Craig walked up the walkway to Roxie's house, holding his English book in his hand. He shivered. The sun had set, and it was cold outside. Craig scratched his head as he knocked on the front door. Roxie and Craig had been assigned as English partners for their assignment, which was due tomorrow. And of course, every time Craig had suggested working on it, Roxie had brushed it off.
The door suddenly swung open, and tall, light haired boy was standing there.
"Is Roxie here?" Craig asked. The boy nodded and took a sip of the beer in his hand.
"Yeah. Come in," he said, pulling open the door wider. Craig stepped in hesitantly, and was suddenly greeted with the sounds of loud, blaring music. Craig glanced around, and then froze.
Ok, Craig wasn't exactly a drug buff, but he did know drug-using when he saw it. And off to the left, in the living room, were about five adults sitting around a table littered with drug paraphernalia. Craig glanced off into the dining room, where a bunch of kids who looked a little older than Craig were playing cards and smoking pot. Craig's eyes widened.
"Roxie! Get down here!" the boy called. "Hurry!"
"Alright. Shut up!" Roxie called as she trotted down the stairs. She froze when she saw Craig standing there. She slowly continued down the stairs.
"Hey, Where have you been?" the boy asked, attempting to nuzzle Roxie's neck. She made a face and pushed him off. He just grinned deviously, slapped her butt, and walked off into the dining room. Craig stared after him, and then back at Roxie, not sure what to say.
"Who was that?" he finally asked.
"My step-brother," she muttered, blushing, and folding her arms over her chest. "What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped.
"Um…" Craig said, holding up his book. "The project. I thought we agreed to meet here, since I couldn't do anything after school…" he trailed off when he saw Roxie shaking her head.
"Well, would it have killed you to call?" she snapped again, running a hand through her hair.
"Well….do you still want to work here, or…"
Roxie sighed loudly, and threw up her hands. "We might as well. This is where I live, ok?" she gestured to the crowded house. "I'm going to get my book out of the kitchen."
Craig followed her into the kitchen, and glanced around. Off to the right, in another living room, he spotted Spinner, Angel, and a bunch of other people lounging around. Roxie grabbed her book, just as Spinner waved to Craig.
"Hey, dude!" he called, gesturing him over. Craig walked uneasily over to the couch. He slapped Spinner's outstretched hand.
"Hey, man," he said. "You haven't been in school much, have you?""Nah," Spinner said, slinging his arm on the couch behind Angel's head. "Who needs school, right? I sure don't."
Craig nodded slowly and glanced around at the stoners that occupied the room. "Yeah…guess not."
"Roxie, you didn't say you were having company," Roxie said, tossing her cigarette into an ash-tray and leaning back on the couch. She smiled coyly at Craig, and glanced him up and down. "Who's your friend?"
Roxie rolled her eyes. "Craig," she muttered. "We have a project to work on, so we're going upstairs ok?" She grabbed Craig's hand and lugged him back through the kitchen and up the staircase. She dragged him down the hallway to her room. She flung open the door, and found two people making out on her bed. She sighed angrily.
"Get out!" she yelled. The couple stopped and looked at her. "I said, get out!" The unhappily got off the bed and hurried out of the room. Roxie slammed the door behind them and sighed.
"Um…is your house like this…all the time?" Craig asked, taking a seat at her desk. Roxie glared at him and tossed her book onto her bed.
"You can just say it-my home is like some crack-whore house," she said, sitting down. "And yes, it's like this all the time. Those people in the living room? Those were my parents-if you can call them that." She flipped open her book.
"Roxie…" Craig said, glancing at her uneasily. "You shouldn't be living here. I mean….that's illegal."
Roxie sighed again. "Really, Craig? I didn't notice. Look, my whole family are all drug addicted idiots, ok? But I'd rather be living here than in some orphanage," She shook her head. "You have the perfect family. You wouldn't understand," she muttered under her breath.
Craig looked at the ground. "I do understand. My mom died, and my dad…used to hit me."
"Used to?"
Craig nodded. "He died in a car accident last year. I live with Joey, who was my step-dad before my mom died. Angie is my half-sister."
Roxie closed her book. "Oh…I'm sorry."
Craig shrugged. "Yeah. Me, too." He looked down at his hands. "Hey, Roxie…if you ever need someplace to just…hang out…you can always come to my house. I mean, if you want."
Roxie smiled slowly at him. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She held up her English book. 'Now, don't we have some assignment to do or something?"
Manny stared at the screen in horror, watching as the girl slowly headed down the staircase. She secretly wanted to cover her eyes, but she didn't want to look like a wimp. She glanced over at Carter, who was smoking a cigarette and watching the movie with a small smirk of his face.
The group had gone to see a drive-in movie on the spur of a moment, but Manny hadn't realized it was going to be a scary movie. They were sitting in Sadie's new convertible. Sadie and Owen, another friend, were sitting in the front seat, and Manny and Carter were side by side in the back, sitting on the trunk with their feet on the back seat. Manny gulped again.
"You said this was a "light-hearted" comedy," Manny whispered. Carter shrugged and didn't take his eyes off the screen.
"I think it's funny," he said casually. Manny sighed and leaned her hands back against the cool metal of the car. She glanced around. Suddenly, walking back from the concession stand was Craig, Jimmy, and Marco, laughing and eating popcorn. Manny's eyes widened when she realized they were going to walk right by the convertible. Manny gulped.
In a second, Manny collapsed down, falling right into the small space between the front seat and the back seat. She squeezed her eyes shut. A minute later she opened them, and found Carter staring down at her curiously.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What's wrong with Manny?" Sadie said loudly, getting on her knees on her seat, and peering over the seat to stare at Manny.
"Is Manny sick?" Owen asked loudly. He turned around.
Manny winced. Shut up! She wanted to yell. She sighed, and after a long, silent minute, she sat up, figuring Craig and his friends were gone. Her three friends were staring at her.
"Um….the movie was getting so scary," Manny said. "I was scared...and…collapsed with fright."
"God, Manny," Sadie said, rolling her eyes as she turned back around to face the screen. "You're such a wimp. My eight-year-old cousin saw this and didn't even think it was scary."
Manny struggled to un-wedge herself from the seat and get up, with a long sigh. That was close, she thought. But she couldn't keep doing this. She had to tell one of them it was over…but who?
Emma walked into Mr. Raditch's office, her stomach churning. She knew what was coming, but she still couldn't stop that sick, throwing-up kind of feeling in her stomach. Why me? She wondered as she slowly closed the door behind her.
"Emma," Mr. Raditch said sternly. "Sit down, please."
Emma nodded and lowered herself into the hard, uncomfortable chair directly in front of Mr. Raditch's desk. She knew what was going on- someone had ratted her out. She knew it was stupid to bring weed to school, but she had only done it to sell it to some kid in her math class. Apparently, someone had overheard and snitched. Someone had warned Emma, just before Mr. Radtich had called her to his office.
"A very serious matter has been brought to my attention, Emma." The principal began. "Someone has informed me that they are aware you have, or had, marijuana in your possession. Now, I don't want to jump to any conclusions, because honestly, it seems completely out of character. But I have a reliable source, and I would like for you to tell me the truth."
Emma took a deep breath, and nodded. Here it goes….
"Mr. Raditch, I can understand why someone would report me having drugs. It's because…well, it's because someone was pressuring me to buy some. They insisted I take it, and pay them later. Of course, I gave it back and said no. Drugs are disgusting. I know you probably don't believe me, but….god, I shouldn't say this…but Gina…Gina Hawthorn was trying to get me to pay her for some…well, I guess it was marijuana," Emma said, staring down at her hands, trying to sound as innocent and torn apart as possible. "I wasn't going to report it, but…."
She looked up at Mr. Raditch, who was nodding his head slowly. After a minute, he folded his hands in front of him and sighed. "I thought there must be a misunderstanding. I didn't really believe that one of Degrassi's brightest students would be involved in any drug activity. I hope you know, that I must question Gina about this."
Emma nodded in understanding. "Of course. Could you just please not mention it was me who told you?"
"Of course, your identity will be kept a secret," Mr. Raditch assured, standing up. "And I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."
Emma stood, as well, and nodded. "I can see how it would happen. It's horrible that anyone would be using drugs, let alone on school property." Mr. Raditch nodded in agreement.
"You may go now, Emma." Emma nodded and left the office. That was close.