While the children of the Degrassi: TNG students are mine; their parents aren't. They belong to their rightful properties.

Also, the titles of the chapters are taken from songs(or modified versions of song titles). They belong to their rightful authors.

We continue on with our story.

Chapter Four: New Kid in Town

"Tell me again why you're taking Art I?" Juliette looked at Gabe in disbelief.

Gabe merely shrugged. "I don't know. It sounded like a good idea at the time."

The two continued down the hallway talking.

"If I remember correctly; I wanted to take Drama I this year, but for some reason it was one of the first classes that filled up."

Juliette looked at him confused. "Why Drama though Gabe?"

"To be the center of attention was one reason." Gabe smiled. "Everyone loves a clown."

Juliette glared at him. "You're an idiot sometimes. You could just cartwheel down the hallway like you did last year."

"Yeah and end up knocking down Simpson again?" Gabe snorted. "I don't need detention the first day back." Gabe stopped outside the Art classroom. "How did I go from being your hero this morning and now being an idiot?"

"Do you ever hear the words that come out of your mouth sometimes?"

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He let her enter the classroom first and followed in behind her.

"Good morning Juliette." Mr. Chessex smiled. "Good morning to you as well Gabriel."

"Morning Mr. Chessex." The two said at the same time.

"Well it seems that I have both of the Mason children and two of the three Hogarts." Mr. Chessex smiled. "This should be an interesting year."

"Which one of my brothers signed up for art class?" Juliette asked. They turned and noticed J.J. sitting at one of the tables smiling. Juliette looked at him dumbfounded all the while Gabe smiled and nodded.

"You? Are you stupid or something J.J.?"

J.J. leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "No not at all sissy. I just finished with Art Appreciation and took Art I after that." He sat up in his chair. "Do you realize that very few guys actually take this class?"

Gabe laughed out loud as he patted Juliette's shoulder. "The kid's got guts." He moved and high-fived J.J. "He's right you know."

Juliette looked at Gabe disgusted. "So you're encouraging him?"

Gabe merely shrugged. "I'm here to be creative. Being in a creative setting actually helps my ADHD. I'm just agreeing with him about the male to female ratio. Between J.J., myself and maybe one or two other guys; we'll be outnumbered at least three to one."

J.J. smiled at his sister. Juliette could only roll her eyes at her little brother. She turned and glared at Gabe.

"Okay smart ass; go find somewhere else to work. I'm trying to keep my brother out of trouble and you're not helping." Juliette nearly growled at Gabe.

Gabe frowned at her. He placed a hand on Juliette's shoulder. "Just remember babe; you can only push a person so much before they push back." Gabe took off to the table near the back of the room and sat down.

"What the hell did he mean by that?" Juliette asked. J.J. merely shrugged.

"Ladies, ladies; won't you come join us?" J.J. turned to Veronica and Nicolette. "The more the merrier."

Veronica blushed and smiled; taking one of the seats offered. Nicolette sat down next to her. Juliette looked over at Gabe one last time before sitting down. Veronica looked at her brother confused.

"Why is he over there?"

J.J. looked over his shoulder. "Sissy said that he was being a bad influence on me. She chased him off or something."

Juliette rolled her eyes. "Gabe's being a drama queen."

Veronica looked at Juliette in a disbelieving manner, but shrugged it off. "Well I wasn't here, so I have no idea." She introduced Nicolette to Juliette and J.J. They sat and talked for a few minutes until the bell rang.

"Alright class, settle in." Mr. Chessex smiled, pulling a grade book into his hands. "I'm going to take roll and we'll go over what we're starting with today." Mr. Chessex went through the list and marked everyone that was there.

"Alyson Manning?" Mr. Chessex asked. "Alyson are you here?"

Gabe took a look around the room and chuckled to himself. He noticed that most of the students were female. The guys were J.J., himself and another boy that he didn't know. He looked back down at the sketchpad that was in front of him and continued to doodle. He heard the clicking of boot heels on linoleum and looked at the door.

"Sorry Mr. Chessex. I got here late today and I've been trying to catch up."

"Glad to see you here Alyson. Go ahead and take a seat anywhere that's open."

Gabe turned back to the pad and started to sketch. He didn't pay any attention to the late girl, until the boot clicks stopped nearby him. He looked up and noticed the late girl standing near him. She was beautiful, almost movie star beautiful. She stood tall for a girl her age with long copper colored hair. She wore a purple polo shirt and beige skirt but her style was more punk or gothic. She had on a long purple and black striped hoodie underneath the polo and wore black fishnets with combat boots. She wore a bunch of silver jewelry; a few rings, a choker, one necklace and a watch. She also had her left ear pierced several times and her right had about five rings or studs in it.

"Do you mind if I join you?" She smiled.

Gabe smiled and offered her to join him.

"Thanks. I'm Alyson."

"Gabriel Mason?" Mr. Chessex asked.

"Gabe if you don't mind sir." Gabe smiled.

Mr. Chessex nodded and continued on. "Veronica Mason?"

"Gabe huh?" Alyson asked. "I like it."

"Thanks Ally." Gabe smiled; causing Alyson to blush a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

Alyson waved him off. "It's okay. I'm not used to someone flirting with me."

"Really?" Gabe looked at her confused. "I don't believe that."

"It's true Gabe."Alyson shrugged. "At least not knowing who I am helps sometimes."

Gabe looked confused as he turned to her.

"Your little sister?" Alyson motioned towards Ronnie's direction.

Gabe nodded. "Yep that's her. She started this year." Ronnie smiled at her big brother and gently waved. She pointed to the dark haired girl at her right and mouthed "new friend". Gabe smiled and gave a thumbs up. Alyson turned from Ronnie's table and nodded at Gabe.

"You two seem pretty close."

Gabe nodded. "That's my baby sister. I gotta take care of her."

Alyson smiled and glanced back at the table. She frowned a bit and turned back. She motioned for Gabe to come closer. She whispered to him. "Who's the bitch with the Bowie Complex? She an ex or something?"

Gabe covered his mouth, trying not to laugh out loud. He removed the hand from the mouth and took a deep breath.

"No it's nothing like that." Gabe stated. "She's my best friend. Juliette and I have known each other since we were like three." Gabe looked over and noticed that Juliette stopped looking in their direction and towards the front of the room.

"Then what's her damage?"

Gabe shook his head. "She's mad at me for some reason. That and I'm not giving her all of my attention."

"Poor baby." Alyson commented as she rolled her eyes. "How about not needing drama the first day at a new school?"

Gabe shrugged. "Just let it go. Jules is okay, but she's just having a moment." Gabe smiled. "Want to meet my sister at lunch?"

Alyson nodded as they turned to Mr. Chessex and the rest of the lesson. While they didn't know it; both Alyson and Gabe shared a passing thought. That thought was that they were glad to have met a new person that day.

Yes I know it's short. It's short for a reason.

I'm trying to set up the major players in the story at this time. If you've looked at the list on my profile page (which would help a little bit), there are a lot more students listed than introduced. Like I had said in the first chapter; Gabriel and Veronica will be the main focus points in this story. This is their story while at Degrassi. Since all of the players (at this time) have been introduced, the next couple of chapters will now fall into place.

Also, I'm playing with certain events that happened in the past. While at this time it's not relevant; it will be in later chapters.

So many thanks to you readers that keep following my story! I really can't thank you enough! It's nice to see hits on a story that recently has become a bit of a passion. I guess changing to a drama was what I needed to do.

Thanks to CrashAgainstMySkin for the review that you left! It was a nice boost that I needed!

Reviews are welcome, but totally not necessary. You guys rock!

Next Chapter: Juliette's moodiness is the start of drama!