I really wish I could continue this story further, maybe go into more about how Toby feels with the loss of Jt, but unfortunately, I don't think I will have the time to do something like that, so there might only be around a couple of chapters left. There are really only two or three main plots left.


Toby's POV

The days felt dragged on at this point.

After what felt like an eternity, getting the memorial for Jt ready, everything seemed to go on as usual.

And I was really mixed at that. Thinking back towards the shooting, I was enraged that the whole school had moved on from what I thought was a pivotal moment in its whole history.

And it was kind of the same with the stabbing, and even though this didn't occur at Degrassi, it ultimately affected them the most.

Looking back at it, it was necessary to move on from all the negativity and drama. Not only was it refreshing on the mind, but it wouldn't mitigate our thoughts, as we could allow them to fade away.

If the old me was in this same position, I don't know what I would have done. But at least with this I understood why everyone was moving on. Nobody wanted to remember that tragic moment. They didn't want that to define them.

I understood now, and that everyone moved on in their own ways.

But to say the aftermath was uneventful was an understatement. Nothing really happened after that.

Everyone went on with their own business and we kind of just walk past the memorial, only glancing by and watching the face of others turn into a somber expression of unnecessary loss.

It truly was devastating, but it was necessary.

Making my way down towards my next class, I looked around to see Craig, on his phone as usual, relatively busy living two different lives.

The death of Jt, as much as I had pondered, still feels fresh and new, almost in a haunting sense, the cast on my arm, as well as the headband on my forehead a haunting reminder of the trauma I had gone through.

Liberty, was still moving on, the guilt of her ex-boyfriend's death on her birthday couldn't have helped, as it now gave her a pained reminder of loss whenever her birthday would show up for the years to come.

Manny and Emma were still saddened, but they were moving on eventually. Jt was like the clown in our friend group, and now it felt weird without the uplifting guy.

Mia was distraught, with a mix of Liberty and Emma. Saddened and guilty. She had gone out at the time, not knowing of Jt's whereabouts, but the thought of coming back hearing your significant other was dead is tragic.

And what about me? How was I doing with all of this? I don't know.

On the one hand, as always, nobody seemed to really check up on me. Aside from a few, I knew it was necessary to move on.

Jt wouldn't want me to be sad. He would want me to be me, and even through all our hardships and small lows, we were undeniably connected. Brothers, pretty much.

I meant it when I said that doctor, he was my brother, and it pained me to realize he was truly gone.

Especially since I spent most of his final months hating him, not wanting him around me.

Despite all of that, he still stuck by me, still appreciated it, and still valued me. Even when I would tell him to leave, he wouldn't. He would be there for me, and as much as I wanted to hate him, I just couldn't.

That was the hardest part. Moving on, realizing what you could have done different to appreciate the time I had with him more, but I let my ego get in the way.

Jt would be in my mind for a while to go, but where Rick was the one who made me change my looks, Jt was the one who made me change my perceptions on others.

I must understand what everyone is thinking, just as they should understand what I was thinking. I spent so much time focusing on myself and hating everyone for not being there for me, when in reality, they did try, I had just rejected them.

When Manny and Emma approached me, to Jt asking what was going on after my scuffle with Jay, they were there.

I just couldn't see it.

And I hated myself for it.

But hatred wouldn't get me anywhere. It would only dig myself deeper in my sorrows.

Even to Jay, I couldn't show hatred, because who knows how I would feel if something terrible were to happen to him.

It sounds farfetched, but it's a reality. You never know how much someone could affect you. Perhaps I should talk to him as the last time I had talked to him was after the overdose incident.

Ha, like I would ever negotiate with that scumbag. Tough luck. I mumbled.

Sighing, it was currently a weekend, Saturday, and I had just finished my workouts as usual.

At this point, I was working out for the fun of it, to not slack off. I had the body I wanted, and needed, but now I had to keep it up, which also included the healthy habits of eating.

I looked to my phone and saw a text from Emiko. I smiled slightly at the text of her, as it made me feel less lonely.

If there was one person who was consistently there for me, it was her. While her volunteering and her school made her not totally free, she was always checking up on me, making sure I was fine, which was something I did appreciate. It was rare to actually find someone who wanted to talk to me.

Right now, she was asking if I wanted to go to a nearby arcade, which I didn't mind. It was a decent bit away and I was able to pick her up from her residence so I didn't have a problem.

"Bye dad! I'm going to the arcade with Emiko!" I yelled.

"Is that the pretty chic you've been talking about?" My dad asked, to which I just rolled my eyes at before leaving. I could have sworn I heard someone else laugh but I didn't bother.

"We're just happy for you!" I faintly heard but I shrugged it off, not caring about it at all. I didn't see Emiko as so, at least I portrayed, as relationships were something I hadn't thought about.

Regardless I drove to the area, the address Emiko had sent me regarding her place of residence was actually a place called Greenwood. It was a relatively quiet place with some very nice houses, the first thing I noticed.

Eventually I found the area where Emiko lived, and immediately I was a bit nervous. The first thing I'm that occurred to me was that her house was big. Very big. Much bigger than any other house I saw.

Gulping I made my way towards the front door.

"Ruff!" The sound of a rather aggressive dog freaked me out, before I noticed it approach me without attacking.

Putting my hand out it licked it before it became more friendly, seeming to understand what I was doing there.

"I see you met Reuben." A female voice brought me to a new view, away from the dog, and to Emiko.

I scratched my head, "Yeah I didn't know you had a dog, well I didn't know you lived here." I said after pointing to how big the place clearly was.

Emiko sighed, "yeah I get that a decent bit, let's head out."

I turned to her, a bit concerned, "Is everything okay?

She nodded quickly, a bit too quickly. "Do you want to tell your parents your gone?" I asked.

"I'll text them." She replied, with a smile, before I nodded and motioned for her to enter the car.

Our ride was rather loud, the arcade wasn't too far, but it did take around 30 minutes, and in that time, Emiko was showcasing her anime knowledge, playing songs from different anime that she would name.

"Jugemu jugemu gokou no surikire kaijari suigyo no suigyoumatsu unraimatsu fuuraimatsu kuuneru tokoro ni sumu tokoro."

"Haha..." I chuckled in response to her singing one.

I was impressed, she clearly had a lot of knowledge, and it was funny.

I had decided to go to an arcade, for the simple fact that we would enjoy some interaction with each other, something Emiko seemed to have wanted.

Whether it was me being a bit distracted by the whole Jt incident or something else, I didn't know. But we did plan this out and now it was happening, and it did feel nice, having someone I can just spend the day with.

Someone other than the usual group. Manny, Emma, and Liberty, but they all had their own drama that they needed to solve.

Emma with Sean and the military, Liberty coping with Jt's death, and then Manny, with Jay. I shook my head quickly, not trying to let that scumbag occupy my mind for a moment.

Regardless, we drove towards the arcade building, our plan of spending the day over.

"How much you want to bet you can beat me?" Emiko asked, a bit smug, which made me laugh.

"I'm not betting anything; I'm just hear for a good time." I could have sworn I saw Emiko blush from my statement, but I brushed it off.

Not saying much more, I made my way to a hammer, clearly a strength test.

"This is my thing." I said, which made Emiko laugh.

"There's no doubt you will beat me at this."

I snorted, grabbing the hammer, which wasn't all too heavy. With my arms, I slammed the hammer down, the meter going from 0 to 842/1000. Pretty strong.

At least I thought until I saw Emiko get 778/1000. While I still won, it was closer than we both thought.

"Maybe you're not as strong as you think." Emiko smirked, which made me roll my eyes.

"These things are rigged; I'll give you some actual weights to try if you want." I replied

"Not today." She said, her hands moving across her figure in a no thanks.

We laughed before we found ourself at a light, which was moving, with the goal to aim it at a high number.

I gulped. Sight precision was not my strong suit. My contacts could only help, and I actually don't know how well Emiko's vision is. In that fight with Lakehurst, once the guy had knocked the contacts out my eyes, I was vulnerable, until Craig had stepped in.

I was pretty close to hitting the good marker, but instead got a 3.

"This is dumb." I mumbled, with Emiko laughing at my misfortunes in the background.

Nonetheless, I knew she would win, and she did, getting a 7. Not as high, but higher than me.

"Looks like I win this one." She said, her smile shining.

"Yeah, good job." I said before moving on, her laughing in the background, playfully.

Eventually, three games later, and we decided to walk quite a bit way nearby to get some lunch at a nearby Wendy's which I didn't mind at all.

What I did somewhat mind, and found a bit strange was that Emiko was insistent on walking towards the lunch, whereas I wanted to drive.

"What's wrong, all that exercise makes you tired of anything?" She playfully teased. Whenever she did that it always made me reconsider anything. This case was a bit weird as she rarely teased me in that sense.

"Yeah actually, I had worked out this morning." I replied.

"I can tell, you always have that deodorant smell." Emiko replied. "Is it cause of the sweating?"

Shrugging, and wanting to prove her wrong, I decided to walk with her. I didn't actually mind a nice walk.

However, what happened during the walk, was what confused me. It was roughly halfway during the walk, Emiko had suddenly put her hand around mine, while mine was bigger than hers, she put her fingers through mine, clutching it as if she wanted me to close my hand in her.

It was strange, but she kept walking, with a small smile on her face, that wasn't in a teasing sense, but more of a content. I certainly didn't want to ruin that, so I closed them on hers, and her smile widened noticeably.

While that was strange, I didn't think too much of it. Eventually, we made our way to the Wendy's and as much as Emiko wanted to pay, I insisted.

Our overall meal was rather quiet, which made sense as we both tried to not appear disgusting to the other. It was rather causal, but we were being a bit careful. Myself because Emiko was definitely one of my more precious friends, and Emiko for reasons I didn't know.

However, it was while we were returning from the restaurant, did things get a bit too conflicting for me. Alongside holding my hand, Emiko had brought her body closer to mine. I looked to her, questionably, but she was looking forward, unfazed by my stare to her.

I didn't know how to feel about it. On the one hand it was nice, but on the other it wasn't something I've experienced.

Shrugging yet again, we made our way make back towards the arcade.

Couple more games worth of hours, alongside some rides, we were rather tired, from being competitive and shouting.

The arcade was near its closing hours, but Emiko and I had stayed behind. Looking outside and watching the darkening skies. We were watching from the outside, the sound of crickets becoming apparent, and the stars shining rather brightly.

It was a rare moment, and we cherished it while it lasted. Not much was said as we just looked out. Originally, we were in the arcade, we eventually made our way to a nearby lighting area. The red lights shining the night sky, as Emiko and I just enjoyed the nighttime atmosphere.

Emiko's head was on my shoulder again. This seemed to be a common occurrence, which I didn't complain about, as Emiko's head was pretty soft, acting as a pillow. I decided to rest my head on top of hers.

Our close proximity was evident by our breathing, and our eye contact. The warm atmosphere made it even more ideal as it was relatively late before darkness consumed the sky.

But we didn't mind. When it was just the two of us, I felt like I could handle anything.

"Today was fun." Emiko started, my mind snapped out of its thoughts, as I turned to face Emiko, a smile apparent on her face.

I smiled a slight blush encompassing my face, I could feel, "Thanks, I didn't really think I could entertain someone for so long..."

Her face turned to confusion, "Well you certainly gave me a good day today, why do you assume your boring?" She asked.

I sighed, "It's not that I think I'm boring, but rather it's just I was only really popular with others when I was around others."

"Oh, well you are your own person, so you have some stuff that makes you appealing."

I looked to her, and noticed she was a bit shy, blushing as well, which was actually cute. Oh god, I'm being stupid again!

"So, what is going on? Like in your school and home life?" I asked Emiko, realizing that despite the night sky, we weren't too keen on leaving anytime soon.

Emiko shrugged, clearly either not wanting to talk about it or just nothing interesting.

That is, until she spoke. "Not much, really, mom and dad are what you would expect. I have a dog and an older sister in university, so my homelife is relatively normal. What about you?"

I chuckled, "Well I have a father and a step-mother, and a step-sister, that's it really."

"I see, what about your school life?" Emiko asked, and I sighed.

"Didn't I ask you that as well first?" I turned to her, remembering I had asked two questions. She had only answered one of them.

At this Emiko sighed, "It's what it is. I'm not really that popular, so to speak."

This confused me, "Why? I thought you'd be the popular type, with how you bring yourself."

Emiko laughed, before smiling, "Thank you, but I don't know, I never really got along with anyone in my classes in the long run. I went to a private school and so I had no foundation really with friends, so I just seemed like this alien, or stranger."

I nodded, understanding where she was getting at, not from a background sense, but a stranger and alien way.

"Like I help others when they ask, and I have hung out with some people for lunch and stuff, but I never had anyone I could, you know, call and talk to whenever, like a friend group. I was never really apart of one. All I had were the hospital staff from my volunteering, but they're much older than me."

I looked on to Emiko, very confused. Here was a good person, a nice girl, who was very hardworking in her ethics, not really excelling in a social life.

"Damn. I'm pretty sure you know how messed up school is for me." I chuckled heartlessly, remembering the two friends I had lost due to violence in the recent times.

I felt an arm wrap around me, and I knew it was Emiko's, "I can't imagine losing a friend, or two. It's tragic."

I shook my head, "Don't worry about that, you already helped with that, but you've never really had a friend group?" I was still confused, that was almost impossible.

Emiko shook her head, "Nope, your honestly one of the first few high-schoolers I've actually feel like I've truly befriended."

I smiled, "Well I'm glad I'm able to help you with that." Catching her hand, and enveloping it in mine. The warmth apparent upon contact.

Emiko nodded, as we continued to watch the red lights, and the night sky shine, the stars flickering in a beautiful spectacle.

Eventually, however, we knew that the time would catch up, and so we got up and got to my car. I drove Emiko back to her house, her texting her parents that she was on her way home.

"So, your parents didn't mind me taking you out?" I asked.

Emiko shook her head, "Nope, if anything they're glad, they've been wanting me to go out more. They accepted my volunteering, but also wanted me to hang out with other people my age."

"I see." I said, before pointing to her house.

She got out once I had stopped close by, hearing the faint sounds of a dog barking.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." I said, and Emiko smiled.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind doing something like this again." She smiled, a bit nervous, and I chuckled.

"Take care." I finalized before I drove off back to my house, where I knew, my dad was going to have a field day.

I knew I had a lot of explaining to do, notably about how she wasn't my girlfriend, but they probably wouldn't believe me.

But it does bring a question: would Emiko be a good girlfriend? Like Kendra? I shook my head, not wanting to think about that.


Craig's POV

I knew something was up.

At first, I was very confused. It started with Ellie, because of course it did.

It seemed that every drama I was involved with now involved Ellie in it.

But that wasn't the start. Of course, with the stabbing incident from the party, which was the result of Toby and I spotting two Lakehurst students unprovokedly stabbing Jt, I was hospitalized from a stab wound to my left shoulder.

A couple weeks onwards, and it was still healing. It wasn't bad, as it didn't puncture anything vital, but it did need some six weeks to fully heal.

Of course, this caused a lot of publicity on my image. I saw some newspaper and news regarding a famous Canadian Rockstar getting stabbed. Thankfully, because of my team, information, such as the school and perpetrators names were not released.

Still, the result of me being hospitalized put my already rising career further, and I knew that it would be crazy.

My manager had already called to make sure I was alright, which I stated through a phone call that I was fine and that I would fully recover. I mentioned that aside from the three weeks of absence, I would return to the studio. My time in the hospital recovering had given me some time to write some lyrics down.

It worked out in the end for me, thankfully, and while I did pay for the funeral service for Jt, the sight of it, knowing we could have prevented his death will forever haunt me.

But now, there was something new brewing, specifically among some friends.

I was confused, because I always am.

It started with Ellie texting me. Considering the last time I interacted with Ellie in person, it resulted in a brief fight, with me realizing Ellie had gotten drunk, I was a bit hesitant to talk to her, as I had feared a repeat.

However, through text, she did apologize for her behaviour, which made me reply with my own apologies, stating I could have acted better and quickly read the situation that was unfolding between us.

Regardless, after that text, she did mention that she and Marco, alongside Paige had visited the hospital after the stabbing incident to make sure I would recover, which I did. It just so happened that those times were when I was unconscious, but at least they did.

But now, Ellie was texting me for something completely different. She wanted me to come over to her apartment.

That was strange. The last time I had, it hadn't ended as well as I had hoped, with it being revealed that Ellie had a boyfriend named Jessie. It was a huge surprise that made me quickly wrap up any advances I was making at that instant. Despite my emotions for her still running deep, I knew that she was off limits.

Of course, I asked why, but she didn't respond properly, just saying she wanted me to come over. This confused me, but what confused me more was when I had gotten a text from Marco, mentioning that Ellie wasn't doing too well.

My heart and head began to race, as I had feared the worst. Was she sick? Injured? What happened?

I took a deep breathe, not wanting me to fall under this pressure, as it was relatively late, and I was walking back to my apartment from the studio.

I sighed, texting Marco and Ellie the address to my apartment, just in case they needed to fine me.

As much as I wanted to see if they were okay, the feeling of sleeping took over, and so I welcomed the darkness before I saw them.

I woke up in my apartment to the sun shining brightly. It was Sunday, so I was able to visit Ellie and Marco today. In truth, I didn't want to go there, after everything, but considering that Marco had texted me stating she wasn't doing well, I held that hesitance behind me. My concern was overweighing it at the moment.

I hopped on my motorcycle, before speeding my way towards their room, which they had gotten once they had gone in to the University of Toronto.

"Here it is." I mumbled as I had counted the number until I got the one that matched.

Carefully, I knocked, hoping not to be too loud.

The door opened after the second knock, and I was shocked to see Marco at the door, as quick as it was.

"Hey." I mumbled, not expected it.

He simply nodded his head, before letting me in.

The area seemed for the most part, the same, maybe a bit messier, but not overly noticeable, or bad.

My thoughts, however were interrupted once I saw the tears of Ellie Nash, flowing.

Immediately my heart broke, shattering at the thought at what could've happened to Ellie.

I gulped, "What happened?" I asked, and my voice caught her attention.

"Oh, hey Craig, did Marco bring you over?" She simply asked, and I didn't know how to respond, other with a simple yeah.

I hated how cowardly and cautious I was around her.

We remained quiet. Marco broke this, and tapped my shoulder. "I have a business meeting to attend, so I will leave Ellie in your hands, okay?"

I quickly debunked that Marco was lying. A business meeting, really? However, I was in no mood to argue so I let him go with a nod.

Once he left, I was left with the sound of a crying Ellie.

This was not going to be easy. I muttered as I slowly walked over to Ellie.

"Hey." I started, "It's been a bit."

Ellie nodded, "You've been ignoring me." She muttered silently, and I looked down, not really denying it.

I sighed, "My manager's been on my case ever since the stabbing."

Ellie's eyes widened, "Oh, sorry, and here I am being ignorant."

I shook my head, "Oh no, it's fine. I should've been spending more time with you. I was just afraid."

Ellie turned her head to me in confusion, "What do you mean, afraid? No offence Craig, but we lived together for a brief bit, how are you afraid of me?"

I chuckled, as it had the someone semblance of the sarcastic Ellie I had lived with and gotten along with.

"It's not necessarily you, but rather your boyfriend, I didn't want to get in the way between you two is all." I chuckled, "Maybe it wasn't that smart, as I had pretty much lost contact with you, so for that I apologize. I was too nervous because you seemed happy with him, so I didn't want to ruin that between you."

I turned my eyes to Ellie's direction, only to see that she was fuming a bit, her tears were coming out her eyes faster than before. Did I strike a chord? I asked myself,

"Are you okay?" I asked Ellie, and she nodded after wiping her tears.

I sighed, "How about we go to my apartment, I can help you, and then we can maybe go somewhere to make you feel better, okay?" I asked, and she nodded.

Then, suddenly, she brought forth a black helmet that I was familiar with. "My helmet? You kept it?" I asked incredulously.

Ellie chuckled, "Yeah, you left it with me after that night."

I scratched my head, knowing what night she was referring to. "Oh, yeah, it's fine, you keep it. I bought a new one."

Eventually, we got on the motorcycle, and like I promised, I brought her back to my apartment. The ride was rather smooth for the both of us, as Sunday afternoon would have most of the traffic.

I opened it and immediately I was met with a sassy remark by Ellie.

"So, the famous Manning lives in a mediocre apartment? Lame." She chuckled.

"Hey! I'm just one person, and it's not bad. I have other stuff outside here in other areas." I mentioned, and she understood.

"I'm just joking." Ellie replied.

"I know." I said, "You sure Jessie's not going to mind us hanging out?"

After I had said this sentence, Ellie's face had turned to a frown, with sadness and a sizeable amount of anger.

It was at that moment; did I have an idea what happened to Ellie.

The uncomfortable silence, the tears, and the anger in Ellie, it was clear what happened, and why Ellie was calling for me.

I had two choices, either I left it alone and let her speak up, or I-

"You two broke up?" I asked in my most serious and deflated tone I could put on.

The silence was impeccable, but she eventually nodded, confirming what I asked.

"Oh." I said, feeling a bit stupid for not picking up on it.

"When did you guys-" I was cut off from my statement after Ellie talked. "Two days ago."

"I see, how are you then?" I asked, and then she began to move her hands a bit erratically by mere millimeters.

She wasn't saying anything, and this was concerning me. I was getting worried again.

"Ellie? What happened between you and Jessie that caused you two to break up?" I asked, knowing talking about relationships can be a touchy subject, especially so soon after a major event. So, I was expecting a strong reaction to this statement.

What I didn't expect, however, was a hard slap across my face, the sound echoing across my room, and probably the apartment, before a hug.

Before I could realize, Ellie's figure was holding onto me. Her arms were hugging me, and I could feel some tears again falling from her eyes, as her head was on my shoulders, and I could hear some crying going on.

"Ellie..." I softly spoke.

But the next statement made me silent.

"Jessie cheated on me, he cheated on me with an older woman!"

At this moment, my heart stopped and broke for Ellie, as all I could really do at this point, was give her this hug that she wanted, and probably needed after that.

The only words that were going through my mind, during the silence, was: I'm such a coward for not being there.