II. The Rick Kid

"Is that boy really a threat to the student body?"

"Who's Rick?" I ask Queenie as we walk to school from her house the next day.

"I don't know what you're getting at." Queenie raises one of her eyebrows.

"Oh, sorry." I say. "Apparently there's this kid who's at school today, and he apparently beat up a girl last year or something."

"Oh, Rick Murray!" exclaims Queenie. "You know, I thought it was just a rumor that he was returning to Degrassi, but it's actually true!" she shakes her head. "He's got quite the history from last year."

"What history?" We've approached a crosswalk with the school looking out at us from the other side. The light finally turns green for the pedestrians and we scurry across the street and climb the front stairs of Degrassi into the building.

"Hello, Queenie?" I nudge my friend. "What are you talking about with Rick's history?"

Queenie presses her pointer against her lips. "Not so loud when you're talking about someone else. I'll tell you later. I need to talk to Ms. Sauvé right now." I watch her nearly dash across the lobby and turn left as a mass of students swallows her up, eliminating her from sight.

Fine: I'll figure this out for myself.

So it appears that all I have to go by is Paige's word about Rick. It sounds as if he was abusive to his ex-girlfriend, whoever she is or was, and if she ended up in a coma because of him, it must mean that he was really dangerous, or is really dangerous. So why is he back? What is he looking for? Does anyone in charge at Degrassi know about this? Ugh, damn these dancing questions in my head! I shake my head to clear it.

"Hey, Vivian."

Abruptly I turn and see Emma, the skinny blonde I saw yesterday afternoon. She's wearing a navy-colored, collared, short sleeve shirt and a denim mini-skirt. She's sitting on a set of wide stairs that lead into the gymnasium, towards the left of the main entrance.

I walk over. "What's up?"

"I'm waiting for Paige and Spinner." She replies. "Marco and Alex, two other upperclassmen, are talking to Raditch about a kid in our school. We're trying to get rid of him."

"What kid?" I know very well who she's talking about.

"Rick Murray." She replies through this nearly vacant expression. "He was abusive to his girlfriend last year and nearly killed her, and we don't want him to hurt anyone else."

She said this in monotone, as if she was reciting a story rather than something that—supposedly—happened in real life. Now I'm really starting to question the reality of what happened. Is that boy really a threat to the student body?

"You okay?" Emma asks me.

I shake my head. "I'm great." Giant lie. Something's vague about this entire situation, and I want to clear it up. It's like I have no life, but tapping into this adds drama to it. I wasn't here last year to say what Rick did or didn't do, so I have to find answers for myself. I want to kick myself for playing Nancy Drew, but I don't accept things as the truth just because someone tells me.

Sighing, I pop a squat next to Emma. "I'm curious about how this conversation will go." That and I want to talk to Marco about student council applications. He told me on the day he was elected president that applications would be available after campaigning season ended completely. This is a perfect opportunity to ask him about it.

Soon, Paige and the dirty blonde who I assume is Spinner show up. "This had better turn out well." Paige storms over to the step beneath Emma and mine's and Spinner follows her. She doesn't acknowledge us as she sits down.

"It doesn't matter." Spinner says. "We'll do something if Raditch doesn't."

They appear a little more passionate about "No Rick Allowed" than Emma, which leads me to believe that they were well acquainted with the girl he hurt. That makes sense. If my friend's abusive boyfriend put her in a coma, and he was returning to the school…

Wait—he's allowed to return to school? If Rick hurt that girl so seriously that she ended up in a coma, shouldn't he be in jail? Juvenile detention? Domestic abuse is against the law—least in the United States. Doesn't the same apply for Canada? So what happened? I don't want to ask Paige or Spinner: it's a sore spot for the both of them, and I doubt Emma knows any more than I do. I sigh in despair. Sounds like the girl in the coma transferred, so at least she's safe from Rick, but Nancy Drew is still on the case.

"'I always knew you were a smart boy, Marco.' Can you believe he said that?" Marco and the girl with him, who's probably Alex, show up. Marco was imitating Raditch, which only means one thing.

Rick Murray stays.

"Wow, you guys really handled Raditch." Emma comments sarcastically as they sit down.

I also notice another guy who greets Spinner with a fist bump sit down. I don't know him at all: he's really tall and pretty skinny, with poufy hair, blossoming into a fro. He has a tan complexion and is wearing a sports jacket. Definitely a jock.

"Psycho at twelve o'clock." Spinner says.

I look up. Rick is in the building scanning the lobby, and he looks in our direction. Gradually he makes his way towards us. Oh, boy. I can see his blue, plaid, short-sleeve button down baggy on his figure. He's also wearing a gray t-shirt underneath, with matching gray pants and sneakers.

"Marco, Paige, Spinner, Jimmy." He greets four of us, voice light and perky. I look around and see all of them, including Emma and Alex, glaring at him in return.

If looks could kill, Rick would be sliced up. Goosebumps cover my skin as a stony cold silence fills the air around us. There's a tension as thick as smoke in the room. I can only sit awkwardly and watch Rick's expression fall from an almost smile to a complete frown, and he walks away. Suddenly Emma hops up from the ledge next to me and follows Rick. I watch as she blocks his path.

I've never felt so confused and helpless. What just happened? It's like I'm watching television. The only thing I do know is that it's best if Rick stays away from this group of people while he's at Degrassi.

Why did he return in the first place?