Chapter 2

"Can I help you? The girl working behind the counter asked as she pulled up a tray and set it on the counter next to the register.

"Yeah. A large French Vanilla Latté and one Blueberry Muffin." Wheels replied as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.

"5.25, please."

Wheels paid the girl and watched her go around the corner and a few minutes later return with his Latte. She put the Latte down on the tray, then turned to face the donuts and muffins behind her. "Blueberry, right?" She asked as she pulled a piece of paper out of a box.

"Yeah, please." Wheels answered.

The girl picked up a muffin and put it on his tray.

"Thank you!" She said very cheerfully. Wheels thought she was a little too cheerful for 8 AM.

He took his tray and took a seat over by a window and started to eat his muffin. He normally didn't go out for breakfast, but he wanted a Blueberry Muffin and Latté from Cabana Joe's that morning. It just sounded good.

Cabana Joe's was crawling with people that morning, most of them were people going to work and students. Wheels often wondered how many of the people ate there regularly, as it seemed he always saw the same people there.

A really pretty, tall, slender woman walked in and ordered something to eat. Wheels watched her as she ordered and as she picked up her tray. She was really pretty, but he was afraid to even approach her. "She's WAY out of your league, buddy!" He told himself. Besides, she was probably unavailable, anyway.

She was looking around the room for somewhere to sit. She caught Wheels' glance, and he quickly looked down. She walked over to his table.

"Wheels?" She said.

"Huh?" Wheels said as he snapped his head up. How did she know his name?

"WHEELS!" She exclaimed. "God, I'm so happy to see you! How have you been? I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Somebody pinch me, I'm dreaming!" Wheels thought to himself. "She knows my name!"

"Um, I'm alright!" He answered with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.She frowned. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

"Sorry, but my mind's drawing a blank!"

"It's me, Heather!"

"Heather? Heather Farrell?"

"Uh huh!" She said, nodding her head yes.

"Wow!" He said. "You look. . . absolutely great!"

Heather blushed. "Thanks. You too! Can I sit here?"

"Sure, go right ahead! I thought you were living up north?"

Heather took a sip from her cappuccino. "I was," she said as she put it back down "But I decided I'd had enough of that and wanted to come home, sooo. . .here I am!"

"The last I knew Erica was a teacher in New York. Is she still there?"

"Yeah, she's living in New York City, and teaches kindergarten there. She loves it there, and guess what? She's getting MARRIED!"

"Wow! Next time you see her tell I said congratulations!"

"I will!" Heather said as she took a bite from her donut. "So what are you doing now?"

Wheels drank from his Latté. "Well, let's see. I have officially stayed sober for two years,"

"Go you!"

"And now I work at St. Michael's Hospital as a mentor in the Teen Outreach and Recovery Program. I help kids that are battling alcohol addiction."

"Wow, a completely changed Wheels, I'm surprised!" Heather said, laughing. "Do you still live here in Toronto?"

"Yeah, I have an apartment on Gerrard Street. So what about you?"

Heather sat down her cappuccino she'd been drinking. "Well, I was working in the Northwest Territories in Yellowknife as a Program Manager for CBKL Radio. I met a guy named Jonathan while working there, and we fell in love. We got engaged last summer, and were set to be married this fall, but then I found out he hadn't been completely honest with me and was sleeping with this one chick, Melissa, and we had a really nasty break up. From there on out things started to fall apart for me there, so I started looking for a new job, and I was online one day looking at jobs and I saw that CRAZ FM had an opening for a Program Manager, so I applied for it and I guess they liked me because here I am! I've only been there just a couple of weeks but I love it there, and it's so good to be back home! Yellowknife is nice, but I love Toronto!"

Wheels watched Heather as she ate. He really wanted to ask her out, but was scared to. He kept thinking back to the time when they were in high school and she and Erica had a party and the two of them were alone together and they started making out. What an awkward situation that was! Back then he liked her as a friend, but not as a girlfriend.

"Snap out of it!" He told himself. "That was 13 years ago! If you're interested now, ask her out! If you don't, she can't say 'yes'!"

Her eyes caught his gaze. He was smiling at her.

"What? Do I have something on my teeth?" She said as she started digging through her purse, looking for a mirror.

"No! No, there's nothing wrong with your teeth!" Wheels said. "I was just thinking. . .Nah, forget it!"

"ASK HER!" His mind demanded.

"What? Spit it out!"

"Well, urm. . .maybe. . .would you. . .like to go out with me sometime?" He could suddenly feel his cheeks turn very warm. They were probably very red by now.

Heather smiled at him. "I'd love to," she replied "but. . ."

"Oh, that's OK. I understand." Wheels looked down at the floor.

"Would you let me finish? I was going to say "I'd love to, but first I want to get your phone number so I can call you!"

"Oh!" Wheels' face lit up. "She said YES!" His mind screamed. "Here!" He said as he scribbled it down on a piece of paper. Heather scribbled hers down for him as well.

"How 'bout Friday night?" He asked. "We could go bowling or something!"

"I'd say you have a date! Look, I gotta get going right now, but what if I call you later and we work out all the details?"

"Fine by me!"

"OK, then!" Heather said as she stood up. "I'll call you sometime today and we can talk about it!"

"Alright!" Wheels replied. "But hey, if I don't answer my phone that's because I have group today and I usually turn it off or silence it for that, but leave a message in voicemail and I'll call you back, OK?"

"OK. Bye!" And with that, Heather turned and left.

Wheels sank back in his chair. A date for Friday night! He hadn't been on a date in a really long time, so he was very excited. He jumped up from the table and took his tray to the garbage can, emptying the contents on the tray into the trash and putting the tray on top of the garbage can. He danced all the way out to his car.

"Oh, Sherrie, you're all alone. Holds on, holds on. . ." Wheels sang along to the radio as he happily moved around the room setting up chairs and the poster boards containing pictures of the accident he caused as a teenager that sent him to prison, the obituary of the two year old little boy he killed, articles about his conviction, and an article on Lucy. After seeing Heather and getting a date for Friday, he was so happy he felt like he was flying and just high on life. He was normally a happy guy, but even more so that morning. Even the rest of the hospital staff noticed it. Chad, who was a Registered Nurse, saw him earlier that morning and wanted to know what he was on because he seemed to be flying higher than a kite. A very chipper Wheels just told him that he was so happy because life was great. Chad looked at him like he was crazy, and maybe he was, but Wheels didn't care.

"Oh, Sherrie, you're all alone. Holds on, holds on!"

There was a knock at the door. Wheels looked up to see Snake and Lucy there. Lucy was in her old wheelchair which she didn't use anymore, and Snake was carrying her cane.

"Hi, guys! C'mon in!" Wheels said as he welcomed them into the room.

"Somebody's just a little happy!" Lucy commented.

"Yeah, well that's because somebody has a date for Friday night!" Wheels said, beaming.

"Woo hoo, Wheels!" She exclaimed.

"Do we know the lucky lady?" Snake asked.

"Yep!"

"Is it somebody who works here?" Lucy asked as she stood up.

"Nope!" Wheels smugly said. He loved to keep his friends guessing about his personal life. It was so much fun!

"C'mon, SPILL THE BEANS!" Lucy impatiently exclaimed.

"Let's see, how can I put this?" Wheels pondered out loud. "Oh, OK! I got it! There's two of them, and although they look alike, they are completely different people! You've known them for years!"

"We've known them for years. . ." Snake repeated. "Did we go to school with them?"

Wheels nodded his head yes.

"We've known them for. . .Oooh, I think I know now!" Snake said, remembering back to high school.

"Wait a minute, was I friends with them?" Lucy asked. Now she was catching on!

"Uh huh!" Wheels replied, still with a smug smile on his face.

"You ran into Heather or Erica, didn't you?" She asked, punching him in the shoulder.

"Heather! This morning at Cabana Joe's! And we're going bowling on Friday night!"

"Wheels, you stud!" Snake joked with him. "I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Shut up!" Wheels said, playfully shoving Snake. "Anyway, I like her. She's gotten really pretty!"

"Aww, Wheels is in love!" Lucy joked. "Seriously, I think you guys would be good couple!"

Lucy saw the poster boards with the pictures and articles and went to look at them. When Wheels made the collages, he also included pictures of Lucy and himself that they'd had professionally done the summer before they entered grade 13 for the Degrassi High yearbook. There were also pictures of them with their friends, as well as some with just them. They looked so happy and carefree, like nothing in the world mattered to them. It was really painful for both Lucy and Wheels to look at those pictures. They reminded Lucy of being stuck in the hospital and when she was told she may never walk or see again. For Wheels, they brought back feelings of guilt, sadness, being scared, and extreme remorse. When he was told that the little boy died because of him, he started feeling like some sort of horrible monster and he suddenly wished he'd been the one to die instead of the kid. He knew just exactly how the kids parents must've felt since he'd lost his own parents the same way. The day that his trial was held he plead guilty and the little boy's parents were there. He kept apologizing to them, saying he knew just exactly how they felt, but his sincere and heartfelt apologizes fell on deaf ears. If he'd known he was going to kill someone by getting into that car drunk he never would've done it.

Lucy looked at the pictures and articles and started crying. Seeing Lucy cry like that made Wheels cry.

"Here, Luce." He said as he walked over there and put his arm around her. Lucy hugged him, still crying. "C'mon," he said guiding her back to her chair. "Sit down. It's OK to cry when you look at those pictures and read those articles. Trust me, I've done it many times!"

There was another knock at the door. This time it was Ellie and Sean.

"Oh cool, there's Sean and Ellie!" Wheels said, spinning around. "Come in!"

The two of them walked in together.

"Thanks for coming in, you guys!" Wheels said to them. "You guys have any problems getting out of school to come here?"

"No, not really." Ellie answered.

Sean rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? Radditch gave me the third degree when I signed out for the day! But I owe you one for getting me out of school for the day!"

"I'll call the school and talk to him for ya later!" Wheels said, taking a seat. "Did you have a hard time, Ellie?"

"No, not really." Ellie answered.

"Is Emma coming?" Wheels asked Snake.

"She can't." Snake said, sitting down. "She's helping another student study for a test today at lunch. She wanted to, but Ms. Kwan decided to pair her up with that student because that student's falling behind and not understand the material."

Wheels understood. Emma was an excellent student, so it made sense that she'd be asked to help out another student who didn't understand what he or she was being taught.

Snake, Sean and Ellie sat quietly in their chairs while Wheels took attendance. Lucy, wanting to make her grand appearance, left the room in her wheelchair, leaving her cane behind standing up in a corner near the door so she could easily grab it when she got back.

"OK," Wheels said as he put his pencil and attendance sheet down. "I told you guys last time that I had something special planned for today. You'll notice there's some new faces in here today. This guy sittin' on my left has been one of my best friends since we were in junior high. His name is Archie Simpson, but you guys can call him Snake. Snake is the Media Immersion teacher at Degrassi Community School. Both of us, by the way, are Degrassi grads! Sitting next to Snake is Sean Cameron. Sean is 15 and in grade nine at Degrassi, and sitting next to Sean is Ellie Nash, another Degrassi student. Ellie is 15 and in grade 10. I also have another one of my old high school friends coming, but she's running late because special accommodations had to be made for her to get here. Snake is here to talk to you guys about what I was like as a teenager and the problems I got myself into, as is my other friend that's running late, and Ellie and Sean are here to talk to you about what it's like living with alcoholic parents, which is something I know some of you have some experience with."

"Hey, Snake! You got any good stories I could blackmail Wheels with?" Travis piped up jokingly.

"Come see me later!" Snake replied, smiling at Travis.

"Yeah, you just remember that I'm one of the people that stands in the way, along with your 12-step program, of determining when you can successfully get out of rehab, Trav!" Wheels said. "And don't forget that I also have some pretty hilarious and embarrassing stories about you too, Snake!"

"Ooooh!" The kids all said in unison.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Sean said as he got up from his chair. It was Lucy. He went to the door and held it open for her so she could wheel herself in.

"Lucy!" Wheels said, waving at her. "Hi!"

"Hi, Wheels!" Lucy said. She wheeled herself around the room and came back for her cane. After securing the cane around her wrist, she awkwardly walked around the room with the cane. The kids were whispering about her, and she could hear them. When she she got back to where she started from, she took the cane off of her arm, stood up, and took her glasses off.

"I'm Lucy Fernandez." She said to the kids. "I'm a filmmaker, and I want to tell you guys my story."

Lucy started telling the kids all about her life before the accident. "I was class Valedictorian of Degrassi High School and graduated in 1991." She said. "Well, actually my class finished up our last year at Schuyler High, since Degrassi was closed that year for renovations. Two of my classmates, Snake and Wheels, are here today. The summer before I was to go off to University was great. I had a great boyfriend named Bronco, and I hung out a lot with my one of my best friends, Caitlin, and Caitlin and I were supposed to go to University together and be roommates. I had a lot of parties and went to a lot of parties that summer. It was great! One day Bronco had a party at his family's summer cottage, and he invited most of the people from our class to it. The day of the party, Caitlin had told me that she'd changed her mind about going to University with me and said she wanted to stay here so she could be with her then fiancé Joey, who was one grade behind us. I was really angry at her for that, because I'd made all these big plans, and now here she was, destroying them! Joey, Snake and Wheels had come to the party, too. One thing that Caitlin didn't know about Joey was that he'd been cheating on her most of the summer with another girl named Tessa. I remember Snake being really mad at Joey for doing this," She said, looking at Snake. "And Joey made a joke to Snake about not being able to get a girlfriend. That made Snake really mad, and he threatened to tell Caitlin that Joey had had sex with Tessa. Well, he didn't, at least not right away. Shortly after that, Snake got into a fight with Wheels because Wheels had called him immature and Snake told Wheels he was immature because he'd spent most of the summer drinking beer and working on his car, which Snake called 'A piece of shit'."

"It really was!" Snake recalled, giving a little chuckle.

"Hey, you and me! Out in the parking lot after this!" Wheels joked with him.

Everyone laughed.

"Anyway," Lucy continued, "It was about to get physical, so I took care of Wheels and Bronco took care of Snake. I told Wheels to take me in his "great" car to the store so I could buy some more chips. I should've used better judgement then. I knew Wheels had been drinking, as he'd been drinking a lot that summer. We got in the car and were maybe half-way to the store, when Wheels ran a stop sign and hit an oncoming car. I don't really remember much that happened after that. I know I blacked out for a little while, and when I came back to I remember hearing sirens and hearing lot of voices but I couldn't see anything. I remember thinking 'What happened?' and I was scared because I couldn't feel anything past my waist. I tried to see but I couldn't. I remember being pulled from the car and smelling smoke and being loaded up in the ambulance to be brought to the hospital. It was really scary. I remember asking one of the paramedics for green gum and I kept telling them it was time for me to go home to my mom. Then, when we were on our way to the hospital, I asked about what happened, and they told me. I started crying, and I asked about Wheels. They said he was OK except for a few minor cuts and bruises, but was being taken to jail." Lucy started crying. "I asked about the people in the other car, and one of the paramedics told me there was a two year old little boy in the other car that died."

"How long were you in the hospital?" Melanie asked as she shifted around in her chair.

"Just a little over a year." Lucy replied. "Within just a couple of months I started to get some of my vision back and I started getting some feeling back in my legs, which got a little painful. You know what it feels like when your leg or your foot falls asleep because you've been sitting down for too long? Well, imagine feeling that for 24 hours a day! Sometimes it got so painful all I could do was cry!"

"How long did it take for you to be able to walk again?" Zack asked.

"I did Physical Therapy every day for about two years after I started getting the feeling back in my legs. I was eventually able to walk with a cane, and the cane you just saw me with is the one I used while in therapy and after it. Last year I eventually learned how to walk again without the cain. I still sometimes have to use those beautiful, designer glasses to see, but my vision has definitely improved!"

"How did you feel about Wheels?" Angela asked.

"Honestly, I hated him for the longest time! Aside from his rebellious streak he had in high school, he was essentially a good kid. He had lots of friends and was always nice and respectful to everyone. I just couldn't believe what he'd done to me and what he did to that family and the little boy. I eventually forgave him, realizing that he was really messed up. I know he never intentionally meant to hurt anyone, and when I ran into him at our high school reunion shortly after he was released from prison and learned he had started drinking again, I urged him to get help, which he did, and I'm proud of him!" Lucy said, looking at Wheels. "You guys have a really great guy here to help you, so let him help you when you need it, OK?"

"So what are you doing now?" Benji asked.

"Well, I did finally get to University. I received a Master's Degree and an Honor's Bachelor Degree in Film, and I even completed a Ph.D. I own a small production company in New Mexico, which is where I live."

Snake was next to tell his story. He told all about how he met Wheels and how they'd been best friends throughout junior high and high school. He recalled the death of Wheels' parents and described what Wheels was like after that.

"When Wheels went to prison for killing the kid and injuring Lucy, I never wanted to see him or speak to him again. I honestly didn't care if he lived or died. Our friend Joey still stuck by his side, though, and I remember him trying to get me to go visit Wheels or at least write to him or talk to him on the phone. I never did any of those things. When I was told that he was out of prison, to say that I was furious would be an understatement! I honestly thought that he should've been locked up for good and the key should've been thrown away! Then last year I was diagnosed with Leukemia. Joey came to my house to take me bowling, which I really didn't want to do but my wife pretty much kicked me out of the house because she was tired of me moping around there. So I went, and guess who showed up at the bowling alley! Turns out Joey had called him before he came and picked me up and asked Wheels to meet us there. At that point in time I really felt like dying, and yet here was Wheels! We started talking and by the end of the night we were back to being friends again. I realized that life's too short to hold grudges! He'd done his time and had gotten help and it was really silly to keep holding that grudge against him. He really was messed up, and I just wish I'd been a little easier on him and been able to forgive him sooner. I guess what I'm trying to tell you guys is this: You've all hurt people you love unintentionally in the past, and just remember that no matter how bad things seem and no matter how many times you've hurt them, just remember that those people you've hurt will eventually forgive you. It might take some time, but they'll eventually come around."

Sean and Ellie talked next, and they told their stories jointly. Sean talked about living with his alcoholic parents in Wausaiga Beach and how he was now living with his older brother, Tracker, in Toronto, and Ellie talked about her mom, who was an alcoholic, her dad, who was in the Army, and how she'd began cutting herself.

"The cutting just seemed like it helped me escape the pain I was feeling at home." Ellie said. "With my mom drinking all the time and my dad being gone, I felt like I was losing control of everything. Every day was a constant stuggle, ya know? It still is! My mom is always telling me how much she 'loves' me, and I keep thinking to myself 'If you love me so much, you'd give up drinking!' The hardest thing in the world is to see people you love destroying themselves."

"It always seemed to me that my parents were always too drunk to love me or my brother." Sean said. "And there was always a lot of fighting in my house as a kid, be it between me or them, or them and Tracker. Tracker and I occasionally fought, but we're brothers, right? We're supposed to fight. I hated all the fighting. I hated the fact that it seemed like they didn't care!"

"Why are you here in Toronto now?" Hector asked Sean.

"A couple of years ago I got into a fight with a kid in Wasaga Beach and deafened him in one ear. It's not exactly something I'm proud of, but the guy was a jerk! I came here to get a fresh start."

"Hmph!" Jayci replied to Sean.

"Do you guys ever blame yourselves for your parents' drinking?" Wheels asked.

"Before I started going to group therapy, I used to think 'If I was only a better daughter, if I was someone else, she wouldn't drink.'" Ellie answered. "So, yeah, I did. But then after I got some counseling I realized that it wasn't my fault she was like that. Even if I was someone else, she'd still be an alcoholic. Her problem isn't with me, it's something much deeper than that."

"Whatever!" Jayci retorted, rolling her eyes at Ellie.

"Jayci!" Wheels scolded her.

"I guess so." Sean replied, ignoring Jayci. "I mean I've never gone as far as Ellie has with cutting myself or anything like that, but I used to think that if I was a good kid maybe they wouldn't drink anymore."

Sean and Ellie continued talking about their situations, and Jayci got up and left. Wheels really didn't want to end the discussion then, but he had to find Jayci.

"Uh, we don't usually do this," he said, "But why don't we take a short ten minute break? You guys can go get a drink or use the washroom or buy a snack or somethin', then we'll finish up our discussion, OK?"

He got up and left the room to look for Jayci. He managed to find her in a vacant room a few rooms away.

"What do YOU want?" She asked him when he entered the room and started walking closer to her. She turned her back to him.

"Whoa!" He said. "Whoa, calm down! Why'd you leave like that?"

Jayci covered her face with her hands and sat down on the floor, her back up against the wall.

"I can't go back in there!" She said, crying.

"Why not?"

"I just can't!" She cried. "I can't listen to Seth and Ellen or whatever their names are talking about their parents like that! I just can't!"

"Hit close to home?"

"You don't even know! And I'm NOT going back there!"

"Jayci, you have to! If you don't you'll go back into lockup again! Do you want that?"

Jayci looked up at the ceiling, tears streaming down her face.

"It's just that listening to those two reminds me so much of my mom and dad and my brothers and sisters!"

"What about 'em?" Wheels asked as he sat down next to her.

"My parents, they were like that! They were ALWAYS drunk! Before they divorced three years ago, all they did was drink and fight." Jayci paused to wipe her eyes and nose. "Have you ever had to clean up your mom's blood because she cut her hand on a broken vodka bottle? Or listen to your dad call her a "bitch" and a "whore" when they're in a drunken fight? Have you ever watched your dad brutally beat your brothers and sisters for dumb shit like not taking out the garbage or doing the dishes? Have you ever had him come after you because you refused to buy him more alcohol? Has your mom ever 'forgotten' to pick you up from somewhere, leaving you stranded for three or four hours, only she didn't 'forget' about you, she was just drunk off her ass? Well, have you?!"

"Can't say I have."

"The worst part of it is," Jayci said, in between tears, "I felt so horrible and ashamed about their drinking! Last year, when we were living with my dad, that was the final straw! He wanted me to go downtown to a liquor store and buy him some a bottle of rye, and I told him no, because he was already in a drunken rage. We were in the kitchen, and he was so mad that I refused to go and buy that rye for him that he picked up a chair and threw it at me. That was it! I packed up all my stuff and left, with nowhere to go and not very much money. I ended up going to a bar, and for the first time ever that night I got drunk off my ass, just so I could forget about my parents." By now her crying was starting to slow down. "Every night after that I was drunk! I took to shoplifting, stealing money from people, anything I could do just so I could have that next drink, and that's what got me here today! I was drunk one night, went into a grocery store, tried to shoplift some stuff to drink, and when I was caught by an employee the cops were called and I was arrested. I'd never been in that much trouble before!" Jayci's tears started back up again.

"Here." Wheels said as he opened his arms to her.

Jayci collapsed into them, her whole body shaking as she cried really hard.

"These tears were a long time comin', huh?" He asked her.

"Yes!" Jayci replied as she cried. She was now getting a headache because she'd been crying so hard. "The worst part is I'm not really a bad kid, but everyone thinks I am and I had to drop out of school and I really wish I could go back."

"Have you ever even tried going back?"

"Are you kidding?" Jayci said as she sat up. "I'm 17, I can't go back now!"

"Why not? There's lots of programs designed to help kids and adults who have dropped out of school and want to go back. All you have to do is ask!"

"I wish I could, but I just can't!"

Wheels got up from off the floor. He shrugged his shoulders. "It's all up to you!" He said. "But look, I should probably be going back now. I sent everyone on a break so I could come and find you. Look, if you want to today, come back with me. If you don't feel like coming back today, it's OK, you won't get in trouble for it."

"I think I'm just gonna go home to my apartment for the rest of the afternoon."

"OK, but I expect you to be back here on Friday, OK?"

"Yeah, sure."

Wheels started to walk out of the room.

"Hey!" Jayci yelled behind him.

"Yeah?" He said as he turned back around to face her.

"Thanks! You're pretty cool!"

Wheels smiled at her. To him, this was what it was all about.

"Thank you!" He replied with a smile.

Wheels arrived back home at his apartment building to find a big moving truck in the parking lot in front of his building. He was curious as to who was going or coming. He'd been told by the landlord a couple of weeks beforehand that someone might be moving into the apartment right next to his, but the landlord said she didn't know if it was for sure going to happen.

He went to go pick up his mail in the mail room. His apartment complex was the only one he knew of that had an actual room just for mail. Most other people he knew that lived in an apartment building had post office boxes outside in a sheltered area or they had to go to the post office to pick up or send their mail. Really the mailboxes in the mail room were just post office boxes themselves, they were just rented out to tenants and the cost for them was included in the monthly rent.

Wheels went and unlocked his box and pulled out his mail. Not long after he got there, a boy who looked to be about 15 or 16 and a little girl who looked to be about four or five came in. He was tall and had an average size frame, and short, spiky blonde hair and green eyes. The little girl had really long brown hair and big, brown eyes. The boy took out a set of keys and looked at them. He studied them for a few minutes.

"Hey, do you know what key unlocks the mailbox?" He asked Wheels.

"It's the short, silver flat one." Wheels answered as he glanced over his mail.

"Thanks!" The boy said. "It kinda sucks being new!"

"Oh it's OK! I always forgot what key it was when I first moved in here, too! Don't worry, you'll eventually remember it!"

"My name's Tyler, but my friends and family call me Ty." The boy said as he introduced himself. "And this is my little sister Maddie. We're just moving in here in apartment 415."

"My name's Derek, but my friends call me Wheels, and I live in 414."

"So that makes us neighbors!"

"Yeah, I guess it does!"

The three of them walked out of the mail room together and continued talking.

"So where did you live before?" Wheels asked as he pressed the "Up" button for the elevator in the hall.

"In Manitoba in Winnipeg. My dad's job transferred him here."

"I've only lived in Toronto." Wheels said as they boarded the elevator. "How old are you guys?"

"I'm 15." Tyler responded.

"I'm four!" An energetic Maddie said as she stretched her face out with her fingers and made a funny face.

"Really? You're four?!" Wheels said to her. "Do you go to school?"

"Not yet, but I will soon after my mommy gets me signed up for it tomorrow!"

"Where are you guys goin' to school at?" Wheels asked Ty as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the fourth floor of the apartment building.

"Maddie's gonna start preschool in the preschool program at Schuyler Elementary and the only high school around here that has any openings for Grade 10s is Degrassi. Mom's signing Maddie up for school tomorrow, and I'm supposed to go to Degrassi and enroll."

"Degrassi's a good school." Wheels said as they walked down the hall together toward their respective apartments. "I went there!"

"Really?"

Wheels nodded his head yes. "Graduated in '91." Then an idea hit him. "Hey, why don't I go with you tomorrow when you register for classes? I don't have to work tomorrow, and I'm best friends with one of the teachers there. I also know a couple of kids that go there that are your age! I could introduce you to them!"

"Really? Aw man, you're awesome!" Ty said as he reached out to shake Wheels' hand. "You really have no idea how much it completely sucks not knowing anyone!"

"I can only imagine!"

"OK, well then I guess I'll see ya tomorrow morning? Say, nine o'clock?" Ty said as he started to open the door to his apartment. Maddie dashed inside.

"Nine o'clock!" Wheels said as he watched him walk into the apartment and then retreated to his.