Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned Degrassi, I wouldn't be writing fan fictions, cuz you could watch what I wanted happening on CTV/the-N.

Chapter 5: Your Star

Ellie was in a complete state of pure, amazing bliss when she walked through her front door away from the encompassing dark of the outdoors. Such an amazing birthday she could have never managed.

She walked up to her room and saw the paper bag on her bed. I'll open it in a bit, she thought. She walked into the bathroom and turned the shower on, allowing it to warm up before she got in.

As the water ran through her hair and down her back, she replayed the day's events in her head with a smile on her face.

As she dressed and toweled her hair dry, she heard the doorbell ring. She heard the door open, close again, and footsteps coming closer. There was a knock on her door. She opened it.

"Marco!" she smiled, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Happy birthday, El," he said taking his hands from behind his back and presenting her with a small flat package.

She smiled and took the box from his hand. Slowly, she pulled the ribbon off. As she tore at the corners of the paper, she saw a wood frame, the she gasped.

"Oh Marco, I love it."

It was an exact replica of the picture Edward Gorey had done for the New York Review of Books in 1982. It depicted a "gift exchange" with a girl holding a small stuffed dog, and a dog holding a doll.

"I knew you would. So, you ran off today. What'd you do?"

"Oh," said Ellie. "Just chilled with Jimmy after that damn test I had this morning. You wouldn't believe what Jimmy did for me though."

"Come on El, you know I won't be able to guess," Marco kidded.

Ellie then told him about the room with all the pictures, and the one that had brought tears to her eyes. She told him that Jimmy had said he loved her.

"Woah," was all Marco could manage. "I knew about the pictures of course, but I wasn't expecting the love confession."

"You knew about the pictures? And kept it a secret. Amazing. And what do you mean the love confession."

"El, you should have heard him talking about you after practice after you left. It got less annoying once you guys were actually dating. So obvious. But anyways, get anything else?"

"Just this," she smiled, holding up the brown bag with the messy writing scrawled across it.

"'To: Ellie, Yours Always: Craig,'" Marco read. "What is it?"

"No idea, haven't opened it yet."

"Well, get on with it. I want to know."

"Downright busybody," Ellie teased, taking the safety pin off, careful not to prick her finger.

She peered into the bag, said "Oooh," and snapped it shut.

"What?" Marco asked her.

"Maybe I don't want to tell you."

He tackled her on the bed. "Let me see it Miss Nash."

"Alright," Ellie laughed and handed the bag to Marco.

He looked into it and said, "It's a box."

"True, I expected something more exciting, even if it was Craig, but whatever."

He dumped the box onto the bed. They both stared at it for a few minutes, then Ellie snatched it up and lifted the lid. Marco leaned over to look also.

"Damn, El, that is nice."

"Yeah," she said, staring at it.

"Well, I better get going," Marco said. He kissed her on the top of the head, gave he a hug, and left.

Ellie laid back and fell asleep almost immediately, still clutching Craig's gift in her hand.