Summary: This story takes place after "Going down the Road", during the summer, so there will be a number of spoilers throughout the story. Basically, if you don't want to be spoiled, don't read it. It's summer; Ellie and Craig are both desperate for money. Will what seemed like a dull summer job turn into something more? Also, will Spinner and Jimmy's friendship ever be the same after the shooting last year?

Pairings: Craig/Ellie, with references to Craig/Ashley and Sean/Ellie

A/N: Let's see, originally, I wasn't going to do this, but now I must dedicate this to Ruj. She helped me so much with planning this story out, including the title, and giving me the idea of which couple to use… So, yeah… Love ya Ruj.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own and am not affiliated with Degrassi, Epitome Pictures, or anything of the sort, including characters, names… All that jazz. I do own the DVDs though. Also, I don't own, and not affiliated with Howie Day or the lyrics to his wonderful song "Collide."

Happy Reading Loves

Chapter 1: Another Day, Another Problem

Eleanor Nash, Ellie Nash, Eleanor Cameron, Ellie Cameron, Eleanor Nash-Cameron, Ellie Nash-Cameron. These were the words that Ellie jotted down on a fresh sheet of paper as the teacher droned on about film. She'd signed up for the summer course hoping it'd help with her college application. Of course, she knew everything there was to know about the film industry, so these lectures that Dr. Romero gave every week had gotten old pretty easily. Every few seconds she'd look up from the paper, just to show that she was paying some attention to him. Audrey Hepburn, yes, she was a great actress, and Ellie knew this already, so this week's lecture was irrelevant to what she wanted to do. She wanted to direct films, not star in them. Starring in movies were for girls like Paige, girls who had it all, the beauty, the brains. Okay, maybe not the brains. Directing was her passion. She loved being behind the camera, capturing those moments that nobody thought about. A couple's first kiss, a kid falling in the hallway, those moments, the things that meant nothing. To her, it was something more than that, the reaction, the excitement of it all, even if it was just a fall, meant something to her.

"Miss Nash?" Dr. Romero's deep voice snapped Ellie back to reality. "I believe I asked you a question." He told her, obviously aware that she was paying no attention to him at all. Teachers were a pain, really, they always picked the ones who had no idea what the answer was, making life harder for both themselves and the student.

"Umm," She tried to stall as she looked around the room. He could've easily chosen Cody, this geek in the front of the room that was waving his arm so hard Ellie thought it would snap out of the socket. Cody noticed him look at her and smiled. She sighed and rolled her eyes. All Cody talked about was Star Wars, or Star Trek, or some other weird sci-fi show. "Could you repeat the question?" Ellie reluctantly asked.

"According to the AFI, what is the greatest movie of all time?" Dr. Romero asked.

"The greatest movie of all time?" Ellie repeated, looking as if she was pondering hard over the answer, of course she already knew what it was. Citizen Kane, 1941. Looking up at Dr. Romero, she noticed the smug look on his face. He really thought she had no clue.

"Yes, and sometime before class is over. I'd like to give everybody their assignments for the summer." He told her. "Maybe if you'd pay more attention to me than to your future last name, we-" That hit Ellie hard.

"According to the AFI, the greatest movie of all time is Citizen Kane, made in 1941." She told him in a tone that she knew he'd understand. She was very upset at the moment, and he, and the rest of class could tell. "Now, I think you can tell the class the assignment."

"Well, that's correct." Dr. Romero replied uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and began to speak again. "The assignment that needs to be completed this summer is a short film, no more than thirty minutes long. It can be about anything you'd like, and it may be any type of film you'd like. Just, keep the content PG-13. We'd like to make the film viewable for teenagers." He told hem. "Next week, I'd like for you to have some ideas jotted down. Please have a solid idea of what your film will be about, the setting, the characters, the cast. See you all next week. Class dismissed." Dr. Romero told them as everyone stood up to leave.

Ellie made her way through the shuffle of students, and out of Degrassi Community School. She'd be the one to go to school during the summer, but it was worth it, it was for her dream, her future, her everything. She sat down at one of the picnic tables outside of the school and turned her notebook to the page where she'd written her name over and over again. A single tear fell on the paper, smudging the ink. Tearing it out, she crumpled it up and threw it into the garbage can, just like Sean had thrown their relationship away. He'd left her, he'd abandoned her, he'd hurt her. And yet, he said he loved her. She sighed and stood up, pondering what to do with herself. Alex was at her cousin's for the summer, and Ashley was in London for the summer. There was nothing for her to do. She headed home to get her camera, maybe she'd get an inspiration for her film project.

Upon arriving to her newly remodeled home, she walked inside to see that the television was on. She didn't recall leaving it that way, but she might've, she never was too sure. She knew the aroma coming from the kitchen wasn't because of her. It smelled delicious. Lasagna, her favorite. Suddenly, it hit her that someone was in her house, someone that shouldn't have been there. She grabbed the television remote, arming herself with a weapon. Remote Ellie, really? What are you going to do that, turn the guy off? She shrugged and walked into the kitchen.

"Mom?" She looked at the woman. "What are you doing here, it's in the middle of the day. It's Thursday. Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Ellie asked, lost. Her mom had started working two jobs to pay the bills and to pay for Ellie's classes. It had gotten harder with Ellie's dad away, and the bills had piled up while her mom was at rehab. It hadn't helped that when she got back, she was paying Ellie's rent.

"Eleanor, I mean, Ellie." She'd finally given in to calling her that. "Sit down, I made lasagna, your favorite." She was all smiles, and was obviously hiding something.

"What's going on?" Ellie asked, reluctantly taking a seat at the table. "Why are you home?" She asked, ignoring her mother's distractions.

"To be honest," Her mother set down a plate of lasagna in front of her. "The job had a big budget cut last week." She started. "So, they had lay offs-"

"And you were one of the lucky few." Ellie interrupted, poking at her food. Her mother nodded, confirming her thoughts. "So, what does that mean, I mean, financially speaking."

"We'll just have to cut back on the extra spending." Mrs. Nash replied, causing Ellie to smile a bit. "Of course, this means, I can't afford to pay for your classes anymore." Ellie's smile quickly faded.

"I'm not hungry." Ellie told her, standing up and heading upstairs, ignoring her mother calling her, wanting to talk about it. She got into her room and shut the door, locking it before she collapsed on her bed. Just when things were going somewhat good for her, this had to happen. She rolled over and grabbed her camera off her dresser. "I could call my movie Hidden Confessions." She said to herself, turning it on. Nothing happened. She pressed the power button again. Still nothing. It wasn't the battery, she'd had it on the charger all day. This could not be happening. She couldn't afford to take classes anymore, even if she could, that didn't even matter, she didn't have a camera anymore.

"Could this day get any worse?" She said to herself with a sigh. Don't jinx yourself Nash.