A word of warning: Guy talk and brutal aftermath of violence. You're on your own at this point.

Chapter 23: Right Through You

The steps in front of Degrassi were usually busy right after school. Most of the student body would clear out and go on with the rest of their day. The clubs and sports teams that met after school would be there for a while but would make the same exodus from the school long after that. The three athletes that were sitting there at this time were taking in the words of the fourth; each with mixed reactions as he finished the story.

"That's awesome!" Came from J.J. Hogart, who was sitting on the lowest step. "You have all the luck man!" He turned to another teammate. "I mean, it's crazy but you have to admit Eddie; what would have you done in that situation?"

Edgar Sinclair-Coyne sat several steps up from J.J. He didn't have much of a reaction on his face. He merely commented. "I would have taken advantage of the situation. Mind you; if the party in question wasn't related to me by blood."

"Ah, but there is the dilemma Eddie; main man here is dating a pretty foxy girl now." Shane Milligan chimed in. He was sitting on the top step watching everything, eating some kind of snack. "Still, it's not everyday that you end up with a naked woman in your room." He turned towards the storyteller. "Dude; next time lie to us and say that you hit that."

Edgar turned to Shane with a disgusted look on his face. "That is my cousin you are talking about sir."

Shane shrugged. "Yeah, but your cousin is wicked hot." J.J. nodded.

"The thing I don't understand," Gabe spoke up sitting on the pillar across from the three of them. "Is she trying to get my attention? The way she was acting was like she was trying to seduce me."

Edgar nodded. "Nikki is very open and comfortable with whom she is. If she's interested; even in the slightest, she will pursue that interest to the fullest."

J.J. smiled the brightest. "You are one lucky guy." J.J. jerked to the left, holding his right ear. "Ow! You dick!"

Shane smirked at J.J. "Next time, it's a cashew." Shane turned to Edgar. "What happened with Nikki and Ronnie? Aren't they a thing?"

It was Edgar's turn to shrug. "That's a good question. Nikki was considering it but it's possible that she'd rather chase after a claimed guy instead."

"You're not helping my situation here Edgar." Gabe grumbled.

"I'm not trying to help." Edgar replied matter-of-factly. "I'm being honest with you."

"That's gonna break Ronnie's heart." J.J. commented. Gabe nodded.

"You could always help there Shane O'Mac." J.J. turned to him.

Shane shook his head. "Two problems with that." The three all looked at him. "Well Ronnie and talked about it and I planned on giving her some time. We've admitted that we like each other but she's working through somethings." Gabe smiled at him for not going through all of the complications of their relationship.

"What's the other issue?" Edgar turned to Shane.

"An appendage named Tricia Parker." Shane grumbled at the mention of the girl's name.

"Geez, you guys and all of the luck." J.J. smiled. J.J. got up and headed towards his mother's car as it pulled up in front of the school. He waved back to his teammates; to which they waved back to him as he sat in the front passenger seat.

"Hey Aunt Manny!" Gabe called to the car. Manny waved to Gabe.

"How did practice go guys?" Manny called out from the driver's seat.

"It went well Mrs. Hogart." Edgar spoke up. "We should be ready for the final meet on Saturday." She smiled at the three teammates.

"Has anyone seen Juliette? I was supposed to get her as well."

"Sorry ma'am." Shane shook his head. "I haven't seen her since last period."

"I don't have any classes with her Mrs. Hogart." Edgar replied.

"Sorry Aunt Manny."

Manny sighed darkly. "Well if you see her; tell her to get home soon." The two Hogarts waved to the wrestlers and drove off from Degrassi. The three turned back to each other.

"What was that all about?" Edgar asked.

Gabe sighed. "I guess that they're keeping a tight leash on Juliette." He stood up from the pillar and stretched. "Things have been tense between us since that big brawl early last month."

"Speaking of Alyson," Edgar smirked. "Does she know about what happened over the weekend?"

"Yeah." Gabe turned to Edgar. "She's not too happy about it. She told Nikki not to try anything like that again. I don't think that's going to stop your cousin."

Edgar shook his head again. "Nope."

Shane chuckled at this. Coach Milligan exited the school and nodded at the guys. Shane and Edgar stood up and wished Gabe a good evening. They walked to over to the teacher's parking lot and left. Gabe stood outside and was still waiting on his sister to come out of her meeting. He sat back on the pillar and took out his drumsticks. He started tapping out a rhythm on the stone. He was practicing a new rhythm when he heard laughter from the front doors. He looked up and noticed Juliette Hogart and Tricia Parker walking out of the school. Both were laughing loudly about something that happened. Gabe noticed that Juliette slipped something into her bag and quieted down quickly. Tricia cleared her throat and smiled at him.

"Mister Straight Edge is sitting out on the pillar playing with his sticks." She laughed at her commentary. "What's the matter? Your friends and girlfriend left you behind today?"

"Good to see you too Trish." Gabe nodded, not taking the bait. "You two have a nice afternoon." He went back to drumming on the stone.

Tricia scoffed and turned to Juliette. "You're right about him being cute but he needs better manners if he wanted to be in the upper tiers of Degrassi." Gabe looked at Juliette; not losing any of the rhythm he was working on. He noticed Juliette blush.

"Can you give me a minute alone here Trish?" Juliette asked.

Tricia glared at her. "Just hurry up; I can't do this on my own." Tricia patted her purse and made an ugly face; sticking her tongue out at Gabe. She turned and walked towards the student parking lot. Gabe continued to drum while Juliette watched him.

"How've you been?" Juliette asked; breaking the odd silence between them.

"I'm doing good, thanks for asking." Gabe replied, not looking up. "How's by you?"

"O-okay I guess. I've had it better." She sighed. "I broke up with Jem."

Gabe looked up and stopped his drumming. "The bass player in Manning's theory class?" Juliette nodded. "Sorry to hear that. He's a decent guy."

Silence returned between the two. Juliette shouted at him. "That's all you have to say?!"

Gabe looked at her annoyed. "What am I supposed to say Jules? Sorry about your luck? Is that comment supposed to make me forget what you've done to my little sister?"

Juliette rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, bring that up!"

"You tortured and tormented her for your enjoyment!" Gabe growled. "You get some kind twisted excitement picking on someone; let alone anyone? What happened to you?"

Juliette glared at Gabe. She didn't answer him at all.

"And there is my point." Gabe answered. "I hope one day that I get my friend back and can accept my life for what it is." He got off of the pillar and started up the steps. "Now, if you excuse me; I need to find my sister." He continued up the steps and went through the door.

Juliette watched him enter the school. She turned from the door with a predatory grin on her face. She laughed in a sinister tone as she headed out to Tricia's car.

"You'll find her old friend but you'll not like the way you'll find her…"

Meanwhile…

Gabe entered the main hallway. There were very few students left in the school at this time. The few students that he found hadn't seen his sister. He walked the entire length of the school and didn't see her in the halls. He made it back to the main hall and was about to get Principal Simpson; when he saw a lady from his art class.

"Hey Francine?"

The dark-haired girl was standing at the front desk. She turned and looked at Gabe; blushing at him before shyly waving to him.

"Hey Gabe; what are you still doing here?"

Gabe stopped in front of her. "Have you seen my sister? I figured she'd be out of her meeting."

Francine looked at him; confused. "Ronnie? We were in the science club meeting today. She left the meeting a few minutes before I did. I figured that she left already."

"I got out of practice about forty minutes ago." Gabe responded. "What time did you get out of the meeting?"

"She left like twenty minutes ago." Francine looked at him oddly. "You sure that she's not outside?"

Gabe shook his head. "I just passed the front door and didn't see her." He looked again frantically. "I know that you're busy but could you help me for a few minutes?"

"Two sets of eyes are better than one." She smiled at him. "I'll check the girl's bathrooms if you would wait outside."

Gabe nodded and followed her to the first set of bathrooms closest to the science room. Francine checked the door and barely took three steps in when she turned around. Francine's face was pale. She covered her mouth with her hand.

"Francine?"

"Just wait here. I'm getting someone." Francine passed by him. She turned and repeated herself. "Please, just wait here for me to get back."

Gabe nodded; looking very confused. He stood there as Francine ran back to the front desk. He stood next to the bathroom door for a few minutes. He heard hurried footsteps coming back his way. Francine was jogging back with Ms. Parker; the guidance counselor. They moved past him and into the bathroom. He stood looking at the door for a minute and then the door opened. Francine stood there with tears streaming down her face. She motioned for him to come in.

Gabe followed her into the bathroom. She turned and motioned towards the end of the bathroom. Francine finally couldn't take it and ran into the nearest stall. The sounds of vomiting echoed for a few moments. Ms. Parker stopped in front of Gabe; blocking what was going on from view.

"Gabriel; I'm going to meet the paramedics at the front door. I've had Principal Simpson call your parents." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't move her too much; just try to comfort her right now." She left the bathroom after that. Gabe turned back towards the end of the bathroom. He studied the form on the ground but couldn't quite place it. He moved closer and his jaw dropped. He ran to her and took in the situation.

On the floor; was Ronnie. She was propped up against the wall with her head hanging down. Her hair was messed up and taken out of her ponytail holder. Ronnie's glasses were askew and broken on her face. There was a serious gash on her forehead; which covered her face in dark blood. There were cuts and wounds on her hands and arms; with serious bruising on her wrists. Her yellow polo was torn in several places and nearly drenched in her own blood. The beige skirt was torn up the middle to her pelvis; showing her underwear to the world. There were some bruises forming on her inner thighs. She was sitting in a small pool of her own blood.

Gabe felt tears running down his cheeks. He placed two of his fingers to her pulse point. There was a pulse but it was slight. He noticed that she was breathing but it was slow and shallow. He kept thinking to himself; who would do this and why. He looked over the wounds and marks on his sister; he felt something inside of him snap.

"You need to pull through Ronnie. You need to fight death and come back to me." He placed a gentle kiss on the side of her head. "You need to hear my voice and tell me who did this. I need to know who did this. I need to know so I can make sure that they suffer worse than you did."

Wow. Wow.

Not sure how to react to this? Yeah, I'm not sure either.

I have to admit that this is a bit of the dramatic. If Ronnie was really in this position; she'd probably would be dead. So is she? You'll have to wait and see.

Thanks for following this story and wait for the next episode to find out what happens next.