"Hey, Ellie!" Ashley greeted Ellie as she saw her enter through the double doors. Ashley became concerned when she saw Ellie's bloodshot eyes, "Ellie, what's wrong?"

Ellie managed something of a smile, "I'm fine, Ash."

Ashley looked around to make sure nobody was within earshot, "Ellie, it looks like you've been crying. What happened?"

"Why do you always assume something's wrong Ash? Really, I'm fine," Ellie said it so convincingly, she almost bought it herself.

Ashley still didn't believe her, but she knew that Ellie wasn't going to give in, "Okay. Are you going to the dance Friday night?" Ashley tried to change the subject.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders, "Probably not."

"Ellie, you should come! Craig, you and I can all go as friends," Ashley suggested.

Ellie raised on eyebrow, "Ash, I don't want to be the third wheel."

Ashley was trying to think of a way to respond, when she saw Sean coming towards them. As he passed by, a pained expression crossed his face as he looked at Ellie, "You should go with Sean!"

Ellie just shook her head. *I really don't want to talk about this right now.*

"Ellie, I know his reputation isn't so great right now, but he is really nice. He isn't as 'bad' ad he comes off. He was there for me when I needed him, granted it wasn't exactly the best way to help me . . ."

Ellie cut her off, "Ash, it's fine. I don't really like dances. I should probably try to do some extra credit this weekend, so I don't fail . . ."

Marco approached them, and Ashley remembered that he had wanted to talk to Ellie, "Nash, you're not staying home on a Friday night to do schoolwork. You're coming to the dance."

She walked away, leaving Marco and Ellie to share an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Marco mustered up the courage to say, "El, I'm so sorry."

Ellie wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. So much had happened since that night, she didn't remember much of what Marco had said, "It's okay."

"I shouldn't have blamed you for the way Jay treats me,"Marco tried to explain, "I was just upset, and I'm sorry."

"Marco, it's fine," Ellie smiled, "I forgive you."

Marco seemed satisfied, and he spotted Dylan down the hall. He waved over his shoulder as he started walking toward Dylan.

Ellie shook her head. She smiled as she watched Dylan and Marco walk off together. Then, she remembered why she felt so crappy. I should find Sean.

"Hey, man," Craig saw Sean exiting a dark classroom, "What're you doing?"

Sean sighed as he tried to walk away from Craig. *I really don't feel like talking to anybody.* Craig didn't seem to pick up on this, so he followed Sean down the hall.

"Are you okay?" Craig was in a great mood, and couldn't understand how anybody else wouldn't be on that beautiful day.

"Class is going to start soon," Sean tried to get rid of Craig, "I should probably get going," he quickened his pace, and Craig finally got the idea, and stopped in his tracks.

*I wonder what's going on wit him.* Craig shook his head, turned around, and walked away.

Emma wandered the halls aimlessly. She wanted to talk to somebody, but she felt as if there was nobody willing to listen. She wasn't on speaking terms with Manny. She couldn't talk to J.T., because he was to busy with the 'popular' kids. She couldn't talk to Toby, because she had the feeling he never really liked Sean. Maybe she could talk to Liberty. They weren't exactly 'great' friends, and she doubted Liberty would understand, but she was better than nothing.

Emma walked towards Liberty's locker, knowing she'd be preparing for the next class. She carefully approached her, "Liberty? Do you have a minute?"

Liberty turned to look at Emma. She wondered what Emma needed, "Yeah, I guess."

Emma smiled, and motioned for them to go into the empty Media Immersion classroom. *Maybe this was the wrong thing to do. Liberty isn't going to want to listen to me.*

Emma shrugged it off as Liberty followed her into the class, "Today I overheard a conversation between Hazel and Jimmy. It was about Sean and Ellie. . ."

Liberty did her best to listen, but inside, she was having conflicting emotions. *Emma only talks to me when she needs something. But then again, maybe she wants to be friends now.*

After Emma had finished explaining, Liberty wondered if Emma had a problem with getting involved with other people's business. *She was the one who started that rumor about me a few years ago. Everybody thought I was involved with a teacher!* The feelings of resentment had returned. Liberty was about to tell Emma to mind her own business for once, but then she saw the pain on her face, "Emma? Are you okay?"

"I still care for him, Liberty. I know he has done some pretty dumb things, but I don't care. I want him to be okay, and I don't think Ellie is the right person for him."

Liberty shook her head, "Do you honestly think that Ellie would be a bad influence on Sean? Especially compared to the other types of people he's been hanging out with?"

Emma was reminded of the time when she had walked by Sean, and saw the obvious hickey on his neck. *Then again, Hazel said she saw Sean and Ellie walking back from his house this *morning*!*

Liberty watched as Emma sighed. *I guess she really does care more about herself than others.* Liberty shook her head, "Emma, you need to learn to mind your own business. Sean isn't your boyfriend anymore. You don't seem to care about him, cause if you did, then you'd want him to be happy."

Liberty turned on her heel and walked out the door. Emma stood there with her mouth slightly open. *She actually thinks I don't care for Sean?* Emma was shocked. *I was right. Liberty wouldn't understand. I do want Sean to be happy, but I really want him to succeed. He'd be happier if he tried harder.*

Emma wasn't exactly sure of what she meant, but she knew that Sean couldn't really be happy when he was hanging out with losers. *Okay, maybe Ellie isn't a loser, but if what Hazel and Jimmy said this morning is true, then she isn't a good influence.*

Emma finally decided to try and let it go. She tried to go on with her day.

Liberty saw J.T. standing at his locker, and she approached him, "Hello J.T."

She had tried to forget about her crush on him, but it was hard. Every smile, every joke, just a single word out of his mouth reminded her of why she liked him.

"Hey, Liberty," J.T. turned, and continued his conversation with Toby.

Liberty didn't like it when he just brushed her off, or ignored her. *I wish I had something worthwhile to talk about.* He never seemed interested when she spoke about school, or extracurricular activities. That's when she remembered.

"Did you hear about Sean and Ellie?" Liberty asked, causing J.T. to turn back around.

Toby's ears perked at the mention of Sean. He was practically over his crush on Emma, he had Kendra now. There was a time when Sean and he had almost became friends. Sean had even stood up for him. Granted, now Sean was friends with the guys that used to pick on him, but he wasn't that jealous of Sean anymore. Now, now he was just plain angry. Emma was still his friend, and when she told him that she thought Sean may have stolen Mr. Simpson's laptop, he got angry. He knew he couldn't beat Sean up, so he had just glared at him occasionally when he'd walk by. Maybe now was his chance for revenge.

"No," J.T. wanted to hear the gossip, but couldn't understand how Liberty had found out before him.

Liberty smirked as she stepped closer to J.T., "You can't tell anyone. I heard that Hazel saw Ellie and Sean . . ."



Of course, by the end of the day, everybody at Degrassi had heard about Ellie and Sean. Neither one of them had a clue. Ellie was used to people staring at her strangely because of the way she dressed. She didn't pay attention to the obvious whispers about her, because she usually didn't care.

Sean was used to people cowering from him, and getting strange looks, because everybody knew he could kick their ass.

The halls were slowly clearing out as Sean made his way to Ms. Hatzilakos' class. He tried to act nonchalant about the whole ordeal, but inside it was tearing him up. *I should tell her. She deserves the truth, and Ellie doesn't deserve the blame. Who cares what Jay thinks?* Sean gulped. *I do.* He could deal with fighting one or two people at once, but more than that, he was screwed.

Sean took a deep breath as he quickly turned the door knob, and swung it open. He sat down in the chair across from Ms. Hatzilakos.

"Are you here to tell me who else was involved, Sean?" Ms. Hatzilakos asked. *Please tell me. I don't want to punish people who aren't responsible for this.*

"You promise not to blame Ellie?" Sean wanted to make sure this was clear.

"Nope. Just those who were involved," she promised.

"Jay and Towerz," Sean muttered.

Ms. Hatzilakos knew exactly who he was talking about. They were the ones she suspected.

Sean looked frightened as he glanced at the clock, "When are you going to be talking to them?" *Maybe I can get Tracker to pick me up from school tomorrow.*

"Sean, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Sean lied. *I'll just eat lunch in the cafeteria.*

Ms. Hatzilakos was concerned by the worried look on Sean's face. *I wonder if they might do something to him. Are they a 'gang' or something?* She wasn't so certain of what she should do. *Maybe I should just let him off with a warning. I won't talk to Jay or Towerz at all.* Sean was growing fidgety as he waited to be excused. She got an idea, "Okay. Sean, I get the feeling it would be a bad idea for me to talk to your friends. But I do need my things back. If you can get them back for me, I won't need to talk to them."

Sean decided that was an okay idea. He nodded his head as Ms. Hatzilakos got out a pen and piece of paper. *If I pull this off, then I can be with Ellie!* That was all the motivation he needed. That was his decision. He would get back Ms. Hatzilakos' stuff.

"Here's a list of the things they took from me," Ms. Hatzilakos gave Sean a list she had been writing as he thought, "Just have them back to me by Monday."

Sean nodded, grabbed the list, and slowly walked out of the classroom.

*I hope this doesn't blow up in my face. I'm practically asking a student to steal for me. By the did seem to like this idea better than me punishing Jay and Towerz. Maybe he actually stands a chance . . .*

Sean thought this over. *This could be a good thing. I at least have a chance. Maybe I won't even have to steal it back. I could probably get the things from Towerz. I just need a good plan.* That's when Sean got his idea. *Towerz keeps all of his crap in his jacket. If I can just get that jacket. . .*