Notice: This chapter contains a snip of dialogue from Degrassi's "Islands in the Stream" episode. I want to clarify that I'm a disclaimer of all of the Degrassi characters from the show.

VI. A Nancy Drewback

"I'll leave it at this: you can either be friends with Rick, or me."

Success!

I'm officially a member of student council. It terrifies me a little that Alex Nuñez is the vice president, but whatever; Marco's the president, so I'm relieved. I've spilled the beans to everyone I know: Manny and Queenie (double-hugged me), Ivory ("Congrats, girl"), Emma (pat on the shoulder), Toby (hug), and Rick (another hug).

I found Rick alone in the library when I told him, and he hugged me tightly. I took in the scent of his hair, which tickled my nose while we hugged.

"I knew you'd get in." he said in my ear.

"Thanks to you." I said in his.

I distinctly remember this moment because of what I saw once I looked over his shoulder. On the table he was sitting at laid a large, lavender poster with a green and yellow border and blue print.

"What's that on your desk?" I asked him. "That purple poster?"

Rick let me go and looked back as well. "Oh, this?" he went over and held up the flyer. "It's a poster for the Whack-Your-Brain tryouts."

"Whack-Your-Brain?" I echoed.

"It's for Degrassi's trivia team." Rick explained. "They do it annually, so I'd thought I'd take a whack at it." he chuckled at the corny joke.

I did too. "Best of luck to you, but you're a smart cookie, so what you need is skill. I believe in you!" I smiled.

Rick smiled back. He didn't speak, but his expression told everything.

I like you too, Rick, I thought.

Now, as I'm a part of student council, Whack-Your-Brain is the discussion item for today's meeting, which is in the gym, and all of the new members have to wear these golden, oval-shaped pins embroidered with the letters "S" and "C". As Marco discusses the different committees for setting up the show, one of the new members that I'm sitting next to hands me a lavender piece of paper containing a list—or petition. I glance at it: someone's collected twenty-six signatures out of...three hundred!?

I read the description at the top:

Petition voicing student support to take Rick out of Degrassi

Seriously? Even student council kids are involved in the anti-Rick movement? Still? I roll my eyes and pass the stupid petition on.

Marco announces the agenda for the semester. Next, the new members stand and recite the "Oath of Council" in order to be sworn in. It's a formal process in an informal setting.

"Alright, guys next meeting: we decide on our homecoming theme and our committees for the Whack-your-brain competition, which will take place in this very gymnasium!" Marco says enthusiastically. We all chuckle. "Have a good afternoon, guys."

The group disperses; I grab my backpack and make my way towards the door when Alex calls my name.

"I remember seeing you at The Dot," she says, "but not last year. You new?"

I nod. "I'm originally from Chicago."

"Where exactly is Chicago?" Alex scrunches her eyebrows.

"Uh, in Illinois. The Midwest: borderline east side of the United States."

"Hmm." she replies. "You said you served on Student Council, right? We could use your ideas from your outside student council experience."

I nod. "Happy to give some pointers whenever you need them."

I want to ask Alex about whoever behind the anti-Rick petition, but I decide to avoid that drama altogether. I really don't want to tick Alex off my first day being a part of StuCo. I smile and wave goodbye as I leave the gym.

When will this nonsense end? I shake my head. This has got to stop.

Ms. Kwan wants me to deliver a bundle of worksheets to Mr. Simpson's class. Well today, he's holding auditions for Whack-your-brain, a term that's become all too familiar with me in just a few days.

I slowly open the door as Mr. Simpson speaks, "Ah, welcome to the annual tryouts for Degrassi's trivia team. Now I want you to all partner up, and we're gonna start with a little warm-up."

Slowly I walk over to him. "Mr. Simpson?" I hold up the worksheets. "You asked for these?"

"Perfect timing, Vivian." he replies and takes the papers. "Just when I needed these. Don't go away: I need you to take something back for Ms. Kwan now.

"And what's that?" I follow him over to where, coincidentally, Rick and Toby are hovering over one computer.

"What's the world's largest glacier?" Snake asks them.

As Toby answers, I glance at Rick's computer screen.

And gape at what I find.

There's a series of names on a list named "Top Twenty." And I'm ON it. I'm the sixth on this list of whatever we're being ranked. I don't know what to think. I'm even more shocked when I discover Queenie's name's there as well! She's number eight. And Ivory's here too? Yep: beneath me at seven. I glance at the five people who ranked higher than me. Three are Manny, Emma, and Ms. Hatzilakos!? What the hell!? All of these are girls' names.

"Vivian." Simpson says.

"Yeah?" I say loudly, making Toby and Rick snap their heads around. I smile at them, trying to act casual.

"The worksheets are this way." Mr. Simpson points at his desk and gestures for me to follow. I obey, reluctantly leaving the guys behind.

"Psst, Vivian." I jerk my head to the right and catch Ivory waving at me. I smile and wave back. Does she know about the list? Or anyone else associated with it? Nancy Drew's back!

"Here you are." Snake hands me paper-clipped, lavender flyers, like the one I saw Rick with the other day. "They're for her to give to Marco and his council in order to hang up."

"You know, I could hand these to Marco myself: I'm a StuCo member."

"Well," Snake puts his hands on his hips playfully. "Wouldn't that be so much easier? Now the burden's on you."

"No problem." I chuckle. "Have a good day."

I leave, thinking about the list. I want to talk to somebody about what I saw, but I have a feeling that list is not for the public to know. I pause. No way: did RICK make that list? Should I ask him about it? What's he ranking? Great, more dancing questions. Nancy Drew's second case is on the brink.

During lunch, I find Toby and decide to ask him about the list. Fortunately, he's alone. I hurry towards him with my tray and call his name.

Toby has this goofy grin on his face that I'm no stranger to. "You know, I'd thought you'd see what a catch I am."

I elbow him. "You clown." I smile. "Look, remember when I walked into Simpson's class this morning and saw you and Rick? You guys were hovering over a computer with my name on a list, where I was number six, and I'm curious: what were you looking at?"

"Who, me?" Toby adjusts his glasses. "I don't know; it's not mine's."

"Don't play dumb." I say, then lightly add. "Come on, Toby, give me credit here: my name's there, and I just want to know why."

"Fine." Toby smiles. "But I hope you can handle this."

"I'm certain I can." I reply. "And I won't tell Rick you said anything."

"Okay." Toby says in this "don't say I didn't warn you" tone. "It's a list Rick made of his top twenty crushes at Degrassi." he tells me.

"Top twenty?" I repeat. "I didn't know someone could like that many people at once!"

"Uh, I think it's just all of the girls he's seen or knows," Toby clarifies, "and he has them in order of preference."

"Oh." How should I feel about this? Flattered that I made his list, or disgusted that he even MADE a list? Not to mention I'm his sixth choice, which creates more confusion for my emotions. According to Rick, I'm no match with Emma, Manny, Heather Sinclair, and some other chick I don't know, but six out of twenty is pretty high...ugh, I'm sick to my stomach.

"So...he has the biggest crush on Ms. Hatzilakos?" I say. "That's... interesting." Guess he has a thing for blondes.

Toby shrugs. "And you're number six, but personally, I'd rank you higher." he puts an arm around me.

"Um...thanks?" I shrug his arm away. "Look, this stays between you and me."

I walk with Toby to a vacant table, and soon we're accompanied by Emma. She has a large plate of salad, dominated by spinach leaves.

"Are you a vegetarian?" I ask her. I've never seen her with a ham and cheese sandwich, not to mention how skinny she is.

"Yep." she answers. "Lacto-Ovo-vegetarian, so I eat everything else but meat."

I nod. "Were you always one, or did you switch recently?"

"My mom's a vegetarian, so I've always been one." she replies. "Are you?"

I shake my head. "No offense, but I really love meat."

"None taken." Emma replies as Rick joins our table. He sits between Toby and me. I glance at him, and to my astonishment, his face is completely red as he scowls. I notice a large dark spot in the center of his dark blue shirt.

"What happened?" I ask softly.

"Jay." he retorts in a low soft voice. "He knocked my soup onto my shirt."

"Are you okay?" I say gently.

"In the end, I always am—physically anyway." Rick answers bitterly.

Immediately I think of the petition that was passed around the council yesterday, and the time he dropped his hot coffee. This kid can't go a day without forgetting that he's the "scum" of Degrassi.

Why should you feel sorry for him? It's not like you're a priority to him! My deviant conscious yells at me, making me a little sour. So the hell what? I counter. He's a teenage boy with hormones just like everyone else, which is hard to believe when you ostracize him for business that's none of your own.

I sigh. The righteous side of me wins and I stand up from the table. "I'll be back." I say.

There's a t-shirt in my backpack that I use for recreational purposes. It belonged to my older brother, so it's HUGE on me, but I think it can fit Rick. I walk over to the double doors of the cafeteria and push them over, walking towards my nearby locker. It doesn't matter what he ranks me for as dating material: I'm his friend, and he needs me. I open my locker and pull the old shirt that belonged to my brother: a gray, crew-neck. I then make my way back towards the cafeteria, but before I can go inside, I find a girl blocking my path: Ivory.

I smile at her, only to stop when I notice she's frowning with her arms crossed. Despite the frown she wears, the ponytail she has makes her look fantastic.

"Hey." I greet her. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Ivory's sarcasm makes me nervous. "It's just that I saw you sitting in the cafeteria with him."

I sigh. Good grief. Calmly I reply. "Yeah, well he happens to be a really sweet person if you take the time to get to know him."

"Really, Vivian?" Ivory shakes her head. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"Excuse me?" I say.

"Maybe you've forgotten why no one likes him," Ivory replies. "He. Put. A girl. In. A Coma! He's dangerous, Vivian, can't you see that?"

"I know." I say evenly, but sharply. "And what he did was awful, but he isn't dangerous."

"So you decided to befriend a psycho." Ivory scoffs. "A smart choice on your part."

I can feel my cheeks burning with indignation, and my hands trembling. "You're in no position to determine if anyone's a psychopath!" I counter. "And it just so happens that he isn't one!" I raise my voice.

"Alright, fine." Ivory says. "I'll leave it at this: you can either be friends with Rick, or me."

I stare at her incredulously. Who does she think she is?

I answer, "Ivory, technically you do have a pussy, but you could still just come out and say that you don't want to be my friend anymore. Thanks for showing me how shallow you truly are. Now I don't have to waste my time with you."

I walk around her into the cafeteria, fuming after that confrontation. I try and keep calm as I sit down and hand my shirt to Rick. "Put it on whenever you get the chance." I say.

He looks shocked, then he turns towards me. "Thank you, Vivian." he smiles a warm smile; a sweet smile.

For the first time I struggle to return it. "Anytime, Rick."

Playing Nancy Drew backfires: I've sniffed out drama, and now I'm caught in the middle of it. At least I know who my real friends are.