Chapter One: When it Started

We owned this city. After a lot of hard work and making a lot of the right friends, we could say that we owned LA There wasn't any club in the city where we couldn't get V.I.P treatment and there wasn't any girl who wouldn't throw themselves at us.

If you had told me years ago, this is where I would be, there would be no way I would believe it. There was one man who I owed all this too, Jay Hogart. For a guy that barely scraped by in high school, he was brilliant. He had street smarts. I still remember those few fatefully days…

Memory

I walked into guidance to see someone I would have never expected. Jay Hogart was sitting in the chair by the door waiting for his time with the counselor. I didn't know why he was here but I didn't care. To me, he was scum. After that whole prank him and Spinner pulled on Rick, I couldn't even stand to look at him. But that didn't stop him.

"Manning, why are you here? Did you and your girlfriend get in a fight? God forbid that ever happened," he smirked at me. Was he seriously thinking I was going to talk to him? He was such an asshole. How could he ever talk about Ashley, who was he? King? If we weren't in school I would have beat the crap out of him. I rolled my eyes and took the seat next to him.

I was called in by the new guidance councilor, Mr. Batitin. He was a short, overweight man who I seldom saw leave his rolling office chair.

"Craig, how are you?" He shook my hand, as he was actually pleased to see me. He motioned for me to sit and I obeyed. He searched through all of his files on me. "I called you here to talk about your college application and why you haven't been accepted to anything yet," he wheeled his chair over to the filing cabinet and grabbed another file.

Throughout the rest of my senior year I would come back to listen to Mr. Batitin tell what was wrong with my application. I saw Jay in guidance frequently but I never spoke to him. The only time I did was that night. Two nights after graduation.

I was drunk. I have no idea how I even remember that night. It was the second time in my life I was really drunk. The first time was at my 18th birthday party. That time was drinking because I could. This time I was drinking to escape my misery. Out of everything I had ever been through, tonight was the worst. It was like someone was repeatively tearing away at my soul. This was suppose to be the summer of my life...But now I just wanted it all to be over.

I was walking towards Degrassi CS carrying my handy bottle of booze which was covered in a brown paper bag. I kicked up the dirt in the road and stopped every few steps to take another drink. I saw someone banging himself against the fence.

"Hey man!" My voice was slurred. "Will you cut it out? Can't you see I want to be…." I trailed on and rambled for a few minutes. Words seemed to soar out of my mouth without any meaning behind them at all. Something must haveoffended him becausethe guy jumped the fence and started to come towards me.

"Manning, why aren't you off with your pretty little friends? Your mopey girlfriend?" The sound of Jay's voice didn't have the cold humor it usually did. He just sounded depressed. He probably was here for the same reason I was, to waste the night away.

"My mopey girlfriend dumped me. Says it's because it will be easier… But I know the true facts, man. How embarrassing would it be to date a crazy kid who couldn't even get into college?"

Jay reached over and took my alcohol. "You too, eh? We're the two who aren't going to college. Well don't worry about it."

Jay got up and started walking and I followed. He led me through the woods to a house with a party. It was Paige's house. The graduation party I was invited to, with the kids I should've been celebrating with. My friends. We kept a safe distance from the house. We could see them but they couldn't see us. The banners read, 'Congrats Grads!' or 'College, here we come!' I wished so much I could have been in there instead of out here. I gazed at them all as if I was watching through a crystal ball. The only person I was I thinking of was Ashley. How could she be having fun when just hours ago she dumped me?

"See these people? This was you, Manning," he gestured to the group. "You don't want to be like them. They think they're all grown-up. Having a party in their parent's house. We're the mature ones. Hell, we're lucky. These college bound jerks…." His voice strayed then started back up again, "You know, I actually wanted to go to college. Get away from my family. But now I know that I'd just be stuck with more people like them."

I nodded in agreement though I couldn't take my mind off Ashley. The way her hair bounced when she laughed…Or how her face glistened in the sunlight…We were meant tobe. She told me last year she'd stick with me...

"Manning, let's get out of here."

"Yeah…sure…"

He punched me in the arm to get my attention, "Craig, I'm serious." He never used my first name. He must have really meant business. "Tomorrow morning. We'll meet at Toronto Station."

End of Memory

Today wasexactly four years since that night. Damn, life was wild. You had to get your hands dirty in this city.