It was Monday morning at Degrassi; the students and teachers were going through their usual routines. Nadia was rolling down one corridor towards her locker when Lee, a fellow grade eight student and dance committee member, stopped her to talk. He was about 5'8" with a semi-muscular build. He had jet-black hair and light brown eyes that displayed his Cuban and Italian ancestry.
"Hey Nadia!" he greeted.
"Hi Lee, what's the latest news?" Nadia replied.
"Well, the refreshment committee has everything ready." Lee informed, "We've also hired the DJ's that you wanted. All we need to know is whether you've talked to Marco yet?"
"You read my mind. I was on my way to ask him now. I just hope he says yes." Nadia wished.
"Don't worry, he won't be able to resist your powers of persuasion." Lee said teasingly.
"Whatever. So, you still haven't told me who you're going to dress up as." Nadia reminded him.
"It's like I told you last week, it's going to be a surprise."
"No fair, I already told you who I was going as." Nadia insisted.
"Too bad, so sad. You'll just have to be patient my dear." Lee said flirtatiously.
"I just hope I don't look like too much of a dork." Nadia replied.
"You'll…look beautiful, I'm sure of it." Lee said with a more serious tone.
For a second Nadia thought that maybe Lee could be interested in her, but then her insecurities took over. Lee could get just about any girl he wanted, why would he want to go out with her? They did have a lot in common and they were able to talk about almost anything, but Nadia thought she should be realistic. As Lee left to find some classmates, Nadia knew she had better hurry if she wanted to catch up to Marco.
Marco was standing at his locker talking to his best friend Ellie, when Nadia arrived. "Marco can I talk to you for a minute?" Nadia requested.
"Sure, …Nadia isn't it?" Marco replied.
"Yeah." Nadia couldn't believe he knew her name.
"I'd love to stay and hear your juicy conversation, but I need to get something from my locker before class starts." Ellie said as she excused herself, "Catch you two later."
"Later Ellie. Okay Nadia, I'm all ears." Marco said curiously.
"Well you know this week is the juniors' dance?"
"Uh-huh, I saw some of the posters around the school." Marco responded.
"Well since the '80's dance last year was such a success, we decided to use that theme again this year. We even got 'Mad Dog' and Billy to DJ this year too." Nadia explained.
"Cool, but what's that got to do with me?" Marco wondered.
"Well we're going to have a dance contest and, since you won it last year, we were hoping that maybe you wouldn't mind being a special guest judge this year." Nadia revealed.
"Okay." Marco answered.
Nadia was amazed he agreed so quickly, she thought she would have to do a lot more convincing than this.
"Really, I mean you don't have to stay all night, the dance contest is going to be pretty early." Nadia assured him.
"It's really fine, my social calendar is pretty light these days anyways." Marco explained.
"Okay…well I'll let the committee know." Nadia said.
"Then I guess I'll see you Friday." Marco replied as Nadia wheeled away.
Meanwhile Kendra had just arrived at school. The Degrassi girls' soccer team had placed second in the tournament over the weekend. Kendra had played her most focused game in a long time, mostly because it allowed her to forget what a mess her friendship with Toby had become. She had spotted J.T. and Toby walking towards school, but when they saw her they went off in a different direction. As she entered the building, she saw Allie and Brandy walking through the foyer area. She also saw Nadia coming down from the opposite corridor.
"Hey guys." Nadia greeted.
"Hi." The other girls replied.
"So Allie," Brandy started, "you were telling me about your new man."
"Yeah, Dean is so incredible. I called him yesterday and we must've spent a couple of hours talking on the phone. He's taking me out this weekend, this Friday after the dance actually." Allie said as she glowed.
"Why isn't he taking you to the dance?" Brandy questioned.
"Since he doesn't go to Degrassi, he doesn't want to cause any problems for me?" Allie answered.
"I don't think Raditch would give you too much of a hassle." Kendra stated.
"Maybe, but Dean said I should spend some time with my friends. He's so considerate." Allie gushed.
"Maybe." Kendra said hesitantly.
Maybe Dean was a nice guy, but Kendra had a feeling about him that she just couldn't shake.
(A/N: I've been writing under the premise that Paige only told a few people about what happened with Dean. Outside of Ashley, Spinner, Hazel, J.T., Terri, and maybe Paige's family, nobody else knows what happened.)
A few days passed and excitement continued to grow as the dance approached. The Mason house was also abuzz with excitement, mostly because of Spinner. He and most of Paige's friends had secretly been planning a surprise party for her. Spinner felt it was necessary to do something really special for Paige, especially since their relationship had been through a rocky period recently.
"Spinner, I'm leaving. Tell Mom and Dad that I'm going to Nadia's and I'll be staying for dinner." Kendra called as she headed for the door.
"Hey Kendra," Spinner replied, "Can you do me a huge favor?"
"Why would I do a huge favor for you?" Kendra asked.
"Because I'm asking you so nicely and I haven't bugged you for a couple of weeks." Spinner said with a smirk.
"Wouldn't want you to mess up such an impressive streak. What do you want me to do?" She said.
"It's simple, all you have to do is take this bag by Ashley's house on your way to Nadia's. It has some stuff in it for Paige's party, even you should be able to do it with no problem." Spinner instructed.
"Just keep in mind I'm doing this for Ashley, not for you butthead." Kendra insulted.
"Works for me either way." Spinner quickly replied.
Kendra took the bag and started down her street. She didn't mind taking the bag over to Ashley's, it gave her a chance to ask Ashley something important. Her only worry was running into Toby and how she would handle that.
After a brisk walk, she arrived at Ashley's house. She decided to go to the back door and hopefully avoid Toby. Ashley, who was in the kitchen, heard the knock and went to answer the door.
"Hi Kendra, what's up?" she asked.
"Spinner asked me to drop this off. Is this a good time?" Kendra asked back.
"If, by that, you mean is Toby here, then you don't have to worry. He's off with J.T. doing something."
"I guess it seems kind of stupid going through all of this trouble to avoid somebody." Kendra stated as she entered the kitchen.
"I can understand why you may not be ready to talk to him yet." Ashley replied.
"More like he can't stand to be within a kilometer of me." Kendra observed. (A/N: Yes, some of us Americans do know what the metric system is).
"I told Toby he was acting like an idiot all along. You were the best thing that happened to him and I told him eventually you were going to get tired of being treated like yesterday's garbage. Suffice it to say, I didn't have to tell him I told you so." Ashley explained.
"I'm glad you think so, but too bad Toby doesn't feel the same way." Kendra said.
"Well enough about Toby, how've you been?" Ashley questioned.
Kendra went on to explain how she felt confused since their breakup. Part of her was still mad at Toby, while part of her missed him. Meanwhile Ashley organized some of the party decorations and waited for the cake, she was baking, to finish in the oven.
"So how do you know when a guy really loves you, I mean really?" Kendra asked.
"Well a good indication is when a guy can give you a dozen roses and tell you 'He Loves You', not 'You Rock!'" Ashley said sarcastically.
"Huh? Is that what Craig put on those roses I delivered this morning?" Kendra asked with a sense of amazement.
"Yeah, and he has the nerve to be upset that I'm not totally wooed by that ridiculous card. When he gets over here I'm going to tell him a thing or two about how to tell someone you care." Ashley promised.
"Well that's my cue to get going, besides Nadia must be wondering where I am." Kendra said as she got up.
Ashley told her good-bye and walked her to the door. Kendra passed Craig on the sidewalk near Ashley's house. Kendra felt a little sorry for Craig, he had no idea what he was in for.