"Stop! Stop! God damnit, listen to yourself! You're out of key!"
The red-head strutted towards the boy holding the guitar, black boots slapping against the tiles with force. She licked her glossed lips in frustration and crossed her arms over the tight black short-sleeved top. She tapped her foot impatiently, taking off her tight red jacket she had put on over the top. This revealed a parade of bracelets, black, white, and red. As she stood the black and white checkered mini-skirt went back and forth, the only thing holding it up on her tiny frame being a large black belt. She paused to think for a moment, running a hand through the mess of hair on her head. Earlier that morning it had been put in two braids, but by now she had pulled it down. She wrenched the guitar from his hands and softly began strumming, as if feeling it. Then a few seconds later she was getting faster, starting to play what seemed to be a rock song. It soon transitioned to be slow and steady, maybe a country song of some sorts. She handed it back to him after giving him detailed pointers on going from fast to slow.
"What crawled up your ass, Ellie Nash?"
His voice was obviously angry as his old converses pounded against the tiles themselves. He looked at the people around them. They had all made tons of mistakes, too. Why was he being the only one called out? He blew a strand of dark hair out of the way of his vision and shook his head a little. He didn't bother waiting for a reply. He situated the guitar on his tired-looking jeans before starting to do just as his friend had done seconds ago. He kept at it, trying harder and harder to get it right, his eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. He looked up at her and she simply shook her head, it wasn't working as he had wanted it to. It seemed she felt the same way.
"I'm just going to have to give the guitar solo to someone else, Craig." Ellie shrugged. "Sorry." But Craig thought she didn't care at all. No, on the contrary, she was trying to pull him out of the spotlight. She was mad at him for something, and she was slowly ruining his chance at being something big at the Christmas special. He stood up and clutched his guitar in one hand.
"You're not sorry, Ellie!" he shook his head. "No, you're trying to get me as far out of this production as possible!" he couldn't see the problem, why was she being so horrible? Or was he imagining how bratty she was being? No, no that wasn't it. That wasn't possible.
"The principal assigned me as director of the music portion of the Christmas Show, and guess what? I'm the director. I make decisions. You can't take that you're not as good as some people here! Craig Manning, do you always have to be in the spotlight!" she looked around then pointed, her lips forming a thin line. "There's the door."
They got to face to face, glaring, noses touching. He was waiting for her to back down, but she wouldn't do it. She was Ellie Nash, and her damn pride would never let her do such a thing. Even if her eyes flashed the tinist glimpse of regret he couldn't see it. He stepped back and sat down.
"ANYONE ELSE!" she looked around at the kids around her. They all stayed silent, some with their jaws hanging slightly open. No one said a word. She nodded and waved her hand dissmissively, as if it was time for them to start playing again.
----
Her friends were all in the holiday spirit. She usually was. Hell, even last year, she had been so excited to go shopping to buy her friend's gifts and to decorate the tree. But this year, it was different. She was most likely to wish for nothing more than to hide in her bed with her hart in tact and her friends happy, but far away. Was she being difficult? Yes. Was it her friend's own faults for suffocating her with Holiday Cheer? Yes.
She tugged at her black leather gloves lightly, just to be moving her hands. It gave her a comforting feeling to hear the snow crunching underneath her boot. She was all alone on the walkway, on her way to school. It was a new day. Ellie planned on seeing how long it would take for Marco to try and cheer her up.
Speak of the devil.
Her best friend came in a whirlwind of a green jacket, red cloth gloves, and silver Christmas-tree decorations. Ellie raised an eyebrow as the dark-headed boy wrapped the tinsel around the red-head's neck from behind, laughing cheerfully before doing his own version of a 'Happy Holidays!' dance to cheer Ellie up. It didn't work, though. Ellie left the tinsel on, though. Screw it, it wasn't even worth pulling- scratch that, ripping- off. If she felt like it, she'd surely rip it off and hand it back with a smirk on her face. But she'd hold it back, for now at least.
"Don't you love it?" Marco murmured. "The smells, the sights, the snow! I love the sound of the snow crunching under your shoes-" Ellie cringed a little at that. She understood that, and she didn't want to understand Marco right now. She wanted to understand herself, and that was all. "-and I adore seeing everyone in such a great mood, I don't see how anyone could hate this time of year." Marco gave a shoulder shrug and a bright smile.
"Bah Humbug." Came her sarcastic reply, as a few of her not-so-friends had already politely dubbed her 'Scrooge' behind her back any way. Not-so-friends meaning one Paige Michalchuk and Hazel Aden, both in their relationship-centered square when doing so. Ellie hadn't really liked the idea of Paige and Spinner getting back together, Idiot and The Beast, it seemed. Eh. She'd come up with much better the first time around. That damn happiness surrounding her was even making her jokes stale.
Marco didn't seem happy with her reply. "Marco, baby!" Paige said as they walked towards the door of the school building. She gave Ellie a cold glare and Ellie laughed. "I'm out of here." It shouldn't have surprised her that Marco didn't say goodbye. Instead, he just turned to Paige and started on his annual gossip-spree. Bastard.
She wouldn't let it get to her, though. Marco was never worth getting to her, that was for sure. But as she made her way towards her locker, nothing better to meet her eyes than a public display of affection, eh? She walked past the brunette and the dirty-blonde, deciding not to comment. However, the girl in the pair pulled back when she saw the other. She wiped her lips with the sleeve of her sweater as if to get rid of the boy's after-taste. "I'm sorry, did we bother you?" she said sincerely.
Ellie laughed a little and put on a smile. "How could I be mad at the two i cutest /i kids in Degrassi?" she joked, popping her locker open. It was true, Ashley and Jay were a nice couple, no matter how different they may've seemed. Ellie secretly smiled quite often when she saw them happy together, she had brought them together, after all. She had gotten Jay to call up his courage and ask Ashley. Ellie the little match-maker, but match-makers never get the love they give, do they?\
Ashley nodded slightly in reply before grabbing Jay and crushing their lips together. Jay hadn't said a word to Ellie. She made a note of it in her head. This usually meant something was going on, Jay never shut up. When she thought about it, she had seen nothing but the back of Jay's head. What in the world? She slipped into Mrs. Kwan's class just before the bell, the only seat being beside one Marco Del Rossi. Damnit.
"I'm sure you've all heard of the annual holiday showcase being hosted by the gallery." the teacher folded her hands and her eyes darted from student to student. As she passed the desk at which Gavin "Spinner" Mason was sitting, she pulled him into an upright sitting position by his shirt collar.
"In light of the afforementioned showcase, I have decided to turn your midterm into a project." she gave a wry smile before beginning her trek back to the chalkboard from the very back desk of the room. "You will be put into groups of two. Each group will be given a traditional holiday story or song.. depending on which category you choose." her smile faltered slightly at the fact that Mr. Mason was, yet again, falling into a bit of a slumber. She walked slowly over to the desk he was sitting at. When she reached the first desk, she began listing groups.
"Ashley, you will be partnered with Jimmy Brooks. Heather Sinclaire, Hazel Aden. Paige Michalchuk, Jay Hogart. And Gavin..." her hard gaze lingered on him as he slowly sat up. "You will be paired with Ellie Nash."
Ellie coughed into her hand and turned to look at Spinner, just to see the look on his face. His jaw had slightly dropped, and by now he was sitting up as straight as possible. Ellie shot a look at Mrs. Kwan, however the older decided to ignore this icy cold glare and watch as teh groups slowly got together. Spinner smirked a little at this. He wouldn't have to do anything, Ellie was always getting A's or something.
"Sup, vampire?" were the first words that came out of his mouth. Ellie had expected this. She hadn't thought of him having a touch of class in the least.
"Spell vampire, Spinner." she snipped. She was happy with this insult, she was gaining her style back. She twisted a ring around her finger absent-mindely, waiting for Spinner to make a lack-luster insult.
"Well, at least I have a girlfriend!" he said as quick as it popped into his head. Bingo. Ellie laughed at that one, trying to send a chill down Spinner's spine, trying to make him realize that this had had no effect on her. She was good at playing with people's emotions, especially when in a bad mood.
"If I recall correctly, Gavin," she started slowly. "-and believe me, I remember this vividly." she smirked. "You were the one asking me out at last thirteen times a day when I first came to Degrassi."
"And if I recall correctly, Eleanor," he spat venomously, glaring at her, "I was asking you out because not only were you hot- but you weren't a poser!"
Ellie had expected Spinner to come up with some lame comment as usual; in fact, she had completely tuned him out. But when she heard her full first name and the word poser, time seemed to freeze as her pen clattered to the ground and she slowly turned to face him.
"What did you call me?" she whispered slowly.
"You heard me. I called you a poser."
Ellie had been hit with this threat many many times before, but this was the first time it had ever hurt.
"That's what you are, El. You're a poser. You changed yourself for these people! What happened to the Ellie we used to know? The real Ellie? The one who was born with the videocamera permanently attached to her hand? The Ellie who had more musical talent than Craig Manning and Ashley Kerwin combined? What happened to her? I'll tell you what happened. She sold out. Gave in to lipgloss, blonde hair, and beach bunnies. She's dead, Ellie. And it's all your fault."
There were tears in her eyes, and she refused to show it. Spinner Mason just beat her in an insult fight. Spinner Mason just made her realize she was an idiot. Spinner Mason just made her cry. She didn't retaliate. When she knew she had been beaten, she never did. She raised her hand and grabbed her bag. "Ms. Kwan?" she called loudly. Ms. Kwan looked up from another student and started walking over to her. Ellie stood up as if to say it wasn't necessary.
"I'm not feeling well, may I go to the restroom?" Ms. Kwan paused for a moment, as if thinking it over, before nodding curtly.
As if by magic, ( a dark, sinister, evil magic, that is ) she ran into the one person she really didn't want to see. The only person who could make things worse. That person with his dark hair and converses and old stonewashed jeans was just making things horrible lately.
She fell on the floor, and her bag skidded across the hall. She sat up and glared at him, her eyes red. She started reaching for her bag, but she couldn't seem to grasp it. She kept doing so until she looked up, still on the floor, and saw Craig holding it over her head.
"You gotta beg for it." he smirked and there was a twinkle in his eye, as if he was being a bad boy.
"Fuck begging." she muttered, kicking him in the shin so that he dropped her bag. She got it and stood up, starting towards the bathroom. What was with everyone lately?
"What the hell is your problem!" he yelled after a moment. "I was joking!"
"Craig, just back the fuck off! Go back to ruining the Christmas show and not my life, okay? I hate you. Don't ever talk to me again." she didn't mean it. She thought she didn't mean it. Maybe she meant it. She could never hate him, could she? They had gotten along so well that summer, what happened? She rushed into the bathroom and grabbed the sink as if she was about to fall over. "Merry fucking Christmas, Ellie Nash." she whispered to herself as she looked in the mirror. Tears were flowing freely now, all over her face, making her eyeliner blurred under her eyes. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Merry fucking Christmas."