Sometimes life doesn't always go the way you want it to, and sometimes life isn't very fair. Sometimes you don't have a choice, and sometimes you take the wrong path. But sometimes you get a second chance.
Chapter 1
Notice of the reunion
Ellie Nash unlocked the door of her New York apartment and looked through the mail in her hand as she used her foot to shut the door. She balanced her messenger bag/personal lifeline on her shoulder, several manila envelopes and fan letters in both hands, her keys were hanging from her fingertips and she carried her most recent magazine issue in her teeth. She set everything on the table and set her bag on the floor. She slumped in her chair at the kitchen table and leafed through the envelopes. Then something caught her eye. The seal that Degrassi Community School used.
She sat up straighter and ripped the envelope open. There was a memorial being held at Degrassi. "It has been ten years since the tragedy of the shooting. Degrassi is setting up a memorial statue as a reminder of the zero-tolerance policy that should be enforced," the letter said. It went on to explain about how the memorial was to include quotes from everybody involved and that the attendance of the classes that it had drawn in were needed. The memorial planning was next Saturday. She crumpled the letter up and threw it in the trashcan. There was no way she was going back there.
"These people are sick and poor and thousands die everyday, while other of us who are more fortunate look away," the magazine article read. Sean read Ellie's column in Social Issues every month. She was profound, and he fell more in love with her with every column.
He cleared his throat, pushing the thoughts away. He couldn't dwell on the past. He looked down at the table, where the letter from Degrassi lay open. He didn't know if he was going or not. He wondered if she was going to go, and assumed she was. A knot formed in his stomach as he thought about the past.
Spinner opened the door to his two story brick home and greeted his wife with a kiss.
"Hey, honey," Darcy said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Spinner kissed her, and said, "How's my beautiful wife and the baby?"
Darcy rested her hand on her stomach and sighed. "We're both good."
Darcy was six months pregnant now, and was very happily married to Spinner.
"We have the dinner at the church tonight, remember?" Darcy asked.
"Of course," Spinner said, taking a bag of potato chips out of a cabinet in the kitchen.
"And this came today," Darcy handed him the envelope with the Degrassi emblem on it. "Emma was telling me about it the other day," Darcy explained. "There's a memorial for the shooting, and Rick's death and Jimmy's injury. I didn't know if you would want to go or not."
Spinners' eyes filled with pain as he read over the letter. He cleared his throat and folded the letter back up, placing it in the envelope again. "I think I have to work that day. I won't be able to make it."
"Spinner wouldn't dare show his face here, right, man?" an angry Jimmy Brooks asked Craig Manning.
"I doubt it," Craig said. "He's too guilt-ridden."
"He should feel guilty. He practically cut off my legs and ended my basketball career."
"Jimmy, man, maybe you should let it go," Craig ventured and Jimmy pushed his wheelchair next to him.
"I know I should, but I can't help it. I have a right to be angry with him. What kind of idiot plays a prank on the school's resident psycho anyway? I can't believe they're actually making a memorial for him."
"They're making a memorial to prevent it from happening again. And, Jimmy, the problem with Rick wasn't that he was psycho. It was that he was bullied."
"That doesn't give him the right to come to school shooting."
"Are you going?"
"Hell yes, I'm going, I was the victim. I deserve a part in that memorial, too."
Emma opened the door of her home, balancing groceries and her cell phone. "I understand that, but…" there was a pause. "I know that's due next weekend, but I assure you I will have the reports done by then."
Emma sighed, setting the bags on the counter and motioning to Jay, who was sitting on the couch, to help her put them away.
"The memorial planning is next Saturday. Are you going?"
"Are you kidding me?" Jay asked, grabbing a bag of Cheetos from one of the bags. "I wouldn't be caught dead stepping a foot back into that school."
"It was just a question, you know, I thought you might actually care about something that I was interested in. Forgive me," Emma's voice dripped with sarcasm.
It was for the best, she decided. She wasn't sure she wanted anybody to know that she had been living with Jay for years without even bringing up the idea of marriage. She and Jay had an understanding. They loved each other, though he rarely admitted it, and this was as settled as they were going to get. Emma minded at first, but she soon got over it because she realized it gave her more time to operate her 'Children in Crisis' organization.
"Emma, I am not going back into that school. I am the reason that shooting happened I don't want me, or anyone else, to remember that. Okay?"
"Don't tell me you're getting a conscience, Jay," Emma said to Jay, "That would ruin your whole appeal."
"Yeah, that's me, Jay the Heartless."
Emma sighed, wondering what exactly was going to happen at the memorial planning next Saturday.