writing hate messages in the girls' washroom? What if I were making remarks about Asian students all over the wall? Do you think your sister would feel comfortable about me coming into her house? Huh?" Paige questioned.
"Don't…go…there." He demanded.
"Spin, that's my point, nobody should go there. I thought you would be more understanding of people that may different from you." Paige pointed out.
"Okay, Okay, I get the message loud and clear. I shouldn't have written that junk in the bathroom. I was just mad at Marco; I don't hate gay people or anything like that. I'll apologize to Marco, and to Dylan if you want me to. I'll do whatever you want to prove that I really do mean it." Spinner pledged.
Kendra could hear them making up. She was glad Spinner finally came to his senses. Even if almost cost him his girlfriend to get the point across.
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A couple of weeks had passed and student activities at Degrassi were in full swing. Nadia was busy working with the planning committee trying to come up with a theme for the grade 7/8 dance.
"What if we had another Night in the Tropics theme?" One girl asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Allie replied, "Kendra told me that last year they spent most of their budget on flowers and palm leaves, which they were over-charged for."
Nadia raised her hand with an idea. "Why don't we have an '80's dance like the grade nines did last year. I heard that it turned out really well."
"That's a great idea!" another girl exclaimed.
"We can let the grade seven and eight students vote on-line for which songs they want to hear. The ones that get the most hits will get picked." Allie suggested.
"We can even have a contest for the best dressed '80's character. The winner would get some kind of prize." Nadia added.
The students continued their brainstorming session for another half-hour. They came up with some great ideas concerning decorations and a DJ. Afterwards Allie walked alongside Nadia towards the cafeteria.
"This dance is gonna be so awesome." Allie said to Nadia, "I can't decide who I want to go as."
"Well I think I'm going to go as Mary Lou Retton." Nadia replied.
"Who is that?"
"Well," Nadia explained, "she was an American gymnast back in the '80's and she won a gold medal, even though some people doubted she could do it. Her story just seemed so inspiring to me."
"Sounds cool." Allie replied
"I know, I think I can even get a red, white, and blue warm up suit and use some medals my grandfather gave to my dad." Nadia said.
As the pair entered the cafeteria they saw Kendra sitting at a table with Emma standing next to her.
"…tomorrow. I've already gotten a few people signed up, including Sean. See if you can find anymore people that are interested, the more the better." Emma said to Kendra.
"Sure, I'll ask around and see if anybody is interested." Kendra replied.
"Hi Emma." Nadia and Allie said as they approached.
"Hi guys. How are the plans coming along for the junior dance?" Emma asked.
"Great, we've come up with a great idea for a theme." Nadia answered.
"I wish I had time to hear all the details but I have to drop something off by Sna-, I mean Mr. Simpson's room before next period. I'll talk to you guys later." Emma said as she turned to leave.
"Bye Emma" the group replied.
"So what's this wonderful idea that you've come up with?" Kendra asked.
"We're going to have a retro '80's dance." Allie replied.
"We're also going to have a best costume contest." Nadia added.
"Then I have to decide who I'm going to go as." Kendra wondered.
"Nadia said she's going as Mary Lou Retton." Allie revealed to Kendra, "I haven't decided who I'm going as yet. I'll also have to see which cute guy I'm going to let escort me to the dance."
Allie noticed a sudden change in Nadia's demeanor, her beaming smile sort of disappeared. Nadia didn't say anything, but Allie knew that boys and dating were kind of an uncomfortable subject for her. Allie felt bad that Nadia hadn't had any guys that were interested in her romantically, even though Nadia would never say anything about it to them. Kendra noticed the same thing and quickly changed the subject.
"So are you two going to help out tomorrow with the campus trash pick-up?" Kendra asked.
"No thanks," Allie replied, "I love the Earth and all, but collecting trash at lunch is not my idea of a fun time."
"How about you Nadia?"
"Sure." she replied, "is that what you and Emma were talking about?"
"Yeah, she wanted me to find as many volunteers as I could." Kendra said.
"Why don't you ask J.T. and Toby?" Nadia urged her.
"It's worth a shot, but I just don't see those two as the environmentally-conscious types. I'll ask them when we have our weekly chess club meeting at lunch tomorrow." Kendra decided.
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Next chapter: Heartbreak(and I'm not just talking about Emma and Sean).