Summary- It's a new year at Degrassi, and when you throw in some backstabbing, drugs, sex, and heartbreak, no one is going to be ready for the year ahead of them. This story will be mainly about Roxie, the new girl, Manny, Craig, Emma, Spinner, and Ashley. There will be secrets, love triangles, trouble, and lots more! R&R! Thanks~

      Roxie squeezed the pillow over her ears, trying desperately to block out the familiar sounds of fighting and obnoxious, loud rock music pulsating through the walls. Roxie gritted her teeth together as the yelling continued from downstairs, and as the music began vibrating through her head. After a few minutes of tossing, turning, and cursing, Roxie finally realized sleep would be virtually impossible. It looked like she was going to be doing what she usually did- staring at nothing until the sun came up, or she passed out from exhaustion. She thought back to that evening and realized she had chugged a bottle of Pepsi, so it looked like the second option was out. She glanced at her clock and groaned loudly. It was only 2am.

She flipped over onto her stomach and smashed her face into her pillow. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would suffocate herself. She then turned on her side, turned on her other side, picked her nails, hummed a little, and then finally sat up. This is demented, she realized. She had school tomorrow, but it obvious no one in the household cared.

Roxie sprang from her bed and hurried across her dark room, and then pulled open the door. She stomped down the hall to her sister's room, the music growing louder as she neared. She flung open the door angrily and placed her hands on her hips.

"Are you deaf?" she screamed, trying to be heard over the music. She glared at her sister, Angel, who was lounging on her bed, flipping through a magazine and smoking a cigarette. Angel didn't even notice as some of the ashes fell onto her bedspread. "Turn it down, you idiot!"

"Get the hell out of my room" her sister yelled suddenly, grabbing a porcelain statue from her beds-stand, and hurling it directly at her sister's face. Roxie quickly grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door closed just as the statue smashed against the wood.

Roxie sighed as she wandered down the hall, not extremely disappointed. At least it hadn't ended like last time- stitches and minor eternal bleeding for her. She got to her bedroom and once she was inside, she slammed the door as hard as she could behind her. But she doubted anyone cared or even heard. She stomped over to her bed (not like anyone cared again) and fell dramatically into bed, sprawling across it.

All I want is some goddamn sleep! She thought angrily, staring at the ceiling blankly. Is that too much to ask? Roxie didn't think so. After all, it was basic human necessity. All she wanted was for her sister to turn her music down. Roxie hated Angel. It was ironic to Roxie that her mother had named her that- after all, she was the official spawn of Satan. Roxie rolled over onto her stomach and sighed again.

Suddenly, she faintly heard the sound of glass shattering over the loud music. She sat up slowly and walked to her window. She watched as her step-father, George, hurried out of the house to his beat-up Mustang, and hopped in. He quickly pulled out of the driveway and went racing down the street. Roxie sighed again and left her room.

She was halfway down the stairs when she spotted her mother sitting on the couch, covered in glass. She was holding her forehead, and large glass was causing blood to run down her face. Roxie, unfazed, continued down the stairs.

"What happened this time, Mom?" she asked. Her mother looked up and scowled at her daughter.

 "Shut up, Roxie, and get me a goddamn towel!" she said. "Do you want me to die over here?"

Yes. It was the first thing that sprang to Roxie's mind, but she just shrugged and headed into the kitchen. She grabbed a washcloth, rang it under the faucet, rang it out and bit, and then went back to her mother. She handed it to her, and her mother snatched it away from her.

"Need anything else?"

"No. I don't need anything from you," her mother snapped, pressing the wet towel to her head. She shook her head firmly as Roxie crossed her arms over her chest. Then she reached over and picked up a pack of cigarettes, and shook out a few with her good hand. She carelessly tossed one to her daughter, who caught it. "There. Happy?"

Roxie smirked as she stuffed the cigarette into the pocket of her shorts. Maybe she was wrong, but last time she had checked, parents were supposed to, um….discourage smoking, not promote it. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her jacket off a nearby chair. Yep, her mom was definitely in the running for Mother- of-the-Year. She turned, jacket in hand, to see her mother frowning at her.

 "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I don't know. I thought I might play with matches or run into traffic or something. Haven't decided yet," Roxie said casually, pulling open the front door. "Be back never." She slammed the door behind her, waited a few seconds in the highly unlikely chance her mother would come after her, and then headed down the walkway into the dark, warm night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~``

             It was almost 3, and Manny stumbled into her house, giggling at nothing in particular. She dropped her purse in the front hall, and its contents spilled all over the marble floor. She reached down to pick it up, but changed her mind. Ah, screw it, she thought, standing back up. She blinked hard. Was that a butterfly? She laughed loudly at the thought. Don't be stupid, she told herself. Butterflies are shiny.

She was laughing so hard that she lost her balance and nearly fell into a table, but managed to steady herself. She smothered her mouth with her hand, trying to tell herself that her parents weren't deaf and might actually hear her. She nodded to herself and tried to keep a straight face.

"Manuella Santos!" a shrill loud voice yelled.

God? Manny thought, confused, glancing around. No…it was…her mother.

"Do you have any idea you what time it is?!" her mother screeched quietly, hurrying up to her in her bathrobe. Her hair was messed up, and she managed to look tired and furious at the same time. Manny swallowed hard.

"Uh…is this a retchorical question?" she slurred slightly. Her mother shook her head, clearly appalled.

"Manuella Santos, are you drunk? I can't believe this! Again! What is the matter with you, young lady! Do you want to be grounded? You should thank the Lord that your father is knocked out on a sleeping pill, young lady! "

Manny stood there, wondering what her mother wanted her to say. Yes, yes Manny was slightly drunk. She couldn't deny that. But she had to come up with a story- a good one. She searched her mind for some good explanation of why Manny was standing in the foyer of their home, unable to focus and stumbling over absolutely nothing.

Damn…nothing! She bit her lip.

"Go to sleep right now," her mother hissed. "I can't even look at you, Manuella! You start school tomorrow, so get in bed this instant. We will talk about this when I am ready, understand?"

Manny nodded stupidly, and her mother stalked to her bedroom, mumbling to herself. Manny sighed, and decided to head upstairs. She lifted up her leg to climb the first step, but completely missed and landed on her ass. Oopsie! She thought, giggling a little.

Manny finally managed to crawl up the stairs, stand up, and walk to her bedroom. Just before she opened her door, she froze, alarmed. Wait-school tomorrow?!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Simpson walked into the noisy classroom, set his briefcase down, and clapped twice for attention. The kids quieted down, so her smiled and leaned against his desk.

            "Ok, everyone! Welcome to another thrilling year at Degrassi. I'm sure you're really excited about that-"this caused a round of boos and groans. "But seriously, we need to get to business. This is going to be a great year- I can just tell. I'm sure you're all happy about jumping back into the land of teachers, homework, and of course….me," He grinned and pointed at himself with his thumbs. This caused another round of boos, groans, and even one "Ew!" from the back. Mr. Simpson frowned, pretending to look hurt. He shrugged and grabbed his attendance book, which her flipped open.

"Ok, so maybe I'm not the manly stud I assumed…" he said, trailing off as he glanced down at the book. "Ok, next order of business-attendance. This shouldn't be too hard, folks, if you're here. Alright. Hazel Aden…."

"So, are you up for another year of being a super-stud? I heard there are lots of hot grade sevens wandering around this year. Better yet, how about scoring with some sexy grade fives?" Spinner said as he leaned over to Craig, who was sitting next to him. He laughed softly as his own joke.

"Shut up!" Craig hissed back, reaching over and stabbing Spinner with his newly sharpened pencil. He was getting sick of Spinner's lame jokes about him "robbing the cradle" with Manny.

"Ow! That really hurt. Can't you take a joke? Look, you know I was only kidding. Manny was super fine last year. Hey, if I hadn't been with Paige, I would have totally gone after her myself."

Craig raised his eyebrows skeptically, not quiet picturing Spinner going after a girl and actually succeeding. Hell, if he didn't have Paige, he would probably be alone for the rest of his life.

"It's not like it matters now. She hates me. We were walking on the same sidewalk one afternoon this summer, and she almost got hit by a car trying to cross the street to avoid me. Not only that, but Ashley despises me, too."

Spinner glanced at Ashley across the room. "Really? I didn't notice," he said. Craig followed his gaze and saw Ashley blatantly glaring at him, grinding her pencil into her paper. Craig swallowed hard and slumped down in his seat.

"Um…do you think she's carefully plotting my death? 'Cuz that was kind of what I was thinking."

"Most definitely," Spinner said. "Hey! Did you know they made a new flavor of spray cheese?"

Craig sighed and glanced up at the ceiling. Spinner had the attention span of a turtle, and Craig couldn't count the times the topic had changed to spray cheese and its many exotic and mysterious flavors. Craig had even thought he spotted Spinner wiping away a tear when he had discovered their new pepperoni flavor.

"I heard they just made an onion flavored spray cheese," Craig whispered.

"Really?!" Spinner said, sitting up straighter.

"No," Craig said, making a disgusted face. "Wait-were you just excited about that?"

"Boys, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'm trying to teach. If you want to gossip about nail polish, and then go in the hall, alright?" Mr. Simpson interrupted, staring at the two.

"We weren't talking about nail polish," Spinner said, looking offended. "We were talking about spray cheese."

The glass laughed, and Mr. Simpson smirked.

"Looks like it's going to be another great year with Spinner Mason," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and leaning against his desk.

 Roxie rolled her eyes as her mother turned into the parking lot of Degrassi Community School, and as they nearly ran over a small red-headed girl. Her sister leaned out the window and yelled something about watching where she was going, despite the fact that she had been walking on a sidewalk. Roxie slumped down in her seat and hoped no one was looking. She glanced around and saw that there was absolutely no one in the parking lot. She sighed as she glanced at the clock. She was thirty minutes late.

She glanced at her mother, who leaned over and took a sip of her beer. Roxie made a disgusted face. Not only had her mother been speeding, she was also drinking and driving. Roxie sighed loudly as her mother stopped the car abruptly in front of the school's front door. Roxie lurched forward in her seat, and nearly went crashing through the windshield. Luckily she braced herself against the dashboard.

"Well, it's been lovely driving with you, mother," Roxie snapped. "We only nearly got in three major car accidents, which was better than usual, I guess."

Her mother ignored her and lit a cigarette. Angel gathered up her things in the back and popped open the door. Roxie l sat still, watching as her sister got out.

"Well…aren't you getting out. I have things to do, Roxie ," her mother said, glancing at her. Roxie made a face and shrugged.

"I don't want to be seen with her. People might actually think we're family."

"What? You 'shamed of your family?" her mother asked, blowing out some smoke in Roxie's face. Roxie exaggerated a cough, then looked up at her sister and mother, and thought the question wasn't even worth justifying it with an answer.

"Only every second I'm alive," Roxie muttered, pushing her door open and stepping out. "Thanks for the ride. I'll let you get back to doing what you usually do- smoking and drinking." She slammed the door shut and marched around to the sidewalk in front of the school. She frowned at her sister and hurried ahead of her. Angel followed.

They walked over through the empty hallway to the secretary's desk, who was babbling on the phone and typing away furiously on her keyboard. Roxie was sure she was doing something really important. Angel walked up to the desk and slammed her books down on the desk, demanding attention. The woman looked up, politely told whoever she was talking too she had to go, and hung up. She turned to the two blonde girls and smiled politely.

"Hello. A little late, aren't we?" she said, reaching for a slip. Angel snorted.

"Duh."

The woman frowned.

"Names?" The told them to her, and she nodded and smiled. "Sisters?"

"Unfortunately," Angel said with a sigh, leaning on the desk and frowning at the petite woman. "Can we hurry this up?"

The woman frowned harder but said nothing. She quickly filled out their slips, gave them their schedules, and told them coldly to "have a nice day." Roxie took her slip and followed her sister down the hall, glancing at her schedule. She looked up and saw her sister heading toward a side door.

"Where are you going?" Roxie asked in amazement.

"Why do you care?" Angel snapped, before pushing open the door and disappearing outside. Roxie sighed and headed toward her first class, or at least hoped where her first class was. She was actually surprised Angel had even bothered to enroll in school. She had hardly ever gone last year, and Roxie had gotten verbally harassed by the teachers for it. Roxie knew the only reason she had actually showed up today was because the government were on her mother's ass about Angel skipping school.

After wandering around for a few minutes, Roxie finally stumbled across her classroom. She glanced at her schedule and saw her teacher was Mrs. Sampson. She shrugged and pushed open the door. She found Mr. Sampson standing at the board with a piece of chalk in his hand. He turned when he saw the door open and frowned as she stepped in.

"Late on the first day?" he said.

"Sorry, Mr. Sampson," she said. "I…my mother…uh…sorry." Roxie stuttered, and then heard laughing. She glanced around and frowned. She hadn't thought it was that funny. Maybe that was just how they treated new kids. Laughing loudly at them. Roxie frowned again and saw that even Mr. Sampson was laughing slightly. What was with these people?

"It's Mr. Simpson," he said, waving his hand in their air. "And it's ok. Just try not to let it happen again."

Roxie glanced down at her sheet, and it did in fact say Mr. Simpson. Apparently, she still needed to learn how to read. Roxie just nodded and hurried to an empty seat in the back, next to two boys. She slid into her seat and slumped down as low as possible. She opened her new notebook and hunched over it, her eyes almost immediately dropping shut. She was exhausted after last night. She had basically stormed out of the house, wandered around for a bit, and then had decided to go home after being harassed by two forty-year-old men in a pick-up truck. Roxie had arrived home to a surprisingly empty and quiet house, and had actually gotten two hours of pleasant sleep.

Roxie opened her eyes and sat up, deciding she definitely couldn't sleep over Mr. Simpson's talking. She glanced around, and then stopped when she saw the two boys were staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably. Finally, the blonde boy leaned over, smiling at her.

"Hey."

"Um…hi," she mumbled, staring at Mr. Simpson, hoping her would take the hint. He didn't.

"Are you new?" he asked with a goofy smile. Roxie resisted the urge to roll her eyes and nodded.

"Yeah. Are you?" she asked somewhat sarcastically, and the boy shook his head.

"Nope. Been in Degrassi school's my whole life."

"That's nice," she said, hoping he would pick up on the bored tone in her voice. She heard the other boy, who had curly black hair, chuckle softly and nudge his friend in the arm.

"Shut up, Spin. You're scaring the new students," he said. "Sorry about him. I'm Craig."

Like I care, she thought, but noted that the boy was cute, in a bashful kind of way. She tapped her pencil against her notebook and nodded.

"I'm Roxie."

"Do you like it here?" he asked, quieting down so Mr. Simpson would hear him.

"I don't know, but then again, I have only been here for ten minutes," she pointed out sarcastically again, and he nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Mr. Simpson interrupted again.

"Craig, Spinner, for the last time, please be quiet," he said, turning from the board and giving them both a look. "Don't make me separate you two."

"Yes, sir," Spinner said, saluting the teacher, and then glancing at Roxie. She simply stared at him, concluding that he was probably a complete idiot. Mental note- don't sit next to him again, she silently reminded herself, turning back to her notebook.